The airbase was busy with activity. Operation TOBRUK was only fifteen minutes to H-hour, and scrambling, the men and women of 57 Commando Brigade made final preparations. The pilots of the joint 62/187 Squadron of the Lazarus Armed Forces were alerted to their cockpits, making final preparations for the eventual attack. 62 Squadron was, at full strength, a ground support squadron equipped with six TF-07 Destroyers and three AF-24 Daggers, but with the course of the conflict they have lost all three Daggers and one Destroyer to combat and have yet received replacements. Due to them being the most experienced in comparison to the other squadrons, 62 Squadron was selected to become one of the units to conduct the opening stages of Operation TOBRUK as part of 57 Commando Brigade. To supplement its forces, the battle-scarred 187 Squadron of the Lazarus Navy had been called upon to lend its two combat effective pilots and AFUs.
In hangar A-17, the eight AFUs lit up their engines and tested their weapons.
WO2 Ryck Norican, Hrasvleg Royal Corps of Marines, and Sophie Deschamps, Lazarus Alliance Navy, were equipped with the ground combat anti-tank warfare striker pack, being given two 120 mm rifled guns each and extra armor. In addition to that, they’re usual zero-gravity boosters were replaced with something called the Atmospheric Combat Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear (3DMG)–a set of small thrusters located at the legs and back with extra but limited power–to enhance their combat ability in gravity-laden conditions. Since the 120 mm gun required the handling of both the unit’s arms, so the blast shield on the left arm was unequipped, switching it with four smaller ‘padding’ shields given on the upper arms and at the ‘thighs’ of both legs.
At the sign of the 62 Squadron’s crew chief, who held LED light batons, Ryck Norican tested his feet for the first time in about six months moving on ground. There was, naturally, a large thump, both due to the weight of the unit alone, which surmounted to eight metric tonnes, and the heavy weapons system itself. The cockpit still opened, Ryck pulled the hatch’s lever and it shut in. The cameras lit up. Dressed in utilities and in the regulation flight helmet, Ryck took the latter off and put up his beret instead, putting his headset over it.
“Reaper 03. Good to go.” He said. He stepped out of the hangar and positioned himself somewhere around the airstrip, where a fleet of Pericles Vanguard Utility Transports and Aronsen Gladiators were gathered and ready. Marines went about in full battle-rattle, queuing up to embark on their respective transports.
His earpiece crackled. “Reaper 03, this is Mongoose 32. Roger that. Out.”
Ryck switched on the night-vision setting on the cameras. The world around him – the sand, the buildings, the passing soldiers, even the lights – became a shade of green.
The final checks took just several minutes. 62/187 Squadron was now ready to go, waiting only the orders from control, which referred itself as Baseplate.
His wristwatch ticked as the time closed in. 0026. 0027.
“Ryck,” Sophie came in the radio. “How are you holding up?
“I’m good. Still a bit confused on the controls, Phee?”
“It’s alright. Just hadn’t got used to it, that’s all.”
Earlier during the day the two Daggers from 187 were told to conduct a test run of the newly-equipped system. Sophie had never operated an AFU on the ground except for training, so naturally she had to normalize herself to the control system and 1.03 G calculations. She stumbled over a couple of times and was a bit stiff, unlike her fluid movements in space. But she’s good, Ryck thought, she can do it. But Ryck had no other choice but to trust his acting squadron leader to it.
“You’ll do alright.”
“All Reapers. This is Mongoose 32.” Mongoose 32 was Army Captain Morton Sykes, a black man from Southeast New London, the capital of the Hrasvleg Kingdom. “Two minutes until H-hour. I’m setting the waypoint on your HUD and navigate yourselves through there. As planned, you’ll be put in reserve on the right flank. If the Doms come at us you’ll get ‘em, yeah?”
“Solid copy, 32. We’ve got your arse. Over.” Said Sophie.
“Break-break, this is Reaper 02. First round of drinks are on me for the tosser who gets the most kills today. Over.”
“That’s official, Reaper 02?”
“Roger that, 32.”
Not much longer, his stopwatch’s alarm then rang. Three beeps, followed by another three. Seconds into the 30th minute of 28 May, the general broadcast frequency rang up.
“All units this is Baseplate. Jacqueline. Jacqueline. I say again, Jacqueline. Godspeed. Out.”
“That’s our queue.” Said Ryck. “Let’s go.”
“All Mongooses this is Mongoose 32. Let’s go.”
“Starting up 3DMGs.” Ryck ticked down a small switch, which lit up, activating the 3DMG module. He put the throttle at 80%. Ryck and Sophie’s units jumped into the air, over the helicopters and Marines, and onto the desert, heading for a south-southwest bearing. Once hitting the desert ground, they activated the feet thrusters, which allowed them to dash to speeds going up to 150 kilometers per hour. It was fast, in comparison to the turret turning speed of any rank, which was the primary advantage of using an AFU in anti-tank operations. However, one shot at the right spot and the AFU was knocked out. Pilots had to be experts at high-mobility, high-G turns, especially those piloting Daggers.
Along with the five Destroyers of 62 Squadron, they launched into the horizon, keeping a stable speed of 120 kilometers an hour. They advanced in a loose wedge formation, with the two Daggers of 187 on the right flank. From above, they looked like surfing on the sand. It was almost true, as they left a large cloud of dust and sand behind them.
Not long after, the fleet of helicopters from 211 Ground Attack Squadron and 102 Commando Helicopter Force flew ahead of them. As they flew past them, Ryck saw a Vanguard door gunner sitting on the rear rank, manning a GPMG. He gave a friendly salute to Ryck’s unit, and raced away towards Waypoint White which was not more than twenty kilometers away.
***
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