Part 51: Mission 51: Welcome to the Jungle
anilEhilated posted:
(cut to some hills, dramatic music plays)
Narrator: The are of our latest operation is completely under the control of Forces of Darkness. There has been absolutely no contact with it ever since the invasion started. First recon missions are show that the geography has changed: geologists talk about unbelievably fast movement in the planet's layers. As for the cause, we can only speculate: the most common hypothesis is that the landscape has been subjected to a prolonged exposure to magic. The important thing is we're treading into the unknown here, terra incognita. This means we need to move with the utmost care as the uncharted teritorry is sure to contain new threats.
(cut to the general)
Malcolm: "You've probably already seen the reports from geologists and recon crews. They urge caution and slow advancement, but we know better now. There's only one thing that can help us: Attack! Attack! Attack!****
The fall of one of gates has shocked the enemy. Ever since Ka-Tugrag joined up, our intelligence from the battlefield has improved considerably and the information we are getting is good: enemy chain of command was thrown into disarray and in some places we even have wizards turning against each other. Let's be realistic, though: the resistance we face somehow still keeps getting stronger. New units keep assaulting us and even with the orcs' help we cannot hold them for any meaningful amount of time. It's time to seize another portal.
It should come as no surprise that the HQ selected you to lead this offensive. This time we don't have to pretend anything, we'll hit them from the front.
Forces of Darkness still have new tricks up their sleeves. There are rumors of flying demons and harpy nests. Skeptics among our experts on the paranormal***** speak about Dragoth not having absorbed enough of the land's power, which led to him not having enough magic to turn the battle to his favor, but these lands are ruled by the great bloody Medusa******, estimated to be the second most powerful gate lord on Earth. Her personal guard consists of the dreaded Order of Death knights, she had plenty of time to prepare her defenses: if we hesitate for too long, she'll open the gate and call for even more reinforcements. And she has access to magic that can shift the earth and create landscape according to her whims - if she turns this power against us, it'll be horrible. We have no choice, though: losing this fight is simply unacceptable.
**** Literally. It sounds pretty silly and he sounds pretty damn unhinged.
***** And ain't that phrase a thing of beauty.
****** Or a jellyfish. Same word, I'm afraid.
With Ka-Tugrag and his followers now safely in Alliance territory, a new problem presented itself. Despite their contributions to the battle for the first Gate, few trusted them. Even fewer forgave them for their role in the initial invasion. The Alliance decided that the best option was to establish an orcish state. Having had many of their citizens and soldiers saved by the orcish defectors, China was most amenable to transfer control a small amount of territory for the creation of this new nation. They agreed to cede a portion of Qinghai to the orcs in exchange for promises of significant territorial gains from Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and other nearby BFS countries once the Alliance successfully occupied them.
That was something for the Alliance bureaucrats to worry about, though. The Drunken Slavs had their next assignment, and it was to capture the Gate nestled in the jungles of Congo.
We would be facing stiffer resistance and provided with less support than in our China mission. Congo had been one of the first countries to be overrun, having been occupied by the Forces of Darkness since the first weeks of the war. It wasn't difficult to imagine why; the Gate in Chinese territory had resulted in that country's eventual downfall, and it had had one of the largest and best-equipped armies in the world.
Congo's early fall, and the inability of the Alliance to carry out any relief efforts earlier, meant that the state of the country was almost completely unknown. We knew that the enemy would be present in large numbers, and we knew that they'd doubtless inflicted horrors on the civilian population, but we were otherwise going in blind.
General Malcolm's forces paved the way for our entry, capturing the seaport of Matadi so that the Drunken Slavs could disembark there. The safety of the seaport and the surrounding area was reasonably well assured, but as soon as we started pushing for the Gate, we'd be plunging into the unknown.
I received my promotion not long after disembarking, now outranked only by Supreme Commander Malcolm.
The Drunken Slavs had taken significant losses when we captured the Gate, so the first thing I did was naturally to requisition additional units. Two tank platoons to replace the ones we'd lost, a Universal 2R so that we could have one to pair with each UDES, and an MLRS because rocket artillery had proven instrumental to our success in China.
General Malcolm also transferred some of the units that had participated in the battle of Matadi to my division. They'd be staying on the back line. More importantly, the Alliance was working fast to track down Murdanur, the last Gate Master.
Meanwhile, our examination of the remains of Fortresses of Terror had finally paid off. Many of the Fortress' key defensive walls were composed of a metal our scientists had never encountered before. Denser than uranium, its presence explained the Fortress' extreme resilience. Attempts to salvage this metal for use in our own vehicles failed, however, because it was difficult to cut by any means and it would combust before it became hot enough to weld. Luckily, the Forces of Darkness' ignorance of concepts such as sloped and reactive armor prevented them from taking full advantage of this metal.
