The first part of the assault went much better then expected. An entire Marine Regiment descending down upon the enemy alongside the of a Carrier Fleet was simply too much for the enemy to handle. It was overkill, really. The adversaries they had met in the fields were mainly conscripted serfs with low quality equipment and nonexistent training, and the Atlesians had both superior equipment and training, alongside shock value. Because of that the Atlesian forces were able to overtake the fields surrounding the Foedosian fortress town and seize control of its perimeter walls with little casualties.
Once the perimeter wall was under Atlesian control and the anti air dust cannons the defenders failed to make use of destroyed, the Carrier Fleet was able to descend down from above the clouds to provide close air and to deploy the rest of the ground forces, most of which were setting themselves up in the fields to prepare for the onslaught of Grimm that would be attracted to the fighting.
With the entirety of the perimeter under their control and the Carrier Fleet maintaining air superiority, the enemy has no way of escaping. Now they just had to progress into the town itself to weed out the defenders, a task that is going to be a lot harder to achieve now that the element of surprise has been lost.
”An entire section was wiped out shortly after advancing through the northern edge of the town.” Nebo heard his Platoon’s First Lieutenant inform them over the intercom. Him and his entire Platoon were currently standing in a bunker within the perimeter wall, taking the opportunity to perform some field repairs to their armour and check over their ammunition supplies. After Nebo and the Eighth Platoon were finished clearing out the southern perimeter, they were met with a swift counterattack by an enemy unit of Men At Arms. Unlike the Serfs the Men At Arms were better equipped and had more adequate training and experience, including some basic aura training. They were equipped with kevlar, ceramic armour and had rushed their positions with bayoneted machine guns, managing to kill four Marines and wounding eight others before retreating once they started taking their own casualties. “From what we could gather from their radio chatter, they had encountered a unit of SM Knights. Units in the northwest and northeast corners of the town have also encountered Hunstmen Level combatants.”
Nebo frowned, his hands repeatedly reloading his assault rifle as he stared at the feed of images that was displayed on his visor. It showed the scarce few images of Shattered Moon Knights that were taken by helmet cams. One of the the images showed a large women with a multitude of dust crystals of varying colours jutting out from her armour, flinging a ball that was some sort of Frankenstein of multiple different elements towards what looked to be a member of the Special Operatives Unit attached to the Marine Regiment, judging by his non-standard weaponry.
”The majority of our Specialist is now tied up in the north because of this, where the bulk of the Knights are located. Which leaves just us Marines in the South, East, and West. The boys attacking the East side are only encountering Serfs, but they have pulled back to await for reinforcements to avoid spreading themselves out too thin. They are currently working on providing mortar for the North side. Our boys in the West were lucky enough to get a hold of most of the AKs and are now pushing towards their objectives slowly but steadily. They have reported a few Knights engaging the AKs.” Soon an aerial view of the southern part of the town would show on Nebo’s HUD. A large portion of the concrete buildings, closest to the wall, has been melted by the Heavy Dust Lasers of their Frigate . The melted concrete has cooled down recently but it has left behind a relatively flat albeit bumpy stretch of land with little cover. This had worked in the Marines’ favour, but now they were going to have to run through it.
”The South side, where we are, is where the majority of the enemy’s Men At Arms have stationed themselves. As we saw earlier, these Lunies know what their doing and to make matters worse they have set up killzones throughout the ‘No Man’s Land’ the boys in the sky have made for us. White Phosphorus was deployed to no effect, so we will have to go do the dirty work ourselves.” The Lieutenant’s words were confirmed by the clouds of white smoke that drifted over their enemy’s positions, visible on the aerial view the marines were shown. Visibility may be an issue. “The Frigates cannot give effective air at the moment. However a Maelstrom Gunship Squadron has set off from the Hailstorm not to long ago and should be able to provide us with some close air .”
