Part 57: Mission 57: Closing the Loop

As Ka-Tugrag had promised, the anti-tank orcs that survived the last battle had joined us as auxiliaries. There were plenty of orcish defectors by this point, so replenishing their ranks wouldn't be an issue, but they were inexperienced and not prepared for the threats we now faced. They wouldn't be seeing combat unless there was an emergency.



The previous mission had gone exceptionally well, and it would be a while before we could afford another Destructor, so there were no further preparations to be made. We were now in position to attack the area that the western pass had led to, from the opposite side. Medusa's land-shaping abilities had left the Gate almost completely enclosed by mountains, but she still needed to maintain a land route for logistics, and that route led here. If we won here, we would cut off the Gate's only access to the outside world, and we would be in position to make the push to capture it. According to our intelligence, the area also housed one of the enemy's key magical manufactories, used to sculpt and animate golems that were portaled around the world. While no longer a significant threat to the Drunken Slavs, the golems still proved dangerous to Alliance armor throughout the world.

Mission 57: Closing The Loop

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)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, Destructor)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Destructor)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, 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)




Charles C Thuluu: I think that's our target.



Griff: Anywhere that has enemies is our target. Let's take 'em out.



Mael Radec: Way's clear, move up!



Mael Radec: Looks like we'll need to split up here.




Charles C Thuluu: Good thing you brought up our flyers, Radec. There's a ravine between us and those foothills.




Svetlana Aliyev: Actually, Radec? I think we'll be needing air support kind of quicklike.




Mael Radec: She isn't kidding, they're dropping all they have on us!



Mael Radec: Taking severe damage here! I need to pull back!



Billy Mays: WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE, COUNT ON US TO COVER YOUR RETREAT!




Svetlana Aliyev: Damnit, now our backup needs backup!



T. Hinman: Am fine! Need retreat. Others must destroy moving base.



Solrick Skaft: Okay, that's the biggest threat out of the way.



Mael Radec: Don't relax yet, people. They've still got plenty of those knights. Fall back and let them come to us.




Svetlana Aliyev: Awful obloging of them to wander into our guns one at a time.




Michael de Boulogne: They might be stronger than their cannon fodder, but they're not any smarter.



Habitually Red: They don't feel any less numerous, either!



Lazarus: Won't be enough to save them.



Gordon Frohman: Damnit! Every time we get in range to take one out, we get hit by the one behind it!



Doug McKenzie: And the one to the side!



Lazarus: Jesus, a second fortress?
"Doctor" Snark: They know they can't afford to lose here. They're throwing everything at us.



Anil E. Hilated: Let them! It's one less fortress they'll have to defend the Gate.



Billy Mays: JUST LEAVE YOUR KNIGHT PROBLEMS TO US!



T. Hinman: The name of the Knights of Death has become more fitting!



Joe Moore: Oh, hey, found the guy responsible for those birds earlier.



Joe Moore: And killed him!




Vlasta Devínská: Scoping out the east here. I think I found the golems those briefings were talking about.
Griff: Well, we just cleared out the central hill. Let's keep doing recon, get a better view of the area.




Vlasta Devínská: North is clear...



Vlasta Devínská: Got some more golems to the east... hang on, that one isn't moving. It doesn't have a magical signature either.
Reginald P. Linux: In other words, it's under construction.
Grandalt Noddington: Intelligence was right, then. I believe it's time to shut them down.



Stephen Smith: Alright guys, let's rock!
Patrick Gallagher: Please tell me that wasn't your attempt at a pun.
Stephen Smith: It might not be.



Patrick Gallagher: Energy blasts are bouncing right off my armor! Poor guys don't know they're obsolete.
Svetlana Aliyev: At least they have an excuse, they're mindless automatons. Can't say the same for those throwers we saw last mission.



Mael Radec: They don't need excuses, they need to come to terms with their impending deaths!



Patrick Gallagher: Yeah, definitely large-scale production going on here.




Mael Radec: And we're shutting it down.



Svetlana Aliyev: Spotted another one up ahead, but it shouldn't be a pro-



Aethereon Darkfyre: A wizard still guards this industrial hell!



Aethereon Darkfyre: And a mobile fortress has emerged to besiege us!



Charles C Thuluu: They're hitting me now! Do something!



Svetlana Aliyev: How's this?



Mael Radec: It's good, you just needed a bit more.



Billy Mays: BUT WAIT, THERE'S JESUS CHRIST HOW LONG ARE THESE GUYS GOING TO DRAG THIS OUT



Habitually Red: Judging by all the dormant golems, this is part of the production line.



Gordon Frohman: And there's one in the middle of one of those Stonehenge things. Maybe that's where they animate them?



Doug McKenzie: Looks like we've got the golem factory for ourselves, eh.



Bob McKenzie: Nope. 'nother Fortress coming by.



Bob McKenzie: Golem and Wizard, too. Looks about usual.



Lazarus: That's, what, their fourth mobile fortress this battle? Scary as it is, I think this is becoming routine for us.
"Doctor" Snark: Just imagine what they could do if they actually deployed them where they could support each other.
Emil Västerström: At any rate, judging by the way they're throwing these things at us, they've got plenty to spare. So much for hoping it was a rare prototype.




The Golem factory was captured. We'd caught hundreds of them in mid-production, their lifeless gray husks towering over the landscape, and with the area secured, our reserve forces rolled in and blasted every single one to rubble. The golems had been a mainstay of the enemy's anti-tank weaponry, and now the enemy's ability to replace them had been severely limited.

We also had the Gate surrounded now, and more importantly, had access to the pass leading to it. We had a tough battle ahead before we could attack the Gate itself - the pass was a narrow gorge, as deadly and well-defended as the western one we had bypassed, and on this one we had no choice but to push through.