[i]Jalaryias, Sigmas holy warriors[/i] [center][b][h2]A k ' A r i a, The Burning Sands[/h2][/b] [h3]Colonel Karl Winters 477th vanguard[/h3][/center] [center][img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads21/pp31346525085.jpg[/img][/center] [i]Papa, when will the bad people stop fighting? My son, bad people will always fight. That's why you send good people to stop them. Like you daddy? My son, I will always try.[/i] It had been a long time since that day.. Two hundred seventy-one days, four hours. He was always wondering when this war would end, when he would see his family. His nation had called on him, a newly retired soldier whom had led many to their deaths. This was a fact that haunted this supposed war hero. No amount of honors, medals and commendations would ever erase the image of teary eyed widows watching from afar. Those memories would always come to mind at military related events, now more than ever. He had seen his fair share of war, even led one of the most successful missions of the past decade, one that set a standard on attacking a fixed position. As celebrated as his acheivements may have been, no one ever seemed to understand how many lives had been lost to reach victory. All anyone ever wanted was a product, something they could flash around. No one cared about the lives that made that happen. Such is the way of war. [center][b]---01:00 hours, Fire base Galco, Day 1---[/b][/center] Men and women, young and old, walked throughout the base on various tasks. Vtols sat parked down a long runway.. well most likely a runway that had been nearly covered with sand. Artillery was being dug in as well as many fixed defenses. Nearby, the sound of the Jalaryias 'holy' armor was present. This forward position is where it all started, the so called "beginning of the end for the devious desert fox". For the Jalaryias had brought one of their most feared commanders in to the fold. And they all knew it. Men and women alike seemed to stare in awe before the Colonel as he walked by. Not at his impressive stature and rank but rather his relaxed yet stern demeanor and the lack of a uniform full of medals. He was never one to furnish his medals or flashy patches. He knew killing commanders was a easy way to break a combat unit down so he always wore the bare minimum. He always made sure his soldiers knew his face rather than his command insignia. Some say this is part of his issue, that he always gets a somewhat personal attachment to his soldiers, he learns their face and their roles rather than just a statistic or counter on a board. The Colonel made his way through the crowded tents towards a trailer that was covered in a thick sand colored tarp. Around were various weapon emplacements with the casual gunship flying over head. He walked in to the trailer where a number of officers had been waiting for him. As his face became visible, the entire group of officers stood up and gave a sharp salute. Before him, as the hands went down, was a young general sitting in a chair. Before him was a physical map of the local terrain. "Ah." he said before standing up. "Colonel Karl Winters. Such an ironic place for a winter warrior." He chuckled a bit. The rest chuckled too but Karl wasn't sure if they were that dense or it was a mercy laugh for their commanders. Karl didn't quite care though, he knew they didn't. Karl cleared his throat and then spoke plainly, "Hello gentlemen, I am happy to be so well received. But aside from the formalities, may I ask why we are attacking this valley with such a meager force?" He was clearly referencing the prior exploits of the various opponent desert generals. "I believe attacking this ridge that overlooks the entire valley would be a more prudent action." The general walked to the map and pointed at three locations. "These are why. One full battery of the 'Half Bore' artillery units and two small depots that are likely ammunition storage for their troops." Karl walked towards the map. "And your plan for this is a full on assault?" The general gave an aggressive smirk, "Yes, our orders are to crush them entirely and with this decisive blow, we will send them running and claim this forsaken land for ourselves. Unless you have a better idea." Karl pointed at a plateau not far from the valley, "I believe hitting here would be most prudent and strike with a smaller force before hitting them with our heavy forces." He drew his finger across the map towards the fire base they were at. "We take this route, flying low and fast with air support at the ready. We wont need heavy armor right away if our gunships can get in close. We will have counter fire from the Armatas but I believe they will wait for a second wave before revealing their positions. If they fire too early, they'll risk getting spotted before any troops can get close for them to engage. Their artillery is what they rely on. We have to get in close so it will not be as effective." The general rubbed his chin a bit before examining the map. "From this point we can position our own artillery and spotters." Karl nodded, "Yes, and our spotters could see for miles." The general turned towards Karl. "Alright, you lead the charge. Take what you need but they do have air support." Karl stared at the map, "They wont be an issue early on." [center][b]---07:00 hours, Blue ridge, Day 1---[/b][/center] The unique sound of the Templar gunships gave Karl some semblance of sanity in this forsaken wasteland. He had flashbacks of the ice and snow of a campaign a few years back. He had great success then that earned him the notoriety and fame he had today. He was praying that he would be victorious today as that meant his men stayed alive. As his prayer ended, the side doors opened of the Templar and Karl took note of various terrain features that he would plan a potential retreat around. He could