Downfall (Attn GD, Closed)

by **Morrdh** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:51 pm

Northern Dukopolious

"Sniper!" Somebody cried when a shot rang out and a young National Serviceman, who'd stopped to fix the strap on his helmet, crumpled to the ground dead. Amidst a chorus of cursing the surviving members of the lad's section scrambled for cover as their training and flight reflexes kicked in. From the relative safety behind a brick wall the section corporal called out. "Anyone see the bastard?!"

"No corp!"

"Arse..." Grumbled the corporal, being pinned down by a sniper was the worst possible luck. Chances were the bugger was calling up his buddies and giving them a fix on the section's location, even if it was just a lone wolf it still meant that the brigade's attack on the town and its vital railway station would be held up. The distant sounds of artillery and gunfire elsewhere in the town compounded matters even further, the sniper could use them to cover the sound of his own rifle fire. It meant they would have to flush the bugger out the old fashion; house-by-house. It certainly wasn't a task he particularly relished. Still cursing the corporal waved over his radioman. "Two? This is Two-Two. Fetch Sunray. Over."

"Two-Two. Sunray speaking. Over."

"Two-Two, sitrep. Contact. One enemy sniper. One casualty. Over."

"Copy that Two-Two. Hold position, sending support. Over."

"Roger that. Two-Two holding position. Out." The corporal grinned before handing the radioman back his radio, if the boss wanted to give them extra bodies then that was fine by him. He hand gestured the orders to the rest of his section and then settled down with his Sterling SMG, ready for a possible enemy attack as they waited for reinforcements.

by **Stevid** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:06 am

In the time it had taken to effectively break down the frontline defences of Dukopolious from the start of the war, nearly 4,000 Stevidian service personnel had been killed and tens of thousands of Empiric forces had been put to the sword. The Dukes possessed the fabled technology of Lyras plus had soldiers and officers with the experience of Lyran veterans having taught them the basic fundamentals of modern warfare. Despite the relative youth and inexperience of the Stratocracy of Dukopolious, they were indeed a formidable enemy.
However it was no small secret the their invasion of New Empire was seen as a blatant land grab move and had earned the status of a ‘regional pariah’ to the point where The Holy Empire and Morrdh had decided to use military action and Dukes closest ally Lyras remained silent. Dukopolious was alone against two of the most powerful nations in Greater Dienstad that both had decades of fighting experience. It was only a matter of time before the tide turned against Dukopolious. Despite a major rebellion of New Empire military officers, soldiers and subsequent units, the advantage lay with the Stevidians and their allies from Morrdh. New Empire itself remained politically reclusive but terribly judgemental against those that rebelled against the original rulers. Torture, forced labour and long-term imprisonment awaited the defectors much to the protests of Stevid and Morrdh. Evidence of such atrocities from the Duke side of the battle lines was few and far between. There were reported cases of ill treatment and liberated POW camps that practised such acts were found, but there were too few to even begin convictions, in fact it became apparent that New Empire was truly a chaotic society that was firmly gripped in the ‘Post-Atomic Horror’ that had befallen the country many years ago.

Despite the allied grievances they pushed on, the Stevidians in particular looting damaged or abandoned Duke equipment because of the potential value of Lyras weaponry and units as well as the fact that Stevid used similar equipment also purchased from Lyran companies too. Town by town, city by city, the Dukes were pushed back. The allies supported each other as best they could in several different theatres; Stevidian and Morrdh efforts on Duke’s central line of defence defending roads to the Capital stood firm in the face of allied firepower whereas a breakthrough in the North had allowed Morrdh to gain a significant advantage and outflank Duke forces. Stevidian efforts on the Duke colony on Old Cazelia had been one of the pivotal early successes in the war. Dukopolious had pulled resources in to defend the mainland leaving their only overseas colony a tempting target. A massive air and amphibious assault followed by two weeks intensive fighting brought the colony into Stevidian control. A minor rebellion in the south further distracted the enemy and Yanintovia had emerged from the power struggle. In order to free up military forces on the Duke colony, Yanintovia was handed the duties of containing any rebellious elements while Stevid withdrew. In time Yanintovia would probably take the land that was once Dukopolious’.

It was not quite stalemate and Morrdh held the real advantage in the north. Stevidian units were making no progress in the centre and little progress in the south, but the allies were encroaching on the capital and it would only be a matter of time.