That, however, wasn't our most important discovery. The wreck of one of the Fortresses had a nearly intact central engine, containing enough magical residue that we could discern its mechanism of operation. We were only able to get something a fraction as efficient as the original spell, but modern engineering made up the difference, and the result was an Archotral engine efficient enough to complete an Alliance project that had been a long time in the making.
The day after our arrival in Congo, the first prototype of the Destructor Superheavy Tank entered the testing fields. The project was being carried out with the utmost secrecy; I wasn't even aware the prototype was in progress until its completion, and what little I gleaned of its performance, I learned through unofficial channels. The boys and girls from the proving ground sounded very excited, though.
We had a job to do, though. During the liberation of Matadi, Alliance forces rescued a Congolese computer scientist who had worked at one of their radar bases before the invasion. With Congo having fallen so quickly, there was a chance the Forces of Darkness hadn't felt the need to take the time to destroy the radar base. They'd likely change their minds now that we were in a position to retake it. The Alliance had some bombers in the area from the attack on Matadi, and if we could that that radar running again, it could give us data we could use to carry out airstrikes against key enemy positions.
Our new tank platoons would not be participating in this mission. We hadn't had time to refit them with improved loadouts, and against what we were facing, they wouldn't be viable frontline units without them.
Mission 51: Welcome to the Jungle
Attending:
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Mobile Infantry)
T. Hinman (Ethereal Corps, Mobile Infantry)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Mobile Infantry)
Gordon Frohman (Concerned Citizens, Mobile Infantry)
Solrick Skaft (Scion of Emer, Mobile Infantry)
Joe Moore (War Boys, Mobile Infantry)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Mobile Infantry)
Emil Västerström (Trollhunters, Mobile 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)
Reginald P. Linux (Doom Squad, Leopard 2A5)
Aethereon Darkfyre (The Mary Sues, UDES)
Stephen Smith (The Counts of Monty Python, UDES)
Grand Inquisitor Solaus (Balkanian Inquisition, MLRS)
Michael de Boulogne (Chivalric Order of Saint George, MLRS)
Gregor (The Swell Swords, MLRS)
Pusher Bot (The Space Robots, MLRS)
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, M106)
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)
Vlasta Devínská (Paper Tigers, Universal 2R)
Mr. Spooks (Ghost Legion, Universal 2R)
Auxiliaries:
Nsonowa Ihejirika (Specialists)
Mael Radec: Make sure your boots are laced, people. We've got a nice, long hike through the jungle ahead of us.
Mr. Spooks: Southwest is a dead end, it looks like. No way we're getting through all these trees.
Aethereon Darkfyre: A barrage of missiles rains down on me?
Vlasta Devínská: Wait, missiles? My radar's picking those up as arrows.
Aethereon Darkfyre: Arrows are a kind of missile if you use the right definition.
Vlasta Devínská: Whatever. Anyway, found our culprits. Let's light 'em up.
Bob McKenzie: Something nice and easy to unwind with after that last mission, eh?
Aethereon Darkfyre: The cowards are using a Mammoth to hit me from afar!
Vlasta Devínská: Oh hey, they brought back the suicide bomber birds.
Billy Mays: BUT WHAT THEY DON'T REALIZE IS THAT THE DRUNKEN SLAVS HAVE THE BEST AIR DEFENSES YOU COULD ASK FOR! NOTHING GETS THROUGH, GUARANTEED!
Vlasta Devínská: Oh God, no! Why can't R&D give us a radar system that outranges the enemy's weapons?
Patrick Gallagher: There's the Mammoth! Let's take it out!
Joe Moore: Nothing to it. They may have range going for them, but that's all.
Stephen Smith: More elves up here.
Gregor: And orcs!
Solaus: But it's all easy pickings!
Vlasta Devínská: Hey, uh, guys...
Vlasta Devínská: Is it normal for there to be giant fucking gorges in the middle of the jungle?
Nsonowa Ihejirika: No, it's definitely not. I think I'd remember seeing something like that during my commute.
Solrick Skaft: Didn't the briefing say the Gate Master here - Medusa - could change landscapes? I bet she put it here to stop us!
Erik Spanner: Well, that's just fucking great. How do we even go about dealing with that?
Vlasta Devínská: Don't worry, there's still a land bridge to the south.
"Doctor" Snark: And probably a thousand rockets pointed at it. We'll need to figure out how to cross it without being turned into hamburger.
