Part 18: Mission 18: Two Words Combined That Can't Make Sense

Ever since we arrived in Saudi Arabia, our division had been plagued by unpleasant surprises and high casualties. Finally, though, there was good news to report. After many coffee-fueled late nights by the engineering team, the first coilgun tank prototypes had been cleared for field testing.




The Elmag 1 was the result of a successful coilgun prototype with an integrated high-efficiency battery fitted to the chassis of a Marder. The coilgun could propel 5mm tungsten balls at mach 3 with a high rate of fire, making for a potent weapon in many respect. With such small munitions, the Elmag 1 could carry a very large ammo supply, making it suitable for extended firefights. The projectiles themselves proved to be one of our most effective anti-personnel weapons at the time, second only to flamethrowers. Propelled at such high speeds, they could be thrown at long ranges, each ball punching through multiple infantry (even heavily armored ka-orcs) without stopping. The resultant wounds were almost always sufficient to maim or kill.

The coilgun didn't perform as well as conventional cannons against vehicles, though it was still a serviceable anti-armor weapon. While it could usually penetrate, there was only so much damage a half-centimeter metal ball, even one going several times the speed of sound, could inflict on a large target like a golem or ballista. Its high projectile velocity also made it useful as an improvised anti-aircraft gun, though not as effective as the AMX-13s already in service.

The Elmag also underwent a few additional modifications, most noticeably the replacement of its diesel engine with an electric motor. With magical means of energy storage now available to us, the technology had become viable in military vehicles for the first time, and it would make us less vulnerable to oil shortages if the enemy successfully struck our fields or refineries in the future.



A high-caliber variant of the coilgun, called the Tyrian, was developed to be mounted on tanks. It proved highly destructive compared to conventional cannons, but a number of design compromises that were necessary to scale up the design left it with a lower effective range. With the enemy already outranging our tanks, and engine technology not currently a research priority, fitting Tyrians onto our TAMs would mean giving the enemy an uncomfortably wide window to hit us before we got close enough to fire back.




It did nicely kickstart our research on new cannon technology, though. Plans were already underway to develop a larger-caliber version of the TAM's main cannon.



Sadly, these promising new advances wouldn't come in time for the next mission. The Forces of Darkness knew their hold on the western part of the theater had been broken, and they were stepping up their timetable before we drove them out completely. There was one particular town to the northwest that multiple enemy units had been spotted converging towards. The location itself wasn't strategically important, which meant that, most likely, they were making a run for magical sacrifice victims. Our job was to make sure they didn't get any.

Mission 18: Two Words Combined That Can't Make Sense

Attending:
Joe Moore (War Boys, Mortar Infantry)
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Flamethrowers)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Flamethrowers)
Solrick Skaft (Scion of Emer, Flamethrowers)
Bonaventura Ferrer (Confederacion, Heavy Infantry)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Commandos)
Logan "Hardtack" Smith (War Dogs, Commandos)
Amina (Les Amazones, Piranha)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Piranha)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Piranha)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, Piranha)
James "Griff" Griffin (Party Crashers, TAM)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, TAM)
Basil (Paladin, STRV)
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, M106)
Grand Inquisitor Solaus (Balkanian Inquisition, M106)
Ash Kleef (Ashsavers, Humvee)
Catherine Ulysses (Smart Patrol, Humvee)



Initial reports seemed promising. According to Military Intelligence, the enemy force seemed hastily assembled, mostly comprised of ka-orcs with a handful of elves. Such a group would likely be unable to cope with a lightning attack by armored forces.



It didn't take Ash long to find them - almost as soon as he was across the gorge, the ka-orcs and elves were on him.



Against the Forces of Darkness, scouting was always a dangerous mission, even under favorable conditions. Luckily, Ash managed to limp back in time.



The others brought up covering fire from the rear.




Once the tanks and IFVs rolled up, the enemy's attack fell apart quickly. Against the improved armor of the TAMs and STRVs, even the elves' arrows plinked off harmlessly, and the vehicles' guns devastated the enemy ranks. It looked like it was going to be an easy rout, until...



Svetlana Aliyev: Incoming fire, ballista!



Mael Radec: Nothing we can't handle. Let's just roll up and-



Griff: Wait wait wait, hold the fucking phone. What is that, and why didn't the briefing say anything about it?
Hardtack: Maybe no one saw it before now?



Griff: You don't think anyone saw the giant fucking mobile gun tower before us?
Habitually Red: Maybe they were holding it back, to keep it a surprise?
"Doctor" Snark: Wherever it came from, the enemy's clearly stepping up their game. These are the first guns we've seen them use, and I don't see any room for galley rollers. I think it's self-propelled.



