Part 61: Mission 61: Rip and Tear

While answers from the tomb were not forthcoming, capturing it put us in a position to make further inroads in the southern foothills. It didn't take long for our scouts to find a portal hidden among the trees near our position. I decided it best to eliminate it in case the enemy tried to use it to flank us.



Rather than deploy the entire division against such a minimally-defended target, I ordered an airstrike. With only a pair of golems defending it, it fell quickly.



The portal, however, turned out to be nothing more than bait. Almost as soon as we destroyed it, we caught sight of a large enemy force closing in on our position. Tarantula, the enemy commander in the region, had apparently planned to lure us out into unfavorable terrain and get us caught in a meatgrinder trying to defend it.



We only saw a portion of their strength, but just that much was formidable. Luckily, since we'd only sent in a light force of air units and radar trucks, we were able to pull back before they reached us. There was no reason to stay and defend the area; it had no exploitable natural resources, production facilities, supply stores, or artifacts, nor could it serve as a route to anywhere that did. Without the portal, it was valueless.



As we prepared our next attack, we received the report from Intelligence. They had done all of the research they could on the bloated, decaying remains of the terrible beast we had killed at Medusa's Gate. They didn't have much to work with, but based on the time and material expenses in summoning and binding the Breorn, Intelligence believed that this was the worst that the enemy could hope to throw at us. Except, of course, the Titans.



We still had no lead on where the artifact might be hidden, so for now, we would prioritize targets with conventional strategic value. Our next target was an area to the south of the tomb. It would give us a route deeper into the foothills, but more importantly, it offered a possible clue as to how the enemy had mobilized so quickly in this region. Many of the enemy soldiers we had encountered in our first battles were of demonic origin, and the area itself seemed to be a nexus for demonic activity. Intelligence suspected that this area held an entrance to the world from which the demons came, and if that was true, then capturing it would strangle the enemy's supply of manpower.

Mission 61: Rip and Tear

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, Destructor)
James "Griff" Griffin (Party Crashers, Destructor)
Basil (Paladin, Destructor)
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)
Uzgob (Deff Skwadron, 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)



"Doctor" Snark: Looks like a straightforward push to the west, though the terrain's a bit hilly. Not that that's a problem for me.



Stephen Smith: Ghosts! Don't let 'em get too close to the radar.



Gregor: You won't hurt Gregor's farseeing friend!



Basil: More coming our way!



Stephen Smith: That's not all! I'm taking Hell Rider fire!




Charles C Thuluu: Good thing we had you up front, Smith. I'd hate to see what four of those could do to some of us. The skeletons, on the other hand...
Erik Spanner: We wiped out larger mobs before we even had tanks. Let the new guy have 'em for target practice.



Uzgob: See if dey's still callin' us orcs cannon fodder after dis!



Gordon Frohman: I knew you guys had potential! All you needed were some non-shit weapons.



Gregor: Let us focus on biggest threat now, yes?



Michel du Boulogne: That's all we can do 'til they get closer. Everyone hold on tight!




Grandalt Noddington: Nothing like a warm breeze to get you ready for battle!



Pusher Bot: Speak for yourself, this unit is damaged!



Bob McKenzie: He won't be doing that again, eh.



Gregor: Hurry! Last one is running!




Vlasta Devínská: Don't see the Riders, but I found a small enemy force to the southwest. Probably don't need to worry about 'em, though.



Vlasta Devínská: ...Nope, still not worried.



Reginald P. Linux: Hit the Undead first! IF they all scream at this range, we might panic.



Mael Radec: That, and ghosts can't do much to Andurital tank armor anyway.



Uzgob: Looks like me an' my boys is gettin' the hang of this thing. Who we got next?



Griff: Only way to find out is to head west.



Charles C Thuluu: Hey Uzgob? I think I have your answer. It appears to be...



Charles C Thuluu: ...everyone.
Tasoth: You come to challenge me, humans? Fools. I'll give you one chance to reconsider. Turn around now, and my army shall spare you.
Svetlana Aliyev: You do know that even if we assume you're telling the truth, not taking this area means we'll end up getting killed by the Forces of Darkness anyway, right?
Tasoth: That is not my concern. I've given you my offer.



Svetlana Aliyev: Just making sure we're all on the same page.



Aethereon Darkfyre: Damnation falls upon us!



Erik Spanner: Shit, why didn't I stay in the back like always!




Solaus: Slay the demons where they stand!



Patrick Gallagher: Look out! More coming through the portal!



Patrick Gallagher: ...Never mind. How do gray blobs fit in with demons and undead anyway? Why bother something that's both useless and irrelavant?





Svetlana Aliyev: There! All the big ones were dead!
Habitually Red: Wait, one of those had to be Tasoth, right?
Svetlana Aliyev: Yeah. So?
Habitually Red: So I'm pretty sure we just completed one of our objectives here without realizing it.
Svetlana Aliyev: I can live with that.




Svetlana Aliyev: There, we just about got 'em all!



Anil E. Hilated: AAAAAAH YOU DIDN'T GET ENOUGH THOUGH



Anil E. Hilated: Motherfucker, I need to start lagging further behind the tanks. But then if I did that, I couldn't kill things as well. Hmm...



Patrick Gallagher: There we go, path's open! Everyone rush the portal!



Griff: Well, we had a couple of close calls, but at least the hard part's over.



Michel du Boulogne: AAAAAAAH WHERE DID THEY COME FROM



Patrick Gallagher: There's not too many of them, let's finish the job!




Reginald P. Linux: There. Now can we finish what we came here to do?



Svetlana Aliyev: That we can.



We had a few close calls; with their numbers and mobility, a few of the demons were able to slip past our tank screen and hit our artillery. Luckily, only one of our batteries suffered major losses. It was a small price to pay to sever the link to the underworld and end the demonic threat, though. While Tasoth's reinforcements had unfortunately stalled us long enough for the enemy to transfer more battallions to the Himalayas, we still had some time before the main enemy force arrived. If we moved quickly, we might never have to face them.