Part 13: Mission 13: Orc Recycling Center

With research funding once again secured, we were able to learn about the harpies that had proven so dangerous to us. Their lack of regard for the Forces of Darkness' chain of command proved to be a major boon to us. Their nesting ground in the highlands had apparently been carried out in defiance of their orders, and left them relatively isolated and vulnerable, allowing us to neutralize large numbers of them with relatively little difficulty. It had also allowed us to discover the threat they represented with few losses - had the harpies been held back until a major battle and attacked during the thick of things, the results would likely have been disastrous for the Alliance.

Even when not acting under enemy orders, though, their use of humans as food and slaves made their presence unacceptable. The United Kingdom would likely be searching out and torching harpy nests for months after the enemy formally withdrew from the region. Thinking on it, it was strange how little discovering that about them affected me. The enemy's brutality had become a fact of life, it seemed, a problem to be solved with guns and bombs.



And the moment that the enemy would withdraw was approaching quickly. We were already in position to strike at their HQ in the region, and the only reason we hadn't done so yet was because another target was in reach. Recon indicated the presence of a site where the enemy was performing ritual magic. The opportunities to liberate sacrificial victims before the enemy could kill them, deprive the enemy of a source of magic in the upcoming battle, and further our own budding magical research were not to be refused.

Mission 13: Orc Recycling Center

Attending:
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, Mortar Infantry)
Sersan (Anoa, Rangers)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Flamethrowers)
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Flamethrowers)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Commandos)
Bonaventura Ferrer (Confederacion, Heavy Infantry)
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)
Catherine Ulysses (Smart Patrol, Humvee)
GyverMac (Gyver's Grinders, AMX 13)
Cholmondely Featherstonehaugh-Smythe (Sphinx Battery, AMX 13)



Once again, taking the anti-air guns as a precaution paid off. We were still rolling into the staging area when we got our first confirmed harpy sightings.




Catherine Ulysses: Looks like we've got a pretty standard crew on top of the hill. Mostly ka-orcs instead of orcs, but nothing that'll really threaten the Piranhas.



Catherine Ulysses: Guns up, I'm baiting 'em to you guys now.



GyverMac: Harpies just aren't that scary when there aren't a lot of 'em. But they give me something to do, which is fine by me.



Bonaventura Ferrer: I think ka-orcs are the new orcs by this point.
Sersan: So what does that make orcs?
Patrick Gallagher: Target practice?



Skull Face: Ka-Orcs are target practice! I guess orcs are... um...
"Doctor" Snark: Scenery?
Erik Spanner: They certainly are after a couple of cannon volleys.



Catherine Ulysses: Throwers are here!



Anil E. Hilated: And now they're gone.
Sersan: Is nobody going to comment on the guy impaled on a stake that's been sitting here twitching the whole time?
Anil E. Hilated: Sadly, I think we've grown used to that sort of thing.




Catherine Ulysses: Everyone look sharp, we've got... oh, who am I kidding? It's orcs and wolves. I think the Forces of Darkness are slacking on the job.



There wasn't really much to say about this fight. The enemy never even came close.



Catherine rolled up north next, finding a palisade that likely marked the southern end of the enemy's temple.



She found some harpies too, but they were quickly dealt with.



Along with another arrow thrower, and some more orcs. With a wall of Piranhas keeping it away from the infantry, though, it presented little threat.



Skull Face: Hey, Lazarus. What was your unit's name, again?
Lazarus: Oh, it was...



Lazarus: Forlorn Hope. Why?
Skull Face: Oh. I just don't remember you telling us before.
Svetlana Aliyev: Let's hope it's not prophetic, huh? Alright, everyone up. We've got a wall to smash.



Patrick Gallagher: Alright, we've opened our present. Let's see what's inside!



Catherine Ulysses: Shit, elves!
Mael Radec: Looks like they guessed what we were going to do.
Catherine Ulysses: Wait a minute, guys. What's that over there?



Skull Face: ...Oh my fucking God.
Svetlana Aliyev: It's like a fucking pond of blood! How many people did they kill to make this?



Patrick Gallagher: We can worry about that later! Take out the elves quick, they don't have the armor to stand up to our guns!




Erik Spanner: Sure is considerate of them to line up one at a time for us to kill.
Skull Face: Maybe they're not used to fighting human forces?
Mael Radec: Trickling one at a time into range of enemy projectiles is bad tactics no matter who you're facing.



Svetlana Aliyev: Ballista! Take it out!
Catherine Ulysses: That thing's axle-deep in blood. I wonder what it's like for the orcs rolling it.
Erik Spanner: I can only hope it's miserable, but trogs never seemed to be bothered by filth.



Skull Face: That's not all! We've got harpies, too!
Erik Spanner: Shit, what do we hit first?



Mael Radec: Go for the Ballistae! The harpy can't get all of us if we spread out.



Mael Radec: Okay, now everyone north. Soon as the harpies get into gun range, blast them.



Catherine Ulysses: Ew. Now I'm axle-deep in blood.
Erik Spanner: So am I, and... goddamn. There's some kind of throbbing motion that's making my Piranha shake. It's like this pool of blood has a heartbeat.



Svetlana Aliyev: Harpy's down! Oh, and I guess we should maybe take care of the trogs before the infantry show up eventually.



Mael Radec: Stop pretending you matter, throwers, you don't!



Svetlana Aliyev: Got 'em! Jesus, what kind of magic were they doing here that required this much blood? I hope we don't have to do the same to get our own magical weapons.
Erik Spanner: Not like we'll have any shortage of trog bodies for it.
Catherine Ulysses: Hang on, guys. I think I saw something moving in the blood.
Skull Face: Probably a trog hiding. Hey, maybe we can capture this one alive!
Patrick Gallagher: Wait, wait! There's a lot of somethings moving in the blood! And they're...



