Resurgence

Destination Day

Big Boss launches the attack on the Northern Tier Arms factory and its fortifications. The labor valley is defended by a Garrison that rests atop a steep hill just on its northeastern edge, by an airfield further northeast at the mouth of the valley, by a series of armored support depots along the lower edge of the valley, and by anti-air gun emplacements and missile batteries entrenched along its upper edge. 

The river that once flowed from the southwest has, over tens of millennia, shifted away, flowing straight north. However, Imperial and later Kane's digging of canals has created the option to flood the entire valley by changing the course of the river to flow Northeast once again. The only thing preventing this is the dam, which is appropriately guarded.

Any attempt to take the dam will likely end in the Imperials there setting off the baradium charges and flooding the valley. Attempting to seize the labor valley or the mines first would have the same result. War Lord Kane is just as willing to sacrifice his men as Nemo, but he's convinced them he is a soldier at heart, making them more willing to die for him... among other desperate strategies.

Big Boss launches his attack from the Southeast, engaging the Armored divisions and a few companies of troops stationed there. Most of the troopers are Tank troopers in dark gray-green armor, but there are also many Heavy Troopers to protect this approach. The airfield scrambles Fighters, and the Starhawk Silver Dragon's deployed fighters are already on pace to intercept them. They are detected, and the fighters change course to meet them high above the clouds.

This creates an opening for waves of troop transports to fly over the valley and deploy their forces to attack the anti-air and missile sites. It is at this point that Big Boss, 3 squads of Necrotic Clones, and a company of Sun Troopers begin their surprise attack on the air base. Jorgan and Frida are among the Sun Troopers present. 

Witnessing the pure power of the Necrotic Clones first hand for the first time, they think back to how they felt within Donar and Blitza. They were impressed with the discipline and skill with which the Necrotic Clones wielded their absolute domination over the battlefield, and couldn't help but feel a little outclassed. Jorgan is approaching 16... at that age, their mother could connect an entire Legion in her Battle Meditation along with all its support units and could match the Grand Inquisitor in lightsaber combat. 

Meanwhile, Jorgan and Frida have been left far behind. Even their uncles Struwwel and Peter had a much greater command of the force at their age... despite having no combat experience and even less training. They were patient, as Master Rael had told them to be. They remembered their meditation, and they followed the wisdom of Master Rael, their uncles, and what few lessons Jorgan had received from Luke... and still they seemed to stagnate at their current power level. They were faced with the possibility that they'd peaked. It didn't bother them as much as it would have a year ago, but they knew their fellow Sun Troopers deserved better from their force wielding support units.

Alas, Big Boss in his Mithril and the Necrotic Clones in their Herculean perfection secure the air field with Jorgan and Frida doing little more than sorting through the chaos to concentrate rifle fire on ideal targets. With their guidance, the Sun Troopers are able to tear up stray Range Troopers more efficiently, but still fall lightyears short of the Necrotic Clones.

At this point, Big Boss' plan becomes clear. His forces have captured high ground, have made strides towards capturing more high ground, and have pulled the only air support into a dog fight in which they are sizably outnumbered. The river is low this time of year, so it isn't possible to flood the air field's elevated plateau even without engaging its flood walls, which remain operable and in the Big Boss' control.

Likewise, it wouldn't be plausible to flood the troops already attacking the upper and lower ridges of the valley, so only the garrison would be affected. That said, it is necessary to take the dam, or else Kane's men will inevitably flood the valley anyway. Their enemy will soon realize that now is the perfect time to launch an attack on the dam, since flooding the valley would only hurt Kane's holdout forces.