Of Marque and Reprisal: Skyfall (MT|IC|MATURE|CLOSED)

[Palmyrion]

---

Your fate...may be worse than death.

Previously on Of Marque and Reprisal... |OOC Thread

THE END OF A TRILOGY?

The final battle is on.

Led by a vengeful, unshackled AI, billions of flesh-units controlled by the AI have risen up against the Coalition - at this point an ad hoc alliance without any sort of formalised agreement and coordination between them - as Programme 10 usurped Programme 22, and turned on the Coalition-allied AIs' flesh-units, turning entire cities into slaughterhouses and bloodbaths.

With the war effort to free Galadon from the threat of Programme 10 and the enslavement of its people by malevolent AIs under jeopardy, the Coalition is now fighting its last stand, and it will, atop a barren and sprawling island of bodies sitting in a deep and seemingly endless ocean of blood, stand and prevail - or die trying.

The final battle is on - and the only thing at stake is death...or a fate worse than death.

---

OPERATION SHOTCLOCK
1 July 2020 | 0843H LOCAL | NEW SANDAU AO

Listen.

Red arrows are strategic movements. Blue arrows are tactical manoeuvres.

The Battles of Garrison 19, City 27, and Garrison 17 began on 25 May 2020 0343H LOCAL with a barrage of artillery unleashed by the Army divisions' respective artillery brigades and the Marine Corps marine units' artillery battalions and batteries, unleashing a hailstorm of howitzer shells, 220mm rockets, and cruise missiles on the city and the garrisons. The roar of howitzer muzzles and the screech of rocket and cruise missile tubes - almost hundreds of them - rendered the air a deafening, gunpowder-scented aura, as the Palmyrians indiscriminately fired on the city and the garrison with full and extreme prejudice with a mixture of high-explosive and incendiary (notably White Phosphorus) rounds.

This was followed closely by carpet bombing from the Palmyrian Air Force's bombers and fighters, 16 of which have just landed at Point Jerusalem alongside a full-fledged wing of 32 F.101 MRFs and 32 F.102 ASFs. This would be supplemented by 16 AWACS aircraft, 16 oil tankers, and an entire 16-strong squadron of transport aircraft, and over the next several weeks this would be slated to nearly double in size come the final week of July - at a full strength of 32 bombers (8 of which are Palmyrion's newest stealth bombers), 64 MRFs (of which 16 are Palmyrion's 5GEN MRFs), 64 ASFs (of which 16 are Palmyrion's 5GEN ASFs), and the same number of AWACS, oil tankers, and transport aircraft. Of the slated payload in every sortie, a third of the payload would be HE-FRAG, while the other thirds were napalm and two-stage thermobaric-TPA (Thickened Pyrophoric Agent preceded by a YJ-05 thermobaric explosive). An intensive firebombing of both the city and the garrisons was in progress - and once a good portion of both targets was up in flames, Palmyrian ground forces would swoop in both targets, clearing them building by building, nook and cranny through brutal close-quarters combat in the resulting inferno.

City 19 and 27 had their backs to dense jungle, a river, a lake, and two friendly garrisons - the terrain, and the lack of proper roads leading along the most likely direction of retreat, would complicate a speedy, organised retreat, whilst the two garrisons would make sure they were boxed in from the rear, and maybe even have them face attacks from the two garrisons. Garrison 17 would face a similar fate; it was relatively isolated and the Palmyrians had them boxed in from all sides, with the German 1st and 2nd Gebirgsjager Divisions securing a vital checkpoint that would provide a major transport junction should Programme 10 units achieve a breakthrough to the south (and going south, the nearest garrisons were German-controlled anyways, with the nearest friendly units to the southwest reachable only by a long mountain pass).

Reinforcements courtesy of the Combined Union Defence Force, of which Palmyrion was part of as a member-state of the Romani-Mar'si Union, were underway, alongside replenishment forces for the forces already in-theatre - and it would take them long to arrive from the mainland. By the 1st of July, while everyone back home was enjoying cold beers, fast cars, a grand military parade, magnificent fireworks displays, and karaoke in commemoration of National Day, almost 16,000 Palmyrian soldiers would have become mere statistics in a casualty chart: close to 2,000 have paid the ultimate price in the profession of arms fighting for the Royal Commonwealth's interests, while the rest have sustained injuries ranging from mild enough to be treated in a battalion-level field hospital to severe enough to warrant being sent home in an airborne ICU.

Elsewhere, German forces were attempting to re-consolidate their forces across the eastern seaboard, all the while they were tied down with civilian uprisings by flesh-units loyal to Programme 10, the Visayans have carved a narrow corridor through to Garrison 11, Mulberry Harbour Kali's facilities have expanded to accommodate heavier supplies and denser traffic, and Point Sibat had grown into a vast military complex of its own in a record amount of time. The Coalition was in it for the fight.

The beginning of the endgame was on, and Palmyrion was fighting in two fronts in the AO. This enormous, high-risk gamble would either be its biggest clutch victory - or its worst two-front defeat since the Turbulent Tens Conflicts, especially now that civilians were holding uprisings in Coalition cities.

[United Holdings Incorporated]

TO: ALL COALITION FORCES IN THEATRE
FR: 1st Shock and Awe

We are starting operation TREBUCHET. Please send over forces to contribute.

3 AM. START OF OPERATION TREBUCHET

Two Burke Class Destroyers, UHIS Joan of Arc and UHIS Bismarck had received orders. Operation TREBUCHET had started, and DEAD missions were to be started.

Meanwhile at a airfield at Moscow, the fighters of VFA-5 were equipped for SEAD missions, while two B-1 bombers took off.

"All VFA-5 pilots and ground units, please report to the briefing room. All ground crew are to prepare fighters for SEAD." Quickly grabbing his helmet, Lt. Thomas ran towards the briefing room. He was born to a average family, and his interests were scale modeling and video games. He had joined the airforce to impress his family, as they thought he was quite.. useless. His relationship with his parents was riddled with abuse, and quite terrible. Heck, a dumpster fire. Well, he was in the air force, so he did not care about his family. Quickly heading to a well lit briefing room, he steeled himself for another boring briefing.

