Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:32 pm
IHAS Eidos, Conway Class Roll-on/Roll-off transport ship
1056km South West of Athiesism
Colonel Lord Woodrow “Woody” Stone was violently sick into the small plastic bag reserved for such occassion’s. He wondered which staffer had decided that the command element of his regiment needed to travel on the ships rather than being flown down south like most of the men. That man or woman was sure gonna be in for a rough time when he got back home and identified them. Recovering for a moment he casually threw the bag over the rail into the churning sea and adjusted his uniform before reaching into his breast pocket for another of the bags.
The large transport crested another large wave as the Regimental Sergeant Major walked out onto the deck and towards his commander. A burly man who had seen action just about everywhere over the course of his career he sympathised with the Colonel who was new to the rigours of sea travel military style. He suspected that his commanding officer was more used to sedate evenings on the family yacht at one of the exclusive harbours seemingly reserved for the rich and famous than on a twenty-nine thousand tonne military vessel in the middle of the Southern Sea’s. The two exchanged greetings before the Sergeant leaned up against the rail as well. He moved with the ship and didn’t seem worried at all about the sickening motion that had paralysed the Colonel and several of the other troops of the headquarters company.
With at least another week to go it was sapping the morale of the men to be stuck in such confined conditions, they had an exercise programme but their fitness was suffering and they had enough of going down to the hold and turning the engines over on their vehicles or rotating turrets and checking seals to keep the equipment in working order. Sergeant Major Jenns was making his daily equipment report.
“.....and the Horus battalion reports that two of their Cheetah’s refused to start. Mechanics are working on them. Total Regimental strength is at 88 percent sir.”
“Good. Thank you Jenns. Have our colleagues in the navy advanced our arrival time or managed to speed this tub up?”
“I’m afraid not Sir. They report that the sea will be calm by morning though.”
“Good. Thank you again Jenns, dismissed”
The Sergeant Major came to attention and saluted before spinning and walking back towards the armoured hatch that he had come from. Once inside he paused to wipe the spray from his uniform, taking care to ensure the Regimental patch was dry and untainted. The yellow and blue quarters background covered with three swords was a famous emblem, that of the Battle Guards Regiment. It was one of the most honoured of the Hitmano forces and had fought in every conflict that the country had been embroiled in, it had been established over four hundred years before and had been the elite unit of the fledgling state guarding its rulers in battle and often turning the tides of battles and wars. During the wars in Talaax seven years earlier they had savaged an entire division and stoutly defended ground when others would have turned and fled but courage and superior tactics had won the day. The men were understandably proud of their traditions and they were chosen from the best volunteers that joined the Army, recruiters scoured the training depots whilst others applied directly to the Regiment from civilian life. Often those with family ties to the Regiment were often given initial interviews at this stage but still only the best were allowed to wear the swords into battle.
Lord Stone of Blackheath was the third of his family to command the Regiment in recent times, his father and grandfather before him. Though his father was only shortly departed from the world he had lived long enough to see his son rise up through the ranks and take command of his prized regiment. Unlike the rest of the army a promotion kept officers and men in the same regiment, not moving them around and developed a strong sense of loyalty to Regiment as well as country. He knew that they would be in the thick of the fighting because that was exactly where he wanted his troops to be, winning glory for themselves and the Regiment at every turn. In a week they would be on the peninsula, within ten days they would be in battle.
IHS Silence, Vanguard II Class Attack Submarine
Near Urak-Natal
Since the attack on the two ships trying to flee the blockade the crew of the Silence had been in high spirits. Two more warships sunk didn’t make them the highest scoring submarine in service but it moved them up the list. They had moved closer inland to look for more targets but there were none to be seen, the passive sonar array did however pick up the explosions of ordinance as a seemingly continual stream of aircraft and missiles attacked the colony again and again.
At sea the carriers were launching and recovering aircraft almost twenty four hours a day as Admiral Callf determined to keep up a constant wave of attacks against the military facilities on land. The rest of the carriers that had been en route to his command had been sent westwards to bottle the bulk of the Republican fleet up in port as the transports carrying the first Army units approached the mainland. Already a stream of transport aircraft was delivering some personnel and sensitive equipment to the peninsula, mostly Special Forces and UAV drones but a few regular Army planners and staff officers had also set up a working group with the emplaced forces.
Southern Peninsula, South Western Military Air Force Base
Two of the huge transport aircraft stood at an isolated part of the base with two large tents set up behind them. Inside several technical specialists were putting the finishing touches to some of the larger UAV’s in the Hitmano arsenal. A pair of unarmed Hawk recon drones were the first to be wheeled out into the bright sunlight, four armed Hunter drones were still awaiting their weapons to be affixed and would not start operating for some time. One of the Gordonopians accompanying the Hitmen had a radio link to the air control tower and upon confirming that there wasn’t any aircraft on approach they pushed the first drones to the end of one of the runway’s. A pair of technicians started the engine and then stepped back as the pilot at the control console in the back of one of the transports took charge.
As the UAV climbed into the sky it turned north towards the front and its internal transmitter sought out an orbiting communications satellite and began streaming live data to different terminals. IH military intelligence and 3rd Army planning staff each had a receiving terminal as well as the pilot on the ground in Gordonopia. The Hawk’s were part of a concerted effort to increase the intelligence and also targeting information for a massive strike that would accompany the attack that was being planned to break out of the bridgehead and hopefully finish the war quickly with one massive attack.
