Part 20: Mission 20: Stones And Bones

With the golems being our greatest threat, they'd become a research priority. Unfortunately, we didn't learn much about them. The fact remained that we had no real counter to golems, and the only strategy that consistently worked was to draw them out to where our armored vehicles could engage them with superior numbers.



It was now time to begin our sweep that would, with luck, drive the Forces of Darkness out of the Middle East. Our first target was an area to the north, where recon teams determined that the enemy was gathering their dead. Knowing that the Forces of Darkness were capable of reanimating corpses, we had every reason to believe they'd be using the site to summon undead reinforcements against us.

Mission 20: Stones And Bones

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)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, Piranha)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Elmag 1)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Elmag 1)
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)



The team came in from the southeast, near a gorge. Ash's squad went to the west, while Catherine's drove over the land bridge to scope out the opposite side.



A few dunes over, Ash spotted something that prompted him to call up the anti-infantry crew.



Solrick Skaft: Man, it feels good to finally go out and get some exercise. I was getting tired of being the Plan B.
Habitually Red: I know, right? It's everything we could want!



Habitually Red: Ow! Actually, less sand would be nice.



Habitually Red: Can't do anything about that, but we can make it so there's less mri!



Lazarus: They might live in the desert, but they sure can't handle this heat!



Svetlana Aliyev: They can't handle my balls, either!



Patrick Gallagher: Damnit, Svet, save some for me! I wanna hit their ugly lizard faces with my balls, too!
Svetlana Aliyev: Relax, Pat, you'll get your chance. We're the only ones in the division with balls, after all!



Ash Kleef: Are you two done? Because I'm under fucking attack here!



Patrick Gallagher: Now we are. What's next?
Ash Kleef: I saw another land bridge to the north. There's not much room for anything else to hide on this side of the canyon, so I'm going to cross it and have a look.




Ash Kleef: Yep, there they are. Mostly cannon fodder, but with a couple mri and golems mixed in.
Solaus: We'd better hold off on engaging with them, then. We don't have anything with us that'll work well against golems.



Ash Kleef: Too late, they saw me!
Anil E. Hilated: Shit! You guys in the tanks, hurry over here! We've got golems en route!



Griff: Sit tight, we're on our way!



Basil: Hey, you guys said there were golems. Where's the golems?
Erik Spanner: Hey, a lack of golems is nothing to complain about.



Erik Spanner: Oh hey, here come the meatshields!




Mael Radec: Meatshields are kind of pointless when they're not shielding anything.
Amina: Trogs are just pointless full-stop.



Ash Kleef: Undead confirmed! They're on the other side of the ravine, though. They look confused.
Solrick Skaft: Alright, Ash, keep eyes on 'em. We'll swing by and-



Solrick Skaft: Where the fuck did you come from?



Catherine Ulysses: Enemy's spotted me! Confirmed golems, mri, ka-orcs, undead! I'm under heavy fire, retreating south!



Habitually Red: So, those ka-orcs Skaft toasted. They somehow came up from behind us, meaning there's probably some enemy presence left on this side of the ravine?
Mael Radec: Uh huh.
Habitually Red: And Cathy, who went north from the staging area, is fleeing south from a large, well-armed enemy force?
Mael Radec: Uh huh.
Habitually Red: So that means an absolute multiple enemy units are likely headed toward the staging area, possibly from both sides, and the staging area is where...



Mael Radec: Exactly. Everyone back there, and haul ass!



Habitually Red: Just a bit further! We're gonna make it! Sit tight, guys!



Bonaventura Ferrer: Oh, thank God, you got here in time. We dug ourselves in, but there's no way we could've held off a force that size.
Catherine Ulysses: Hey, guys?
Anil E. Hilated: Well, it looks like luck was on our side this time.
Catherine Ulysses: Guys?
Hardtack: Better get ready to fight off the incoming hordes, then?



Catherine Ulysses: GUYS. The trogs are just standing there scratching their asses. They've been doing that since, like, ten seconds after I sent my last transmission. I think they lost sight of me.
Solrick Skaft: God damnit. I got a stitch in my side from sprinting across the desert for nothing because trogs are too stupid to have object permanence?




Catherine Ulysses: OKAY I LURED THEM OUT YOU'RE WELCOME.



"Doctor" Snark: Not much of a challenge, though.



Svetlana Aliyev: They're hitting us from both bridges!



Lazarus: Waiiiiiiit don't forget us!
Griff: Laz, where the hell were you?
Lazarus: Oh, we were here the whole time. We just kind of forgot to move until now.
Griff: Forgot to... what? How the fuck do you forget to move?
Lazarus: I dunno, it's the weirdest thing. Like for just a few moments, we started paying so much attention to the battle over there that we forgot to do anything ourselves.



Solaus: Laz, I have no idea what you're talking about, but just... keep doing what you're doing. West bridge is clear.



Amina: Next group's coming up! Doesn't look like they'll be a challenge though.



Joe Moore: Okay, that just leaves the bonies!



Habitually Red: And we know how to deal with them!



Doctor Snark: They broke through! Need supporting fire here!



Patrick Gallagher: Damn, the Elmag does a pretty nice job of chewing up undead, too. Shatters 'em like clay pots!




Erik Spanner: Fuck, the golems!



Doctor Snark: Finally, a real challenge.




Anil E. Hilated: Okay, Mri down. You've got a straight shot at the golems!



Amina: Thanks, Anil. Bridge is clear.



Bonaventura Ferrer: Damn. Why couldn't my rockets have just a bit more range?



Patrick Gallagher: Maybe you should ask Command to whip you up some magic ones, Bona. Seriously, this gun rocks.
Mael Radec: Okay, I think we're d-



Mael Radec: Taking fire!
Griff: Weird. Why was that one trailing behind the others?
Lazarus: Maybe he forgot to move, too?



Basil: Guess we'll never know.




The undead here hadn't proved as dangerous as they had in the previous theater - their guard units were more of a threat than they were. However, their numbers were also much lower than they'd been in the United Kingdom, with most of the corpses that had been brought here not having been raised yet. Most likely, we'd disrupted the enemy's necromancy operations before they'd had time to raise many. There was no time to dwell on it, though. We needed to keep up the momentum of our attack. As soon as we'd resupplied, we'd push further north.