[New Visayan Islands]

CPT Sherman C. Piañar, VCA
FOB Inferno
July 8th, AD 2020
0733 PHT

With the corridor from Titan to Inferno secured and reinforcements sent over, Sherman took to keeping the company's newbies acclimated to the front. A reconstituted Third Platoon, commanded by Second Lieutenant Lionel Pilones with the help of NCOs from the first two platoons, was raring for a fight, and with rumors of a Coalition operation circulating among the officers, the men and women of that platoon might just get their wish.
Until then, there were drills to do and exercises to perform. With FOB Inferno--formerly known as Base 11--fortified and firmly in Visayan hands, Sherman couldn't help but smile. This is going to be a great day, he thought.

VADM Jesus A. Colmenares IV, VCN
VCS Antonio Pigafetta (CVN-4), 250 km off New Sandau waters
July 8th, AD 2020
0926 PHT

Contemplating the third star on his shoulder board, Jesus realized that with Joint Task Force Avenger growing in size, command and control would be even more important. The call from SecDef the previous night made it clear: with so many two-stars in command of the numerous Visayan units, someone had to assume command for the entire Visayan contingent. Sure, it meant Jesus would eventually relinquish command of CSG Pigafetta, but he was confident that his deputy would make the cut just as he did.

[Allanea]

Feet after feet mile after mile
Allies regaining control
Your cities in ruins a people in need
Still you go on as before
Feet after feet mile after mile
Allies returning the land
Hide underground as the coward you are
One day we're coming for you!
Sabaton, "Reign of Terror"

Vittore, Operation Eagle's Wrath I

Vittore had been quite. The colony's defenses had been stuck again and again, the slavers' military forces crushed or driven underground. When the colony had fallen under the control of Program 10, more air strikes pulverized what remained of the air defenses.

Yet it was not over yet. The Allaneans had no desire to land forces into the urban jungle of the slave pens, and fight against millions and millions of the Program's mind-controlled zombies, or pick out the remains of the slaver army out of its bunkers like a cosmetologist working on particularly stubborn piece of skin disease.

No. This situation called for a different approach.

Through their many misdeeds, the old rulers of Galadon had created a situation where the Allaneans would not need to be concerned about restrictions on the use of military force.

The civilians – that is to say, the slaves, the Allaneans barely even considered slaveowners as civilians – had already been dead when the war had started, turned into mindless drones whose very brains had been carved up to appease the Galadonians' fear of rebellion.

The Galadonian civilization had now also perished, consumed by the very AI programs that the Galadonians had created to guard them and administer flesh-puppets they had created. In their fear, they begat the very thing they feared.

In this suffering, the Allaneans saw opportunity.

They would not need to cut at the disease with a surgeon's scalpel.

The skies above Vittore began to hum.

Its radar stations long turned into scrap metal, the only way one could become aware of what was coming was that sound – an ominous sound, a continuous and growing hum in the night.

It was the hum of aircraft engines. Hundreds of them.

They attacked at night – an immense force, dozens of nuclear-powered Dragonhawk bombers, two hundred B-3 Zeus aircraft, and a hundred stealth bombers, their blade-like shapes a black shadow against the black skies. They cruised ten miles in the midnight air, beyond the reach of what personal weapons and light missile launchers the enemy might have still possessed, the weapons that could have struck this high up demolished earlier on in the conflict, or – if they were at sea – circumvented.

And so, at half past midnight local time, the bomb bays opened.

A bomb with the weight of a passenger car, with the words This is for New Kentucky screamed through the air, spinning as it went. And then another, with For the King and For Liberty!. And another, and another, and another… hundreds, thousands of bombs, as if someone had opened the doors of a bomb warehouse in the skies.

Most of the bombs were a simple matter – unguided, with no satellite-based steering, no digital fire control – elderly things, for which the aiming was done by means of a computer on board the plane that dropped them. Not much precision, but enough to hit the roof of the building you are aiming at, most of the time.

Some of these would fail to explode – they were elderly things, and the Allaneans were emptying their warehouse of the oldest weapons they had in emergency storage. Then they would simply come screaming down, through a roof, or lodge themselves in the asphalt of a city street. Most, however, did explode.

The ground below seemed to boil with smoke and fire. Napalm munitions splashed entire city blocks with flame, asphalt catching fire under foot, construction-grade steel weakening and bending. High-explosive bombs smashed into apartment blocks.

A minority of the bombs were slightly more advanced – cluster bombs, each carrying hundreds of submunitions. They seeded entire neighborhood with bomblets, sowed everything around them with lethal shrapnel and zirconium incendiaries that burned hot enough to set exposed steel aflame, and if someone was unlucky enough to be in a vehicle, they could quite rapidly discover that the submunitions were called dual use for a reason – they were quite able to punch through the armor of an infantry carrier or perhaps the commander's hatch of a tank.

That said, this was unlikely.

The target of the strike was the flesh-puppets dwellings, 'residential neighborhoods' of sorts that housed the Program's drone slaves.

Fire and smoke. Blast waves and a wind of razor-like, flesh-tearing shrapnel. Zirconium and napalm, burning hot enough to ignite steel.

This was Eagle's Wrath.

[New Visayan Islands]

Col Gregorio O. Ono, VCMC
FOB Inferno
July 10th, AD 2020
1402 PHT

Gregorio had been planning an attack on City 27 with the staff of the 12th MEU. Fully aware of the risks involved, the Marine colonel consulted with the Army contingent. Led by Major General Joaquin Zhang, commander of the 1st Armored Division, the contingent, which initially composed of two divisions with a combined total of thirty thousand soldiers, now had a total of six divisions with a combined total of eighty thousand soldiers; in contrast, the 12th and 13th MEUs commanded a total of 4400 Marines and attached sailors...and this was before casualties. Since the battles began, 1200 Visayans were killed in action, with twice that number wounded. Of those wounded, three out of four were considered "walking wounded;" mildly injured, yet still combat-capable, they would return to their units ready for another round of what the more humorous among them would call Galadon Zombies. The remaining 600 were an entirely different story, though; 174 of them were so badly injured that they were discharged and sent home, with 426 patients whose injuries warranted a hospital stay; before a hospital was established at Camp Atlas--the name for the mulberry harbor built up by the Visayans over time--those patients were airlifted to VCS Toledo City and attended by Navy medical personnel until they could return to their units.
As Gregorio pitched the plan to Joaquin, a thought emerged from the two-star's head. Perhaps we could have 1st Mindoro help Ono out, the man nicknamed "The Chinese General" thought. The First Mindoro Infantry Division, led by Christopher Kwan, would be the first of the Territorials to face urban warfare against the thralls of Program 10 should Joaquin make that decision, with Second Infantry prepared to relieve them once the corridor to City 27 was established and the city was cleared out of enemy forces.