The fact that they were at least going to get some air was a relief for Nebo to hear. Maelstrom Gunships would certainly make what could be a slow and arduous assault much easier. From what he can , they were a relatively new model of aircraft introduced within the current decade. They replaced the outdated helicopter design for a VTOL jet, a pair of jet engines propelling the gunship whilst a gravity dust core lessened fuel usage when hovering. They certainly were much faster then their predecessors and had the tendency to enter battle amidst the sounds of sonic booms, which had a profound effect on enemy morale. And that’s what they needed. The less enthusiastic an enemy was about this fight, the easier they are to fight and the more likely for them to just surrender.
”We move in five! Everyone get your asses into gear and prepare to march out!” Their Platoon Sergeant yelled as he burst into the room, his helmet taken off to reveal a bronze skinned, yellow eyed and bald middle aged man with what looked to be three bullet wound scars on the right side of his forehead. Looking at him could easily make you think that this man had fought several wars before, on his lonesome. “I want those Lunie dick rashes throughly skull fucked by lead by the end of the hour!” He would order before slamming his helmet back down onto his head, locking in the clasps connecting it to his neck before taking a fully loaded Light Machine Gun off his back.
The entire Eight Platoon would do some last minute checks over their equipment and Nebo would quickly slot in a ceramic armour plate in a pouch on his left shoulder. In exactly five minutes the platoon were speedily exiting the bunker right behind their Sergeant, their footsteps almost synchronised up until they ran out into the open the air.
All Nebo could see the bombed out buildings of the town in front of him, plumes or smoke and fire rising from the ground alongside the fire and smoke of explosions both distant and nearby. He could hear the endless bangs and cracks of gunshots and the hiss of dust based weaponry, pained screams, rage filled yells, and even sobbing being heard. The smell of gunpowder and burnt flesh was also present, prompting Nebo to do a last minute check on his armour’s seals.
They were still atop the perimeter wall, this time facing towards the town. The rest of his Platoon, including Nebo, have already spread themselves amongst the wall and taking cover behind the concrete battlements following the barks of their Lieutenant and Sergeant. The smell of burnt flesh haunting his senses the closer he got to the wall, causing him to grow sick to the stomach. “Zelen!” He called his battle buddy. “Give me some help here! One of the fucking seals might have come loose!”
”I’d take a look down there, if I were you.” Was the response he got from Zelenyy whilst he had shuffled closer to Nebo to begin checking his armour. Nebo would soon hear a faint hissing to signify one of the seals were fixed, however he wouldn’t notice this as his eyes would peer through one of the holes in the battlements. At first all he saw was melted steel and concrete, embers and small flames still burning in some areas. He frowned as he continued to search, emerald eyes spotting their enemy’s positions at the very end of the no man’s land behind sand bags and within the concrete buildings. His eyes would then drift over to the bumpier bits of the concrete, spotting a peculiar, white object sticking out of it. He would look back at the bumps he had looked over earlier to see a similar sight, but as he looked further down the no man’s land he quickly saw what exactly was under those bumps.
”Ty che blyad...” He cursed under his breath, spotting a pearly white skull with its face just sticking out of the concrete, steam still rising from the bone and bits of melted flesh still clinging to it. Looking over to another bump and he could see the entire upper half of a skeleton, the bone blackened with a vile slurry of melted gore forming a puddle on the concrete beneath the dissolving rib cage. This was caused by a shot from a Frigate’s dust lasers, the immense beams of pure fire dust usually turned whoever it hit to ash, but these unlucky souls were instead swept up by the melting concrete; surely experiencing an agonising death.
He took his eyes away from the sight ahead of him and stared down at his rifle, his hands beginning to shake and his teeth chewing into the inside of his cheeks. He felt cold, his grip on his rifle tightening as a shiver ran up his spine. If they were willing to inflict such gruesome deaths upon their enemy, whose to say that the Lunies won’t respond in kind? Sure, he knew what he was getting into when he signed up for the Marines. Boot camp was hell and the Drill Instructors did well to remind him of that. But he certainly wasn’t ready to witness gruesome sights created not by the hands of terrorists but by their own. It made him question whether or not this entire operation was really necessary.
