I didn’t want to wait any more than we had to. “What we are going to do,” I cut him off, “is take all the arms we can carry from the ship, make for the outpost, take out whatever welcome party they send, salvage their armor, use it to wipe out their base, clear a path to the station, and light it up with a nuke.”
The group looked at me, somewhat taken aback by the scale of the operation and the veracity of my attitude. “Don’t just stand there – get to work!” I ordered. “They’re going to come looking for us any minute.”
The pilot made the announcement to evacuate over the intercom, and within a few minutes the soldiers had cleared out the ship and began making their way to the outpost, knowing the enemy would be right behind them.
When we exited the ship, I could smell the composition of the air change through my mask’s filters. I pulled the mask over my head and took a few deep breaths. According to the Corps, humans should be able to breathe the alien’s atmosphere for at least two days before suffering any significant medical disasters. I shouted out to the other soldiers around me, “Doff your masks if you want for now. At first contact, they go back on!”
Our radar operator spotted approaching enemy forces within minutes. As quickly as we could, my squad radioed our intentions to command, blew the stationary electronics, and evacuated the ship. I didn’t want to wait for confirmation of our intentions, so we left without any.
As I predicted, the aliens came straight south out of the base toward the wreckage. On our radar, we estimated a force of over a hundred ground soldiers, supported by a few armored units and a massive gunship.
My team made its way through the thick foliage surrounding the crash site toward the outpost, carrying all of the weapons we could handle.
After a lengthy hike, the brush started to thin out. Further ahead, I could see what looked like stone buildings. “Hold here,” I ordered and flipped through the last report while my soldiers formed a perimeter. It was nothing but a fuzzy smudge on the map without a decent description. We kept our heads down and moved closer.
Finally, we reached the remains of the outpost: a small, burned out, and apparently abandoned settlement. Or so our intelligence had reported. Upon reaching the edge of the wilderness, we found a collection of stone structures with glass windows, metal supports, and paved roads all around them. All were immaculately kept and looked nearly brand new.
“What’s this place?” The radio operator asked the few of us standing nearby.
“They built a replica of a city on Earth . . .” I thought about it all for a second before it hit me. “Training,” I answered, “It’s a training facility for an invasion force.”
“Sounds like something we’d do,” another soldier added.
“That’s because we do,” I replied. “Add that to the list of tricks we taught them. Keep moving.”
I had the area scouted and coordinated a defensive perimeter. I then made my way up one of the taller buildings and kept watch while I directed the other squads to their positions. Soon, I could see our pursuers fan out into the woods, what could be called their heavy armor taking down the occasional tree as they circled about.
Once the squads were secure in a cluster of buildings on the eastern side of town overlooking the forest, we waited for the aliens to close in. The largest gunship stayed in orbit above the crash site while the smaller ones fanned out with the ground troops. Their actual numbers were hidden in the foliage, but the scouts around the city reported four groups, each with three armored vehicles, a gunship, and several dozen foot soldiers.
The closest squad prepared to engage the first group of forces as the aliens neared the city. They armed themselves with long range rifles and anti-armor rounds to take out the infantry and disable the vehicles, respectively. A SAM team made their way to a roof nearby to deal with the gunship.
I coordinated their actions from another building behind the line. I keyed my radio as the gunboat passed 11:00. “All air batteries, FIRE!” I shouted, and immediately four batteries shot a barrage of missiles directly at the gunship’s flank. The shots caught the crew completely unaware, as nearly every shot impacted the poorly armored side of the ship. They pulled it port, trying to dodge, but it was too late.
One of their rear engines exploded from the stress, and the ship smashed into the ground in a massive fireball. As the roar subsided, I could see the remaining forces moving in.
“Anti-air, take cover,” I ordered. They acknowledged, left their roof posts, and took positions to defend the ground. “Anti-armor, take the first shot. Take out the first wave; cycle your positions so they can’t trace you.”
Alpha squad engaged the first group that cleared the trees. Our snipers coordinated shots and cut them down in a few quick volleys. The following troops took cover and waited for the armor to arrive and opted to shell the buildings from the cover of the woods.
I kept an ear on the communications from the front and simultaneously watched the other units approach. They were bearing straight down on my position and faster than I had anticipated.
The first tank emerged from the foliage and got off one shot, ripping into Alpha Squad’s building before taking an AP round from their first sniper.
Standard load armor-piercing rounds contain a hardened tip which can punch through most light to medium armor at moderate velocities. Behind the tip is housed a power sink, which can stall all nearby electrical systems, and a short-lived biological agent which kills the operators in moments via tissue degeneration, but breaks down to an inert residue within minutes. The total time from taking the shot to replacing the crew can be under four minutes by a competent fire team in a combat environment.
“Bravo Squad, flank from the left and flush out the remaining ground forces,” I ordered from my rooftop vantage point. “Alpha, reduce fire rate. Fall back to rear of building two. Friendlies approaching from the left. Shift fire right.”
