Part 55: Mission 55: Fortress of Mystery

As we began making preparations for the attack on the fortress, I received word that the hard work of our intelligence teams had paid off. After analyzing the captured Gate from top to bottom and interrogating the high-ranking prisoners we'd taken during that decisive battle, they'd discovered something astounding.

We were not the first or only ones to come under attack by the Forces of Darkness. There was another world, a world inhabited by people the orcs called Karedan-Ka.



Earth, it seemed, was nothing more than a secondary front that the Forces of Darkness had opened in order to secure magic well, slaves, and sacrificial victims to bolster its strength against the Karaden-Ka, who had been under siege by the endless hordes since long ago.

The Karedan-Ka, like the Forces of Darkness, relied on their formidable magical strength rather than technology to fuel their society and their war machine. That was where the resemblences ended, though. Like us, the Kardedan-Ka did not gain their magical powers through the barbaric butchery of the Forces of Darkness, but rather through rituals that allowed them to harmlessly channel the energy from magical wells.



We had never met the Karedan-Ka, and yet we were bound by a common enemy. We now had enough knowledge of the Gate's workings to redirect it so that we could meet with them. It was a risk, but the Karedan-Ka had managed to fight our enemy to a stalemate, and had only fought because they had come under attack. Perhaps they could be our allies.



With the investment of time and resources needed to produce even a single Destructor, their availability continued to be severely limited, but we managed to procure a second one. The decision was made to have it replace one of our Elmag 2 platoons. While they had been mainstays on the frontline, MBTs served their anti-personnel roles nearly as well (and Destructors much better) and we were no longer wanting for air defense. Both Just In Time and Rusalka, our Elmag 2 platoons, had performed excellently in combat, so the receiver was decided with a coin flip.



As soon as we received the new Destructor, our forces began to surround the fortress. It was time to attack. Initial scouting had confirmed the presence of three psychic shields that prevented PARE from scrying the fortress. Our job was to destroy them.

Mission 55: Fortress of Mystery

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)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, Destructor)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Destructor)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, M1 Abrams)
James "Griff" Griffin (Party Crashers, M1 Abrams)
Basil (Paladin, M1 Abrams)
Reginald P. Linux (Doom Squad, Leopard 2A5)
Grandalt Noddington (Tea Battalion, Leopard 2A5)
Hulk Hogan (The Hulkamaniacs, 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)
Charles C Thuluu (Strange Aeons, Universal 2R)



Vlasta Devínská: Here we are...



Vlasta Devínská: ...and there the fort is. It looks like they're using thos mechanical towers as mobile watchtowers.



Anil E. Hilated: Then let's blind 'em.
Patrick Gallagher: What do we do now, though? Even if we blast those walls, they've sculpted the terrain into a cliff. Our tanks can't get there.
Svetlana Aliyev: Figures I get a Destructor right before it turns out they're useless for a mission.



Vlasta Devínská: They might not be, Svet. Let's do a sweep of the perimeter.



Vlasta Devínská: Nothing yet. Let's keep moving up.



Stephen Smith: Mammoth fire!



Stephen Smith: It's pretty heavy. I suggest not bringing up the artillery.



Bob McKenzie: Sounds like a job for us flyers, eh!



Aethereon Darkfyre: The enemy has met us and is trying to break our siege!



Stephen Smith: I'm still getting shot! Keep moving back!



Doug McKenzie: Found the culprit.



Joe Moore: Dealt with! Looks like we're doing an air assault on the castle.



Aethereon Darkfyre: The enemy continues to doggedly pursue me!



Bob McKenzie: And there's a wizard!



Lazarus: They've got golems, too!



Basil: Here, Darkfyre, get to our defensive line! They can't take on all of us!



Bob McKenzie: I suppose that glowing orb is one of the psychic shields, eh.



Joe Moore: Probably, but we can worry about it after we've taken out their defenses.



"Doctor" Snark: Done. Let's blow up the shields!



Anil E. Hilated: Here they come! AT Orcs!



Billy Mays: WE'VE GOT A BONUS OFFER ON THOSE!



Billy Mays: AND WE'LL THROW IN ANOTHER WIZARD, TOO!



Billy Mays: SUPPLIES WON'T LAST, SO PLACE YOUR ORDER TODAY!



Solrick Skaft: Well, there goes the last thing that could possibly threaten us.



Aethereon Darkfyre: The full strength of the enemy is upon us!




Solaus: The full strength of the enemy is kind of underwhelming.



Gordon Frohman: You're not wrong there. Alright, let's smash those shields.




"Doctor" Snark: There's one.



Habitually Red: Found number two!



Joe Moore: And here's number three.




Gordon Frohman: One more rocket salvo and...



Emil Västerström: Huh. After all the work we went to surrounding this fortress, that was honestly kind of anticlimactic.
Lazarus: Hey, I'll take too easy over too hard.
Emil Västerström: Won't argue with that. Let's call in PARE and see if they can figure out what the hell is up with this place.



We were all curious about the mysteries behind the fortress' walls, but even after the psychic shields were taken down, PARE's attempts to probe it turned up nothing. Once we were sure the site was secure, we airlifted in some wizards and scientists to study the building, but they, too, could find no apparent function to it. Finally, we tried calling in Ka-Tugrag, who was carrying out a propaganda war to sway the enemy orcs in the region to our side. Even he, however, did not recognize the structure, nor could he guess at its purpose. With all leads exhausted, we reluctantly vacated and demolished it. It seemed likely by this point that the entire complex was just a herring to lure us into wasting time and lives taking it, but thankfully, we at least suffered no casualties on the mission.