”You okay, Battle?” Zelenyy’s words brought Nebo back to reality, his hands stopping their shaking.
”Yeah... Da, I’ll be okay. It’s nothing.” Nebo responded turning his head so he could see Zelenyy’s faceless form.
”Trust me, Battle,” Zelenyy started, his tone of voice clearly indicating that he did not believe Nebo at all. “Once we’re down there, you’ll be seeing much worse. A whole group of Lunies got caught in the WP without any protection. They won’t be a pretty sight.”
”Would’ve really preferred to not have known that.”
”Best to know what to expect then to be taken by surprise.”
”...”
”ALRIGHT BOYS!” The voice of their Platoon Sergeant would bring an end to Nebo’s and Zelenyy’s short conversation. “The Maelstroms are on their way to give those Lunies hell! After the smoke is dropped, wait until you hear the sonic booms, before leaping your asses down there and make your way to the first bit of cover you can find!” The Sergeant ordered, causing Nebo to snap his gaze back to the no man’s land just as more white phosphorus was dropped down upon it, the various chunks and bumps of the melted concrete and the occasional wall or pillar that still remained standing being highlighted in blue by his HUD. He’s now definitely more then glad he had checked the seals of his armour.
“We’ll be serving as a distraction to allow the rest of the company to move in from the side.” The Lieutenant added over the intercom. “Whilst the Lunies are focused on us, the First to Fourth Platoons will strike from the right side whilst the Fifth to Seventh do the same on the right. If all goes well, we should have them encircled.” The Lieutenant finishes.
Minutes that felt like hours would in silence, the distant sound of gunfire being overshadowed by the sound of mortars firing the white phosphorus that the Eight Platoon would use to obscure themselves from the enemy. Nebo knew everyone would be spreading out once they have vaulted over the wall and he knew the Lunies already had a firing line set up. He tried to plan out his path as it was best to get that out of the way now then when he’s charging towards the enemy whilst frantically trying to avoid their shots. He spotted one particularly large mound in the concrete with a mostly melted rubber wheel sticking out of it. He supposed that that could serve as adequate cover. He nodded at the mound, his HUD changing its blue outline to a gold colour so he doesn’t get disoriented and change his course.
He looked away from the no man’s land and checked his armour’s rigging, spotting the two WP grenades that each rifleman in his company was given, alongside two fragmentation grenades and the singular G/L Dust grenade he was lucky enough to get a hold of. The G/L grenade was a useful little bomb from what the quartermaster had told him. It should supposedly help his unit deal with any entrenched groups of enemies he comes across.
The Maelstroms would arrive, at first Nebo didn’t hear them but could clearly see them as they jerked to a stop in the skies above their enemy. Already their autocannons were firing as their engines twisted forward and slowed them down just as quickly as they had arrived, three, eardrum piercing booms that could shatter glass following immediately after and giving the signal for Nebo’s entire platoon to get moving. He let go of his rifle as he stood up, its sling stopping it from clattering against the ground, his hands placing themselves atop the wall’s battlements before he pushed himself up and over with a jump alongside the rest of his platoon. It was good sixteen foot drop, one he landed with a roll to harmlessly disperse the impact throughout his body before standing back up and charging straight towards the cover he had highlighted earlier, his rifle already back in his hands.
Just like it did before, the soldier within Nebo took control as he sprinted through the dense cloud of white phosphorous, his battle buddy running alongside him but five metres to his right. He felt himself trip on a pothole, falling forward but managing to gracefully recover after throwing his arms out to stop the fall and push himself back up. Looking back ahead of him, he saw another Marine get shot straight in the head by a lightning fast shot, the air glowing an ionised blue along the projectiles path and meeting little resistance from the Marine’s aura and helmet, a stream of crimson bursting from the Marine’s head.
