Story [Issue 13] Part 2: The Counter-Attack

[GoldRock 6,165]

Read the first part here.

HQ of Military Operations, Magistral.

Generalissimo Fyodor leaned back on the tracks of his M3 Mammoth, and groaned. This was going to be a long day. "So, I'm sure you all know why we're here." Along the table, his statement was met by solemn faces and a few mumbles of confirmation. "As the Emergency Territorial Action Board, or ETAB, it's our duty to organise action against..." - he turned his turret towards a detailed map on the wall beside him, pointing out the considerable number of areas marked in black which dotted it - '...the hostile forces." There was a sudden, palpable increase of tension in the room, as the serious atmosphere of the board was raised up another notch.

"As we all know", the Generalissimo continued, "these hostile forces managed to overwhelm our base at Forest precisely one month ago." There was a collective shudder at the mention of this episode, with a few of the board shifting uncomfortably in their places at the table. The Generalissimo pressed on with his speech, oblivious to the reaction of his fellow board members. "Since then, they have managed to take the areas codenamed 'Noise', 'Massacre', and 'Bobruisk'." He pointed to each one in turn on the map. "Therefore, we plan to stop their advance at the key stronghold at Kungur. Recently, it has been reported that they entered the outskirts of the city. Now, we have an opportunity to push them out of the area." A recently-promoted Commander to his left tilted his M3 Viking forwards towards the table, as the level of interest grew. "Tankmen, this is our opportunity to counter-attack."


~~~

Military base located at Kungur, later that day.

Brigadier Isidor read the telegram which had reportedly just arrived straight from Magistral itself. And then re-read it. He wasn't quite sure he had read it right the first time... but he had. Stopping to mull over the instructions the telegram gave, he took a moment to admire the audacity of such a plan. As it said at the end of the telegram: 'Do this wrong, and you'll die. Do this right, and you'll probably die anyway'. Better to keep that warning to himself than to share it with his squadron. He sighed, and uncharacteristically pale, he gave the order to summon his troops from their barracks for a quick briefing. Nothing could really prepare them for the chaos which was almost certainly going to ensue, anyway...

"You can't be serious!" These words were exclaimed by a disbelieving First Lieutenant standing close to the Brigadier, and were echoed in the sentiments of many of the other troops surrounding him. "The ETAB have approved this plan. It's going ahead tomorrow". These was outcry at this from the squadron. "We're not even going to have time to simulate the plan?!" exclaimed one of the troops. It was textbook practice that all plans should be simulated beforehand by troops in order to have a higher chance of success, the Brigadier knew. But he could only reply "The ETAB think it's best to drive out the enemy from the area sooner rather than later". The First Lieutenant grumbled, with a malevolent expression "Well, the ETAB must be mad!"

Silence followed; many of the squadron were shocked and angry, but a few of them even looked mutinous. Realising the situation as potentially dangerous, the Brigadier was swift to discipline his troops. "Get back to your barracks, all of you; there's no reason for concern! And you," he said, pointing at the First Lieutenant, "will head the decoy attack tomorrow if you're not careful!" A decoy advance was often employed along with an actual attack from different sides in order to confuse the enemy, and those who were part of the decoy were generally a lot less likely to survive. The First Lieutenant decided to keep his thoughts to himself.


~~~

Military base located at Kungur, the next day.

A sullen silence hung over the base the next morning. The squadron undertook last minute checks in order to ensure they had all the necessary equipment. Hulls were quickly re-plated with fresh armour, and weapons were fastened securely on, some of the troops getting in last-minute target practice at the firing range. Nobody did nothing. If they had stopped to think, they would have had to think about the daunting task which lay ahead of them, and the minute propect of success as a result. Finally, the squadron assembled at the centre of the base. Brigadier Isidor swallowed, putting on an act of bravado and bravery with a forced smile plastered onto his face as he wished his squadron luck, and went through the plan one last time. It could be delayed no longer - the troops departed from the base, knowing that they would probably never be able to return.

As they ventured further and further from their base, the squadron started to come across mines planted in their path. Twice, one of the troops nearly ran over a stretch of mines, and the Brigadier had to work out a way round the obstructions on each occasion. As they neared the outskirts of Kungur, the scale of the hostile defenses became alarmingly apparent, with defensive formations in place which even Magistral's finest could not have predicted.

