Part 10: Mission 10: Skeleton Warriors

With the harpies dealt with, we had some breathing room again. The first order of business was to fit the Piranhas with the new armor for those who'd requested it. Hopefully we wouldn't have quite as many close calls with them now.



Our agents, in the meantime, had been busy interrogating captured orcs. They weren't very smart or pliable, though, so we didn't end up getting much out of them. All we managed to learn from them was sparse information about the "gates" the Forces of Darkness were using to come to Earth. We learned they were stable portals, which remained in fixed positions on the Earth's surface. If we could find them, perhaps we could cut off the invasion at the source, or launch a counterattack into our enemy's world.



While we were in position to liberate the highlands where we'd destroyed the harpy nests, there was still an area to the south with some type of unknown, but apparently dangerous, enemy soldiers. Scattered reports from scouts before we lost contact with them mentioned the dead rising from their graves in vast numbers and attacking everyone in sight. Command considered the area a death trap, but we needed to know what we were up against in a situation where we could retreat if needed.
We also brought along the AMXs despite having destroyed the harpy nests. We couldn't be sure some stragglers hadn't escaped, and knowing how dangerous they could be, there was no sense in taking chances.

Mission 10: Skeleton Warriors

Attending:
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, Mortar Infantry)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Heavy Infantry)
Bonaventura Ferrer (Confederacion Internacional de Militadores, Heavy Infantry)
Logan "Hardtack" Smith (War Dogs, Commandos)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Commandos)
Solrick Skaft (Scion of Emer, Commandos)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, Piranha)
Skull Face (XOF, Piranha)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Piranha)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Piranha)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, Piranha)
Ash Kleef (Ashsavers, Humvee)
GyverMac (Gyver's Grinders, AMX 13)
Cholmondely Featherstonehaugh-Smythe (Sphynx Battery, AMX 13)



Reports from townspeople who survived the initial attack matched those of our scouts. They provided a bit of history that explained the enemy's choice of location as well, though I wondered how much of bodies that had been rotting since the Middle Ages there would be left to the enemy to raise. It was another reason to come here, at any rate. If we won, we could organize evacuation efforts here.



Svetlana Aliyev: Okay everyone, stay sharp. Try to forget everything pop culture taught you about zombies. We don't know what we're going to be dealing with.
Erik Spanner: I'm not worried! My weapon's very powerful against living things.
Skull Face: But... zombies aren't alive.
Mael Radec: Alive, dead, soft tissue doesn't hold up against explosive shells.




Ash Kleef: Contact, contact! Looks to be about a company-strength force.



Ash Kleef: Looks like they just animated the skeletons. Might be all that was left, if these guys really did come from medieval times. They're certainly kitted for it - it's all swords and chainmail. Might be a lot like fighting orcs except, well, deader.



Ash Kleef: Oh shit! More coming in!
Patrick Gallagher: Relax, Ash. You said these guys looked about as dangerous as orcs, right? Maybe we won't have to deal with bullshit this time!
Erik Spanner: Pat, haven't you learned yet? It's always bullshit, forever and ever. Before Command settled on Forces of Darkness, they were debating calling them the Forces of Bullshit.



Skull Face: Oh yeah? Let's see them bullshit THIS!



Skull Face: Oh, what the hell! I blew that one's legs off, it's crawling with its arms, and it didn't even slow down! Another lost its head, an arm, and half its ribcage and it doesn't give a shit!
Erik Spanner: I fucking called it!



Patrick Gallagher: Everyone, relax! Just concentrate fire! Skull got a few, so we know we can take 'em out!



Patrick Gallagher: Damnit! All I managed to do was knock some down!



Skull Face: Now they're doing some kind of fucked up shriek! That shouldn't be possible, they don't even have lungs!



Svetlana Aliyev: I don't think that's what we should be worried about right now, Skull.





Mael Radec: That's it, everyone! We've really thinned out the group on point.



Mael Radec: They are stubborn bastards, though. That one's just an arm and a hand, and it's still crawling toward us! It doesn't even have a weapon! What does it think it's going to do?
Svetlana Aliyev: They're undead. Maybe they don't think.



Mael Radec: In any case, we'd probably better fall back. I'd rather not let them into melee range, just to be on the safe side. Everyone, once you've popped a couple shots, drive back toward the staging area.



Patrick Gallagher: Got one! I'll be right with you, Mael!



Habitually Red: Oh, hey. Back so soon?
Svetlana Aliyev: Yeah, and I hope you have your guns ready. We've got a shambling horde of undead following us.



Anil E. Hilated: That doesn't seem so b-



Anil E. Hilated: Flanked! We're getting flanked!



Anil E. Hilated: Oh God, why did you lead them here? Even mortars don't do shit!



Cholmondely: I'm firing too, but anti-air guns aren't suited for this!





Patrick Gallagher: It's like pulling teeth! What're we gonna do?




Solrick Skaft: YEAHHHH! Suck on it, skull-face!
Skull Face: Excuse me?
Solrick Skaft: Not you!




Mael Radec: I can't believe how many shells these things take.
"Doctor" Snark: They're gonna be on top of us soon at this rate! You guys in the Piranhas are probably safe, but you can't keep them off us completely.
Hardtack: So what do we do?
"Doctor" Snark: We'd better pull back for now. We're gonna have a lot of casualties if we stick around.



Bonaventura Ferrer: But the people in this town-
Mael Radec: -need living soldiers, not martyrs. Snark's right. We don't have the tools to handle this right now. We'll have to come back when we're ready. Hopefully the pencil-necks can put together something we can use.



It was our division's first defeat since the beginning of the war, but we were left with little choice. The undead soldiers were durable, too durable, and we almost certainly would have lost entire infantry companies if we'd tried to stay and fight. We needed to hit the enemy where they were weakest, and right now, this clearly wasn't it.