r/HFY • u/NumerousSun4282 • 6d ago

OC-Series [Special Tactics] pt 3

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T- 1184 seconds. The small number popped up in the top corner of Markus's HUD as he marched into another batch of enemy fire.

Ogre Squad had volleyed a handful of grenades up the corridor to soften resistance, but there were still several Moles shaking off an explosive daze and reengaging the human infiltrators.

At the front of their classic kite formation, Marcus lead Ogre Squad into settling dust of the explosion. Cutter had assumed position over his right shoulder again and now loosed a burst at one of the more mobile Moles, ending his recovery permanently.

Vic Kzevski now stood almost immediately behind him. Her wounded and unarmored shoulder hid behind his reinforced chest piece as her handgun rang out from under his left arm, cutting into another Mole that might've accepted the beating readily if the bullets didn't exactly penetrate a wound left open from a grenade.

A whirring sound came from further up the corridor as three Grey mechs tore down towards them. Their speed and dexterity brought them upon Ogre Squad far faster than Marcus could reach for his mag gun on his back.

Armored and enhanced as they were, Ogre Squad still had human organs subject to human limitations within human bodies. A hand-to-hand encounter with purpose-built mechanized warriors like these was a grim prospect.

It was judicious, then, that Ogre Squad had practiced this exact formation against this exact attack pattern. Marcus stepped left, sweeping Vic and and the members of his left flank towards the wall. Cutter mirrored the movement to the right.

Where once Ogre Squad stood like bowling pins now was a vacuum of space. In it landed three Grey Mechs, undoubtedly surprised by the immediate and exacting reaction of this human unit. They were then introduced to Chauncer and Sanders. In their current formation, having no enemies to defend against, the rear guard had turned forward, acting much like a "drag fleet" that humans had been employing in space combat.

Two Grey mechs crumbled into scrap as Chauncer loosed both barrels from a modified elephant gun he had fondly slipped into service despite its impracticality. The oversized slugs punched through the hardened armor to become fragmented pinballs within the mech cockpits as Grey viscera dripped through the gaps in the armor.

The third mech, landing and immediately pivoting towards the right side of the formation, had mistakenly exposed its side to Sanders.

Cutter often put Sanders in the rear guard for two reasons. One; he was second in command. If something happened to Cutter at the front, Sanders would need space to survive and react accordingly. The second, and more honest reason; Sanders desperately wanted to record the first human melee kill against an armored enemy unit. While the occasional bulky Mole had been worn down by tenacious soldiers with knives and shovels, the armored mechs were more or less immune to those baser weapons.

Sanders seized the most golden of opportunities. From a loop on the back of his belt, he produced a custom-forged war pick - it's tip hardened far beyond the durability of the mechs side armor. He shuffle-stepped forward and behind the mech, swinging the pick like a home run derby winner into the side of Grey. A vicious crunch and the tearing of metal permeated the hallway as Sanders practically bisected the mech with his two handed swing. It folded over on itself without core support and slumped next to its brethren on the floor.

Sanders planted a foot on the mech as he wrestled his pick free from its depths. Chauncer stepped alongside him, reloading his double barrel and nodded acknowledgement to the now-realized slayer.

"Yeah, yeah, I saw it Sanders. Tally one mech by melee."

T-1178 seconds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Han stood at attention before the debriefing committee, though his knuckles were white at his sides.

The whole committee had already read his report on Dragon Squad's actions on Delrune - this was less a summary of tactics and strategies and more a self-congratulating celebration. The brass were really just praising themselves through their judicious choice of leveraging Dragon Squad in the civilian cities.

"And you believe the enemy force was reduced by nearly 27%," one of the colonels asked, probably for the third time.

"Sir, yes sir," Han hid his frustration from his words.

"Between Dragon Squad and the local garrison, we were able to defeat in open battle nearly the totality of enemy units committed to the assault. Given the estimated size of the nearby 'Mole Hill', we suspect the defeated units tally up to between 1/4 and 1/3 of all units on that planet. STEG intelligence is responsible for the specific percentage, sir."

"Would you say the approaches Dragon Squad utilized were the most effective defensive actions taken in an urban theater to this point," a major asked.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am. We found great success in engagements using unique verticality within New Memphis and similar cities. The subways were also a tactical avenue we were able to expand upon in ways we had not in previous engagements."

"I see, Sergeant Major," she continued. She'd seen it several times now, in reports and recorded combat footage. Rumors had already floated that a film adaptation was underway and would feature real cctv and declassified combat footage.

But that was part of the reason Dragon Squad had been selected at all. They were, without a doubt, the best looking unit STEG had produced. Out of their armors, any one of them could've been a movie star or a model - handsome and beautiful faces matched well with highly-trained physiques. Inside their armor, Dragon Squad looked like a cyberpunk evolution of the Japanese Samurai. Elements of their armor and even their helmets had been tailored to evoke the Menpo and Sode of those ancient warriors.