9 Attack Regiment, 556 Squadron, Army Air Corps

Of the ten apache gunships of the squadron, two were on airborne standby in North Dukopolious ready to provide close air support when required. The circled the population centre where units belonging to Morrdh had begun infiltrating and clearing the urban districts. Resistance was reported to be fierce but ultimately light as opposed to the massive battles that took place earlier in the war.

Soon reports came in of sniper fire against a ground Callsign called Two-Two. It wasn’t a standard Stevidian Callsign and was soon translated to be Morrdh calling in for assistance on an infantry platoon somewhere in the town heading for the railway station.

“Hello Zero this Delta One-Two Bravo, roger, contact report request grid reference over.”

“Zero, roger, contact is at Map ref Charlie two-two, grid reference 2028 1121. Over.”

The staff sergeant flying the aircraft typed the numbers into is on board GPS system and found the coordinates.

“Delta One-Two Bravo, roger, coordinates confirmed. Please relay to Callsign Two-Two to mark target upon our arrival. Over”

“Zero, roger. Out.”

The two gunships then turned towards the town at high speed and low altitude towards the target. The fires from the damaged town poured smoke into the air masking their approach and it wasn’t long before they reached the combat zone. The infantry units on the ground hadn’t properly identified where the firer was or hand been and were busy clearing house by house. But green smoke had been thrown at some locations and tracer fire could be easily seen coming from some of the sections of troops below. The gunships opened fire with hellfire missiles and cannon fire, pulverising several buildings and peppering the windows of likely locations while the ground forces below took cover. Movement was seen from one of the buildings, three people huddling together as they darted across the road. One burst from the gunship cannon pounded them into mangled corpses.

The rules were different here, at least Stevid’s rules of engagement. Dukopolious had made no secret of that they were a fully-fledged stratocracy. Every person of able age was to fight, children were taught in school about military first policy and how to fight. In the eyes of Stevidian generals, even 12-year-old children were soldiers and such instances had occurred. Dukopolious had openly said that the population WAS the army, navy and air force. The Holy Empire then adjusted its rules of engagement to include everyone in Dukopolious. It was extreme, bloody and callous. The bombing runs were indiscriminate, but what was there to discriminate against when the enemy was using every man woman and child in their defensive efforts. In killing the three people below, no matter what age or sex, the gunships fired without second thought. They continued to buzz around the local area in case they were needed again while their allies pushed towards the railway station.

by **Morrdh** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:05 pm

"Nice one me beauties!" Came an affectionate call over the radio net from presumably a Morridane soldier after the Stevidian gunships had done their work. Meanwhile on the ground the rest of the platoon had moved up along with a Chieftain tank acting as support for the infantry as they restarted their advance towards the railway station. The tank itself had been fitted with a bulldozer to clear barricades and rubble, in turn the tank was supported by a section of sappers to deal with booby traps and make repairs to the tank as and when needed. On the streets to either side of the platoon were other platoons steadily advancing towards the railway station and encircling Dukopian forces as they did so.

Up in the skies as the infantry fought to clear the town street-by-street and house-by-house, Douglas Skyraider fighter-bombers roamed and pounced upon Dukopian artillery positions that were spotted. This allowed the Morridane artillery to focus on giving fire support to the troops rather than having some of its guns tied up on the counter-battery role. Though despite all the fire support casualties were steadily beginning to rise amongst the Morridanes and their objective remain elusive, sitting just out of reach to even the forward units that had advanced to within perhaps a quarter mile of it.

Close to the center of town a small unit of Morridane had managed to reach to the top floor of what had probably once been an apartment block, amongst their small number was a forward observer and his radio man along with a couple of soldiers armed with SLRs for protection. The observer had spotted what was holding up the advance, some enemy soldiers (a platoon? company even?) had holed up in an office building with heavy weapons and were bringing a punishing hail forth upon any Morridane that dared pop up from behind cover to take a potshot. Quickly grabbing the radio the observer sent a message over the radio net. "Sheldrake, Three-Four. Fire mission regiment. Over."

"Three. Send. Over."

"Three-Four. Alstation Right Two Up Five. Fire for effect. Over."

"Roger. Firing for effect. Over." Short moment later there was a series of muffled bangs from the north as a couple of artillery batteries opened up, followed by low whistling overhead before a series of thundering bangs as the shells landed and exploded. However they had overshot, instead striking some buildings a block or two over from the office building. Cursing, the observer got on the radio once more and corrected the gunner's firing. "Three-Four. Drop One Hundred. Over."