Basil: Let's find out what we're up against.



Erik Spanner: Bastard's tough to crack! Looks like the trogs learned about engineering.



Amina: It looks like they're running away! The keebs are covering their retreat!



Erik Spanner: Correction, trying to. Well, not even trying now. They're too dead for that.



Svetlana Aliyev: Keep pounding 'em! About half the towers are smashed to pieces or on fire! Their third-rate knockoffs can't stand up to real tanks!



Patrick Gallagher: Towers down! I hope they cost 'em a fortune.
Bonaventura Ferrer: If they did, they wasted their money. Those things aren't half as dangerous as golems.




Catherine Ulysses: Got eyes on the town, guys. We've got ka-orc raiders! They must've gotten here while the others tied us up in the southeast. Doesn't look like they captured anyone yet.



Svetlana Aliyev: And they won't.



Solaus: I think that just about wraps things up here. Let's head west and see if there's any more.



Patrick Gallagher: Elves sighted!



Patrick Gallagher: Mri, um, felt! And it hurts like shit!



Patrick Gallagher: And, well, that's just anticlimactic.



Mael Radec: Okay, everyone knows what to do, right?
Patrick Gallagher: Sure do! Everyone shoot the mri!



Basil: Sorry, I'm too far away for that. Besides, someone's gotta play goalkeeper for the artillery.



Griff: I suppose the elves could use some softening up t-



Amina: Holy shit, Griff. You putting hollowpoints in that thing?
Griff: Nope, just my skill.



Erik Spanner: Lizards are almost dead too, I'm gonna go ahead and finish 'em.



Erik Spanner: Oh, come the fuck on!



Erik Spanner: Shit, they're running away!
Lazarus: Big deal, there's what, three left?



Ash Kleef: ...Maybe a few more than that.



Ash Kleef: Oh yeah, and bonus golems.



Basil: Wasn't this supposed to be a scraped-together light infantry force? Where the hell did all these guys come from?



Patrick Gallagher: I think Intel screwed the pooch.
Basil: Well shit. What do we do, then?
Mael Radec: We win anyway to spite them!




Patrick Gallagher: I swear to God, I never want to see sand again for the rest of my life!



Anil E. Hilated: Jesus, they came out of nowhere, I think it's an ambush! All anti-vehicle units, too.



Amina: It won't save them!



Basil: Amina's right! The only real threat's the golems! It only looks like they were only able to gather one platoon of those.



Anil E. Hilated: Killed the last mir for you guys! Maybe you could return the favor and get these ka-orcs off us? I know they aren't scary to you guys, but these M106s aren't meant to take hits.



Svetlana Aliyev: Kinda distracted here!



Anil E. Hilated: Fine. I'll keep covering you, though. It's not like we need protection or anything.
Erik Spanner: Anil, you're supposed to be Polite Obliteration, not Passive-Aggressive Obliteration.
Anil E. Hilated: Hey, it's called "Polite Obliteration," not "Politeness and Obliteration." I only have to be polite to those I obliterate.



Mael Radec: Fifth or sixth volley, and half of those golems are still standing. I'll celebrate the day we're rid of them forever.



Griff: I won't, because that'll mean they've been replaced with something worse. At least this bunch is down.



Svetlana Aliyev: And that's the last elf dealt with.
Joe Moore: Huh. That was a little anticlimactic after, honestly, after the shit we went through to save Major Davidson. Even with the unexpected golems and gun towers.
Solrick Skaft: As someone who's caught arrows, sand, and energy blasts with his face, I'll take anticlimactic any day of the week.



Despite the resistance being much heavier than expected, we managed to liberate the town with minimal civilian and military casualties. We'd rescued five thousand people from an enemy prepared to butcher them like cattle. With the Forces of Darkness retreating on this part of the front, the town was in no further immediate danger. At long last, we had some breathing room - time to bolster our forces without a looming countdown forcing our hand. Hopefully, the town would be able and willing to provide volunteers and intelligence to assist in this.

The question of how we'd gotten faulty intelligence lingered, though. It wasn't unreasonable to think that our recon team had simply been unable to sight the golems and mri, and been mistaken about the numbers of dark elves. On the other hand, the net result of all of the errors - and in fact, the result of almost every individual error - was that our tanks and IFVs were led into a situation that was much more dangerous than it had initially appeared. With the revelation of traitors in Command, and the overwhelming success of our armored forces against the enemy, it seemed all-too-plausible that someone somewhere along the line had deliberately given us bad information.