Into the Breach

Chapter 13: Operation Brimstone I

Londoners dream of normal nights, but they are relics of a time prior to the Porvian Incident. For nothing was the same in the city since that .

There was a heightened military presence in the city as the area around the Arch-like structure, now designated Gateway-1, was closed off and secured by the Terran ground forces as probes were sent across the gateway to see what was on the other side. Around the city and around the world candlelight vigils were held in remembrance of those lost in the battles that followed the appearance of the gates.

One such vigil was in front of the SG's residence.

As Richards returned from a meeting at the national security commission for military operations he saw scores of people holding candles in solidarity and it brought a tear to his eye, as the emotions he worked so hard to suppress over the last few days threatened to unleash themselves with a vengeance.

Soon the gates opened and the convoy crossed the threshold.

Richards steeled himself once more and put on a brave face as he entered the residence for the first time as Secretary-General.

5th of January, 2101 A.D

Secretary-General's Residence, London, U.K 2100h

Richards opened the door to his office and looked back to the guard that was following him, "I am not to be disturbed."

"Yes sir." As the guard took his position outside, Richards entered and closed the door behind him before taking his suit off.

Richards looked around at his new office. He had never been here before, but he knew the layout well enough. It was one of the most secure rooms in the entire building and that made it a perfect spot for him to work from now on.

He walked over and sat down at his desk, letting out a deep sigh as he sunk into it. There were several files bearing the governmental seal already waiting for him as well as a pad of paper and pen.

He looked through some of the files and immediately thought, "I need a drink."

When he got up, he found a small cooling cabinet with a bottle of aged whiskey sitting there with a note attached, 'Congratulations Markus- Love Bella'.

"I pray she pulls through." He took a cup, poured some and took a drink.

His moment of quiet was disturbed by his landline ringing, "Fuck.." he audibly sighed as he placed the drink down and answered the phone, "Richards."

On the line is his secretary, "Sorry to disturb sir, Lieutenant-General Richards is on the line for you."

Hearing that it was his brother, Richards' attitude shifted and his body softened as he responded, "Patch him through."

"Yes sir." The secretary's voice was followed by a beep.

Soon after Richards heard the deep and almost monotone voice of his brother, "Little brother.."

"By 2 minutes." Richards retorted.

He heard a chuckle come from his brother which was rare for those who knew him.

"Anyway what's up?" Richards asked as he took a seat, "Cause Alex, knowing you, it's not a social call." Richards asked as he took a seat.

"Just wanted to make sure of some things before I leave for the other world." Alex's voice became a bit more serious.

"Okay shoot."

"From the orders received from High Command, I am to be placed at the head of the New World Special Operations Command, but that is not what confuses me.." he paused, "It is the degree of diplomatic and operational autonomy granted to the NSOC."

As Alex was talking Richards took one of the files on his desk labelled 'Operation Brimstone' and opened it, "The operational autonomy is due to the fact that the gate prevents quick communication between the NSOC and Terran High Command thus when it comes to the planning of offensives within the constraints of the war will be left to the discretion of the NSOC to plan and greenlight."

"Understood, how about diplomatic autonomy?" Alex questioned.

"You will be awarded a civilian diplomatic team to act on behalf of the Federation when the area on the other side of the gateway is secured and a line can be made with this Porvian Empire." Richards sat back as he explained.

"And the objective?"

"Reparations for damages caused, the annexation of the regions around the gateways and surrounding territories and a further 6 kilometre demilitarised zone." Richards listed off the points in the file.

"You think they will bite?"

Richards again leaned forward, "With you at the helm? They won't have a choice."

"I see," Alex paused, "So it's not a full conquest?"

"Until my administration can repair the fucked up economic mess Chancellor Edward Cain and the transitional government left us in, we have neither the funds, resources nor manpower to engage in a full and unadulterated invasion of the Empire nor the resources to occupy a large region of unknown land." He paused to close the file, "So this war needs to go quickly and efficiently as possible and a beneficial peace is secured."

"Speaking of unknown land, apart from the gateways that were probed we have no idea how large a country or continent we are invading do we?"

"Precisely why our primary objective in this war is to secure the gates and prevent a second offensive into our world then exploration and so forth."

"Alright, that's all I wanted to know." Alex hung up before Richards could respond.

"Oh I am doing great, thanks for asking." Richards shook his head as he rested the landline in its spot and went on to read the other files on his desk.

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6th of January, 2100 A.D


As the sun rose over the bustling city of London, marking the beginning of another day, early morning commuters were disturbed by the metropolitan police closing off most of the city streets and main bridges leading to the gate-way.

Soon a large convoy of military vehicles were seen departing from the forward military base north of the city limits. At the head were transport trucks bearing the insignia of the 101st light infantry division followed by IFVs* and APCs* of the 501st mechanised infantry regiment. The stars of the convoy being the new M34-B Avenger main battle tanks and several other medium to light tanks that were in turn followed by artillery pieces such as M109A9 and the towed M8110 Howitzer.

As the long convoy followed the route towards the gateway many got out of their vehicles to gawk at such a rare sight.

Flags of the Federation were hung on the railings of balconies, people lined the streets with flowers and flags as spouses said farewell to their significant others, children said goodbye to their parents and parents said the same to their child who left for war.

For many of this generation this was the first time seeing the Federation raise her armed forces in anger and this marked a new age of not only war but exploration

News coverage on the happenings were limited as the news helicopters were not allowed to fly over the area due to it being designated a no fly zone and it was difficult for their crews to move through the crowds.

After almost an hour's drive, another military convoy bearing the great seal of the Lt. General of the United Terran Federation joined with the main convoy and wasted no time in crossing the gateway.

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New World
Day 01

In the hours that followed the crossing, the troops that made up the new world expeditionary force immediately took to work securing, containing and cataloguing everything in the immediate area that made up the other side.

It was surreal to see what seemed to be a fortress from the age of antiquity, though the architecture did not match any particular roman styling as was expected.

The mountains that surrounded this fortress made it secluded and that more defensible, but it also had an aura of eeriness since it was just up and abandoned by the empire that attacked Earth.

There were many homes and what seemed to be tavern houses that were repurposed into barracks and large spaces to place the vehicles and a large castle turned into a Command and Information's Centre and also a home for the command staff.

Day 09

Over the course of the next few days many hurdles would be overcomed, chief amongst them being electricity as generators were installed to at least bring light to the base.

Long range communication was another issue and in order to efficiently give out orders and communicate with other parts of the fortress they were relegated to old short range radios that were not dependent on a satellite connection and in case of long ranges they used Morse code to send and receive orders. A type of communication not seen since the age of second world war.

Day 11

All in all everything seemed to be calm on the front which gave the operational command an opportunity to expand forward and construct a forward observation base at the mouth of the valley.

For the remainder of the time spent organizing patrols to extend territorial gains beyond the base limits, the short 'peace' that reigned would be disturbed when the smouldering ruins of what seemed to be a village was discovered north-east of the FOB and thus in earnest the second phase of 'Operation Brimstone' has begun.