The Other Side

Merander: Day 4

Location: Southern Renton, part of Greater Renton, New Orderlands

Loudspeaker: Men of the New Orderian Army, the nation calls upon you to uphold public order, the civil war has escalated and as of now the majority of the region has fallen to anarchy. Retake hostile territory, assist with the evacuations, and supress the rebellion. The insurgents think they will win, they have secured weapons from our armories and caches left by the CCP, but they underestimate us. The insurgency is weak, disorganized, and fighting amongst themselves, we can strike back and decimate them. Go forth, do your duty. Long Live New Orderia!

The streets were lined with trucks as evacuation buses passed rows of marching soldeirs. Air raid sirens wailed as gunfire sounded through the twin cities. A few police cars passed the soldiers as they marched, the cops inside wore riot control gear. The officers who were passengers sat on the windows, leaning out with a shotgun in hand and looking for enemy forces. The police had maintained the goal of rescuing civilians, but the situation had deterioated enough that ESU snipers were posted on the rooftops of various buildings, taking shots at insurgent forces.

The soldiers from various units kept marching as burning embers flew through the air, an entire division from the Shock Corps was being sent to handle the supernatural threat in Chinatown. On top of the shock troopers tanks were being brought in and the Air Force was consolidating CAS bombers for a single decapitation strike. The last MCPD units in the area gave a final message before pulling back.

Radio: Message from the MCPD: "We are clear with all surviving civies. 4 insurgents just got killed by that thing, there are three foot mobiles, one is the target and the other two are unknowns but believed to be affiliates." All NOAD forces, clear to begin strikes.

The bombers were the first to strike, the 1st CAS flew in with napalm loads and dropped every bomb they had at once. The bombs went off early after colliding with some invisible force and the burning napalm sprayed the bombers before it began to rain down. The bombers remained in the sky, with moderate burning across their fuselages. It was at this time that the napalm began to hit the ground and spot fires were ignited across the area. The smoke obscured the view of the targets, but it was clear the enemy had not moved yet. The 2nd and 3rd CAS came in for the next attack, both dropping JDAMs with the penetration bombs following close behind. These bombs froze mid air and were flung back up into the aircraft. The shockwaves decimated portions of the aircraft causing severe damage, some aircraft were blown out of the sky causing them to either disintegrate midair or crash across the battlefield.

On the ground soldiers opened fire with anything they had, HE shells were fired and detonated on nothing, sabots flattened midair, and bullets froze away from the enemy. The soldiers radio's went wild with different mayday alerts as rounds were then flung back into the NO line at high speeds, tearing into personnel instantly. The soldiers remained still, hiding behind cover as the 50 cal gunners unloaded from behind their reinforced steel plates that were attached to the guns. This did very little, but the soldiers had little options remaining. 

Colonel: 3rd Siege Division, 1st Shock Corps to control. We are unable to stop the target, we will hold the line as long as possible but this thing is unstoppable. We have multiple downed aircraft and all others assigned to the mission are severely damaged. 

Radio: ... Understood. NOSS Delasko is being moved into position for a strike. All units, finish evacuating the civilians and retreat. We will glass the cities once everyone is out.

The NOSS Delasko, named after Senior Agent Delasko from the RCM. Delasko set standards in the ministry after he joined in the late 2160s, his first mission went incredibly well, following operations maintained this precedent. He was instrumental in evacuating a planet in the reality Golf 45 which collapsed into what is known as Vertigo. He carried out monitor duties before NO forces first made contact with the locals on Remnant, during this he lived in Vale under the guise of a psychiatrist, a ruse he used to get information on various things. His death came a few years later after he retired, he was called to action with a few other operatives to carry out a raid on Chinese forces hiding in Malask City, this mission proved China was directly aiding the insurgency and was one of two things that led to the war with China. He died to his own grenade, he had been shot multiple times and pulled the pin after crawling down multiple floors and diving into a squad of PLA special forces. 

The Delasko is most importantly a submarine outfitted with multiple 20 megaton weapons. The blast would level the capital, Malask, and the NOJOD headquarters instantly.

(To put into scale now massive that is: The nuke used on the capital and Malask in the chapters "No Rest For The Weary" and "Outbreak In A Frozen Hell" was a third of that at most. That blast set both cities on fire, blanketed them in radiation, and leveled multiple districts. A 20 megaton bomb would vaporize half of Manhattan and a decent part of Jersey City if dropped on the NY City Hall. Go on the Nukemap website, set the yield to 20000KT, and just look at it.)

With that order transmitted all objectives changed instantly. NOAD forces no longer were supposed to retake the city, take down insurgents, or kill the thing that downed multiple aircraft. They now needed to throw every single thing at stopping the hostiles from getting any farther south. The river banks were lined with civilians, a medical tents, first responders, and evacuation boats. The river itself was blocked so the boats could only ferry people to the NOJOD headquarters to be airlifted out. The bridge to the base had been blown by NO troops intentionally after fighting broke out nearby, it was just another measure to delay the inevitable.

Captain: 62nd infantry to command, we have taken heavy losses. How much longer do we need to hold?

Radio: 1 hour at least, just do not let the enemy move any farther South. Nobody reaches that river.

Soldiers continued firing their rifles as a tank rolled up behind them. The main gun fired, once again doing nothing, and right before it could fire again the gun crumpled inwards. The crew didn't realize in time and the entire front blew open, flames shot out of the hatches as the blast traveled back into the tank turret. The tank commander climbed out along with the driver, both with serious burns across their bodies. The commander was missing a leg and the driver had massive gashes across his back from shrapnel. The nearby soldiers grabbed the wounded men and dragged them clear of the burning wreck as a pair of corpsmen ran over and started tending to their injuries.

The primary source of cover in this spot was an abandoned bus, the windows were shattered and a shoe was dropped just near the rear escape hatch. Nearby there were piles of rubble with a bit of blood seeping out through cracks in the debris. The soldiers began to slowly step back as the being moved towards them, barely able to keep fighting. In spite of this, they continued firing their rifles in an attempt to buy time for the evacuation.

As if to spite them the being rose in the air as smoke filled the air from the bombed out buildings and burning wrecks. The being began to move south, bypassing the NO line entirely and disappearing into the haze. The radios went wild with panicked commanders reporting their failure and the response was immediate.

Radio: All units, all units. All remaining forces in the city, proceed to the Malask River bank to defend the evac site. The enemy is coming, ETA 3 minutes. This is the last chance we have, if we fail the civilians will die. Good luck, Long Live New Orderia.

The last sound heard over the radio was an air raid siren winding up, moments later sirens across the city began as well. The sirens had been used earlier to announce the evacuation, now they were warning of the strikes that were about to occur. The NOSS Delasko had been stuck just out of range but sailors onboard nearby vessels had managed to cut a passage for it through the debris. It was almost in range and when it was the missile was going to be fired.