Part 3: Mission 3: Orcs Plus One

Hey guys! This next mission went quicker than expected. Like, a lot quicker. Even including stuff I did before and after the battle itself, I had less than ten minutes of raw footage. So, enjoy an early update!


About 40-50 missions, depending on what order you do things and how many optional missions you skip. You can skip missions by attacking the enemy's headquarters as soon as possible, though I'll generally avoid doing this, both to show off more of the game and because HQ assaults are tough and you'll want all the money, exp, and research you can get before you attack.

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There was a lot of cheering and celebration at the base after the victory. In the big picture, it wasn't especially strategically significant, but we'd proven that we could not just fight the Forces of Darkness, but we could drive them back.



With the northern base under control, we'd opened a route to the enemy headquarters for their operations in Ukraine. Victory here would mean decapitating the entire enemy chain of command in the region. We weren't ready yet, though. We still only had the faintest idea of the enemy's strength, or what they could do.



Our second option was to strike at the foothills of the mountains. This acted as the enemy's main supply route for the region. A tempting target, but almost certain to be heavily guarded. It was another we'd have to pass on for now.



Our opportunity lay in the village of Kalush. The enemy had only recently taken the city and had no easy way to reinforce or resupply their forces in the area.



There were a couple of things to take care of first, though. To begin with, I wanted to take advantage of getting on Command's good side by requesting replacements for the soldiers that had died in the last battle, along with another commando unit. They agreed.



There was a bit of confusion when they told me who they'd be sending. Apparently, official records listed them as being from "the planet Helghan." I don't remember learning about that one in school. I didn't give it much thought, though. What mattered was whether they could shoot straight.



While we were waiting for reinforcements to get here, our agents finished performing their research on the orcs. I was pleasantly surprised that they'd finished so quickly. Turned out that a lot of the work was just compiling existing combat reports and autopsy data from other fronts, which no one had been able to find the time to do until now in the face of a hundred more urgent problems all happening at once.



In addition to quite a bit we already knew, the report had two key findings. One was interesting, the other worrying. The first was that, across all the fronts and in all the battles, we could count on one hand the number of times orc divisions had been led by other orcs. Reports were vague, with not much more to go on than rumors of tall, pale figures, but between this an the orcs' suicidal tactics, it was clear that they weren't the ones calling the shots.

The other, more worrying finding was that the orcs' weaponry was improving. Crude bronze and iron axes were giving way to improvised steel weapons, taken from the stores and scraps they'd captured during their initial blitz. There was also, theoretically, nothing stopping them from learning to use the various small arms they'd managed to capture. Our one real advantage over them right now was that we could hit them from range. What would we do if, one day, they started shooting back?



One thing was clear: our current armor wasn't up to the task. We couldn't count on being able to drop all the orcs before they got close enough to hit us. They were too fast, too tough, and too numerous for that. We needed to design new armor, optimized to absorb their ax-blows and the wolves' bites.



Luckily, now that we'd taken the ammo depot, Command accepted my request for more agents and equipment to work with.



The news on other fronts, unfortunately, wasn't so rosy. I was starting to get a pretty good sense of why there weren't any tanks or artillery to spare. Repeated losses and high casualties by the Alliance were hurting morale so badly that they were on the verge of a complete rout.



It was getting clear that if we hesitated, we'd be lost. As soon as Radec's Rhinos arrived, we made our attack to the south.

Mission 3: Orcs Plus One

Attending:

Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, Mortar Infantry)
Sersan (Anoa, Rangers)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Light Infantry)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Commandos)
William "Bill" Browning (The Bullies, Humvee)
Logan "Hardtack" Smith (War Dogs, Light Infantry)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, Commandos)



Hardtack: There's the town. Okay, everyone, remember what we learned last time. Bunker down, then Bill draws the enemy to us. Easy peasy.



Bill: Hey guys? Hate to break it to you, but we're gonna have to change plans.
Sersan: Oh God, they've figured us out! Our strategy is useless!



Bill: Yeah, and that's not the only bad news, either. These guys aren't normal orcs. They're bigger, tougher. Armored from head to toe, too.



Anil E. Hilated: It doesn't matter how much armor they have! Those medieval tincans can't stop a 60mm mortar shell!




"Doctor" Snark: Can't stop five-five-six, either. Stay calm, everyone, we can do this!



Habitually Red: Looks like they're just as suicidal as their cousins, too.




Mael Radec: Nothin' to it. I got called away from my home world for this?
Sersan: Your home what?
Mael Radec: My home country.
Sersan: That's not what you said the first time.
Mael Radec: You can't prove shit.



Hardtack: Guys, there's a time and place for this kind of conversation, and it's nowhere near the hordes of orcs charging at us!
"Doctor" Snark: Temporally or spatially?
Hardtack: YES!



Anil E. Hilated: Oh, quit worrying. Mortars to the rescue!



Hardtack: Hey, Anil? I'm not feelin' very rescued right now.
Habitually Red: How about now? Can we worry now?



Mael Radec: Ask again when I'm out of bullets!



Habitually Red: God, I wish my guns were good enough it made a difference. It doesn't matter that their armor doesn't absorb bullets, their fat asses do it just fine!



Sersan: Hey, mine work just fine. See, they're not half as scary when they're getting ventilated, are they?



Anil E. Hilated: Or gibbed!



Bill: Guess we'd better kill the monkeys while they're closeby.



Bill: Hey, look at that, they're panicking again! Probably 'cause they've got nowhere to run. Any further northwest and our base garrison will probably start plugging them.




Bill: Y'know, there's something strangely cathartic about this. It's like popping bubble wrap.



Sersan: Hey, the man's right! It's a great way to unwind after almost getting chopped up by adventuring party rejects.



Bill: There goes the last one!
"Doctor" Snark: Okay, great! Now you've just got to drive around and find the rest of the enemy forces so we can shoot them.
Bill: ...God damnit!



Bill: I swear to God, if I ever meet the guys who are responsible for deciding what equipment we get...



Bill: Like, I know it's a big war, and there are tougher fights elsewhere, but they couldn't spare anything with a cannon for us? Not a single one? Not even some rusty Cold War-era piece of sh-



Bill: Fuck! No! Bad dog! Down!



Bill: Aaaaah! I didn't find them, they found me!



Bill: Thank God these Humvees are fast, at least. Anil, if you would?




Anil E. Hilated: Oh, I would.



Bill: I s'pose I'll chip in, too.




Anil E. Hilated: Boys and girls, I do believe it's mopup time!



Mael Radec: Pfft. Mopup time started the minute we deployed.



Hardtack: He's kind of got a point, you know. Looks like the enemy got pretty complacent here.



"Doctor" Snark: Aaaand we're done! Anyone dead, say 'aye.'
Habitually Red: Aye! But seriously, I just checked. No casualties!
Bill: Tell that to my poor Humvee. The driver-side door has all these tooth marks in it.
Hardtack: Hey, we won and we didn't die. That's all I can really ask for.



It was another victory for the Alliance, our division's second in as many battles. I was starting to wonder, though. Weren't the Forces of Darkness supposed to be a terrifying army, fitting the Apocalypse? How many more easy victories would we get before they decided we were a priority target? Two victories within a week were turning heads at Command, sure, and I wasn't complaining about that. But sooner or later, I had the feeling we were going to get attention we didn't really want.