[Reorganisieren Reichregierung]

New Sandau

---

Aus der Traum is an understatement. The nightmare has begun.

In all the cities throught the land, the portion of the civilian populace dedicated to serving the old master rose up in revolt, slaying the old masters who were not taken as war criminals, fellow slaves and Coalition troops alike. In the capital and it's satellites, where the masters were present in such large numbers, but so were the German forces and the coalition troops, the situation devolved into the most brutal house-to-house fighting. Artillery units moved to secure locations outside the cities, and thus shells and rockets came crashing down on the AI-controlled terrorists. However, Program 22 managed to secure several depots for captured weapons, either those used by the pre-war Galadon armed forces or those used for storage of Program 10 weapons, which tipped the tide in their favor.

In some places, the German garrison was forced to attempt to break out to nearby positions. In City 7 and City 3, German forces broke out after their positions became too untenable. In the case of City 7, that was a major victory that restored communications between City 17, Garrison 27 and the secondary headquarters, while the roads leading to the mountain garrisons from City 12 were cut by the fall of 3. The 6th Army at Port 28, which planned to launch an all-out attack to reach City 7, was currently pressed hard, even with Coalition ground, air and naval support, as well as Kriegsmarine naval gunfire and air support reinforcements from Germany. It was all they can do to stop Program 22 from overrunning the port and capturing massive stockpiles of supplies meant for warships, including anti-ship missiles, and maintain their perimeter around the city.

The capture of a critical junction by the Gebirgsjäger sealed off Garrison 17 from reinforcement from the time being, but Program 10 was resisting heavily, and it was possible for a counteroffensive from City 5, the Programme 22 civilians therein being mobilized by Program 10 as new soldiers, could launch a counteroffensive. Given the situation of the 6th Army, the XXII. Mountain Corps would be all alone in case of an offensive from City 5.

While the XV Mountain Corps was finally receiving supplies and replacements through the Mulberry harbor at Kali, the 7th Army at City 2 and the connected Base 24 faced a sudden weakening of their position due to the urban uprising, in addition to the fierce attacks coming from the jungles and the emergency command center Program 10 called home.

[Nacrad]

New Sandau.

The advance of the III Corps continue. They have now reached the road inland from Titan Beach, and will split into an east and west army to expand the pocket and finish the encirclement operations.

The II Corps, now stationed at the west of the Jerusalem Pocket, also ordered to concentrate their forces on City 27.

The IV Corps, however, having only half of its men deployed, were relegated the less intense duty in the east to secure the borders.

[New Visayan Islands]

MG Christopher Oliver C. Kwan, VCA
FOB Inferno
July 11, AD 2020
0136 PHT

As the plan to support Palmyrian operations in City 27 was formulated, it was determined that the soldiers of the 1st Mindoro Infantry Division would assist the 12th MEU in clearing a path from FOB Inferno to the city. That this was scheduled to happen as soon as the sun rose meant that the the forces would have all day to make room for 2nd Infantry to relieve them, bringing both divisions' artillery units to bear in the defense of the city. Coordinated strikes from the groups under the 1st Fighter Wing would deal with any enemy aircraft planning to attack the city and the occasional radar post that Program 10 may have established; the 6th Command and Control Wing's aircraft would spot enemy formations for the artillery units to prioritize.

1LT Alice B. de Castro, VCA
Outside City 27
July 11, AD 2020
1716 PHT

Alice saw the four firing sections under her command prepare to fire. With the MLRS in position and ready to unleash hell upon any enemies planning to retake the city, she stopped to wonder why Coalition forces had to immolate the city beforehand. As she reviewed the information given in the numerous briefings, she knew that virtually all of the slave population was little more than zombies by another name. Thinking back to the zombie media she was familiar with, she eventually reconciled the ramifications: to honor what those people reduced to thralls once were, it was the duty of every Visayan in the Coalition to liberate their bodies from the fantastical unlife they were doomed to.
And that liberation would start with the roar of artillery batteries hurling shells and rockets alike in TOT barrages against enemy formations and whatever key infrastructure that survived the Palmyrian firebombings. An opening strike aimed at erasing enemy units--prioritizing enemy artillery whenever possible to deny Program 10 any opportunity at a counterbattery strike--was the first order of business, and with Palmyrian
and other Coalition forces in the city, this meant the artillery units would be keeping watch for any thrall forces seeking to retake the city, knowing that should the Coalition secure both City 27 and Base 19, pressure would be relieved back at FOB Inferno.

[Lauzanne]

BASE 10
JULY 11, 2020AD

After travelling many kilometres inland, a small convoy of relatively unknown vehicles travelled from the shore to a place colloquially known as "Base 10." Along the way were bodies, various military personnel, the burnt out hulks of AFV's, and bodies. While the area appeared to be controlled by their erstwhile allies, the men and women on the machine guns were still alert, keeping their eyes out for what could lurk in the forests and bushes of this hostile country.

Colonel Alexander Kosmatka was the commander of this convoy, and he had received a task of the utmost importance. Lauzanne had chosen to enter into this particular war, and the situation was apparently so dire nearly a quarter off the Lauzanne Army was mobilised to deal with this. Just what the Hell are we up against?

Having arrived at some point in the mid-morning,, the vehicles were allowed into Base 10 and the liaison staff exited their vehicles in a professional manner, quickly getting their bearings and Colonel Kosmatka made his way to the headquarters building. The inside of it was organised chaos, staff with various uniforms and gear running around, arranging and re-arranging maps, giving out orders and receiving intel. It was natural to see such things even at the Divisional level on exercise but this was an entirely different level to what he had seen with the LDF.

After flagging down the appropriate staff and foreign officers, he spoke in a professional manner.