The squadron came to a halt just before the edge of a small cluster of buildings, and split up into three respective groups. The decoy group, randomly selected, was to charge the enemies head on. The other two groups planned to infiltrate the hostile outskirts by going around, under, or over their defenses, whichever they could, and then to desperately attempt to reach their well-guarded leader. If they could take him alive, they could push the hostile forces out of Kungur, who would be afraid to retaliate in case they endangered their own leader. This was the squadron's only hope.


~~~

Hostile outskirts of Kungur, 5 minutes later.

'This is it', Isidor thought to himself. 'The plan starts now'. "This is attack group 1, I repeat, this is attack group 1. All in position? Over." The Brigadier waited anxiously for a response from his radio. A few seconds later, the speakers crackled to life, and he heard the responses: "Attack group 2 is in position. Over", "Decoys in place, waiting for the go ahead". He allowed himself a short pause, and then replied: "Roger that. Starting in 1". As the Brigadier's in-built timer counted down 60 seconds, he was strangely calm. All too soon, the minute was up, and the various parts of the squadron launched into action.

A series of events took place in rapid succession. Firstly, the decoy group charged the buildings on the left of the bridge. Many of the troops instantly exploded as they hit mines, rusting into a burnt charcoal-grey. The remainder of the group literally collided with an array of defenders. Brigadier Isidor, observing the havoc unfolding from a distance with his group, jolted as he noticed their fearsome all-black enemies turn to combat the oncoming decoy group. A Freeze/Hornet danced around a Mammoth defender, spraying him with ice until he was skewered through the side by a Railgun. Isidas leeched some health back off the defenders, and rushed around the battle, healing their fellow troops. The Brigadier had chosen his decoy troops well, and they fought valiantly with their short-ranged weapons, until they were eventually overpowered. Those who were left scattered, chased by numerous defenders as they tried to escape. The few survivors would be able to regroup, Isidor was sure of that. Now he had his own problems to worry about. He raised his turret, and fired a single shot, signalling the start of the main attack.

The first attacking group, headed by the Brigadier, rushed through the jumble of buildings on the right of the bridge, and climbed the ramp onto the platform where the start of the bridge was situated. It was immediately met with a volley of sniper fire from the defenders at the left of the bridge, hammering into its forces, and the attacking troops made for whatever cover they could find to protect themselves from the heavy fire. At the same time, the second attacking group went round the far left buildings, down the back of the map, and emerged right where the snipers had camped. The first few attackers were pounded by the high-damage shells, but the rest of the second attacking group was saved by the long reload times of the enemy Railguns and Shafts, taking the opportunity to destroy many of the snipers, whose formation had broken up into disarray. Isidor was amazed at how well their assault was going as he and the first attack group emerged from cover, no longer under threat from sniper fire, and charged the main group of defenders, who had recently pummelled their decoy group.


~~~

Hostile outskirts of Kungur, 10 minutes into the attack.

Then suddenly, everything went horribly wrong. Out of the numerous buildings came a large wave of close-ranged defenders, weapons blazing as they reinforced the remnants of the previous defence and rallied them forwards. 'Of course, that's why there were so few defenders before; why didn't I see this coming?' thought Isidor. "They must have anticipated our attack, get out of here!" shouted the Brigadier in vain, as their attack forces were surrounded. The attackers desperately tried to force their way out of the situation, to no avail. Isidor knew they were fighting a losing battle. He shouted the dreaded order to surrender, and the attackers gave up, laying down their weapons before them.