Catherine Ulysses: Oh, shit! There's gotta be at least a thousand of them!
Mael Radec: Everyone, pull back! We can't take on this many! We'll redeploy later!



It was quite a sight, I'm told, watching that still, dark field of blood suddenly begin to boil with movement, watching the slumped-over figures slowly emerge as far as the eye could see, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, the red trickling down their bodies until it revealed those unmistakable skeletal figures. They all faced the vehicle platoons, wading through the blood, slowly advancing on them. It wasn't much of a surprise that, faced with the sight, our forces chose to retreat.



We'd faced undead before, though, and we'd won. As soon as we'd withdrawn to Allied lines, I started drawing up plans for the next attack.



Even though said attack took place scant hours later, our intelligence agents managed to complete and deliver a report on the dark elves in the meantime. Their level of training and unwillingness to engage in drawn-out, casualty-heavy battles raised the question that they might have been the race responsible for carrying out the invasion of Earth, using orcs as their cannon fodder. They didn't seem to have the magical abilities of the leaders that had filtered to us through interrogations of orcs, though, so it was more likely that they were a more elite force carrying out the orders of the same masters.



With that out of the way, it was time to finish the job we'd started.

Mission 13b: Orc Recycling Center, Part Two

Attending:
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, Mortar Infantry)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Flamethrowers)
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Flamethrowers)
Logan "Hardtack" Smith (War Dogs, Commandos)
"Doctor" Snark (Confederacion, Heavy Infantry)
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 (Sphinx Battery, AMX 13)



According to our scouts, the undead had, for whatever reason, not seen fit to leave the temple area. This worked well for us, since it let us deploy right outside of it.



Ash Kleef: Oh, hey mags! You guys lost?
Bonaventura Ferrer: No, I think they just spotted us. Laz, Red, get those flamers ready.



Svetlana Aliyev: Don't think they'll be reporting our position anymore.
Hardtack: No, I think the screaming and gunfire did that for them.
Svetlana Aliyev: Look, this way the mags are dead. That's a plus in my book.



Ash Kleef: Undead incoming! ...Huh, that's weird. Some of those skeletons look too big to be human.
Lazarus: I don't care how big they are as long as they burn!



Ash Kleef: Four companies, it looks like. You guys can handle that, right?



Lazarus: I've got the fire! Who brought the marshmallows?



Erik Spanner: The only sustenance I need is the sweet taste of victory! And beer. Come to think of it, marshmallows sound good right about now, too.
Habitually Red: We'll have to grab some next time we liberate a Tesco.



Lazarus: That's the first batch dealt with. What's next?



Ash Kleef: It's mags.



Ash Kleef: Lots of mags.



Patrick Gallagher: Oh, good! I always like a nice breather round.



Ash Kleef: I'm afraid the breather's just about over. More undead, coming in!



Habitually Red: Pfft. Nothing we haven't dealt with before, and my aim's steadier than ever!




Habitually Red: That said, those are some pretty heavy numbers they're fielding.



Mael Radec: Nothing to do but light 'em up. Remember, only full unit kills count!



Erik Spanner: God damnit, we didn't get them all!



Solrick Skaft: Nononononononononono-



Lazarus: Relax, Sol! We're all still here. No one's run off.
GyverMac: We're getting swarmed, though. If we don't drop them fast, it's going to get ugly.



Anil E. Hilated: Then let's drop them fast. Which I'll do by dropping explosives fast. On their heads.



Erik Spanner: Well, that's better than I expected, but fuck if it's good enough!



Cholmondely: Keep a stiff upper lip, gents!



Cholmondely: Gyver, what did I just tell you?
GyverMac: FUCK YOU FUCK ME FUCK EVERYTHING AAAAAAA



Erik Spanner: ...Welp. Looks like I've got the only Piranha platoon that didn't get chased off by spooky scary skeletons.



Erik Spanner: Bona, you were supposted to take out the undead! Why'd you waste bullets on the mags?
Bonaventura Ferrer: Those hooks are nasty and they were getting too close. That's not the sort of thing we infantry can ignore. Besides, they die easier.



Erik Spanner: Damn it, not ag-




Hardtack: Well, there goes our last remaining IFV platoon, and the rest of our flamers. This isn't even dangerous! I can handle dangerous! This is just fucking annoying!



Cholmondely: I have to agree. We've got to ask HQ for more of those flamethrowers when we get the chance!



Lazarus: Good news, guys! It looks like we're all pretty much done with our mandatory period of running around like headless chickens. Let's mop up the rest.





With their one real advantage gone, the rest of the undead were quickly swept aside.



During the battle, our soldiers noticed that some of the undead they fought appeared to have been made from bodies to large to belong to humans. Agents sent in to look over the scene after the fact confirmed our suspicions - the enemy was converting the bodies of their own, killed in action, into skeleton soldiers. Given that orcs and ka-orcs were more dangerous dead than alive, if this area had remained in enemy hands, it would have made life quite difficult for us moving forward.



Once again, though, the Alliance had prevailed. This site ultimately proved a source of controversy - many bodies had been impaled or crucified, left to rot, hanging above fields of blood. As was usual, many wanted the bodies to be removed and taken elsewhere for a proper burial. The new magical research teams, however, wanted the site to remain undisturbed for as long as possible. The latter won for the time being, and with the matter settled, it was time to prepare for the battle that would drive the enemy out of the United Kingdom.