”Scharfschütze!” He heard himself yell over the intercom, warning his platoon to the sniper’s presence just before another Marine fell victim to a shot to the chest, dropping the floor with a pained yell; the rest of Nebo’s platoon quickly beginning to run in an erratic manner to throw off the sniper’s aim or diving into the nearest bit of cover. Without thinking, not taking even a moment to consider his own safety or the possibility of a collision with another Marine, Nebo diverted his course and shot straight over to the fallen Marine amidst a burst of adrenaline. Just as he did that an electric blue projectile struck the ground where Nebo would’ve been if he didn’t change his path, the sniper’s aim thrown off as they probably didn’t expect Nebo to make such a sudden change. A bit of luck that he hopes doesn’t run out.
He slung his rifle over his back as he reached the fallen Marine, who was holding what appeared to be a small, detonated earth dust crystal over the hole in his armour so the white phosphorus couldn’t get into it. Leaning down briefly, Nebo would grab ahold of the Marine’s rigging and would proceed to drag him forward as he rushed for another piece of cover. In his frantic rush, he failed to notice the charred corpses of the Foedosian Serfs that managed to avoid the Frigate’s volleys, only for them to get caught in the clouds of white phosphorus. By the curled up positions most of them were in and the claw marks in the ground, it must have been a pretty unpleasant way to die.
The sniper seems to have caught Nebo in his sights as another shot was fired at him, only his instincts telling him to keep his head down saving him from the insanely fast projectile as it flew over his head, his ears picking up a crackling noise after it flew past. Another brush with Death that he managed to just narrowly avoided. He’s not sure what kind of weapon that sharpshooter must be firing, it must be absurdly powerful if it could punch through aura and a marine’s helmet, and he certainly didn’t want to find out. His eyes briefly looked up where he could see one of the Maelstrom gunships as it let loose a series of fast flying and high explosive rockets towards an unknown target, the explosions being felt by Nebo. He could see the cyan hexagons of the gunship‘s hardlight shield flaring as it withstood several shots from the Lunie Men At Arms.
He saw another of the sniper’s projectiles hit the ground just ahead of him, a smile forming on his face as his eyes followed the electric trail towards its origin. He saw it, a blue glow high atop the silhouette of a building visible through the smoke where the shots seem to be originating from. Certainly a powerful weapon, but all that fancy glowy stuff is what’s going to cause it’s demise. “Enemy spotted!” He said over his helmets intercom, nodding towards the glow and causing his HUD to highlight it in bright red. The rest of his platoon clearly saw the same thing, a few of them turning their heads towards the glow as they ran. The Maelstrom that Nebo looked earlier swivelled its autocannon in the direction of the glow, unleashing a cloud of high caliber bullets that exploded upon impact. The blue glow vanishing amidst the explosions.
Shortly after that Nebo found a half melted wall of concrete that he quickly dragged the injured Marine behind, letting go of his rigging as he pressed his own back against the wall with his rifle back in his hands. On a closer look, the Marine appeared to be relatively unharmed. Looking at the rankings on his shoulder, he was the Platoon’s Lieutenant. “Left breastplate was shattered.” The Lieutenant said, sounding unharmed as well. “The hit fucking winded me... definitely gonna bruise.” The Officer said as he slowly stood up, right hand firmly pressed over the small mound of earth dust he had slapped over the hole in his chest plate.
”You must’ve had a lot of aura, sir.” Nebo responded, leaning out from the partially melted concrete wall to look at the enemy positions not too far ahead of him. He saw mainly sandbag fortifications in front of a cracked, concrete, three story building. He could see the green outlines of the rest of his platoon already running into cover, the Lunie’s laying down suppressing fire. He could also see some faint grey outlines, indicating his fallen comrades. Taking a closer look at the Lunie fortifications, he could see a series of strange looking pylons that glowed a dark purple and light grey. It was flinging away the bullets and rockets fired towards it by the Maelstroms somehow, and the white phosphorus clouds is seemingly being pushed away by some invisible force. It was some sort of barrier, repelling their close air and nullifying the white phosphorus. However, he noticed that the bullets fired by his fellow Marines were not being repulsed, likely too small to be recognised. He nodded towards each pylon he could see, the objects being highlighted in gold. From the looks of it, several other Marines also had the same idea.