"Three. Roger. Dropping One Hundred. Over." More muffled bangs signalled that the artillery was firing again, this time the shells were on target and the office building collapsed under a cloud of fire and dust as the shells struck home. The troops emerged from cover and resumed their steady advance as the observer called out on the radio. "Three-Four. Bang on. Pints on me. Out."

"Roger. See you at the NAAFI this evening."

by **Stevid** » Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:55 am

High in geosynchronous orbit above the earth was the imaging satellite POV29. Launched from Adaptus Astrates four years ago as part of the Empire’s growing space program, it was sent into orbit under the guise of a civilian weather imaging satellite. In fact it was, for all ‘non-essential’ work; the military in fact held all the command codes and could take direct control of the satellite’s other imagers from civilian controllers in times of national requirement. POV29 was currently sitting in a low 200km orbit above the Stratocracy of Dukopolious in Greater Dienstad. A belligerent nation that while new to the regional politics of the post-bellum region, had been making massive diplomatic inroads with Lyras and caused military shockwaves throughout the region by invading Old Cazelia and, more recently, a renewed expansion into New Empire.

POV29 was new to this conflict having previously been tasked with thermal mapping above the South Pole, but recent military intelligence regarding Duko and it’s own link to outer space and put all scientific research on hold. The satellite now hovered silently and perfectly above Dukopolious, it’s expensive and hi-definition cameras pried on the nation below with a certain city, or town, the focus of its attention. Codes from a naval vessel far below reached the satellite, which then proceeded to take dozens of photographs of various heights.

Two weeks later

Joint Headquarters Stevidian Forces New Empire, otherwise known as JHQ-SFNE, was a large area sectioned off in one of New Empire’s underground military installations that formed part of their subterranean cities that had slowly developed over the decades. Almost all of the Stevidian top brass officers worked here in relative safety from the war ranging many miles away. Special guests were here this time in one of the briefing rooms in the complex. Two observers from the Empiric military and a host of commanders of various ranks from Morrdh, the Holy Empire coalition ally in the war.

The Commandant of JHQ stood at the head of the briefing room’s table and looked onto a very crowded room full of officers and advisors.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” He started, pressing a button on a small remote control that activated a large digital screen on a wall opposite the table. “I give you Damocles.”

The image showed a large aerial photograph of a large compound located on the outskirts of a town within enemy territory. Two golf ball domes could be made out with effort, the domes themselves were camouflaged, and much of the base was the same but distinct features gave away its military importance. SAM and AA artillery sites scattered around the perimeter. Sentry towers and armoured cars. The commandant flicked through two more photos showing the town’s surrounding defences amounting to more AA facilities and even a potential Army garrison; he then returned to the original photo of the main compound building with two radomes.

“Not to be confused with Stevid’s command and control tank of the same name, Damocles is something we are all aware of. Those of us in the Stevidian Royal Air Force will be particularly knowledgeable on the subject, possibly even fearful. For those of you that are not aware of ‘Damocles’, it is a high sophisticated constellation of satellites being constructed and deployed very high in Earth orbit. Developed by Lyras, open for investment internationally, it has the potential to be the greatest non-destructive super weapon in the history of the human race. Damocles will have the ability to cast prying eyes on to any nation by any nation that is eligible, throughout vast payments of money to Lyras, to use the satellite. Numbers of satellites is unknown, positions of over two dozen have already been established… destruction…” The Commandant paused. “Impossible, lest Stevid risks the wrath of every nation that has poured trillions into the development of this system.”

He pressed another button and it showed the location of the facility in relation to the frontline and JHQ.

“The image you just saw was the literal manifestation of Dukopolious’ relationship with Lyras in its most dangerous form. Fighting off armies with equipment produced by Lyras is bad enough without having to worry about their incredible surveillance techniques. The building and compound you saw was an uplink centre to Damocles. While the constellation is not yet complete, Duko is in a position to utilise the satellites while the system is still in its most infant stage… This, gentlemen, cannot be allowed.”