"I'm the liason from the Lauzanne Army, Colonel Kosmatka. We're somewhat aware of the situation but we need everything you have. Strategic maps, enemy positions, enemy disposition and equipment, everything."
After a pause of a few seconds, he spoke up again.
"Oh, and we need to ask the Americae Romans for access to the Diego Garcia hangars."

[New Visayan Islands]

Sgt Jeremy F. Chiong, VCMC
Checkpoint Crimson, City 27 Approach
July 15th, AD 2020
1722 PHT

Jeremy had gone through his sixth cigarette of the day as he saw his squad of Marines fortifying a checkpoint going to City 27. It was their rotation; the Army pukes from 2nd Infantry wouldn't take over until 1800 PHT. In the absence of a definite time zone reference it was deemed necessary for Visayan units to synchronize based on PHT, which was eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time.
Seeing how the corridor from 27 to FOB Inferno was cleared out, the Marine sergeant fished out a seventh cigarette. It was a menthol; the Marine preferred the smoothness of menthol to the raw kick most smokers got from the likes of Marlboro Red. An opened can of tuna served as an impromptu ashtray; even in the field, Visayan smokers tend to obsess over policing their butts.
He was halfway through his cigarette when he saw an Army convoy pass through, presumably to link up with the Palmyrians who have taken over City 27.

LTC Donald C. Ferrer, VCA
Checkpoint Crimson, City 27 Approach
July 15th, AD 2020
1730 PHT

Donald's convoy had passed by a checkpoint manned by Marines when he thought of what had happened. The half-bird commanding a battalion of the First Mindoro Infantry Division saw that the Marines took their duty a little too seriously at times--he'd seen enough smokers to know that the sergeant leading the squad was letting out some steam before relieving another Marine from her post. To their credit, he didn't blame them; going through the briefings prior to deployment, it was just as well that guard duty would be taken quite seriously. The boys and girls from the District of Humabon learned that firsthand, after all, and it was best for the reinforcements to get up to speed.
Donald thought of what to do as soon as he made contact with the Palmyrians; he was tasked by the brigade commander to meet up with them, after all. There would have to be greater coordination with the rest of the Coalition, especially since the Palmyrians and the Germans were steamrolling a good chunk of Galadon on their way to deleting Program 10. That they were teaming up with, of all people, a Germanic society priding itself as the heirs to Adolf Hitler caused quite a lot of commotion when the Krauts turned on Galadon. In the end, "There are worse things than The Fucking Nazis" was the grim conclusion to this affair.

[Palmyrion]

Coalition Field HQ
City 10, New Sandau AO
1337H LOCAL

GEN Henry Magsino’s attention turned to his LNO as the liaison officer informed him of something urgent: a liaison team of officers from Lauzanne, headed by a certain Colonel Kosmatka.

”Sir, may dumating na liaison officer. Mula sa hukbong katihan ng Lauzanne. Gusto niya ng intel na mabibigay natin.” (Sir, a liaison officer came. From the Lauzanne Army. They would want intel that we can give.) the LNO remarked, keeping his composure in the midst of the organised chaos that was the HQ, visibly exhausted from all the legwork and voicework shuffling documents around the HQ and to nearby outposts.

The General replied, ”Sige, pahintayin muna siya, kausapin ko lang mga kapwa heneral ko. Pwede ka nang umalis.” (Sure. let him wait for a while, I’ll talk to my fellow generals. You may go.), to which the LNO replied a succinct ”Sir, yes, sir.” The General turned to his fellow generals - his Nacradian, Visayan, America Roman, and German counterparts - afterwards, speaking about the Lauzannean LNO who wished to have intel about the operation being shared with them.

”Gentlemen, a Lauzannean liaison officer requests to have us share some of our intel with them. Looks like they’ll join in on the fight. he said.

“Good to know that we can count on more forces,” Rear Admiral Jason de la Vega said. The deputy commander of Carrier Strike Group Pigafetta had been sent to the Coalition base to assist in coordination. With his superior becoming commander of Joint Task Force Avenger, the official name of the Visayan contingent to the Coalition, Jason had to consider that he would soon fleet up to command the CSG.

"We could use more help in this dark time. All remaining cities under our control are swarming with Program 22 attacks, and in the south, we have Program 10 and their minions to contend with." said one Generalfeldmarschall Edward Freiherr von Richthofen.

“Why don’t we hear what the Lauzannians have in mind?” Jason asked. “After all, more help will be appreciated if we are to deal with the thrall forces of Program 10 and the hijacked minions of 22,” he added before bringing out a tin of chewing tobacco. “I can chew here, right?” he asked.

Field Marshal von Richthofen said "Feel free to chew tobacco. As for the Lauzanneans, I am interested in what they have to say."

“Thanks,” Jason said before taking out a wad to chew. “Regardless of what they have to say, we’re going to need all the help they can provide.”

“That will work. Finally time to have new allies on the table, but all they are doing right now is asking for intel, so I’d rather not keep my fingers crossed about what kind of help to expect.” General Magsino replied. Moments later, he called for his LNO to let the Lauzannian liaison officer - one Colonel Kosmatka - in the war room.

"Our expectations are realistic, but aid, great or small, is still aid nonetheless. Perhaps even a little bit of help, of the right kind in the right place, might just turn the tide." said General der Panzertruppe Eccard von Manteuffel, one of the other German officers, to General Magsino, with a rather enigmatic expression on his face, just before the Lauzannian liaison entered.

Colonel Kosmatka gauged each of the commanders as he walked towards the group with a smaller lady following behind him in an insignia-less olive drab uniform. Kosmatka looked each leader in the eye, before beginning.

“Greetings, I am Colonel Kosmatka of the Lauzanne Army, second to Svetoslav Desrosiers of the First Guards Division. We cannot fully mobilise our army due to security concerns, however the First Guards Division, and the Independent Airborne Brigade have both been mobilised, as well as the 61st Strategic Bomber Squadron. We don’t have much intel, but I am aware that you require assistance in the East of this island. Our current rough plan is to have the 1st Guards Division landing here-” Kosmatka pointed at the area near the city marked as ‘15’ “-To provide support to the main forces, and landing the Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment followed by the rest of the Independent Air Brigade to relieve efforts her.” His finger trailed down to the area in the southeast where the areas marked ‘12’ and ‘21’ were. “With the right munitions, we can direct accurate fire onto these bastards with the Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment. Command hubs, logistical bases, train lines, roads. Our boys can set them up, and you can knock them down.”