Vlasta Devínská: That's about the short of it, yeah. And another one of those moving fortresses. They're really pulling out all the stops now that we're moving in on their second Gate.
"Doctor" Snark: Okay, here's the plan. Vlasta, flag the nearest orc company. All MLRS units, position yourselves so that the orcs are at the edge of your range. Smith and Darkfyre, I need you to-
Aethereon Darkfyre: They're trying to attack us from behind! Go, Drunken Slavs! I'll guard the rear!
Nsonowa Ihejirika: These guys are getting a bit too close for comfort, yeah?
Anil E. Hilated: Pffffthahaha, a Ballista? I remember when those were a threat.
Anil E. Hilated: It was back when we still had Piranhas.
Aethereon Darkfyre: It's over! The hordes are closing in on me!
Gregor: Is never over as long as Gregor fights!
Anil E. Hilated: It's never over when your enemies are a bunch of monkeys with crowbars that have to claw their way through three feet of composite armor to have any chance of hurting you.
Aethereon Darkfyre: The enemy's running! I'll have to put down the cowards myself!
Aethereon Darkfyre: Come on, I'll take you all on!
Aethereon Darkfyre: But... they were mine to defeat!
Pusher Bot: We've got a schedule to keep, Dark.
Aethereon Darkfyre: Maybe, but... well... no matter! I saw some of them retreat beyond artillery range! Now nothing can get in the way of my-
Aethereon Darkfyre: Ambuuuuuush!
Aethereon Darkfyre: Flee, men, flee for your lives!
Mael Radec: God damnit. Darkfyre's down three tanks. I don't know how these AT Orcs keep getting kills on our UDES. Someone take them out before they land another hit!
Pusher Bot: We are here to protect you from the terrible secret of orcs.
Mael Radec: ...Right. Now that that little sideshow's over, everyone get to the cliff. Spooks, I need you to keep watch from the back line.
Mr. Spooks: This doesn't seem very safe. Why not the radar truck that might possibly survive a hit or two?
Mael Radec: He's got the more dangerous job. Devínská, you roll forward far enough to pick up the hill on radar, then raise your dish. Spooks, your job is to help us keep eyes on the enemy if they storm the hill, and if Devínská needs to retreat to safety. Or eats it.
Vlasta Devínská: Not exactly filling me with confidence, boss. Anyway, they haven't moved an inch.
Michael de Boulogne: Well, they'll have to move or die now!
Billy Mays: WATCH CLOSELY, AND SEE HOW AN OFF-THE-SHELF HIND DEALS WITH THE COUNTERATTACK!
Billy Mays: YOU'LL NEVER WORRY ABOUT BIRDS AGAIN!
Patrick Gallagher: ...Hell Riders, however, might be a bit more of a problem.
Gregor: Not with this many rockets!
Stephen Smith: Taking Mammoth fire! Better me than our radar, I suppose.
Solaus: Meanwhile, it looks like the orcs are choosing to die rather than move.
Solaus: Never mind, quick, the castle!
Billy Mays: ...AND IT CAN EVEN CLEAR OUT MOBILE FORTRESSES!
Svetlana Aliyev: I think that about wraps it up.
Mael Radec: Not yet! Taking heavy Mammoth fire!
Mael Radec: Most of my tanks are damaged. I think they've got more than one battery up there.
Doug McKenzie: Artillery can't shoot flyers though, eh!
T. Hinman: The enemy still has anti-air missiles! Disperse, hu-men!
Billy Mays: BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Solrick Skaft: Between our chainguns and mini-rockets, this is almost as good as a proper bomber squadron!
"Doctor" Snark: Speaking of, I believe we've just earned the chance to use one of those.
Gordon Frohman: Assuming there's nothing else creeping around here, of course.
"Doctor" Snark: Don't assume, scope it out.
Bob McKenzie: Looks like the area's Forces of Darkness-free now.
Habitually Red: Alright, Nsonowa, you're up!
Nsonowa Ihejirika: Thanks for the escort, guys. I can see why the Alliance put you on the job.
Despite the station having been abandoned for months, Ihejirika's team was able to get it up and running again within half a day. We were able to pick up a number of enemy encampments, fortifications, and munitions depots secreted in the depths of the jungle. As soon as we passed the intel on to General Malcolm, he scrambled every available bomber, carrying out over a dozen airstrikes within minutes of each other. The dark jungle glowed with the lights of bombs, plumes of fire and smoke rising from the treetops, and by the time our bombers turned set a course for home, an entire network of enemy defenses had been reduced to ashen craters.
The way had been cleared for us. It was up to us to take the path we'd been carved.