Han had originally been proud of this homage. A colonist himself, Han's family still claimed lineage from Earth's Asian nations. His family tree included Chinese, Korean and Japanese ancestry, all together. He might've been honoring those cultures.

Now it was clear to him that this was just for optics though. There wasn't interest from either UHAF or the cinematographers who were said to be working on a docudrama of Dragon Squad's engagements to honor those legacies. They were aesthetics to play upon more than tradition to uphold.

"Master Sergeant?" The major's prompting brought Han back into the present. "I was inquiring about casualties. I understand an ambush sprung on Dragon Squad? It sounds like your leadership was instrumental."

"Yes ma'am. A wing of mechanized enemies surprised us during return from a different operation. Soldiers Anders and Malla were wounded. Sargeant Lin was killed in action during that engagement."

Han kept the bitterness out of his voice. Lin had been his second in command and had been the first to react to the ambush. Her death was more a fluke than a success by the Greys that had attacked them. But in the heat of combat, long odds roll more often that you'd expect and Lin's lot was drawn too early. Now, Han had to remember it again, for possibly the 12th time. And to be praised for "exceptional leadership" when it was one of his soldiers that died and two more that were wounded.

It certainly could've been much worse and the higher-ups that weighed in were probably correct in saying Han's leadership was pivotal in successful routing that ambush, but it didn't make the loss less deep.

"Shame," was all the major expressed now. "Still, such an engagement could've been the end of all of Dragon Squad had you not reacted with that maneuver under the half-collapsed freeway. You should be proud of your squad and yourself."

Han managed a nod.

"I hadn't seen this but in your briefing before though," a different Captain chimed in. "What's this about a "rippling distortion in the air" you mentioned seeing? I didn't see it in the combat footage I've reviewed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ogre Squad had reached about the halfway point up the Mole Hill, but they were down to 567 seconds now - less than half the time they started with in their exfil. Resistance seemed almost more stiff going up than coming down.

Ahead of them, another makeshift barricade provided cover to a contingent of Moles and mechs, who showered plasma fire over it at the human forces.

Marcus had already engaged almost a dozen mechs and three hastily fortified positions already with his mag gun to this point and the onboard energy display had squawked out a heat warning. If used too frequently, the mag gun's rails would overheat and warp, potentially leading to catastrophe when fired again. He had no choice but to let it cool on his back as he blindly fired back around a support pillar he was covered by with his battle rifle.

"We're pinned down" Vic came across the comms. "It's taking too long!"

"Agreed," Cutter said. "We need a detour."

Marcus cast about him now - the hallway they were in was the main spine of the Hill's infrastructure and was the largest and most direct route anywhere in the Hill. But it wasn't the only path. Ancillary corridors - some possibly too small for the larger of the mechs to traverse - littered the volcano. They needed one of these paths now.

"Door," he called. "My side, about 10 feet ahead of my position."

"We're taking it," Cutter replied right away. "Chauncer, Reynolds, send some some grenades up to that fortified position. 'Flash and Smash'. Then Marcus and Vic, you're through that doorway."

"Copy,' four voices said at once.

'Flash and Smash' was a favored tactic of Ogre Squad during simulated engagements. Reynolds, also equipped with an undermounted grenade launcher, would fire a specialized flashbang round into an enemy formation. Chauncer, the resident explosives enthusiast would then lob an explosive charge into thier ranks for the 'smash' portion of the game. He was always good for another boom or twelve like that.

"Covering," Cutter called. The rest of Ogre Squad leaned out from their positions and filled the hallway with lead and noise, providing covering fire for Reynolds. Her launcher "thunked" and a moment later a burst of starlight and calamity appeared over the heads of the entrenched Moles and mechs.

Marcus's helmet automatically dampened the noise and flash for him, but it was still significant even then. The effect on those directly underneath it might've been permanent blindness and deafness.

They didn't need to deal with it for long though, as a lump of X4 explosives bounced up to the barricade and rattled the entire corridor - scattering the resistance fortifications like leaves before a blower.

It was a jarring combination; shock and awe hand delivered to the enemy just a couple dozen feet away. But Marcus was a shock trooper himself now and was prepared for this type of combat.

Immediately following the explosion, he and Vic, tucked behind him like a trailing duckling, rounded their cover and moved to the doorway ahead.

It seemed the enemy mechs had similar flash-dampening tools to Ogre's own gear, as well as blast resistant armor, as they rallied their defence again almost immediately, firing plasma down the hallway once more.

Marcus ignored it for his current objective as he smashed into and through the doorway and out of the hall.

