Preparations had to be made. They had a few years tops before fighting would break out, something that was painfully clear. A terraformer was deployed to start digging mines into the countryside. While some said farms would be a better investment, Miriam's forces were perched on The Unity, watching them, and worse, with far more men. However there was a sudden transmission, and for once it wasn't from Ms. Holier-than-thou!
Baker considered her options, and made the exchange. Knowing where the Believers had set up their colonies would be extremely useful for the coming war. She quickly agreed to a treaty as well, hoping to keep the University in her back pocket for the time being. There was some mention of a research breakthrough, but she hadn't listened, and diverted the following efforts to plasmasteel research. There was a passing mention of a Ligh Artillary Rover called the Tiger, but like the breakthrough, she largely ignored it, instead studying the border and trying to figure out how to win the coming battle; already Infantry Platoons were being hastily equipped and deployed, their destination being the border. And not a moment too soon did fresh platoons arrive, did the University call again.
She knew a war was coming, as did her soldiers, and this would have to be the time to strike. They had no choice but to launch their assault. The fact they had offered a small sum of energy and cybernetic technology (something the UAF hadn't managed to secure before abandoning the Unity,) was a nice bonus. The University needed help, and they were willing to pay.
With both the cybernetics research and high energy chemistry her own engineers had managed, she had the troops gearing up for the assault outfitted with new armor, and with a heavy heart, knowing many of them would likely never return, relayed the order through Ironhall to seize the Unity and kill any of Miriam's troops still there.
To her surprise, not only did they report sweeping the token garrison of (admittedly well armed) enemy forces aside at only a comparatively small cost of a squad of Boxers, they destroyed three colony pods and took one of their cities! If they could hold the city, this would surely strangle the flow of Believer forces pouring into the University, and perhaps give them some breathing room.
Her fear as to how the enemy had gained such advanced weaponry was soon resolved when a military doctrine file was relayed to UCOM from the captured city.
They'd stumbled upon four other technologies, but only had the time to secure the one before the city datalinks purged themselves – a call to the University revealed it was pillaged information from the two fallen University outposts. They needed to be stopped, so said their leader, and Baker agreed. But the UAF had only its modest taskforce, against an army built in the span of barely a decade!
Miriam was quick to call afterward, seeking to turn the tables. But the deception was clear. Turn the UAF's guns on the Provost, and then stab the operators in the back. She then demanded the majority of the UAF's remaining energy reserves, and her city, for an end to the hostilities.
Only those in the command center know for sure what she said, but the laughter emanating from the Commander's support staff was loud enough to be heard through the door. The general consensus of the troopers in Voice of God was that she had told her to stick her religion and demands in a rather rude place, just with more poetic and polite terms.
The Taskforce then received orders to split, and that no reinforcements were coming after a fresh platoon out of Athens arrives, as the three recently platoons still back in the cities were needed to drive off three companies of crusaders and a squad of armored rovers. Taskforce Alpha advanced on Godwinson's Hope, and after a week long street battle and a sudden upsurge of riots from the city's administrative wings, the city was under UAF control, and with it they seized some of the wrongfully pillaged research information! The University was overjoyed to see the knowledge recovered so they could copy it to their datanets properly, as a safeguard against its loss in the future.
Taskforce Bravo went to the southeast, aiming to smash the crusader garrison at Throne of God. However they lost many troopers during the fighting in the streets of the Believer city, and when the invasion force was wheeled around to meet the UAF forces, they wiped out Bravo using sheer weight of numbers. 47 UAF Infantrymen were left trapped outside Throne of God, and they knew there would be little hope of escape. It was the best they could do, as they saw the crusaders charge, bayonets fixed, to take as many of the enemy with them as they could and radio a warning to their comrades. To their surprise a fresh unit arrived not from UCOM or Ironhall, or even Athens: Volunteers, honest to god volunteers, rushed out of Voice of God to help them.
They had arrived in the nick of time too, and quickly set about clearing two units of Believer troops, while Bravo 1 cleared another, buying time for Bravo 2 to escape. It was a long and bloody day, and in the following morning a company of yet more enemy troops swamped the relief platoon and Bravo 1. Scant days after the reinforcement platoon from Athens also arrived, but soon went silent after engaging two entire companies of Miriam's troops.
However, the losses weren't for nothing.
The University sent a single transmission to Unity Command: They had retaken one of their facilities from the fundamentalist onslaught. The plan had worked, and to the relief of many, those in the captured cities (as they had undergone riots prior to UAF troops storming them,) were flocking to newly opened recruitment centers. Godwinson's Hope had their own manning the defensive guns, while Infantry from Voice of God prepared to meet their former countrymen in battle.
