Hells Bells

Second Strikes Against the Bear

"Nulla id metus est, in pellentesque"

-Hell Bells Saying

Originally Written in 2022

October 16, 2025. Innerworld. North Eastern Province of Derkani. Yensom Federation.

WYTE: Pick off the one in front.

Wyte pats the shoulder of the person next to him, who then levels his light machine gun over the snow mound. Wyte levels his own rifle over the mound, switching his Alin scope back to normal optics. The one he spoke to, hovers a javelin at the leading BTR in the convoy. The rocket exits the tube, shooting up into the sky before careening into the top of the BTR. The soldiers open up with deafening fire killing the Russians who crawl out of the wreckage. A second group picks off the Russians rear. The convoy retaliates with a BTR driving over a destroyed truck and gunning it to Wytes position. Its main gun takes down trees around them, shooting splinters all over the place. Wyte's men retreat from the foxhole, Wyte himself staying behind. The BTR starts to crawl over the snow mound. Wyte stands under the BTR looming over him, he grabs a rucksack and throws it at the vehicle. Upon impacting the front armor and falling to the ground, Wyte clicks a detonator. Sending the front of the APC into the air and it crashing down into a newly formed hole. Russian tanks arrive at the ambush site with accompanying infantry chasing the saboteurs. Though they don't chase for long, as their prey escapes using portals. 

The lead tank explodes sending a shockwave out knocking over nearby infantry and sending the turret sky high until it crashes down on the frozen snow. The column is then left in ruins as unseen Abrams do quick work of the inadequate armor and mopping up the Infantry with machine guns. Meanwhile, the ambush group reloads and switches equipment in base Aquilia. They then join a bigger assault on the Russian's base of operations. The portal opens and they rush through into a village, surprising the defenders in the middle of lunch. Wyte blows the closest man's head off with a shotgun, more men run out from behind him massacring the Russians with light machine guns and rifles. As they get closer to the enemy's ammunition depot, a BTR ambushes them by running through a building. It takes out a couple of the assaulters before getting its engine block blown out by a group behind it. 

The Russians are put to rout with American armor joining up with the assault group. The abandoned village is secured and the American flag is raised replacing the once proud flag of the Russian Republic. Wyte sits on the fountain in the town's center, smoking a cigar while writing in a journal. More snow starts to fall on the desolate town, the commander closes his journal. Letting out a brief sigh while he snubs his cigar into the snow before pocketing it. He stares out into the cloudy sky watching the white powder of snow come down like falling leaves and covering the remains of the poor Russians. They will most likely be left to rot and scavenged by the locals, though there won't be much after their gear is stripped. Though he has noticed after the skirmishes lately that local militias in the area would suddenly be wearing Russian camo giving a weird hodgepodge of Victorian Era equipment with modern EMR. Thus the rumors of sterilizing the zone of operation has come up many times, but has also been shot down many times to avoid scaring the locals. A strong gust of wind picks up and tosses the freshly fallen snow across the town, Wyte pulls up his scarf and begins to the extract point. The winter season in Yensom is near.

October 19, 2025. Eastern Crimea, Ukraine.

Gunfire echoes throughout the peninsula. Ukrainian forces, under a Romanian general, crossed into the Russian occupied portion of the Crimea. After the surprise strike from the US, Russia has experienced setbacks in their proxy states in Belarus, Finland, and the Ukraine. The last of these proxies was the Sovereign Republic of Crimea, which is coincidentally under Russian protection. The Ukrainians have quickly overran the Russian part of the peninsula, due to the duma ordering all troops to withdraw, but Linskey ordered landings to reclaim the "Republics Ally''. Though initially successful the general in charge of the landings was killed by a Ukrainian rocket barrage on the landing zones. 

Now both sides, equally untrained, battle for the eastern portion of the Crimea. Ukrainian armor flails in the urban combat environment being either swarmed by suicidal charges or picked off by anti tank weapons. The Russians have no armor whatsoever, losing it when the hovercraft carrying them was sunk in the aforementioned rocket barrage. Naval superiority was supposed to fall to the Russians, however that was not the case when newly "gifted" Ukrainian warships pounced on the fleet defending the landing zones. Entangling the navies into a great struggle, although numerically strong the Russian warships have no chance when put up against a western built warship in sea or space. The air war didn't get off the ground as the Ukrainians improvised NCAS built F35s very well, denying the Russians the air. The conflict raged well into the morning, finally ending with Russian forces withdrawing as the Duma overwrites Linskey's order. This operation, and many others, would build tension with the GDA eventually leading to Russia's expulsion from the organization, making the alliance a neo NATO. Even with all this, war does not erupt, as the Russians can't facilitate one.

(The US didn't fully implement the F35 in this world. Due to it not receiving funding as the funding was diverted to the space fleet and the focus on space jets. The US still produced 1000 of them but sold them off when a more promising design from Lockheed Martin reached the senate floor, the design implemented many positives from existing aircraft and new tech. This would become the F56.)

(Russian warships are in a state of disrepair due to the lack of funds, meaning no shielding, no advanced rangefinders, and no adequate anti air defense. They also have very poor damage control, which was put on full display with the sinking of Russia's only aircraft carrier during the 2017 conflict. It was sent as an intimidation tactic but broke down halfway there, and when being towed back it suffered two hits from a Ukrainian torpedo boat. The torpedoes shouldn't have caused it to sink, but the bulkheads weren't closed and the crew abandoned ship an hour after impact as they had no equipment to save the ship.)