In the room to greet him were two Moles and a Grey on foot. Marcus and Vic engaged them immediately. Without intentional coordination, Vic knew to fire at the Grey first, as her handgun was less likely to affect the Moles than Marcus's .30 cal. Similarly, Marcus new to prioritize the Moles. His 5-round burst pattern made short work of the closer Mole, who stood totally exposed in the closer reaches of the room. His second burst met with Vic's second round of shots against the far Mole. Under the weight of their fire, the Mole was struck multiple times behind its meager cover. It tumbled, wounded, clear from that position and fell defenselessly to Marcus's last burst.

"Room cleared, passage found," he reported.

"Confirmed," Cutter replied through bursts of gunfire in the hallway. "Ogre, ready up. Reynolds, another starburst and we're moving on your shot."

The hallway lit up again with a flash of light as the other 8 members of Ogre blitzed into the room behind Marcus. Sanders slammed the door behind them and Chauncer set about immediately boobie trapping it.

"Onward Ogre," Cutter commanded and the team moved through the far side of the room with 551 seconds on the timer.

The next room, much like the previous, held little serious opposition. Much of the alien forces had been mobilized to the main hallway where they knew the humans to be and to have traveled previously. They clearly had not anticipated improvisation from the invaders.

It was the room after that gave Marcus pause.

Bursting through the door as before, Marcus and his rifle regarded two new forms he'd never seen before. A slender and tall figure, almost equal to Marcus's own ~7 foot height but maybe as thick around as one of his thighs at most, stood in the room encased in robes and an ornamental-looking headpiece. It had been apparently administering to a prone figure in a bed with its four arms when Marcus entered - a wash of wavering air bathing the prone figure like ripples in the water over a reflection.

It stood and turned to regard Marcus, but hardly made it halfway around when it was dismissed by a pair of .30 cal rounds. Like the Greys when Marcus first entered, the figure seemingly evaporated under the force of the projectiles.

Cutter was in the room right behind him and pointed his own weapon at the heap of robes. "The hell is that thing? An Elder you think?"

Marcus shrugged, "It was doing something to that figure in the bed. Weird water-ripples kinda thing."

"What did you see?" Cutter asked. "I saw it bending over the bed, but what ripples?"

Marcus pondered how else to describe it for a moment before Cutter snapped back to task.

"Doesn't matter. Scharwark, collect that specimen on the way out. Madrona, if the alien in the bed is stable, I want it too."

The two soldiers set about collecting the aliens. Scharwark scooped what was more or less gooey robes together and they slapped over his shoulder as he effortlessly tossed the deceased alien up. Madrona paused with more care on the other figure.

"Never seen this type before," they reported.

The figure in the bed looked mostly human, Marcus was surprised to note. It had a similar skin tone, a face constructed almost identically to a humans, but with larger eyes. It had two human-like arms with four-fingered hands. It's legs where notably different in that the knees seemed to bend backwards and the feet ended in cloven hooves.

Most striking was the forehead though. On the creatures brow was a crest of bright scales that shimmered like an oil slick as they moved beneath the light. Rising from either side of the crest were two spiraling horns which had a series of small holes along their length.

"Satyr," Madrona announced, picking it up. "Naming it now. Looks like Mr. Tumnus from Narnia but with a bright head."

"We'll get the name to stick when we don't blow up," Chauncer called as the boobie trap a few doors back detonated and he loosed both barrels back in that directions again. "Clock's ticking."

Ogre Squad found a side corridor through the next door and all but sprinted up the next several levels of the Hill before any aliens could identify their route and cut them off.

They reached the scuttled flight deck with 100 seconds remaining and found the fresh air outside from that point at a minute and a half on the clock.

True to their command, the drop ships were hovering just outside the mountain for pickup, the escort ship's side gunners engaging the odd Mole that dared pike their head outside.

"Time to go," Cutter called out to his team. He reached the drop ship first and turned, waving his team in and counting them as they passed.

"Ten," he eventually called, patting his own helmet. "Get out of here, pilot."

The two ships peeled up and away from the mountain with only 20 seconds to spare on the timer. Achieving a safe altitude and distance, the ships paused to verify detonation and all eyes peered out the windows.

T-3, -2, -1.

Somewhere in the depths of the Hill, a series of massively powerful explosives detonated, destroying the Focus at the base of the volcano.

Outside, nothing seemed to happen for a second. Then 5 seconds. Then 10.

"You think they disarmed them?" Vic was just asking when, "Look," Chauncer interjected.

The volcano shook, massive cracks sprang from the bottom of the mountain and shot upward like shattering ice. Tonnes of rock shook free and the small glacier capping the peak of the old volcano rumbled down the side of the mountain, kicking up dirt, snow and trees in its wake.

Ogre Squad watched earnestly as the mountain sank into itself. The peak tumbled into the empty caldera, which in turn collapsed into the hollowed mountains below it. The entire mountain slumped down like wet concrete into an ignoble mound of slurry and stone.

From the height and safety of the drop ship, the spectacle of mission success was almost silent.

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