1056km South West of Athiesism
Colonel Lord Woodrow “Woody” Stone was violently sick into the small plastic bag reserved for such occassion’s. He wondered which staffer had decided that the command element of his regiment needed to travel on the ships rather than being flown down south like most of the men. That man or woman was sure gonna be in for a rough time when he got back home and identified them. Recovering for a moment he casually threw the bag over the rail into the churning sea and adjusted his uniform before reaching into his breast pocket for another of the bags.
The large transport crested another large wave as the Regimental Sergeant Major walked out onto the deck and towards his commander. A burly man who had seen action just about everywhere over the course of his career he sympathised with the Colonel who was new to the rigours of sea travel military style. He suspected that his commanding officer was more used to sedate evenings on the family yacht at one of the exclusive harbours seemingly reserved for the rich and famous than on a twenty-nine thousand tonne military vessel in the middle of the Southern Sea’s. The two exchanged greetings before the Sergeant leaned up against the rail as well. He moved with the ship and didn’t seem worried at all about the sickening motion that had paralysed the Colonel and several of the other troops of the headquarters company.
With at least another week to go it was sapping the morale of the men to be stuck in such confined conditions, they had an exercise programme but their fitness was suffering and they had enough of going down to the hold and turning the engines over on their vehicles or rotating turrets and checking seals to keep the equipment in working order. Sergeant Major Jenns was making his daily equipment report.
“.....and the Horus battalion reports that two of their Cheetah’s refused to start. Mechanics are working on them. Total Regimental strength is at 88 percent sir.”
“Good. Thank you Jenns. Have our colleagues in the navy advanced our arrival time or managed to speed this tub up?”
“I’m afraid not Sir. They report that the sea will be calm by morning though.”
“Good. Thank you again Jenns, dismissed”
The Sergeant Major came to attention and saluted before spinning and walking back towards the armoured hatch that he had come from. Once inside he paused to wipe the spray from his uniform, taking care to ensure the Regimental patch was dry and untainted. The yellow and blue quarters background covered with three swords was a famous emblem, that of the Battle Guards Regiment. It was one of the most honoured of the Hitmano forces and had fought in every conflict that the country had been embroiled in, it had been established over four hundred years before and had been the elite unit of the fledgling state guarding its rulers in battle and often turning the tides of battles and wars. During the wars in Talaax seven years earlier they had savaged an entire division and stoutly defended ground when others would have turned and fled but courage and superior tactics had won the day. The men were understandably proud of their traditions and they were chosen from the best volunteers that joined the Army, recruiters scoured the training depots whilst others applied directly to the Regiment from civilian life. Often those with family ties to the Regiment were often given initial interviews at this stage but still only the best were allowed to wear the swords into battle.
Lord Stone of Blackheath was the third of his family to command the Regiment in recent times, his father and grandfather before him. Though his father was only shortly departed from the world he had lived long enough to see his son rise up through the ranks and take command of his prized regiment. Unlike the rest of the army a promotion kept officers and men in the same regiment, not moving them around and developed a strong sense of loyalty to Regiment as well as country. He knew that they would be in the thick of the fighting because that was exactly where he wanted his troops to be, winning glory for themselves and the Regiment at every turn. In a week they would be on the peninsula, within ten days they would be in battle.
IHS Silence, Vanguard II Class Attack Submarine
Near Urak-Natal
Since the attack on the two ships trying to flee the blockade the crew of the Silence had been in high spirits. Two more warships sunk didn’t make them the highest scoring submarine in service but it moved them up the list. They had moved closer inland to look for more targets but there were none to be seen, the passive sonar array did however pick up the explosions of ordinance as a seemingly continual stream of aircraft and missiles attacked the colony again and again.
At sea the carriers were launching and recovering aircraft almost twenty four hours a day as Admiral Callf determined to keep up a constant wave of attacks against the military facilities on land. The rest of the carriers that had been en route to his command had been sent westwards to bottle the bulk of the Republican fleet up in port as the transports carrying the first Army units approached the mainland. Already a stream of transport aircraft was delivering some personnel and sensitive equipment to the peninsula, mostly Special Forces and UAV drones but a few regular Army planners and staff officers had also set up a working group with the emplaced forces.
Southern Peninsula, South Western Military Air Force Base
Two of the huge transport aircraft stood at an isolated part of the base with two large tents set up behind them. Inside several technical specialists were putting the finishing touches to some of the larger UAV’s in the Hitmano arsenal. A pair of unarmed Hawk recon drones were the first to be wheeled out into the bright sunlight, four armed Hunter drones were still awaiting their weapons to be affixed and would not start operating for some time. One of the Gordonopians accompanying the Hitmen had a radio link to the air control tower and upon confirming that there wasn’t any aircraft on approach they pushed the first drones to the end of one of the runway’s. A pair of technicians started the engine and then stepped back as the pilot at the control console in the back of one of the transports took charge.
As the UAV climbed into the sky it turned north towards the front and its internal transmitter sought out an orbiting communications satellite and began streaming live data to different terminals. IH military intelligence and 3rd Army planning staff each had a receiving terminal as well as the pilot on the ground in Gordonopia. The Hawk’s were part of a concerted effort to increase the intelligence and also targeting information for a massive strike that would accompany the attack that was being planned to break out of the bridgehead and hopefully finish the war quickly with one massive attack.