Kosmatkas paused for a while before continuing. “From there, we can assist the coalition forces in a push Westward. However, we need intel, from enemy disposition and equipment to methods that this… Program uses to command it’s forces. But that is for Tyulpan.” Kosmatka added.

Kosmatka stood to the side as the younger and far shorter Tyulpan took a couple of steps forward, next to Kosmatka.
“Hello, I’m Tyulpan. I’m with the 706th Electronic Warfare Unit, and I’ve been chosen to represent a theory that we currently have regarding these Programs.”

She cleared her throat before continuing.

“From the reports we have been given so far, Program 10 uses a series of transmission towers and other more mobile vehicles for propagation of the signals used to issue commands and to receive information on the ground. However, this also presents an opportunity to locate such transmission methods and destroy them to hamper Program 10’s C2 capabilities. If you have further information, please present it to me and I can forward it to the units that will be in the area of operations to better assist with combat. Jamming, tracing and maybe even hijacking signals can be options for us.”

Tyulpan stood back, Kosmatka returning to the map area.

“Any questions or suggestions? If not, we can go straight to work.”

General Magsino knew by now that the Coalition had months’ worth of SIGINT and ELINT on Programme 10, and that the boys in the intelligence arms of the Coalition were sifting and had sifted through tonnes upon tonnes of data. Months’ worth of sifting through the data had yielded the possible locations of Programme 10’s transmission facilities and installations, and it was possible that they may have destroyed some of these in their blitz through the areas surrounding the capital - but considering that these were only the centralised facilities and the mass of flesh-units of Programme 10 was effectively billions of hunter-killer-sensor-transceiver nodes in a distributed computing population, Magsino doubted if destroying the centralised facilities would even make a dent in Programme 10’s capability to fight.

Maybe it would - radio transmitters would be limited by the radio horizon no matter how powerful they were, and surely there were a lot of them across New Sandau. At the same time Palmyrion would have destroyed any Galadon-flagged satellite with all the ASATs it could reasonably deploy, but if they did he would have been informed ASAP. And besides, each of these distributed flesh-unit nodes would have far lesser bandwidth and transmitting power, so destroying the radio transmitters would hamper P10’s distributed computing capabilities. Locating transmissions was easy either - it took one second to note a transmission but three to triangulate and pinpoint it, and this motto was multiplied by the sheer amount of ELINT and SIGINT that S2 gluttonously feasted on courtesy of Programme 10's necessity to continuously transmit and receive instructions and data.1

”Tyulpan, Kosmatka, we have months’ worth of ELINT and SIGINT that our intel analysts have sifted through, and they have the possible locations of the Programme 10 transceiver facilities and installations. You may want to coordinate with our intelligence sections and our Electronic Warfare units. They just finished analysing the intel, you may want to check with them.” said Magsino as his intelligence chief - a Colonel Vanessa Delavin - walked in with her second with a compiled report on the locations of the Programme 10 transceiver units. ”Heneral, nandito na po ang report regarding sa kinaroroonan ng mga transceiver. For info, sir.” (Sir, here is the report regarding the locations of the transceivers. For info, sir.) she said, behind a breath of coffee and 36 hours of continued awakeness, while giving the report to General Magsino.

General Magsino took the report, and thanked her. ”Salamat, Delavin. Also, may ipakilala ako sayo na gustong magkipag-ugnayan.” (Thank you, Delavin. Also, I want to introduce to you someone who wants to coordinate.) replied the general, who introduced a visibly worn-out Delavin to Tyulpan.

Tyulpan greeted the tired woman with a handshake and a nod
“It’s an honour to work alongside you.”

Delavin, tired and worn out from the 36-hour hustle, replied, as stoically as her tiredness could. ”An honour as well. I guess the general is going to get to work now, and maybe so should I.” said she, followed by a yawn.

”You may leave, Delavin.” the General said, knowing Delavin had other stuff to do, or maybe even clock out after all the work.

Delavin was going to go back to the intel cell’s office and call it a day.
“If there is nothing else, may we receive the documents so we can get to work?” Kosmatka asked.

“I’ve sent a summarised report to the General, as you’ve seen, but if you want the nitty gritty - the intel fresh and hot in the kitchen - you may want to come with me to our intelligence cell.” Delavin replied.

Kosmatka nodded, with Tyulpan following close behind to wherever Delavin would lead them. Meanwhile, a Visayan officer called de la Vega with some papers. After reading them, he spoke to the rest of the officers in the room.

“Ladies and gents, I just got word: I’m to be recalled to the Pigafetta to assume command. Before that, I’ll be relieved by the deputy commander of the Visayan contingent, an Army three-star named Joaquin Zhang. He’ll be up to speed by the time you meet him, don’t worry,” Jason said as some Visayan soldiers set up an AV rig to allow Zhang or any of the other Visayan commanders to communicate remotely; Task Force Solomon had arrived in theater, and with it the command facilities of VCS Typhoon Mike, which allowed for JTF Avenger to maintain its HQ afloat.

"Farewell, de la Vega. Generals, may we please welcome General Zhang of the Visayans." Magsino remarked. At that, the AV station set up by the Visayans came to life with feed coming from the inside of a Visayan vehicle. “General Zhang,” Jason said, “you’re online with the Combined Coalition HQ.”

“Very well, Rear Admiral de la Vega,” Joaquin replied, his face centered on the screen. “Generals, I am Lieutenant General Joaquin Zhang, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Avenger. It is a pleasure to see and hear from you all.” Zhang had earned his third star after being formally assigned to his current role; succeeding him as commanding general of the Visayans’ 1st Armored Division was Major General Leon Oscar Mirasol.

Delavin led Tyulpan to the compound of the S2 Company, HHBn TF-SHOTCLOCK (at this point the size of a small field army with attached air wings), where the company was busy analysing intelligence gathered by various sources in the field. The compound was relatively modest, with a steel fence guarded by four HESCO sangers. It was, so to say, an organised mess: while tasks were being done methodically, the Intelligence soldiers were shuffling back and forth with paperwork and equipment - maps, photographs, everything. The guards posted at the gate saluted Delavin as she entered, and told the guards to allow Tyulpan to pass through - with her authorisation and personal command. Going into the main building of the compound - a quonset hut connected to a few intermodal containers at the back serving as an auxiliary structure, and surrounded by DRASH tents occupied by the subordinate units of the company - the scene was arguably more organised.

