Part 42: Mission 43: Cleaning Up Other People's Messes Once Again
Shortly after our victory, we received word from General Malcolm on the northern front. It was ugly out there; the enemy had broken the psychic shroud keeping our movements a secret almost as soon as we'd set it up and the Alliance was paying for every mile it gained with lives and equipment it couldn't replace. We were winning on the main fronts, but they were proving to be Pyrrhic victories. It was becoming clearer by the day just how much hope Malcolm was placing on our success.
There was, however, some good news. After weeks of unverified rumors, the Orc General Ka-Tugrag formally announced his defection from the Forces of Darkness and extended an offer to fight by the Alliance's side. There were still many obstacles before we had any hope of integrating the Orc defectors - their inability to reach us at the moment, the Forces of Darkness pursuing them to kill them for treason, and anger and distrust over previous Orcish atrocities being the main ones. We would be taking steps to overcome these.
Not long after, we got a message that one of the recon groups searching for the Gate had been discovered while operating behind enemy lines. The Forces of Darkness were closing in on them, and before long, there would be nowhere left for them to run. Our task was to break them out and get them to safety, with the Colonel leading the regiment taking top priority.
Mission 43: Cleaning Up Other People's Messes Once Again
Attending:
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, 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, Hi-Tech Infantry)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Hi-Tech Infantry)
Gordon Frohman (Concerned Citizens, Hi-Tech Infantry)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Elmag 2)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Elmag 2)
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)
Reginald P. Linux (Doom Squad, Leopard 2A5)
Aethereon Darkfyre (The Mary Sues, UDES)
Stephen Smith (The Counts of Monty Python, UDES)
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, M106)
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, Roland)
Sigrún Raske (Skysmasher Brigade, Roland)
Roger Murtaugh (Less Than Lethal, Roland)
Billy Mays (Infomercial Men, Mi-24)
Bob & Doug McKenzie (Royal Canadian Red-greens, Mi-24)
Ragna T. Bloodedge (The Black Beasts, Humvees)
Vlasta Děvínská (Paper Tigers, Universal 2R)
We only had a rough idea of where the recon unit was, so we'd have to search the area for them. The choppers took the north.
Darkfyre and Ragna went looking to the east.
Vlasta found a hill to the northeast and, covered by Smith, did a sweep with his radar.
Radec gave the order early on for everyone to keep up with the scouts. When we found the Colonel, we wanted to be absolutely sure we had the firepower to take out the enemy before they could kill him.
Vlasta Děvínská: Enemy contact confirmed. Just some AT Orcs, it looks like.
Aethereon Darkfyre: Our recon duty has been interrupted by death, gliding toward us on silent wings.
Sigrún Raske: That's how we deal with winged things around here! Even if they're currently on the ground.
Anil E. Hilated: We've started bombing the hill. You know the drill, people! Inch forward 'til you find the enemy, then flatten 'em!
Bob McKenzie: Enemy's abandoned their position and is charging! We're taking Stinger fire!
Doug McKenzie: ...Ka-Orcs? I didn't even think the enemy still fielded those. Shen Tzu running out of rockets or something?
Reginald P. Linux: Let's teach them not to bring axes to a gunfight! Not that even guns are doing them much good.
Anil E. Hilated: Shit, no! My Paladin's not meant to take fire! Find out where it's coming from!
Vlasta Děvínská: ...Oh, shit.
Anil E. Hilated: Take out the Mammoth first! The Trogs will have to cover more distance before they can hit us, but that Mammoth can hit our artillery right fucking now!
Michael de Boulogne: I'm afraid my battery's the only other one that can hit it at this range. These damned Mammoths can shoot farther than we can.
Basil: Tanks to the rescue!
Basil: Alright, guys, a bit of backup so I don't get shot by thousands of rockets?
Michael de Boulogne: Don't worry, Basil, they're shooting at me instead!
Solaus: Those who attack the Crusade must answer to the Inquisition!
Joe Moore: How considerate, they brought enough targets for everyone!
"Doctor" Snark: Let's just hope we don't have too many extras.
Solrick Skaft: They won't at the rate we're going!
Doug McKenzie: Looks like we've just about got 'em.
Basil: I don't think so, there's too much rocket fire for that!
Lazarus: Son of a bitch! A few feet closer, and me and my whole unit would've been dead!
Mael Radec: Fall back and get patched up, Lazarus. We've got things covered here.
Billy Mays: OUR HINDS WILL CLEAN UP ALL THE ORCS YOU CAN'T REACH, GUARANTEED!
Billy Mays: WE, UM... JUST...
Billy Mays: ...NEED A MOMENT TO WORK OUR MAGIC!
Mael Radec: We don't have a moment, Billy! We've got to find the Colonel!
Solaus: Just cleaned out a few stragglers to the east. Let's fan out and keep looking.
Bob McKenzie: Found a few houses to the east. No sign of friendly or enemy contact, though.
Vlasta Děvínská: Now that we've taken this hill, let's see what we can find from here.
Vlasta Děvínská: We've got eyes on the colonel! He and his commandos are surrounded and pinned down!
Mael Radec: Damnit! What's the enemy strength?
Vlasta Děvínská: Just a few orc companies carrying small arms, it looks like. They won't be a problem, but we've gotta take 'em out fast.
Michael de Boulogne: Alright, just tell the Colonel to run in the direction the shower of shells is coming from!
Doug McKenzie: No need for that. Just cleared out the last ones. The Colonel could take a leisurely stroll back to our lines at this point.
Colonel: I'd rather not run the risk. I'm sure you can spare a few tanks to screen ahead for me.
Svetlana Aliyev: Colonel's got a point. Be a shame to come all this way and get him killed by being careless.
Roger Murtaugh: Don't worry about him, worry about us! Taking Tower fire!
Cholmondely: Hm. Magotars may be flyers, but they're not exactly flying at the moment. I'm afraid this isn't my department.
Jorji Costava: They build towers, but we knock down!
Ragna T. Bloodedge: Found the rest of 'em, and they've got plenty of anti-tank weapons to spare.
Patrick Gallagher: Won't matter if they don't get a chance to fire them!
Erik Spanner: We made it through all that bullshit in the desert, we can handle this!
Habitually Red: You act like none of us died in the desert.
Erik Spanner: We didn't have MBTs in the desert, and they had more golems.
Jorji Costava: Is like bowling!
Svetlana Aliyev: I don't know what kind of bowling you have back in Cobrastan, but here, the pins don't fucking shoot at you!
Svetlana Aliyev: Gonna have to leave the rest up to you guys.
Lazarus: SURPRISE FUCKERS. Guess who's back in action!
Mael Radec: Okay, path's clear! Let's go!
Colonel: Hm. So, that's what it's like to see the Drunken Slavs in action. You're an... interesting bunch, but you sure get shit done.
Gordon Frohman: Yeah, we get that a lot.
With two victories attained with only minimal losses, our campaign in China had gotten to a strong start. Once we'd gotten him back to base, the Colonel informed us of something his unit had discovered before coming under attack. A battallion of orcs was acting independently in the area, raiding farms and Shen Tzu's weapon stores. Based on their behavior, there was a good chance that they were Ka-Tugrag's troops. This could be our first chance to meet with Orc defectors.