"Çöl Fırtınası"
Sgt Arpeg hummed as he sat on the edge of the conrete dock, keeping an eye on the horizon. The sun was about to go down, and him and his squadron were waiting for the last rays of the stellar neighbour to disappear. The red dusk gave a horrid appearance to the sky as if it was painted with blood, hinting that a desert storm was coming. Some seagulls flew by, and dived into the brown, murky water to catch their last fish for the day. Arpeg wondered if these birds would be better off without them humans to interfere, but he came to teh conclusion that the greenskins are rather likely to consume seagulls on a daily basis. But who knows, maybe they don't really feel the difference. Either way, Arpeg really wished he could sprout wings too, so he could fly away from his problems.
"Arpeg, get off your ass, we're moving." His squad commander, Lt Jamie waved for him, his Hayalet armor loosely hanging from his shoulders as the wind tugged the light fabric in face of the approaching storm. His face was hardened and unshaved, clearly a sign that the man had lacked proper time in the last few weeks. They've been preparing for Operation "Çöl Fırtınası" day and night, relentlessly seeking out the supply drops scattered around the nearby area so they can prepare for the upcoming event. One of the patroc craft drove by close to the group, it's lights blinking slowly as it passed by at a snail's pace, patrolling the edges of the port. Arpeg stood up and picked up the weapon lying next to him. The trusty T-76 sung a happy metallic tone as he cocked the gun, and raised it to his chest.
The task force contained a total of five soldiers. Each of them were covered from head to toe in Hayalet armor, with the exception of their boot's soles and their faces. To improve their effectivity, they all wore minituarized Gözleri visors on their heads, loosely covered by the Hayalet armor. Still, despite the concrete surroundings, Arpeg had to squing to clearly make out the shape of his commander. Then he lowered his visor onto his face, and covered all the non vital parts of the machine with the Hayalet fabric. Lt Jamie signaled for them to turn off their IR and prepare to move out.
15 minutes later, the squad was deep outside the confines of the port, and have wandered miles deep into the large metropolitan area that was essentially the entire exclusion zone. When they left the base they could still see the smoke rising from the camps of the greenskins in the distance, but the weather has deteriorated so much that they had issues making visual contact with each other even with the help of their gear's locator. The sandstorm raged over the city, unaffected by the man-made barriers that have been demolished by the outsiders. Now, practically invisible, the group sneaked through the storm to a drop-off point marked on their map, deep inside enemy territory.
Their goal was to retrieve the supplies dropped for them, and plant radio locators in key areas around the city of Cairo and Alexandria. These would later be used when the operation began in full swing. The squad moved through the thick sand, utilizing their Gözleri visors to gain significant visual advantage over anyone without the same equipment. Thanks to this, they could spot the group of greenskins standing by their target.
A large green painted military crate was hanging via a parachute from a particularly sturdy lamppost and the strong wing tugged it wildly. The group of 4 greenskins seemed to pay no attention to the crate, but scratch marks on the bottom of the box made it obvious that they were trying to get to the contents of the box before the weather became too much to bear. Now they were sitting by a fire in a windsjilded area, chewing on some unidentified meat. Lt Jamie raised his gun and the rest of teh squad followed. Arpeg aimed his gun at one of the creatures, his feed updating his HUD with his teammate's targets. The commander gave the order, and the rifles all released a single, well aimed bullet from their 7.62x42 cartridges. The powerful noises of the gun were supressed by the storm, and the greenskins fell to the ground lifelessly. Arpeg moved over the the campire and stomped it out, kicking away the pieces of wood all around the camp. Then the squad movied in to recover the supplies and prepare for the operation.
Meanwhile, at Masada Military BaseThe desert storm hit just as hard as they expected it to do, and the lights on the side of the airtrip blinked faintly through the wall of sand. The sand pegged at the windows, and hammered the tents still left outside. However, life doesn't stop just because of some sand. A group of air traffic controllers stood out in the nearly 100 km/h winds on the airstrip and fought with the wind that was trying to blow them off the goddamned rock. The short runaway wasn't much to look at even in times of clear weather, but the thick sand rendered most parts of the runaway invisible. But the radars didn't stop working, and after a few minutes of idling in the storm, the traffic controllers were greeted by the familiar voices of the shrieking engine sounds produced by the airgoup of ŞU-2/Fs descending upon the landing strip. Out of nowhere, the sand colored wings and noses of the planes started to glimmer in the storm, and their warning lights lit up as they began descending.
Their gears hit the ground graciously, and their extnedable hooks latched onto the catapult system to slow down the aircraft in time. Two more aircraft landed before they were taxied to the elevators that took the planes and their pilots to the underground hangar area. They marked the last squadron that remained in the air. With the dust storm hitting the area for the next day or two, there would be no need for them now. General Hashim observed the craft land from the briefing room before turning around and facing the rest of the military staff.
"Gentleman, we have received orders to begin our operation two days from now. This will be a swift and precise strike aimed at relieving civilian refugee camps and taking back the Cairo Exclusion zone. We will push all the way to the Legacy gate and form a defensive barrier around it. Our top priority is liberating cairo and Alexandria, as well as establishing a solid foothold at the Suez Canal. You have all received a detailed report that will further inform you on the details of this mission. You have until the storm ends to prepare your troops. Dismissed." With an excited murmur, the staff left the briefing room to inform their captains about the upcoming mission that will finally put the Persian Empire back on the map.
Not a Sayan
Inertia
to revive the thread*