-=-
“Why help us?” A UAF Infantryman asked a Volunteer.
“Miriam dragged us into a war we didn't want. The University did us no wrong, and you stepped in on their behalf to help them.” The Volunteer replied. “To us if they had sinned, God would be the one to dispense punishment when the time came. He doesn't need us doing so for him over a simple difference in ideology.”
“That still doesn't answer my question.” The Trooper said.
“Simple. Who is the one in the right, you soldiers who are here in a bid to stop fighting, or her, who is the aggressor sending our sons and daughters to fight a needless war?”
-=-
The Volunteers advanced cautiously, commanded by a group of survivors from Taskforce Bravo. Signs of a worm attack were evident, with many soldiers wearing Lord's Believer armor were scattered about, their helmets cracked and with trails of slime and blood leading away from their shattered visors.
“No patrols. Looks like the worms are to thank for that.” Sergeant Grant said, kicking over a corpse.
“God's will is to see us to victory here.” A volunteer blurted out.
“No,” Grant said, “God's will was that these guys end up worm food. Literally. Keep low, and eyes peeled.” He motioned his platoon forward. As they got closer and closer, they started to see the remains of previous firefights: Three wrecked rovers, bearing UAF insignia, were smashed to bits by huge craters that were scattered along a mangled road. Dead Believer infantrymen were laying everywhere in varying states of “holiness” as well, surrounding dispersed positions filled with smaller groups of UAF troopers. The sheer number of dead 'crusaders' was a testament to the training and tenacity of the UAF soldiers, even when faced with certain death.
They crept forward, their rushed training just barely enough to keep the volunteers from collapsing at the sight of familiar faces among the dead. They got closer, and closer, and Grant got more and more nervous at the fact nobody had tried to kill them yet. They slipped into a maintenance hatch and crept under the walls, the maintenance tunnels seeming to drag on and on, until they finally came out in a utility station some way into the city.
Where one destroyed Boxer LAV and a dozen or so UAF corpses were. Grant motioned for one of the volunteers to creep out, and sure enough a sniper shot the poor soul in the side of the head, the particle impactor blowing away most of his helmet and skull, sending him crashing to the ground with a clatter of rifle and envirosuit. But Grant had anticipated this, and saw where the shot had come from.
Two volunteers quickly moved across the to the next buildings, encountering only corpses of Believer soldiers that had been shredded by a Heavy Impact Gun – the handiwork of the Boxer's gunner - and frag grenades. They were across the street from the building with the sniper now, and could see the remains of two UAF soldiers.
“Sergeant, it's Rashid. We're in position. Only bodies along the way. This looks to be the furthest your comrades penetrated.” One of the volunteers said, fingering his radio.
“Copy, sit tight. Got a team en route to you now.” Came Grant's swift reply. The two sat and waited for what seemed like an agonizingly slow stretch of time, when six more soldiers appeared: Four volunteers like themselves, and two UAF. On of the volunteers they knew was Godric, the large man packing an older LMG, one of many such weapons shipped up to quickly outfit volunteer platoons.
They checked the windows and street as best they could, and made a mad dash across, hoping to remain unseen, and mercifully, God had taken pity on them and allowed them to reach the building. One of the UAF soldiers drew a large-barreled gun, a cylinder holding three shotgun shells within it, and nodded to the others. They readied themselves, Godric in front of the old-style door with two others, Rashid and his companion Cerro at one window, and another volunteer at the other with the second UAF soldier. Three very loud bangs followed by the sound of the metal door bending as it was kicked down then echoed around the street, the others smashing the two windows and hurling grenades in while Godric and the others sprayed into the room and charged in following the detonations.
Once inside, they were met by numerous Believer garrison soldiers clad in plasmasteel armor dead on the floor, the armor doing little to stop the impact rifles and grenade blasts. A burst of rifle fire from down the hall caught them by surprise though, and Cerro hit the floor with a metallic thud of armor on concrete, four rounds having smashed into his chest. A UAF soldier placed an explosive on one of the walls and blew it apart in response, the soldier leading two volunteers through and into the stunned side of a trio of garrison soldiers. One found himself on the business end of a volunteer's bayonet, while the other two were dispatched with haste by two particle-bursts each from the UAF veteran: A shot to the chest and head for both.
The trooper yelled instinctively “Frag out!” as he chucked a grenade into the hall, the blast being followed by the screams of two injured defenders. The rest of the team advanced into the hall guns blazing, discouraging anyone from trying to return fire. Sure enough, some fool had exposed himself trying to fire an SMG around the corner of the stairs her was hiding in, and he hit the floor, two round blowing off an arm, one catching his shoulder, and two more the side and back of his helmet.