see four dropships nearby in a line formation to hide their numbers, behind his dropship was four more and another four on the opposite side. Leading the group were a number of witch hunter gunships and above there were contrails from various types of fighter support and below were collomns of Purity tanks and Exodus APC's. This force would help to secure the area and be used for another attack later on. His unit was flying low and fast which would mislead any ground soldiers and by the time aircraft would get an idea of the situation, it'd be too late. Karl began addressing his squads on each of the Templar drop ships. "Men, this will be a true test of your resolve and skills as a warrior. When we land it will be a full twenty minutes before the next wave arrives. A lot can happen in twenty minutes so stay sharp and call out anything odd you see. Our support will be reliant on these calls as short range sensors are being actively jammed by our foe. Stay aware, watch the soldiers to your sides and we will make it through." He took a deep breath and spoke one last time, "Know that not all of you may survive this but I promise that I will not leave a single one of you behind... Alive or Dead." Each and every drop ship was silent as the troops aboard readied themselves. Many began to pray with the rest checking their guns. One had checked his gun at least fifteen times by now, his nails chewed down and scratch marks across his face while others did various nervous habits. Karl had none, just the uneasy feeling that he would get before every battle. "Pyre one, Missiles away!" Karl leaned out of the transport to see the Witch-hunters releasing their payloads. Above him, shells whistled by only to explode near their landing spot. Within moments, the shelling had ceased and the dropships began their descent. "Alright men, off as fast as possible!" With that, the men moved to the doors and like clockwork, the Transports dropped to two feet above ground, just long enough for the men to hurry out within seconds before rushing off. For the first few minutes it was an eerie silence.. "Alright, blue, red, and yellow, move up. Green, take up defensive positions." Before he could say anything else, the ridge lit up with gunfire. His force was now surrounded and there was no going back now. "Men! engage the enemy!" And with a hail of rifle fire, the entire area erupted in to a massive fire fight. [center][b]---07:30 hours, Blue ridge, Day 1---[/b][/center] The fire fight wasn't letting up, even with the constant strikes by witch-hunter gunships. Karl looked around as the Gunships fired their salvos and hurried off. A soldier turned to him, one of his junior officers. "Sir! they must not have any anti air." Karl shook his head and pointed to a large dune. "Those guns are there, ready to hit our next wave." He turned around and spotted small black specks in the distance, his next wave coming in fast. "Sir, how do you know?" Karl turned his attention to the dune, "Because it is what I would do." He tapped the young mans helmet before running towards the front line, "Blue and yellow, Move up! push hard!" Karl watched as Quick mortar rounds landed along the front line. "Damn it, get some counter fire on those. Mortar squads, counter battery now!" The Jaralyian soldiers were now without mortar cover but it was that or constantly moving to avoid the rapid firing Quick mortars. They were deadly when fired en-masse' but these soldiers knew staying down and moving often was their best chance of survival. As Karl moved up, he could see his counter fire working as the shelling of his men had stopped. "Attack!" he yelled, "Move up!! go go go!" The soldiers were inspired now and began pushing forward. Within a few minutes, they had overran the first Konscript line and were pushing further in. "There they are." Karl said, pointing towards camouflaged Armata guns. "Mortars! focus on coordinates 244 by 120. Fire at will." The mortar rounds were quick to arrive but didn't do much against the Armatas but it did exactly what Karl wanted. Got their attention. The Armatas began moving to avoid the oncoming ordinance and gave away their positions. "Pyre, Engage coordinates 244 by 120!" Within seconds, gunships that had been hiding behind a large dune far behind the battle rose up. The Armatas didn't stand a chance as the Witch-hunters began firing their missiles and cannons in to the vulnerable Walking cannons. A few got shots off and managed to down two of the witch hunters but it didn't matter at this point, Karl's drop ships had arrived without a scratch and unloaded their precious cargo. Karl smirked and sharpened his gaze at the now visible edge of the plateau. "Alright, expect enemy armor soon, Gunships head off to re-arm. Our anti-tank weaponry should be good at this range. Karl had planned it flawlessly, His forces facing an uphill ridge. The enemy tanks would be extremely vulnerable at this range and angle. And it proved correct as the enemy commander had deployed his Valkyrie tanks. The first tank had just reached the peak of the dune, exposing its underside to everyone. This worked to the soldiers advantage as they fired anti-tank rockets right in to the thin underbelly. Massive plumes of fire and smoke burst our from the turrets of these once formidable tanks. Karl knew these weren't to be trifled with but the crews inside were used lazily. His enemy was too easy to read at this point. [center][b]---08:50 hours, Blue ridge, Day 1---[/b][/center] It was starting to die down by now. Various pockets of Konscripts were still fighting but they were now cut off from any support. Karl had expected enemy aircraft soon so he signaled for friendly air support to begin moving in. Within fifteen minuets, enemy aircraft had fired missiles in to the combat zone. Before they could get too close, Allied fighters