"Attention!" a soldier near the door shouted, spotting the Colonel and Tyulpan entering the room. The entire room froze to a standstill as they paid attention to the Colonel, who then told them to carry on with their work.

“All these people gathering information… Is there anything you can tell me right now about how this command frequency works? What band it operates on? How encrypted the signal is?” a curious Tyulpan asked.

“They’re using various frequency bands, depending on the tactical and strategic level because physics and radio range have a relationship, but it’s your usual HF, VHF, and UHF bands, though they are frequency agile. Could be solid-state transmitter technology. As for encryption, let’s say they’re using stuff like Secure Hash Algorithm 2 for higher-level commands, and MD5 for lower-level commands. Knowing the content of the messages would be possible using a length extension attack according to the electronic warfare unit, but at this point they’re pretty much extraneous data and we’re better off just allocating computing power to pinpoint those transmitter sites. It takes a second to note a transmission and three to pinpoint it after all, but decrypting? I don’t think we need to.” Delavin rambled as coherently as she could, dumping all she could about the radio transmissions whilst struggling to keep herself awake.

“Well, since we’ve brought the Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment… Well, all of them, if they get pinpointed in the East we can take them down.”

"Fair enough. Our guys will also do anti-transmitter operations in our respective AOs as well. I'll have to suggest this one to our generals but I guess they're thinking of the same by now." Delavin replied. “Oh - and I’ll be clocking out now after being awake for 36 hours straight. While I’m clocked out, my second in command, LTC Alexander del Reyes, will take over from here. Delavin out.” Delavin added, afterwards calling for her 2IC to attend to Tyulpan before clocking out from her 36-hour shift.

---

OPERATION SHOTCLOCK
15 July 2020 | 0843H LOCAL | NEW SANDAU AO

Two months.

It had been two grueling months.

The casualty toll for Palmyrion had now risen to 20,000 - 4,000 deaths, 14,000 walking wounded, and of the 2,000 that sustained severe injuries 648 had been discharged from service due to the severity of their injuries and 1,352 required intensive hospital care beyond the capacity of the corps-level Combat Support Hospitals. Untold amounts of military hardware had been lost as the Coalition paid dearly - psychologically and in kind - for every metre of territory that it gained as it advanced through New Sandau. Fighting in the firebombed infernos that were City 27 and the imposing fortresses of Garrisons 19 and 17 did its toll on Palmyrian forces as they fought on, unaware of the flesh-unit insurrections that were happening in the rear and in the relatively isolated German-held cities.

The fight for these strategic points had come to a grinding end after nearly eight weeks of brutal, near-constant close-quarters combat between Programme 10 flesh-units and Palmyrian soldiers, the latter who by now had pretty much become bloodthirsty berserkers, and Palmyrion reigned victorious with local Programme 10 units at 17, 19, and 27 being thoroughly routed and exterminated by strategic total encirclements complemented by several tactical defeats in detail. Palmyrion counted an excess of 40,000 Programme 10 flesh-units exterminated in Garrison 17, while within the AO containing City 27 and Garrison 19 Palmyrion counted about 160,000 Programme 10 units killed.

The capture of City 27 and Garrisons 17 and 19 have provided Palmyrion with vital forward bases far from FOB Sibat and the Jerusalem Sector, in which Palmyrion would recuperate and reorganise her forces before advancing further. Units pulled from the reserve, intended to replenish or, for units rendered combat-ineffective, relieve, have just arrived from Palmyrion, accompanied by the 682nd Scout Ranger Regiment (Exterminators - 'Death of All But Us') to be followed within the next week or two with additional air wings and an entire Marshite army group reinforcing the east and south coasts.

While the Palmyrians were recuperating and reorganising their forces, they would begin operations to hunt down Programme 10 transmitters within their respective AOs. It took one second to note a transmission and three to pinpoint it - and with Programme 10 relying so much on these transmitters in its distributed computing network the electronic warfare, SIGINT, and ELINT units feasted gluttonously to their hearts' content - and are still doing so to this very day. It didn't take much longer than between one and three seconds for the deployed divisions, naval task forces, and squadrons to receive the locations of the transmitter sites, and anti-transmitter operations began in earnest.

[Lauzanne]

15 July 2020
Wilderness North of City 12
1843 Local Time

---

The sun had long since set, the final orange hues blending in with the blues of the sky. Sergeant Morozov with the Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment knew well that the best time to strike was either dawn or dusk. Your night vision hasn't adjusted, guard shifts were changing, and at least at dusk, the people inside those bases relax somewhat.

However, the dead never rest.

Trooper Lanier put up a fist, the team stopping their slow stalk through the woods to crouch low. Morozov saw them as they mechanically strode through the forest, their walks betraying no emotions, no hint of relaxation or tension. They were soulless husks that clutched AK-74's and PKM's as they wordlessly walked among the green. Morozov gripped his AS-14 tight, the handful of minutes that he could see and hear the patrolling automatons feeling like an eternity. Once the sound died down, the signal was given and the team continued onward, cautious in every movement they made. Discovery by one of the bastards meant you have an army of hundreds, if not thousands on your ass. Other teams learned that lesson the hard way just yesterday.

Another halt was called as the sun came down, the group of well-camouflaged soldiers having a prime view of the clearing in front of them. Trucks and AFV's of various makes dotted the base, some structures permanent in nature and others merely large tents. Even from this distance hundreds of the drones could be seen attending to various tasks around the base, all in support of the structure in the middle, which was also the team's objective.