The seven man assault team swept upwards, putting the two wounded down along the way, and cleared a second squad of garrison soldiers equipped with outdated M8 rifles. One was a particularly frightening display of strength from Godric, who'd slammed one into a wall and killed him with three armored punches to the face: Two the crush his visor, and one to smash the man's skull. On the same floor was a makeshift hospital, with a half dozen wounded Believers in it. One tried to fight, but was executed by one of the UAF soldiers, while the rest and their doctor were left under the watchful eye of three volunteers.
The second to last floor was their main goal. A flurry of small arms fire stopped them in the hallway near the sniper's nest, but two well aimed grenades silenced the defenders. They rushed forward, splitting up into pairs and cleared five rooms of isolated ones and twos of Believer soldiers. All that was left was the sniper and whoever was in there with him. Godric kicked the door open and went in, only to be greeted by a maintenance jack to the side of the head from the sniper. But to the surprise of his fellows and the horror of the sniper, he simply rolled with the blow, the armorplates taking the worst of the hit, and wheeled around. Before anyoen knew what had actually happened Godric smashed the length of his LMG into the unfortunate mane's helmet, smashing the visor into dozens of shards! The sniper was quickly shot in the head by the towering man, sparing him an unnecessarily cruel death by suffocation in the nitrogen-heavy air.
The only thing that had kept the sniper from using his rifle or a pistol was his rifle being an impressive beast of a gun, one that took time to set up and tear down, while it seemed to be a lapse in judgment on the latter: the sniper's side arm was disassembled on a table, cleaning kit open.
A quick sweep of the last two floors was met with only token resistance, though another Volunteer was killed by a hastily rigged up tripwire and one of the UAF soldiers had to be carried down to the hospital for two shots to his abdomen. The rest of the platoon advanced after the all-clear signal was sent, and to their surprise, the doctor told them that they'd just killed the last of the garrison!
Grant was quick to commandeer the network node in the building's basement, and send a message to Unity Command.
-=-
Baker sat up from the pile of casualty reports she'd received. Nothing but loss after loss since Godwinson's Hope, and even local folks were coming in on the reports now, making it hurt all the more to read the names. The door to her sparse home slid open, and Klar told her a series of transmissions had come in on Channel six addressed to her.
“Probably that nutjob trying to get us to backstab the Provost again.”
The first was just information about some project called The Command Nexus. The next?
Data and notification of a third successful assault!
“How in the hell?” The Commander blurted out, staring in disbelief.
“We wore them down ma'am. They had the numbers and stolen tech, but they don't have the training to use either one effectively.” Rio said, walking over. “I've tried contacting the Chaplain to get her to agree to a ceasfire, but she keeps demanding research data in exchange.”
“I hope you told that bitch to eat her own hair.” Baker said grimly. Then an image came up, a strategic level map.
“What's this?”
Rio smiled and crossed her arms. “The units we sent to assist the University. Since they're taking back their facilities on their own thanks to us drawing the Believer invasion force off, I took the liberty of ordering them to swing up the far side of the freshwater sea. Coupled with the Volunteer Corps, there's seven platoons in position to begin an assault on New Jerusalem, and an MP unit ready to take over policing duties in the aftermath. All they need is your go ahead.”
Baker couldn't help but smile. “Tell them to put the fear of God in that bitch.”
-=-
Miriam was seething. Filled with nothing but abject hate for the unbelievers now traipsing about her capital,
God's capital! Forced to escape her home of some ten years, by the deranged minions of a psychotic madwoman and those who'd betrayed the Lord by siding with them!
She could see that bitch mocking her in that blue flag over the city. This would not go unpunished, she would see to that. But that would have to wait, as her convoy bypassed Divinity Base on her orders; she knew trying to hold that settlement was futile. However, her probe teams had reported a successful mission. Perhaps they could keep the Lord's favor in this conflict?
But they would need time to get the new weapons into the hands of her crusaders...
The UAF was finally on an even standing against the enemy. Many troopers had given their lives, but the Believers now knew they weren't to be fucked with. Baker used those same words to a colony-wide broadcast, and she even granted full citizenship to the citizens of the captured settlements, in honor of the brave Volunteer Corps members who had made the offensive succeed.
The fighting continued, three companies worth of crusaders hurling themselves at the UAF's Taskforce, while the University finally retook the second fallen base. Not all was good however, as prob teams were spotted, one of which managed to slip past the UAF troops while they eliminated the others, stealing their data on Superstring Theory – which was a grave error, and no further encroachments could be allowed.
