“We’ll be right here whenever you’re…”
“General Cain!” It was Captain Santos, a member of Cain’s staff. He was running over from the HQ hut. “We’ve just received a communication from the orbital fortresses. They are under attack.”
Cain turned to face Santos. “Any word from Admiral West?”
“No sir. The last report is that Cambrai suffered heavy damage and Third Fleet is retreating. The admiral may be…”
“Let’s not bury Admiral West until we have some facts, captain.” Cain turned toward Aoki. “Well, my friend, I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone those burgers and beers until after the dance.”
The battle had been raging for six days. Cain had been dealing with his inner demons recently, but he pushed aside the doubts and dove into the job at hand. He’d abandoned the rest of the planet, creating one large defensive perimeter around Landing. That line redefined the concept of defense in depth. For weeks he had scoured every inch of the position, directing the placement of mines, choosing locations for heavy weapon emplacements, and managing the digging of trenches. He placed line after line, each one stronger than the last. The troops saw him everywhere, and his legend grew among the rank and file.
Cain’s plan wasn’t pretty; it wasn’t elegant. He contrived to turn every centimeter of the battlefield into a killing zone. He was going to fight a battle of annihilation with the enemy. If they wanted Farpoint, they were going to have to take it one bloody meter at a time.
The first line, covered by minefields and extensive heavy weapon strongpoints, had held for three days. Finally, the enemy massed its Reapers and punched through, suffering heavy losses in the process. His front pierced, Cain ordered his forces back to the second line. The forward units had paid heavily for those three days of resistance, and most of the deployed companies were under 60% strength. Casualties among the officers were even worse, as high as 70% in the hardest-hit formations. The Marines fought like madmen, but the relentlessness of the enemy sapped their morale. Even veteran units wavered under the incessant attacks, and the officers were compelled to rally their troops, exposing themselves to withering fire in the process.
The second line had held for three days also, but now it was broken in at least four places, and the troops were retreating. The fallback from the first line had been orderly, but now the Marines were breaking, and crack units were retiring in disorder. Cain paced nervously around his command post, resisting the urge to run up to the line, as if his will alone would rally the troops and send them back at the enemy.
He turned abruptly and looked at another armored figure standing about five meters behind him. “Aoki, I need you to get your troops up to the front.” He was looking at a tactical display on his visor. “Hector, transmit this map to Colonel Yoshi immediately.”
“Yes, general.” For once the AI simply acknowledged and obeyed. Cain never realized that Hector’s sometimes sarcastic personality had developed in response to the AI’s evaluation of his own emotional needs. Sparring with his personal assistant relaxed Cain, though he himself never realized it. But Hector knew what Cain was up against this time.
“Aoki, do you see the deep valley northeast of Landing?”
The PRC officer hesitated for a few seconds as he got his bearings on the map. “Yes, general. I see it.”
“I want you to lead your regiment through that low area. I think you’ll be in cover there. Try to get around the enemy and hit them on the flank and rear.” It was a bold plan…a risky one. Against the enemy’s firepower, the conventional move would be to feed reserves into the prepared defenses. But Erik Cain was anything but conventional.
“Yes, sir.” Yoshi’s voice was eager…he hadn’t seen any action yet, and he was anxious to get into the fight. Yoshi was as wildly aggressive as Cain, and his troops hadn’t faced the enemy yet. That was one reason Erik chose the PRC force for the attack. His Marines had fought the enemy for six days, and their morale was eroding. They would attack if he ordered it, but they’d hold back…he knew that. He would lead his troops to the bitter end here, but Cain wasn’t fooling himself…his men and women, even the most seasoned veterans, knew they couldn’t win this fight. He knew it too, but it wasn’t in him to give up.
He still had the Janissaries in reserve too, but he couldn’t bring himself to trust them. When he walked through their camp…when he met with Tac-Commander Farooq…all he could see were enemies. He realized intellectually his close-mindedness could endanger his plan and cost him any chance at victory. His rational mind saw the situation clearly, but it didn’t prevail. Twenty years of war and thousands of dead Marines exerted a hold on Cain that he just couldn’t break, not even with unassailable logic.
“With your permission, general, I will prepare my forces to move forward.”
“Go ahead, Aoki.” Cain paused, feeling the regret he knew wouldn’t stop him. He was sending the PRC troops…he was sending a friend…on an attack he knew couldn’t succeed. He was hoping to disorder the enemy and delay their advance…and get them out in the open. He had no illusions that Yoshi’s attack could do more than that. And when the enemy regrouped, the PRC troops would have a hell of a time getting back into the defensive perimeter. Cain had a lot of guilt from the years of bloody battles that had cost so many lives…but once he was on the field, victory was the only thing that mattered. He’d push his troops mercilessly and ignore any losses. There would always be time for guilt after the fight was over. “And Aoki?”
Yoshi had started to trot toward the PRC camp, but he stopped and turned to face Cain. “Yes, general.”
“Hit them hard.” Cain hated himself even as he said it. “Don’t hold anything back.”
“We’ll hit them, Erik. Don’t you worry about that.”
Lieutenant Sato leapt over the edge of the rocky wall, the troops of his company following close behind. Colonel Yoshi’s orders were explicit. They were to advance at full speed to their objective and to stop for nothing. They’d worked their way around the enemy flank without being detected, but the surprise wouldn’t last long…and Yoshi wanted to make the most of it.
Attacking this enemy was difficult. The battle bots were highly resistant to damage, and it was hard to efficiently employ the heavier SAWs and HVMs when advancing. Though the PRC troops hadn’t faced the enemy before, Colonel Yoshi understood the problem, and he’d crafted his attack plan accordingly.
There was a low ridge running across the PRC frontage, perpendicular to the enemy line. It was not a major terrain feature, really just a ripple in the ground, but it was enough to provide decent cover for a firing line. It was a perfect spot to deploy the heavy weapons and enfilade the enemy position. But Sato’s troops had to cross 2 klicks of open ground to get there. They could do it, he was sure of that, but it would cost. The PRC troops carried shells similar to the Caliphate’s “smoke” rounds in their mortar teams. The shells, spread a chemically-laced, radioactive steam across the field, not only impairing visibility, but wreaking havoc with scanners and other detection devices. It was frequently used to cover advances, but Yoshi was holding his back. He didn’t want to do anything to alert the enemy. He even forbade firing until the troops had reached the new position.
Sato ran forward, zigzagging slightly to take advantage of the contours of the ground. Even “flat” terrain had dips and folds that offered some degree of protection. The enemy was heavily engaged on this sector, pushing hard against the Marines’ third line. Unlike the first two layers of defense, this line was manned by units with a high proportion of green troops, and they were starting to give ground. It was a perfect time to hit the enemy flank.
Sato’s troops got about halfway across the field before they were targeted. A detachment of the standard battle bots responded first, swinging around and firing high-velocity rounds at the advancing PRC forces. Their fire was extremely accurate, but Sato had his troops running forward in a zigzag pattern, making them harder to target. Still, he lost at least 10% of his force in just a few seconds…then the cluster bombs started coming in.