”Wasn’t Aura, Hardlight.” Nebo’s Lieutenant responder. “Bought a shield generator just before we were deployed. Glad I did.” The Lieutenant took his hand of the earth dust and drew his sidearm from its holster. It looked like the standard issue pistol many Atlesian soldiers were issued as a sidearm, but it had a soft yellow glow to it. The Lieutenant would eject the magazine, the glow vanishing as he inspected what looked more like a battery then a magazine, before slapping it back into the pistol and causing the glow to return. Dust powered. “What are you highlighting?”
”Dust powered fortifications from the looks of it, sir.” Nebo responded as he took his gaze away from the enemy and put his head back behind cover. “It’s fucking with our air , they can’t get a shot through, and it’s holding back the WP.”
”Considering how good the Lunies are with Dust, I’m not surprised. Blow it up.” His Lieutenant said, pointing at Nebo’s G/L grenade. “Throw your Dust grenade at it. See if that blows a hole in their defences. Throw in a frag after for good measure.”
”Yessir.”
Without any hesitation, Nebo pried the G/L grenade from his rigging and pulled out the pin. He waited at least three seconds as he leaned out of cover, acquiring his target in his sight before lobbing the grenade over to it. As it flew through the air, it flashed yellow and purple in a rapid succession, before it was caught by the Lunie Dust Pylon. However, it would detonate before it could be flung away. The combination of gravity and lightning annihilated the pylon and a large group of Lunie Serfs and Men At Arms, who had clumped together because they thought the pylons would keep them safe, would be lifted off the ground. The Serfs and some of the Men At Arms would be impaled by the purple lightning, some quickly turning to ash whilst some only had chunks torn out of them. The Men At Arms with Aura were being painfully shocked by the purple lightning, screaming as their muscles spasmed.
Staying true to his Lieutenant’s orders Nebo then threw in a fragmentation grenade, the explosive being sucked into the orb of detonated gravity and lightning dust alongside a puff of White Phosphorus. The fragments launched by the explosive force of the grenade tearing through the Lunie’s weakened aura, ripping off limbs and killing many of them before the rest were slowly finished off by the white phosphorus. They were mostly ash by the time the dust grenades effect had ended.
”Anyone with a destructive dust grenade, take out those pylons!” The Lieutenant said over the platoon’s intercom, his order being followed by more dust grenades, similar or widely different to what Nebo had thrown, being thrown at the pylons. Soon the vast majority of the dust pylons were destroyed, the cloud of white phosphorus they were pushing back soon pouring through their fortifications. A massive hole was ripped into concrete building the Lunies has fortified, flinging debris everywhere, thanks to a Maelstroms rockets finely being able to breech the defences. The Serfs quickly succumbed to the white phosphorus, their skin being burnt off in an excruciatingly painful manner whilst the Men At Arms began stabbing metal sticks with air dust attached to them into the ground, repelling the white phosphorus yet again.
”Fix Bayonets!!!” His Lieutenant barked over the intercom.
Nebo pulled his bayonet from its place in the scabbard on his chest, attaching the twelve inch steel blade beneath his assault rifle’s barrel with a satisfying click. Every other Marine did the same thing, now just waiting for their commanding officer to say the magic word. The enemy’s morale was shaken, now they just needed to deliver the final blow to shatter it.
”Charge!!!”
Comments (9)
No.
I would like these bayonets to remain unfixed.
No fuck you. Coward.
Reply to: Lucy
Perhaps.