[Image taken prior to The Rapture's fall to UAF Forces]
Any other probe teams unlucky enough to be spotted were not even given the option to surrender.
Commander Baker also announced that for the breach of their datalinks, all Believer installations on land had been forfeit, and she would accept no less than complete surrender afterward. And the news continued with some good, with Unity Command announcing that for the first time in a decade, they had managed to reap a bumper harvest from the farms around the colony! They also announced that they had received word of some sort of bizarre virtual playground in Gaian hands, and a sudden report that another of the Believers' cities had fallen! A note attached to the transmission indicated that many of the Believer troops were resorting to outdated M8 pattern firearms.
“Those poor bastards are really scraping at the bottom of the barrel for weapons for all that tech they've swiped,” was the Commander's comment on the matter.
It came as a shock to all when Miriam's face appeared on the main screen of Unity Command during the broadcast. She asked for a truce.
And Baker told her that she would agree – if she could swallow a whole bottle of cyanide pills without dying. Most of the command staff (and even some of Miriam's own,) couldn't help but laugh at how red the former Unity Chaplain got at this.
“And why will you not agree to a truce? Are you a blood thirsty monster?”
“Oh no, but I'm also not an idiot. Do you really think I'm going to call off my troopers after the hell they went through to help the University, even after I tried to get
you to stand down no less than six times before? Despite the fact my men are better trained, better motivated, and in general pissed off at you for being a warmongering little bitch and your
own people are taking up UAF rifles to fight you – of their own damn volition I might add - you kept demanding we turn on the University, that we give back bases and cities you lacked the ability to even defend properly, and demanded energy shipments, just so you could go back to picking on the nerds before coming after us when you were finished with them.”
Miriam just stood there, fuming with clenched teeth.
“No Miri, This doesn't end until we force you off Unity. You can keep your silly little oceanic shit-holes, but Unity belongs to us and the University. I'm not giving you a chance to turn those chaos rifles and cannons out en masse on dry land.”
Baker stood and awaited a response, and none came.
“If there's nothing else Miri, I think we're done here. No if you'd be so kind as to fuck off and bother someone else, I'm in the middle of a broadcast to the people who saw through your bitch in sheep's clothing act.”
And as if on cue, another report of a successful seizure came on, and Baker turned the screen so Miriam, no in the midst of a triage of insults and curses, could see. Cassandra just smiled as the angered woman cut off the transmission. Reports then came of riots breaking out in The Lord's Gift and Time of Salvation, in wake of the broadcast.
Miriam's misguided flock had seen the light, and they would bring their God's wrath upon the evil witch who'd lead them to slaughter: Godwinson.
After the speech, a transmission from the University came through, and contact with Gaia had been established, as did report more victories, which inevitably were followed by two more pleas for a ceasefire (and Miriam having the audacity to try and demand technology.)
This left only Lord's Mercy and Judgment Seat to take.
Helloooooo! We have update deuce!
I will come out and say it, I did cheat during the fighting for Throne of God: After savescumming twice in irritation, I added exactly one unit, and rush built two more, of Impact gun Unity Infantry out of Godwinson's Hope and Voice of God. The cheated in unit and one of the units meant to be saved got killed, but saving one platoon coupled with reinforcements coming in from the University, all of them of far higher caliber than what the Believers could actually rush build, made a world of difference.
After the Superstring Theory jacking Miriam pulled, they don't get to have land bases anymore. The Believers got the shit kicked out of them, and my little stunt even let the University take back both of the bases it lost and beat back the bible-thumpers' few rearguard units in the area around them. Now they seem to be desperately throwing MP units at me in offensive capacity in some hope they'll be enough against multiple Elite level units of Unity Infantry.
Amazing the difference one extra move/attack makes isn't it?
We're also getting our shit pushed in on the Secret Project front, and I've missed a few other random events and such but most of that isn't important, though I did screw up catching the probe team attack and one of the captures. Aside from the frustration bit, this actually went very well, due nearly all in part to a modest sum of credits we had to rush build some units and the naturally high level Unitarian units get.
I also hope you guys enjoy the bit of flourish done for the “conquest” of Throne of God. Pretty proud of that bit. Story-wise we also now have a large number of volunteer soldiers composed of deeply devout folk who view Miriam as a terrible leader of people and a poor mouthpiece for the Lord due to her needless aggression towards the University and her flat out stupid demands every time either of us wanted a ceasefire.
Hope you guys find this acceptable.
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Topic: LP/Story: SMAX - Terminated because the AI is a jerk and I'm a noob (Read 6513 times)