The Brigadier felt despair and humiliation as stood there, helpless before the all-black defenders. After a short while, the leader of the defenders showed himself, emerging from a secret bunker hidden in one of the nearby buildings flanked by two Mammoth M3s with a flourish of his weapon in victory. With a sinking heart, Isidor realised that they never could have won. They were simply outnumbered and out skilled. As the enemy leader began to speak, a certain First Lieutenant turned his turret to look at the Brigadier mutely through his turret, who returned his gaze with mixed feelings. As the First Lieutenant turned away again, he suddenly dived at the enemy leader, his Railgun charging up as he took what was a huge risk. It didn't pay off. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Isidor's despair had now dampened, and he was hollow inside, but growing defiant, defiant as his soldier had been in the last moments of his life. "Kill me if you wish, I'm not going to tell you anything" he growled. The enemy leader, sinister in his black paint, replied with a laugh: "My pleasure!" He took aim at the Brigadier, and was just about to fire when there was a single Smoky shot from behind the leader into the air. The enemy leader turned, and stood there, speechless. He put his weapon down. His defenders mimicked him.


~~~

Hostile outskirts of Kungur, 10 minutes into the attack.

And so the sequence of events rewinds, back to the chaos of the main attack. But this time, I will give the story from a different perspective, and it will be a lot briefer, as length is not necessary here.

As the decoy group scattered, they were chased by many of the defenders, who hunted down the remnants of the group, slaughtering them mercilessly before returning to their base. However, as Isidor had expected, there were some survivors, who managed to regroup in the area just outside the enemy base. They had been instructed to wait once they had regrouped, as they had completed their role. However, they were able to witness what was going on, and so saw the commotion which took place, with the sudden wave of defenders causing their fellow attacking forces to surrender.

As a result, a bright young Warrant Officer 5 by the name of Lyonid had the good idea of circling around the back of the scene, just as the second attack group had done, and then being able to threaten their leader as a last attempt to successfully defeat the hostile forces. And so, the small group went round the back of the enemy base, and just as Isidor was about to be killed, Lyonid fired his Smoky into the air, and they trained their weapons on the leader. The enemy leader turned around to receive a rather unexpected and unpleasant surprise, and was forced to surrender on fear of death. Consequently, the defenders could not fight without their leader, and so they followed suit.


~~~

Fact file.
Title: Warrant Officer 5 Lyonid.
Notable deeds: Saving the lives of many of the Kungur squadron and its leader, Brigadier Isidor, and thus contributing to the surrender and driving out of the unknown hostile forces from the outskirts of Kungur.
Also known for: Being the brother of Leonid, squadron leader at Forest, who was killed in action during the takeover of Forest by the unknown hostile forces.

~~~

Notes made during the ETAB meeting on 'The Consequences of the Kungur Victory'.
- There are now a number of these hostile forces who have surrendered, and whom are under our restraint.
- Proposal: Interrogation of key enemy leader, captured in the Kungur victory, in order to gain a better understanding as to who this mysterious enemy is, and how we can defeat it once and for all.
- Decision: Proposal accepted. Results to be published for the next ETAB meeting.

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[mike71121 8]

good

[hogree 4,179]

Awesssome. I love your style. :wub:

[legenddestroyer 824]

Awesome Story!!!! :D :D

[UAA619 97]

Great end...wait...is this the end? Or are you going to write about:

 

Notes made during the ETAB meeting on 'The Consequences of the Kungur Victory'.
- There are now a number of these hostile forces who have surrendered, and whom are under our restraint.
- Proposal: Interrogation of key enemy leader, captured in the Kungur victory, in order to gain a better understanding as to who this mysterious enemy is, and how we can defeat it once and for all.
- Decision: Proposal accepted. Results to be published for the next ETAB meeting. 

[GoldRock 6,165]

Thanks!

 

Great end...wait...is this the end? Or are you going to write about:

 

[insert quote here]

Well noticed. There will be another, final part originating from that. Stay tuned ^_^

[r_lukyza0 1]

wow! this is an awsome story. love how you related Lyonid with Leonid. but something i wanted to add, you should have ssaid that the WO5 fired a critical hit with his smoky, cuz its impossible to hurt an m3 mammoth with m1 smoky( cuz WO5 cant upgrade more) 

[GoldRock 6,165]

wow! this is an awsome story. love how you related Lyonid with Leonid. but something i wanted to add, you should have ssaid that the WO5 fired a critical hit with his smoky, cuz its impossible to hurt an m3 mammoth with m1 smoky( cuz WO5 cant upgrade more)

 

 

Thanks! :) Actually, Lyonid doesn't hit the Mammoth, he only fires into the air to get his attention, and then they force him to surrender.

[Destrod 2,634]

Thanks! :) Actually, Lyonid doesn't hit the Mammoth, he only fires into the air to get his attention, and then they force him to surrender.

oh i see/ i must have forgot it. well awsome story cant wait for Final part!

[donut70 97]

"final part" NO WAY you need to make a longer and therefore even more awesome story.