Part 29: Mission 30: Fireballs Can Melt Steel Tanks

The moment we'd been dreading had come. The enemy was throwing everything they had against us. If we won here, we'd stop their assault cold. If we lost, there would be no one left to stop them from overrunning all of Russia.

Mission 30: Fireballs Can Melt Steel Tanks

Attending:
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Flamethrowers)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Flamethrowers)
Solrick Skaft (Scion of Emer, Flamethrowers)
T. Hinman (Ethereal Corps, Flamethrowers)
Logan "Hardtack" Smith (War Dogs, Paranormal Infantry)
Joe Moore (War Boys, Paranormal Infantry)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Commandos)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Elmag 1)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Elmag 1)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, M1 Abrams)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, M1 Abrams)
James "Griff" Griffin (Party Crashers, M1 Abrams)
Basil (Paladin, M1 Abrams)
Jorji Costava (Cobrastan's Best, M1 Abrams)
Isara Gunther (Edelweiss, M1 Abrams)
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, AMX-30)
Grand Inquisitor Solaus (Balkanian Inquisition, AMX-30)
Gregor (The Swell Swords, AMX-30)
Michael de Boulogne (Chivalric Order of Saint George, AMX-30)
Cholmondely Featherstonehaugh-Smythe (Sphinx Battery, Gepard)
Billy John (The Truther Squad, Gepard)

Auxiliaries:
Viking (STRV)

Our losses on this front having been heavier than expected, we were forced to call up reserve troops to supplement our numbers. Our best candidate was an STRV platoon from Norway.




Hardtack: Get ready, everyone. As soon as they find us, all hell's gonna break loose.



Mael Radec: I guess they can't teleport anywhere closeby, though. Should give us the chance to catch them on the landbridge.
Solaus: Except the ones that can move through the forest.
Erik Spanner: Which now include MOTHERFUCKING GHOSTS.
Solrick Skaft: Eh, we've killed 'em before, we can kill 'em again.



Patrick Gallagher: What the hell? Anyone else see that?



Joe Moore: You mean the Satanic-looking blimp?
Habitually Red: A satanic-looking blimp, huh? I saw one of those in a movie once.
Isara Gunther: I guess seeing our aircraft gave them some ideas. Chol, Billy, can you shoot it down?
Cholmondely: I'm afraid not, Isara. The old boy's already out of my range and it just turned tail.
Mael Radec: Probably a recon aircraft, then. Everyone get ready, they'll probably head right for us now.




Michael de Boulogne: That wasn't so bad.




Isara Gunther: Mother of fuck, that was another wizard!
Mael Radec: Find it and take it out! They don't have a lot of those to spare! Every one we kill is a blow they can't recover from!
Isara Gunther: Trust me, I don't need the additional incentive.



Jorji Costava: Magic man is there! I fill him with many bullets!




Solaus: Kill goes to me!
"Doctor" Snark: I've really gotta live up to my title sometime. Whenever they finally get the new battlesuits working, I've got first dibs.



Billy John: I wonder if those blimps are any scarier than harpies are.



Gregor: Gregor's gun not good against ghosts! Need help from fire-shooters!
Lazarus: Sorry, no can do. It's out of our range.



Michael de Boulogne: Then you need to get closer, because they're tearing us up here!




Joe Moore: God damnit! Where do these things come from, and how does the enemy get so many?



Jorji Costava: Is good thing I find rock cubes first!




T. Hinman: We're burning away the ghosts now, but we won't be able to kill them all. Keep the fragile vehicles guarded.




Anil E. Hilated: We'll just have to focus on what we can kill.



"Doctor" Snark: I'm literally shooting fog. It doesn't feel like it should work, but I just dropped one! It's nice to know that, sometimes, bullshit physics works both ways.



Michael de Boulogne: I'm trying not to be an asshole but would someone with actual armor please get between me and these things?



Solrick Skaft: We'll do better than that!




Griff: We've got golems trapped on the bridge! If we can just keep blasting them apart there, they'll never get in a position to do real damage!



Erik Spanner: Just finished a lead exorcism here.




Svetlana Aliyev: Persistent bastards, aren't they?



Mael Radec: They are, but it doesn't matter when they're dead.



Solaus: More motherfucking ghosts!
Basil: At least it's only one. We can handle that no problem!



Basil: God damnit.




Habitually Red: Nothing to do but burn 'em away!




Patrick Gallagher: Damn, almost!
Solrick Skaft: Well, we almost got 'em. One more good flame salvo and this place'll be ghost free.



Isara Gunther: Jesus. At this rate, before long we'll have killed more ghosts than people who've ever died.




Lazarus: Let them come.



Svetlana Aliyev: They won't win the world. They weren't ready for Russia.



