The objective range counter went down quickly as the seven Defenders converged on their waypoints. Sophie and Ryck's Daggers were assigned a well concealed position about five hundred meters from the outermost walls of Waypoint White. The plan was for 62 Squadron to fix a firing position and conduct a barrage of concentrated fire on the enemy lines for three minutes. Once the primary obstacles to the objective - in the form of enemy AFUs, mobile artillery, and well-concealed machinegun nests, the two Daggers would fire off and ‘pounce’ upon Waypoint White, making sure that the three landing zones for 126 Royal Marines Commando was clear and devoid of any unsuspected dangers.
2000. 1800. 1600. 1400.
Ryck sat calmly in his cockpit. Once they reached 1000 meters, the two groups of AFUs separated. Sophie and Ryck steered for their overwatch position. Carrying the large 120mm cannon, they went on one knee and locked their feet on the ground.
Ryck pulled down his targeting visor. "In position. Quite a good spot."
"Copy.” Sophie said to Ryck. “Mongoose 32, this is Reaper 02. In position. Painting targets."
"Roger that. Be advised, radio silence is to be observed. Speak on short range only, Reapers. 32 out."
Down their targeting visors, Ryck and Sophie spotted at least six enemy AFUs, all of them the heavy ground Cataphract models, which were slow, cumbersome, but had a heavier load than even the Alliance's Destroyers, themselves fitted with a 120 mm cannon, a 40mm secondary autocannon, and a set of anti-tank missiles. Ryck could see that only two of the Cataphracts were active, while the other five were kneeling and under camouflage nets. Although rather indistinguishable, the outlines clearly showed that they were none other than heavy AFUs.
The other defences included several machinegun bunkers, a couple of anti-tank guns, and a trench line set not far in front of the ruined factory. He marked the targets on the squadron integrated HUD.
Under the green filter of the nightvision view, he could see the other AFUs fixing their positions, the Destroyers locking their legs on the ground and extending their firing 'legs'–extra limbs that protracted from the back of the Destroyers to deal with the heavy recoil of the 120mm guns and backblast of the missiles. The guns were primed and loaded, now aimed towards the enemy positions. Without a word, the first shots of Operation TOBRUK–a series of well-aimed, heavy barrages of 120mm and anti-tank missiles going from the Destroyers' backs–were fired.
Unlike in space, the guns actually had noise now. The booming of heavy guns, paired with the launching of rocket-propelled missiles, were very audible from where Ryck stood. The explosions, too, were vivid. The ground nearly shook as the Destroyers maintained their steady barrage of fire. They advanced, then, per section. The two Destroyers on the far left flank retracted their firing legs and moved up a hundred meters. They put down their legs again, and continued firing. The other three did the same. The procedure was repeated until they got as close as possible but far enough to not be affected by accurate small arms fire.
Explosions were thick in the distance, lighting up the nightvision in front of Ryck’s eyes.
After three minutes of constant fire, the barrages stopped. Without another second of thought, Sophie unhesitatingly said, "Let's do this."
"Roger. Jumping." Ryck said.
He lit up his thrusters, and after a moment of heating up, his unit accelerated and jumped into the air, landing not far away from Waypoint White’s outer walls, which had been ultimately devastated by the Destroyers' fire.
When they landed, what was left of the foremost front lines of the abandoned factory had been reduced to rubble. The bunkers were ruined, the two enemy Cataphracts destroyed, and a heap of bodies lay in the trenches. Men ran away from the front trench, carrying what they could, whether it be their wounded comrades or weapons. They ran from their lines to safety. Sophie mowed some of them down with almost machine-like efficiency. She was usually more compassionate to footsoldiers, but something was different. Ryck tried to ignore it. "Securing perimeter." Ryck said.
The three enemy Cataphracts that had previously been hidden under camouflage netting were being launched in a hurry. However, they were unfortunate enough to catch Ryck’s eyes. When Ryck had sight of them, the crew was running away, leaving the pilots alone in their cold cockpits.
“Targets sighted. Guns, guns, guns.”
Ryck went on one knee and aimed his 120mm cannon at one of the three jumpstarted Cataphracts. He did not need a lock to fire. He aligned the sights with the target, and without second thought, through the green view of his cockpit, he squeezed the trigger. There was a big kick from firing the gun, but his unit was stable as he was kneeling. The same could not be said, however, for the unit he targeted. Ryck hit him in just the right spot; through the chest and out the fusion reactor in the back. It ignited, the secondary explosions blowing the Destroyer next to him off balance. The third Cataphract quickly dashed away, but not before Ensign Deschamps managed to pull a shot that blew its legs off, immobilizing it and rendering it ineffective. “Tango down.”
The last Cataphract, which was blown away due to the blast, struggled to get on its feet. Ryck finished him without a second thought. Like the first enemy, the 120mm round ripped straight through the unit and put it on fire. The pilot managed to get out before it caught fire, however, and hid behind a set of crates. Ryck chose to spare him.
Scanning for enemies, Ryck and Sophie realized they had managed to clear an area large enough to land four Vanguards at the same time.
“Reaper 02, I’m taking the other side.”
“Copy.”
Ryck jumped to the other side of the factory, where men were still mobilizing themselves to counter the surprise attack. He used the 20mm Vulcans on the chest of his unit to shoot up a group of jeeps.
The infantry soldiers ran about, trying to find a way into the factory. Ryck could not afford to get into the factory because if he did, the structures would collapse in collision with his AFU. Picking off a few targets on the high outer walls using his 20mm Vulcans, he could now hear the sound of helicopters.
He heard a missile warning. It came from his right. It was a man armed with an anti-tank missile. He quickly turned and annihilated the man with his 20 millimeters, reducing him into a cloud of dust.
211 Ground Attack Squadron appeared from the distance. Quickly, they conducted a strafing run, unleashing anti-tank rockets down range, setting parts of the factory ablaze. They repeated the run three times. After their highly-effective runs, onn the general frequency, they declared: “Break-break, this is Vulture Actual. We’re out of ammo. RTB. Out.”
Finally, the last part of the operation came in. 102 Commando Helicopter Force rose from the north, the steady armada of helicopters splitting their formation apart, and headed to the three designated landing zones. One was to land near Sophie, one to land near Ryck, and one–Chatham Company, 126 Royal Marines Commando under Captain Ellis McAllister–was to go straight down the middle and land on the rooftop of the main office building. They were to seize the building from top to bottom and hold the building long enough until the rest of 126 RMC could come in.
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