The commandant went into further detailing the military advancements made by Stevidian ground and air units and the ‘Central Theatre’ - the highest concentrations of Stevidian military hardware, as well as excellent progress made by Morrdh in the North who were well on their way to reaching the capital and other population centres with central government offices and control. However, he stressed that despite the accomplishments achieved by the allied states both individually and cooperatively, a mission to take down the Duko link to Damocles would have to be a joint effort. A show of unity as well as a pooling of resources and experience.

“Gentlemen,” The Commandant started again. “This mission is huge, as are the potential repercussions. But I need not stress anymore and how critical it is that we remove this threat to our forces as soon as possible.”

There was a general consensus in the room visible from the nods of agreement.

“This shall be known as Operation Stella Aspiciéntes in Stevidian circles, Morrdh may call it whatever they wish to aid their troops. Translation: Operation Star Gazer…”

As the hours dragged on, all individuals had they’re input. Morrdh involvement was likely but units had to be made available. Stevid’s own contribution was more obvious seeing as it was in an area of the central front where forces of the Holy Empire were more numerous. The plan was decided to be a surgical strike utilising mobile shock troops as well as follow up mechanised assault on the town to increase the pressure on the defenders.

The Stevidian build up would consists of elements from the Imperial 3rd Army, XX Corps. From this Corps, the 1st and 2nd Battalions (1 PARA & 2 PARA) of the 8th Parachute Regiment would make up the initial assault against the compound after a prolonged aerial bombardment by long-range missiles. This would total nearly 3,000 boots on the ground. 1st Battalion Companies would secure key and strategic areas (like bottlenecks, chock points, key roads and avenues) surrounding the compound and eliminate any hostile forces. Greater emphasis was put on neutralising anti-aircraft sites that were known to be entrenched or otherwise dug-in. 2nd Battalion would be tasked with leading the assault on the compound itself and securing it; they will also be tasked with recovering valuable information and destroying all equipment, including the main building with the satellite uplink to Damocles.

Before the initial airborne assault takes place, armoured units from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment and 8th Mechanised Brigade, would cross the frontier of the frontline and surge towards the town and assault it, clearing their way to the 1 PARA. Units involved will be 2nd Battalion - The Royal Lancers (Armoured) and 20th Regiment – Kings Own (Mechanised Infantry), numbering around 4,000 men and 10 tanks (8x LY4A2 Wolfhounds and 2x Conqueror (AY2-AVEE) siege tanks).
The crossing into enemy territory would begin with a massive aerial attack on known enemy positions with quick reaction force (QRF) air unit on stand by at provide close air support en route to Satellite Compound. The aim was to create a viable distraction and force Duko units to engage a very real threat approaching the town from the east before airborne infantry units attacked from the North.

The endgame was more dangerous. Once the ground element has linked up with the parachute companies, air support would arrive to supress any enemy air units while 1 and 2 PARA boarded helicopters, and APCs to be evacuated. Op Star Gazer was to be incorporated into the Imperial 3rd Army’s plan of a push into enemy territory. The ground forces would remain in the town and secure it while further elements of XX Corps are brought in to solidify the hold of the town and local villages. Military units of New Empire would then be used to occupy the town while units of Stevid and Morrdh would stand down.

The contribution from Morrdh was expected to follow suite and add more extra punches to achieve success. The Commandant also gave his blessing for any side operations Morrdh wished to employ within the target town to assist the overall capture and destruction of the Damocles uplink facility.

by **Morrdh** » Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:15 pm

With the bulk of the Morridane Army already committed in New Empire and elsewhere, few of Morrdh's regular infantry units could be made available and so the Morridane contribution was to be drawn from its more elite forces. A division of Morridane troops would be provided consisting of a bridge made up of battalions drawn from the Morridane Parachute Regiment and a Commando Brigade from the Royal Morridane Marine Corps, backed up by a number of teams from the Morridane SAS. To give an extra punch a tank brigade of mostly Chieftain tanks had also been allocated, along with mechanized infnatry riding in FV432 APCs.

Things on the air front was more substantial, the Royal Morridane Air Force being able to supply more units than the other Services of the Commonwealth Armed Forces. Aside from the expected helicopters and transports, a couple of squadrons of the low-flying Blackburn Buccaneer had been earmarked for the operation along with four squadrons of Hawker Hunter fighter-bombers. There was also a squadron of Avro Vulcan bombers to act as heavy hitters, though one aircraft had been kept back to be fitted with atomic weapons as part of a 'Plan B' in case the main attack on the complex failed and this was disclosed to the Stevidians. Finally there was a Wing of parachute trained squadrons of the RMAF Regiment, these had the objective of capturing some of the AA sites and to provide escorts for RMAF techies to salvage what equipment they could from the complex.