had arrived and began close range combat. To further the enemy "Niks" problems, Captured Armata guns began firing wildly at the Niks. Before long, four of those fighters had crashed in to the ground with another two limping away. Karl ordered his air support to break off pursuit. He knew if they traveled too far, they'd be tore apart by waves of enemy Niks and Armatas that were likely massing in the distance. Karl knew all too well not to push his luck. [center][b]---10:20 hours, Blue ridge, Day 1---[/b][/center] The last shot had been fired more than five minutes ago. Karl looked over the droves of new prisoners, "Check them for any intel." But he knew there likely wasn't any. These were fodder, and he truly did pity them. His feelings aside, this was a victory and his troops had begun to look over the battlefield. Karl watched as body bags were loaded aboard Templar transports by the dozens. It hurt him to see it, knowing that his actions, his orders led those warriors to their death. He gained a sort of sick satisfaction though as he looked to the ever growing pile of deceased Voloss soldiers. His actions led to their deaths too. "Sir, we have an officer. His legs are blown off and missing part of his arm but he is still alive!" Karl piqued a brow and walked towards the survivor. He looked over the Hegemony officer, almost impressed by his survival. "Check him for intelligence. If he can talk, see if he can help us out at all." In the distance, two explosions sent all the nearby soldiers back in to a combat mindset as hey rose their rifles and hit the ground. "At ease men, it's friendly gunships harassing retreating soldiers." [center][b]---11:30 hours, Blue ridge, Day 1---[/b][/center] Karl was watching as his men began digging trenches and a few heavy machines were digging a large bunker. Tents were being rose and tarps were being thrown over gunships. Karl kept his Templar transports back at the fire base. Indeed it would be a while before they could arrive to evacuate them but with his elevated position, he would have plenty of forewarning. Karl dropped down into a trench and then walked towards a small redoubt. As he arrived, he withdrew a small silver disk and dropped it to the center. Within seconds an interactive holographic view of the immediate area formed. He used it to update trench and fixed gun positions. He had began construction of pill boxes and gun-bunkers along the access points of the plateau. Karl knew that from his position, enemy artillery was just a little too far out and with his captured Quick mortars, Armata and Paladin guns, he had plenty of deterrents from Hegemony retaliation. As he deactivated the silver disk and picked it up, a corporal ran to him, "Sir! urgent message from advance fire teams. They found the scouts." Karl made his way to the communications tent, a temporary fixture until the under ground bunker was completed. "Soldier, what have you found." The man on the other end activated a camera. "Sir, I'm not sure if this is all of the scouts but the ones we found are dead. There's too few here to be a full unit though." Karl wasn't even sure if this was the unit he was hoping to find. "Alright, good work, gather our dead and return to the fire-base." The soldier nodded and as the camera cut off, another came on. "Sir.. we found one of the half-bores. Looks like one of our fighters put a missile right through its front end. This crater is pretty big." Karl leaned in as the soldier holding the camera panned it over the wreck. "Is the gun still operational?" The soldier turned the camera to his face and smiled, "No sir, this thing is history." "Alright, good work. Head back to the plateau." The soldier was quick to reply and spoke with some relief, "Yes sir!" and cut off. The other two squads gave simple reports, that they failed to locate the two remaining Half-bores. Karl wasn't happy about it but he knew his men did their best. [center][b]---15:40 hours, Blue ridge, Day 1---[/b][/center] Karl stood at the edge of a trench near one of the cliffs of the plateau. He gazed out upon the open sands and then turned to a sniper and spotter operating near by. Karl had a strange hunch and asked to borrow the spotters scope. "Hey, look to your left, about two marks below that small dune directly below the sun. What do you see there?" "Sir, I see what looks like tracks from a tank." He said, "Actually, sir.. it looks like tracks from something much bigger." Karl gave a toothy grin, "Then our last two friends made a get away. Guess we are gonna be hunting now." He knew that the plateau was a pretty safe location but sending forces in to the valley below would not be the case. There wasn't a lot of cover and the enemy likely had every bit of that valley pre-sighted. A potential slaughter, especially now that two of the half-bores had escaped. Karl returned to the command tent which was in the process of being emptied as the new command bunker was nearing completion."Get a hold of the Knight commander, let him know that we have a superior position and captured Hegemony soldiers. Let him know we found a few scouts but do not believe they are all accounted for. Also, that there are two Half-bores missing and potentially more the further in to the desert we go." He then headed to the command bunker. It wasn't anything special, just a big underground cave at this point with metal poles bolstering the ceiling. Towards the back of the bunker was a single Cot which Karl sat down on. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. At this point, the theater of war was growing quickly, far too big for he alone to take command of. The Knight commander would have his work cut out for him at this point but he now had a battalion of veteran soldiers. Even with the experience from this victory, they knew it was only going to get more difficult from here.