The incoming fire from Bravo pushed the enemy squad into the open. They attempted to make a run for cover in building two, but were surprised by Alpha, who fired out at them from deep cover within the structure. The ensuing chaos lasted only moments as the remaining forces were cut down.
“Bravo, we have another armored unit moving in through the forest,” I reported down to the ground as I saw a plume of dust incoming. “It’s about 500 meters out, 1:00. Send your sniper team to take it out.”
“Incoming gunship!” I shouted into his radio. “All forces take cover immediately!” He barely made the order before the ship opened fire.
“Roger that,” Bravo’s squad leader responded. He sent his two snipers forward, and they eliminated an artillery piece and another tank.
With the first wave defeated, I opted to redeploy our forces to another set of hardened buildings before the enemy got wise to our locations. In the next few minutes, I evacuated all four buildings, took up new positions, and moved Alpha to the rear to reload their weapons and recharge their equipment.
The other three enemy gunships pulled back and circled the city without striking back, but were still out of range of my forces. Two more ground packages struck the city at the same entry point as before. They leveled building four, where Alpha had been stationed minutes earlier, but were brought to a standstill by the other squads positioned further back.
The day wore into evening as the alien forces traded shots from cover, wearing away at the buildings. I brought back Alpha Squad to make another sweep from the rear. My plans were cut short as we saw the capital gunship move in to attack.
It fired off multiple salvos, razing two buildings and damaging another. I immediately ordered all of the human squads back from the front, but we suffered heavy losses when they had to cross the open streets.
I remained on the top of my building overlooking the battle above the incoming forces. I saw the gunship take aim at my position and took a leap off the roof, smashing through a skylight below as shots impacted around me, tearing into the floor inches from my feet.
I went clear through the glass window and fell another story before being stopped by a reinforced floor. I had spun in the air, and instead of my feet, I landed square on my back. I felt a shock of pain as the air was pushed from my lungs. I didn’t have time to check for additional injuries. My arms and legs still worked, so I pushed through the stabbing pain in my chest and carried on.
Bits of concrete rained down from above, and I scrambled to avoid the larger pieces. I only barely made it to the wall before the last few chunks of roofing crashed into the room behind me. The dust settled, and I got to my feet. I made my way down another level where I stashed some of our anti-air rounds. One of my soldiers was still in place guarding the equipment.
“Take one of the launchers,” I told the other man as I approached one of the larger crates. “When I give you the order, take a shot from the front window. I’m going to hit him from the side.” I pointed to the front of the building where the gunship painted an ominous shadow, blocking out the fading sunlight. The soldier complied, and loaded up an SAM. I unpacked a single nuclear-tipped round from its case and loaded it up. “Go now!”
We each moved into position as the gunship came closer. My companion shot first, and the gunship rotated to engage him. It rained down more fire and incinerated the entire corner of the building in a fraction of a second. With the ship’s attention fixed, I took the chance and ran out onto the roof to line up a shot. I fired the nuke directly into the gunship’s main engine. The ship tried to pivot to take out the missile, but it was too slow. It was hit full force.
The charge vaporized half of the craft, and the remainder of its burning hull crashed onto the battlefield right on top of the approaching enemy forces.
“All forces, we have the initiative – finish them off!” I shouted out on my radio.
Infused with new energy, our remaining squads fought back harder than before and pushed the enemy’s forces back into the forest back toward the twisted wreckage of the gunship. I took a moment to watch the change in tide, then picked up my rifle and made my way back to the street. By the time I reached the ground, the fight was nearly over and the humans had taken most of the vehicles. I left the cleanup to the squad leaders and began to plan my assault on the nearby depot. For the first time since we left the station, I took the chance to raise command on my radio to get some better intel and finally, I got a response.
“Colonel Young, this is specialist Grant, commander, surviving ground forces, over!” I spoke into the mic.
“Grant!” The colonel responded, sounding more than surprised. “You’re still alive? We thought your mission was a total loss!”
“Not yet, sir,” I said. “We took out the station and have made it to the surface. According to our map, we are in an abandoned human colony about 50 Kilometers from the objective. I have 884 soldiers left under my command; the rest fell between the station assault and a raid on this outpost.”
“Thank you for assuming command on the ground. I have no doubt you have carried the mission yourself. We have no intel on the ground; the planetary defenses have kept us too far away. Is there any chance you can still accomplish the mission?”
“I am planning to assault one more enemy outpost between us and the objective, it should keep them guessing and give us some additional equipment. We could use some additional forces to take the hardened bunker.”
“We have a mis-drop of about fifty men west of that outpost. If you can contact them, they might be able to help you.”
“Sir, do you have any more information for me?” I asked.
“Soldier, you know the situation far better than I do at this point, and we both know the gravity of the situation. I must keep our forces out of range until you can get the planetary defenses neutralized. Once we can land, we can finish off the planet and take the solar system. Godspeed.”
“Thank you, sir. Grant out.”