Svetlana Aliyev: Sounds like things are all quiet now.
Billy John: That can't have been the last of them, though. There were a lot of them, but not enough to crush all the other divisions.
Mael Radec: Then we'll look for them. Griff, Erik, follow me, and be on the lookout. If you spot the enemy, don't get drawn into a fight. We're on recon.



Erik Spanner: Given the life expectancy of our scouts, I'm not really optimistic about this.
Griff: Our other scouts didn't have sloped Evadit armor. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.



Griff: Contact!



Erik Spanner: Not much to it, though. Hey, didn't we see stray skellies the last time? We should probably look for the source again.




Griff: Ow! Shit!
Mael Radec: Griff! What happened?
Griff: Some kind of fireball hit one of my tanks, and it's literally fucking hot enough it's melting armor off!



Griff: And I think I just found the fucker that threw it!



Erik Spanner: They look kind of like wolf riders, except dangerous. Let's get the hell out of here and back to where our artillery can paste it.



Griff: These assholes aren't making it easy!



Mael Radec: More of them! These must be part of a second wave!



Erik Spanner: And they're all fucking shooting me! Did the gearheads put magic magnets in my tanks or something?



Griff: There we go! The riders are dangerous, but I don't think they'll be able to kill any of us off without the golems' support.




Erik Spanner: Are you sure about that, Griff?
Griff: Shut up! Keep driving!




Mael Radec: There. However strong these things might be, they won't be able to stand against our entire division. Wait until they come into range, then hit them with everything you've got!



Jorji Costava: Whoa, is too hot for me!



"Doctor" Snark: What the hell? It just kind of... grew out of the crystals!
Mael Radec: Some kind of teleportation? They were only supposed to be able to do that through the gates!
Basil: At least it looks like it's only short-range.



Solaus: Less talking, more shooting!





Gregor: Not even the hottest fire can stop Gregor's guns!



Patrick Gallagher: All right. Let's get out there and hunt down the rest!



Svetlana Aliyev: There they are!




Patrick Gallagher: Keep going, guys! We can handle this!





Basil: We've got 'em on the run! Keep pushing!



Svetlana Aliyev: That's not gonna save you, asshole!




Mael Radec: We're through. Now, let's keep pushing forward and-
Griff: Hey, Mael?



Griff: That look familiar to you?
Isara Gunther: Isn't that the thing our artillery blew up before we could get a good look at last time?



Griff: Exactly what I was thinking. Looks like a skeleton in a huge robe, and just like last time, it was hanging around isolated packs of undead.
Erik Spanner: In other words, these are the chucklefucks making the skeleton armies.
Griff: Looks that way!



Svetlana Aliyev: Ow, shit, watch out! Making zombies isn't all they can do!



Mael Radec: Looks like it's been busy. More undead bearing down on us!



Basil: They're not so tough once you root 'em out!




Mael Radec: Alright. We're moving.
Svetlana Aliyev: Hold up!



Svetlana Aliyev: We'd probably better do something about those first.
Mael Radec: Billy, Chol, get over here. Everyone else, start shooting! We won't be able to slip past them, and running away will only take us deeper into enemy territory!




Basil: Damn it. We're going to get screamed, aren't we?



Griff: More skellies? They've gotta have another one of those robe skellies around here somewhere.



Patrick Gallagher: Isara's been screamed!
Erik Spanner: Most of us've been there before. Keep shooting!



Griff: Say, where's our AA?



Billy John: We're gonna be a minute! We've got eyes on the blimp!



Svetlana Aliyev: Eh, we got 'em anyway.




Cholmondely: We've given their dirigible the old what-for!
Billy John: The whole damn thing exploded in midair! They must've used hydrogen in it!



Isara Gunther: Good to know they're not a serious threat right now. Hopefully they don't wise up too quickly.



Erik Spanner: Looks like we found our next practice targets!




Griff: They're really hitting the dregs of their forces, aren't they?



Basil: Don't be too sure, Griff. We've lost vehicles to elves and golems before.




Patrick Gallagher: You know, they might've had better luck if they threw everything they had at us. It's pretty stupid of them to charge and leave half their forces behind.
Svetlana Aliyev: What're our artillery and infantry doing right now?
Patrick Gallagher: Hey, we have tanks.





Jorji Costava: We raise flag here again, yes?



Erik Spanner: Not 'til we take care of the loose end.





Basil: We got 'em! We got 'em! They threw the worst they had at us, and we're still standing!
Mael Radec: No time to sit around and enjoy it, though. Everyone, pull back for resupply! As soon as we're done, we're pushing north.



The onslaught was over. The Drunken Slavs had taken losses, but we had prevailed. We'd been drawn into a bloody war of attrition with the enemy, and we inflicted such terrible losses on them that even their vast reserves of soldiers were running dry - at least, on this front. There was always the danger of them portaling in reinforcements. But for now, we'd bled them white, and if we acted quickly, we'd be ready to make the push that would drive them back out of Russia.