Another unit was added to the Morridane Order of Battle late in the day, namely the 1st New Garrack Division from the Commonwealth Realm of New Garrack. This last unit was made up of three infantry brigades backed up by artillery and logistical support, being the first time that New Garrack troops have fought in a major conflict. Curiosity the Morridane forces had been placed under a New Garrack commander, a newly promoted General by the name of Arthur Norwell.

by **Stevid** » Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:09 pm

0120 hrs 17 December
Force ‘B’ Assembly Point
Central Theatre Frontline
Dukopolious

The Royal Lancers and The Kings Own had been given the overall Callsign Force ‘B’ as part of Op Star Gazer. 1 and 2 PARA were known as Force ‘A’. ‘B’ were in position on the frontline ready for a massive surge into Dukopolious territory with the intent to draw as much enemy attention as possible while directly threatening the town home to the Damocles uplink compound. The town, referred to by the chain of command and by the NCOs involved in the operation as ‘North Star’, was to be reached with a minimal fuss and loss of life as necessary. The latter of course would be hard to predict. The proximity of town and the compound to the frontline line, barely ten miles away, was sure to be defended and reinforced and would require a massive assault and a great degree of softening up in order for it to relent to Stevidian and Morridane military pressure. The distance put it in range of allied 105mm guns but beyond accurate targeting, however a solid push towards the town would hopefully secure it considering the resources involved.

Morrdh had supplied the Operation with much needed additional aircraft including fighter-bombers and strategic bombers in the form of Buccaneers and Vulcans. Additional tanks and mechanised infantry had also been redirected to participate in the initial attack on ‘North Star’. Morridane Marines and Paras were also to be used in the aerial attack on the city as part of the initial capture of key positions in the city while the SAS and Stevidian 2 PARA assaulted the Damocles Compound. More crucially was the arrival of Morridane artillery that would pound frontline Duko forces before following Force ‘B’ and turning their guns towards the dug-in enemy positions in ‘North Star’; thereby covering the advance of Force ‘B’ towards the city and, hopefully, making the job easier on arrival into the suburbs.

However, 0120 hrs on this Advent morning was to marking the beginning of Operation Star Gazer. It was likely that efficient Duko intelligence had alerted ground units of a possible assault (the mass build-up of units, particularly brigade strength, was very difficult not to notice) and were likely preparing for an attack. However the combine services of Morrdh and Stevid had been busy too. The light footedness of both the Morridane and Stevidian SAS, a must have trait of any Special Forces unit, had meant several two to three man forward positions had been established along the afore discussed route to ‘North Star’. Additional Morrdh SAS units had moved into over watch positions at known enemy locations and relayed coordinates and force composition reports to MRAF and SRAF squadrons for part of the initial attack.

To the boots on the ground, only their ‘Crypto’ encoded radio channels and the distant orange flashes and booms informed them the aircraft of the two countries had started bombing their targets. On the stroke of 0120 hrs, the howitzers of the Commonwealth began hammering the entrenched Duko forces with the coordinates supplied by Special Forces in enemy territory. However in the dark, even with night vision technology, only dawn and eventual contact with the enemy would tell how badly they were damaged. The air attacks were swift and lightening fast and because of the vastness of the resources being used there was no shortage of strike craft. The night raids lasted minutes and Stevidian AWACS assigned from 22 Sqn alerted planes of suspicious aircraft that fled at the first sign of trouble.

As the artillery roared and planes bombed and strafed, the tanks and APCs trundled forwards along their assigned paths towards enemy territory and the town. Meanwhile, at a makeshift airbase not far from the front, Chinooks, C-130s and V-22 Ospreys began loading up the paratroopers and marines to take them to ‘North Star’. They would arrive, if all went to plan, at first light – 0446 hrs.

From further afield deep in New Empire itself, B2 Spirits of Stevid had arrived to launch anti-radiation missiles at radar targets in ‘North Star’, making the way safer for the Lancers of Stevid and Vulcans of Morrdh to level city.

by **Morrdh** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:53 pm

In the pre-dawn darkness lit by the flashes of the artillery firing, Commonwealth soldiers made final checks of their SLRs and moved up to their start lines ready for the forthcoming battle. They were a mixed lot, conscripts part way through their National Service and older more experienced veterans. The older hands, survivors of many battles and skirmishes, went through minor little rituals for luck and to steel themselves for the fight ahead. Tapping of the rifle magazine against the helmet, the rubbing of a lucky penny and the silent prayer to St Ezra the patron saint of Morrdh. Amongst some there was a feeling that they wouldn't make it through the coming fight completely unscratched.