I led my team away from the outpost and into the forest again. We tore our way through the vegetation with the newly acquired alien armored units on our way to the weapons depot. The squad leaders took the time to look over the recon photos of the base in order to develop an avenue of attack for the upcoming assault. With the imagery that Colonel Young provided, they were able to pinpoint multiple stashes of weapons, vehicles, and ammunition. I looked on in silence, thinking through my strategy in my mind. I glanced out of the front of the truck to check our progress.
“Private, bring the convoy to a halt in the clearing ahead,” I ordered. The convoy slowed down as the driver relayed the message to the others. The vehicles circled up, and I called all of my squad leaders together from the other transports.
I took a knee by the largest map, which was spread out on the floor.
“OK, we are down here,” I said as I pointed to the southern edge. “We don’t have the power to take the base in one shot. We cannot depend on any more reinforcements from command. Young can only clear the space for a single drop, and even that is pushing it. Needless to say, it’s up to us to get this done.”
The others nodded in approval, and I continued.
“They still don’t know our final objective; they believe the intel on their defense network was never compromised. Therefore, we are going to make them think our objective is to level the base via a concentrated artillery strike. Echo Squad, you will be controlling the artillery barrage. I’ll be commanding the rest of the battalion on the actual attack. You will need to concentrate your strikes, set them off guard, and use stray shots to take out the gates and defensive measures. When we get close, we will paint the targets for you.”
The human fleet remained in deep space a ways off from the planet, kept at bay by the massive defense guns on the ground. As close as they were, they were unable to provide any assistance to my forces on the ground. They were continually harassed by small raids, but nothing substantial. They could make out more units in reserve on the ground, but could only speculate as to why they weren’t attacking.
Down on the surface, my attack had begun. The artillery began shelling all around the base, but as planned, they avoided the vehicles and armor as much as possible. I watched the confusion via the screen on a probe from the south and sent in the ground forces when I felt the desired level of confusion had been reached. Simultaneously, every one of my squads assaulted the borders. I led a team up from the south just as the remainder breached the perimeter in the northeast. Shells impacted the fence, powering it off and leaving the rest of the base exposed. I took the chance and charged through with my squad right behind.
More artillery blasts impacted around the base as my team moved through the smoking rubble of the outlying defenses. The enemy forces we encountered were completely caught off guard and offered little resistance. We drove straight toward the barracks in the hope of eliminating most of the forces before they could devise a counter attack or get mounted into the vehicles and make the situation far more complicated.
When our team reached the final open area before the barracks, we found the enemy had split their forces. Half had dug in and kept us at bay while the rest made a run toward the armor depot. My entire squad was caught off guard and we scrambled for cover as we came under heavy incoming fire. From my position, I had no visual on the rest of the battalion and had no way to call for support. The rest of my squad had found some cover behind a blown-out building. All we could see were the pilots running toward the vehicles off in the darkness.
The colonel’s reinforcements arrived not a moment too soon. A coordinated group of drop pods impacted the depot, shredding many of the manned vehicles before they could move out. The drivers were caught unaware by the drop and were taken down in moments by the far superior team of human soldiers.
I peeked above my team’s cover and saw the gunfire from our reinforcements. I stood and shouted to my men to move out. We charged forward together, catching the defenders between two opposing waves of fire and breaking through their line. My weapon ran dry, and I took out the final
alien soldier with a kick to the center of its chest and a punch clear through its face into its skull.
“Alpha Squad, clear the barracks!” I shouted, pointing to the building that the enemy had been pouring out of. Alpha Squad broke away and kicked the door in. More gunfire followed them. I drove the rest of the battalion over to the vehicle depot and began starting up the armor. The rest of the base fell quickly, with more of the humans reaching the depot looking for new orders all the time. Using equipment brought by the colonel’s reinforcements, I got a position fix on our current location and the estimated route to the bunker. We began loading all the vehicles we could drive with assorted alien weapons, armaments, and charges.
Charlie Squad had been working their way through the armory and sending their findings back to the yard when they found a huge vault door in the basement of the structure. They called me in over the com system to check it out with them.
“What do you have?” I asked as I walked in.
“Heavy vault. Any ideas how to open it?” The squad leader replied.
“I don’t think we packed any torches. Find something acidic, maybe we can burn through it that way,” I responded as he surveyed the door. “Was there anything upstairs?”
“Just smaller stuff, maybe some fuel. Nothing this potent, I don’t think.”
I thought for a moment. “Clear the basement and the building, I’m going to call in an artillery strike on the roof. We’re gonna blow it from the top.”
“As you wish sir,” the squad leader replied and turned to his men. “EVERYBODY OUT! WE’RE BLOWING THE BUILDING!”
The squad scrambled to collect all they could and clear the area. I placed a beacon on the top of the vault door and radioed the final artillery squad to prepare a launch. He gave them three minutes.
Two hundred seconds later, a three-shot burst impacted the building, blowing it into dust and leaving a burning, smoking crater. I climbed down the collapsed floor, sliding down the last few meters of broken concrete and into the indentation left by the collapsed remains of the vault. As I planned, the walls of the vault had been blown inward and were no longer protected by the door which had been sheared off the wall. I led four other members of my original squad inside.
MissionSRX: Confessions of the First War Page 4