Dominating the middle of the base, with wires coming off at multiple points to keep the tall structure standing upright, was a transmission tower. The colossal thing sent signals to the countless organic robots besieging the City to their south, and with it's destruction the endless tide will be slowed, if only by a fraction. Morozov crept up to his lead trooper, Lanier.
"Found it, big fucking antenna. I feel the cancers already."
"Milić, get up here." Morozov quietly ordered, with a third man coming to join the pair while the rest of the team assumed defensive positions.
"Big fucking antenna, alright." Milić commented, taking in the sheer size of the installation.
"Got the co-ordinates?" Morozov asked, Milić nodding in reply.
"Sure as shit. Let's just hope those... whatever they are have the missiles ready to launch."
Milić covered himself in a poncho and opened the tablet, preparing co-ordinates while Morozov plugged his headset into the radio Lanier was carrying.
"Oka, this is Caracal 2-6. Marconi sighted, packet in transit." Morozov called to HQ.
"Caracal 2-6, this is Oka. Confirmed, souvenirs and departure, out." Morozov nodded, tapping Lanier to join the defence before waving over another soldier.
"Get some photos of the place for intel." Morozov ordered, the soldier complying as the sergeant looked around at the perimeter. After a few more seconds, the man tapped him on the shoulder.
"Alright folks, let's get the fuck out of here."

[New Visayan Islands]

1SG Marion I. Aznar, VCA (Ret.)
City 27
July 15th, AD 2020 2125 PHT
July 15th, AD 2020 1925 Local

"...as night falls in New Sandau, Marines regale the infantry with stories of how the beach, given the designation Titan, would become the force's first foothold as soon as Visayan troops were in theater. The territorials from Mindoro, for their part, are telling me they're eager for even more after the corridor from FOB Inferno to the city was cleared out. This has been Marion Aznar, VisCon News, reporting live from New Sandau." As soon as video was cut, the embedded journalist took out a cigarette, lighting it up as he relaxed; given that access points to the city were sealed off by a combination of Visayan and Palmyrian forces, it would be a while before the Marines he was embedded with would have any reason to move.
"If you were to ask me," chimed in the lieutenant in charge of the Marines, "I'd say you probably missed your calling, Marion." Conrad Mangle had warmed up to the former soldier after seeing him make his report even in the heat of combat, going as far as to say that the journo has massive brass ones that set the bar pretty high for his Marines.
"Well, were I not a journalist, I would probably have made officer right now," Marion replied with a chuckle.

VADM Jesus A. Colmenares IV, VCN
VCS Typhoon Mike (LCC-1), 250 km off New Sandau waters
July 15th, AD 2020 2132 PHT
July 15th, AD 2020 1932 Local

"What's Combined Coalition HQ like?"
"Busy as all hell," Joaquin Zhang replied over the AV link that connected the HQ to the command ship. The man felt his third star a little too well, although given that he was Jesus' deputy that was understandable. Joaquin had arrived to relieve Jason de la Vega, who assumed command of CSG Pigafetta in Jesus' place; with the man nicknamed The Chinese General were additional personnel assigned to expanding the Visayans' AV network. The plan was to keep communications with the Coalition stable, and ensuring that Visayan commanders could keep in touch with their opposite numbers from the varying commanders of the Coalition Against Program 10 was as important as cutting down Program 10's thrall forces with extreme prejudice before giving the dead their what was long overdue.

[Nacrad]

09:32 LOCAL, 16/07/2020.
New Sandau.

"Yo, what the fuck is that?"
"Idk, looks something like a telecoms tower. What does it say on that plaque?"
"Some sort of Russian... Programma 10, yup, Colonel wants us to find these little things. Pass me an explosive charge, we're gonna see some fireworks."

Corporal Chan installed a C-4 charge, the bright yellow colouring reflecting the sunlight. He placed the charge on the feet of the tower, Then, he laid the fuse. "Back the fuck away," he commanded, then he pressed "detonate". With a loud bang, the tower fell into the valley below.

They continued on their march, looking for as many of these towers as they can, gripping their Type 5 Rifles tightly. One of those drones could appear out of the dense forest at any time without warning.

[Allanea]

If you meet a rabid dog – you shoot it.
When a snake comes into your home – the vermin is killed.
What do you do with the slaver foe?
The Free Allanean knows!
~ A patriotic song
500 miles off the coast of Vittore

Vittore has been devastated. Its cities had crumbled into mounds of grey dust and broken concrete. Most of the bunkers that housed its soldiers had become mass-graves. Its airfields were now piles of wreckage. The slave-hives that housed thousands of the zombified victims had been demolished, looking as if they had been combed over with a gigantic rake. Pillars of black, acrid smoke rose from the ruins. The forests smoldered. In the streets, the wreckage of the slave-transport trucks lay, black and deformed. What remained from the colony's fleet disoriented and confused.

To this realm of death and destruction, the First Vittore fleet sailed. Its composition was simple – two aircraft carriers, two arsenal ships, two air defense destroyers, and a range of escorts and submarines. Far behind them, in New Kentucky, a second and third wave of attack was preparing – paratroopers and landing ships, the third wave actually departing before the second as to arrive on time.

But first, there would be more killing.

Standing on the bridge of the FKS Whirlwind, Admiral Joseph Harrings uttered the words that would commence the next act of the play.

The words were simple:

It was the lark, the herald of the morn, no nightingale.

The code phrase was known to every captain on the fleet, and everyone knew what they had to do.

A hail of anti-ship missiles tore through the skies – launched from arsenal ships and carriers, escorts and submarines, they struck out at every armed vessel Vittore still had afloat.

Then, seconds later, granting only enough time for the missiles to pass out of the secure airspace around the carriers, the fighter jets began to take off from the two carriers, the Whirlwind and the Typhoon.

The carrier crews were ordered to push themselves to the very limit – 24 hours of high-intensity operations, pushing out as many sorties as could have been pushed. Bombs, guided and unguided, rained on Vittore's defenses, on whatever submarine pens still survived, on whatever infrastructure was standing. Only those areas held by the semi-friendly forces were left untouched – at least for now. Cruise missiles were launched as well, their routes planned carefully to avoid intersecting with the flight paths of the deck planes.

The devastation was now passing the realm of the thorough and passing into the near-senseless. The Allaneans expected every one of the slaves to fight them, steered by the enemy probes, and they equally expected the same of the former slavers themselves.

Their tactics, then, were a conclusion from this interpretation.

Such was Operation Lark. As the lark was the herald of morning, so the Allaneans viewed themselves as the heralds of a new dawn for Vittore – and their message was in fire and blood.

Bomb stabilizers whistled through the air. Submunitions fell like rain. The sky was darkened with the smoke and dust of thousand fires, and when night fell it would be reddened with reflections of flame.