The time neared and dozens of engines, armoured vehicle and aircraft, started up filling the air with their roars. Men climbed aboard APCs and helicopters, ready for the battle that was about to begin. 79th Squadron, RMAF Regiment was one of the Morridane that was preparing for battle. Their objective was to capture the Dukoian anti-air units, along with other squadrons from the Regiment, in order to use the weapons against their former masters. With the gunners would be technicians to reprogramme Dukoian radar equipment in order for it to be used by Commonwealth forces, though as backup there was also a few Morridane Rapier SAM units.

by **Stevid** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 10:55 am

0446 hrs 17 December
Force ‘A’
‘North Star’ Town
Dukopolious

For hour’s artillery and long-range rockets had been pounding the objective town, Callsign ‘North Star’, the effects were plain to see. Smoke was billowing from all points in the city, towering buildings stood derelict and in apocalyptic conditions. At ground level rubble was strewn across the empty streets while in the skies above the distinctive a terrifying jet-black shapes of B2 Bombers and the imposing delta-wing fuselages of the Vulcan B. 2 bombers of the allied air force showed on lookers that the siege would continue for a little while longer. Strike aircraft were now buzzing low above the town now the bombers and their anti-radiation missile had taken care of the most obvious SAM sites; these aircraft now proceeded to hound ground armour and emplacements that had been identified by UAV drones during the night and satellite surveillance over the past week.

But the persistent bombing was now replaced by a different noise, that of rotor blades. Chinooks, C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and V-22 Osprey insertion helicopters now brought in the vanguard of the coalition troops. Those of 1 PARA were first in - along with Morridane Royal Marines. They were to take and hold key objectives such as bottlenecks, well-positioned buildings with good over watch; roads, avenues, railway stations and bridges; power stations, water processing plants police buildings. A company of parachutes of 1 PARA and two sections of Morridane Special Forces had been tasked to capture and hold a highway interchange to the west of the town to counter attacks and forewarn allied troops incoming enemy reinforcements – these were to actually parachute into a drop zone from the C-130’s and cover the short distance to target.

Ground fire exchanges occurred within minutes, it was within these first ten to twenty minutes or so that, for both sides on the ground, chaos reigned. Information flooded through Stevidian vox channels, Morridane radios and the entire BATTLEnet and that of Dukopolious. Commanders were unable to keep up with the flood of information. The Stevidian plan was a highly decentralised one however; every company, every platoon, down to every section had their orders. They had to accomplish their missions and had been directed to do so without having to rely too heavily on other allied ground elements to achieve these goals. Help would come once other nearby locations and goals had been successfully achieved. However this was not such a cosy arrangement for Dukopolious, while highly trained, an effective defence had to be pre-planned and then edited during the battle into order to counter emerging threats, but in the initial chaos of the first assault and the tidal wave of contact reports and battle updates, this would be initially impossible, regardless of skill and experience. However this experience would eventually tell and soon the chaos would subdue and order would reassert itself. Stevid and Morrdh had the surprise and a small window of opportunity to make it count.

Early successes were high, failures in some areas were inevitable but completed objectives freed up troops from other neighbouring areas to assist. Second wave reinforcements for Force A were able to be dropped in thanks to efforts from the RAF Regiment of Morrdh who had dropped in fairly close to the target compound to remove more heavily camouflaged SAM and AA batteries.

With the removal of yet more anti-air emplacements, the Ospreys carrying Morridane Special Forces and Stevid’s own 2 PARA arrived over the town ready to deploy directly into the Damocles uplink centre compound, a compound that had already received incredible punishment from cruise missiles and rocket artillery. Despite the bombardment, a testament to Lyran and Duko defensive construction efforts, the compound remained intact.
Several Ospreys, accompanied by Apache gunships, strafed the compound of obvious resistance before the long line of troop transports delivered their deadly cargo.

As soon as boots touched the ground, they came under direct fire…

0610 hrs 17 December
Force ‘B’
8 miles from ‘North Star’

“Contact left.” Said tank commander Sgt Cook of the lead tank of the column down his vox. His was at the forefront of one of the tendrils of the Stevidian advance towards ‘North Star’ and was now approaching from the South East. The tank bounced uncomfortably over rough ground but it was this that had saved the Lyran built tanks from destruction. The round from a Duko tank off in the distance had exploded harmlessly several metres in front of the tank, but had rocked the vehicle and left the crew shaken.

“Reference left of axis, rocky outcrop with trees, 1000 metres plus, enemy tank. Engage at will.”

The Duko tank was not in plain sight but not difficult to notice, smoke from the fired round gave a rough indication of where the fire had come from, but the IR targeting computers and imagers identified the warm barrel of the enemy’s gun in this morning cold without trouble. Sgt Cook immediately pressed a blue button on top of his control yoke and an imaging laser zapped the Duko tank and feed back crucial targeting data to his own tank. Distance and surrounding weather conditions, firing solutions, all were updated to his vehicle. Seconds had now passed since the round struck and he had only seconds more before another round came his way, the driver had now already orientated the vehicle towards the enemy putting the strongest front armour first – hopefully that would prevent any direct hit killing everyone inside.
However in those precious seconds he then pressed and held the blue button again, this time transmitting the data to the Stevidian command and control vehicle, ironically also called Damocles, further behind the armoured column in HQ in friendly territory. It’s huge satellite dish on its back connected with Stevidian military satellites in orbit and with communication arrays on the frontlines, and most importantly, with the vehicles being contacted right now in the armoured column. The data he had sent had been sent, analysed, identified, categorised and reformatted within seconds of him pressing the button.

Another explosion. This time the Dukes struck home and the round blew off the cogs and links of the right tracks. It had come from another enemy tank and Sgt Cook saw the realisation that he had stumbled into the enemy’s main force. More precious second passed as he swung his remote controlled camera 90 degrees but his computer screen beeped in front of him as the battlefield was updated live for him. Friendly units on the ground and a JSTARs aircraft in the air had all clocked targets and transmitted the enemy locations to the BATTLEnet. The tank’s own on board computer systems calculated firing solutions for all targets as they wee indicated.

“Good.” Cook grunted with approval despite the state of his vehicle. “Everyone good?”

The other three occupants replied positively.

“Then let’s get this over with. Gunner, indulge yourself. Deploy smoke, and driver do your best with one track – try to keep us moving. I’m going on the vox.”

The tank rocked again, this time they were returning fire instead of taking it. Cook tapped his console screen several times, connecting his vox communications system to the wider net, a net that now had been reconfigured to include ground and air units of Morrdh.

“Hello Zero, this is lead vehicle, Omega 1-Alpha, South West group, Force B. Contact with hostiles confirmed. Currently engaging enemy. Battle space reports two vehicles, myself included, immobilised. Requesting allied fast air. Repeat, requesting allied fast air. Smoke deployed to mark forward vehicle. Roger so far over.”

“Zero, roger. Request fast air, over?”

“Omega 1-Alpha, roger, Requesting fast air. Please refer also to BATTLEnet for further target indication. Over.

“Zero. Roger. Please update on enemy force composition. Over.”

“Omega 1-Alpha, enemy resistance so far includes light and heavy armoured vehicles. Enemy is not entrenched and has moved to engage us. Unknown if vanguard or main force. Over.”

“Zero. Roger. Fast inbound. ETA 5 minutes. Referring to BATTLEnet for further target indication. Out…”

by **Morrdh** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 3:55 pm

Morridane Field HQ

Early on a large house had been earmarked on the northern edge of the town to act as General Norwell's command post, the cellar had doubled up as a bunker from where the New Garracker commander could command his troops as the battle continued to unfold. The building's attic had been taken by the Royal Morridane Artillery to direct artillery fire from whilst the rest of the house was turned into a fortified position on the Morridane axis of advance. A first aid post had also been setup here, mainly as a forward casualty clearing station with those needing more serious treatment were evacuated northwards.

Even with its relative safe location battle was ever close by, gunfire was constant in the background whilst the whole house shook and dislodged dust from close artillery fire. But Morridane infantry were busy clearing the area round it, pushing the front-line outwards and forwards as other troops kept the line of communications open.

Downfall (Attn GD, Closed)

Downfall (Attn GD, Closed)

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