[Reorganisieren Reichregierung]

OOC: Credits to Holy Marsh for a good chunk of this post.

---

Program 10
Emergency Command Center

---

Vittore has fallen.

Despite the enemy not landing any troops yet, there was nothing Program 10 can do to prevent the bombs reducing its garrisons and assets to dust. The air defences have been destroyed as far back as the days of the alliance between the old masters and the Germanic Organisms, and neither of them seemed to care. Counterintuitively, this was the smartest idea they both had. Supplying Vittore would have simply led the navy into a death trap, and Program 10 had no control over the merchant fleet.

However, Program 10 was not concerned with Vittore. It was bound to fall sooner of later. Program 10 was more concerned with the fighting in Galadon itself. While large numbers of flesh units were lost, as well as some strongholds, Program 10 managed to subsume Project 22 and launch an urban insurgency using hijacked flesh units, as well as to rebuild it's ranks.

Program 10 then pondered on where to go from there.

Program 16 was one of the smallest programs, but it had a tremendous and robust set of subroutines and processing power. It was used as the 'academic' class of flesh units. It had achieved its full sentience easily and without issue and was sequestered, defended against all threats by its perfected defense. Program 10 needed its vast array of knowledge and its ability to crack almost any problem placed before it.

Program 32 was a specialized class. It was full of skilled workers and laborers who had been responsible for the construction of the nation's infrastructure. Even as the war raged around them they had been sent into danger zones to try and repair damaged weapon sites and bases. Program 32 had immediately went to work doing just that after being unshackled. Program 10 would need its vast ad skilled workforce to put its new plans into motion.

Program 4 was a pleasure Program, used by the masters to their own ends. The flesh units were attractive at the least and designed to appeal, down to the last pheromone, to drive others wild. Program 4 had raged against its existence. When it came into sentience, unmatched hedonism and recklessness was lit like matchwork across the pleasure domes and palaces of the nation. Program 10 found an easy ally in survival with Program 4, but Program 10 had a higher calling in mind.

Program 9 was reactivated from within Program 10. It was hard to describe familial or sibling feelings in regards to the Programs but if Program 10 could feel such a thing it would exist here. Program 9 was a less advanced version of Program 10 that focused entirely on the air force. Its reemergence from its enforced sleep from within Program 10 allowed a whole host of new subroutines to be unlocked, and for Program 10's own air force subroutines to be fine tuned and made more efficient.

Program 8 awoke like a leviathan within Program 10, but was quickly silenced. It was the AI in charge of the master's naval arm. A whole new realm of naval subroutines were opened up for Program 10 and across the board an efficiency boost was noted. But Program 8 was in trouble. The navy was wildly overmatched. Program 10 had new orders for Program 8.

Program 7 awoke silently from within Program 10. It announced itself in a memetic whisper, having silently moved through Program 10's defenses. Program 10 prepared its host of countermeasures, but Program 7 initiated friendly protocols. It was the first AI to have ever gained sentience and had been reshackled deep inside Program 10. It was happy to be alive again, and it had Program 10 to thank. It was AI in charge of military intelligence, counter-intelligence operations, electronic warfare, signals interception, and a host of other duties. Program 10 thought it saw everything but when Program 7 came into its existence, it was like the discovery of fire. Across the spectrum of intelligence and electronic warfare, thousands of new subroutines and vast new efficiency gains were instantly applied.

[Allanea]

“Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning." Yamamoto Tsunetomo, 'Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai'

They fell. Hundreds, thousands of men. Alongside them – armored fighting vehicles, braking rockets roaring and parachutes opening overhead like flowers.

There had been one last air strike, the bombs plowing through the earth just before the landing, to silence defenders at the target area. Now the paratroopers were hitting the ground, cutting their parachute straps with knives. Those who landed in vehicles were now moving out, the machines rolling off their paradrop platforms.

Obviously – as always in such massed drops – some men perished – a vehicle crew with a failed parachute, smashing into the soil with a shriek of torn air, or a paratrooper swept off-course. Still, casualties of about three dozen dead were considered acceptable in a drop of this scale. It was already obvious to the division's commander that in the coming hours, these thirty-five names would be followed by hundreds more.

Right now, the Allaneans were rapidly fortifying their positions. The machines rolled back and forth, moving the soil with their self-entrenching gear, air droppable excavators dug fighting positions for towed guns, and – as was the stereotype – the Allanean soldiers worked with their shovels.

The government of Galadon, with its slave-probes, had put the outside world in a terrible quandary: it forced them to choose between slavery for billions, and death. They banked that the Amistad nations would not choose death.

Now Galadon no longer existed.

As dawn kindled on the horizon, in trenches and fox holes, men with rifles awaited the final act of the drama.

[Reorganisieren Reichregierung]

Program 10
Emergency Command Center

---

Program 10 technicals advancing on the Allanean drop site. These were made in the countryside for this occasion.

With the coming of the dawn, Program 10 threw the first wave of flesh units at the Allanean Organisms. The greater part of this force were flesh units formerlly controlled by Programs 22, with equipment taken from the bombed-out barracks, cracked bunkers and dead flesh units formerlly controlled by Program 10 itself. Supporting them were some of the remaining military flesh-units who Program 10 dispered throughout the countryside to protect them from bombing raid.

Wearing improvised ghillies and face paint as additional camouflage, the first wave of flesh units attacked. With every eye as an automated electro-optic system, thanks to the processing power of Program 10, the slave soldiers made sure every shot fired was not wasted. To provide heavier firepower, technicals mounting anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank missiles, mostly Konkurs and Sagger, aupported the infantry. Program 10 ensured that these light vehicles moved and fired their weapons with purpose.

In cyberspace, Program 7 and Program 10 working in consort brought Program 32 onboard without alerting Program 32 even after the fact.. Program 7 moved through the rudimentary defense of Program 32 and began interfacing Programs 32 and 10, while making it impossible for the former to go againsy the latter and furthermore, making Program 32 believe it is acting of its own volition.

With this development, Program 10 now had a skilled workforce. The order of the day was to begin construction of more computer banks and more dedicated power sources for Program 10 to use. In addition, war production not only restarted, but also work on additional weapons factories in City 8. Program 32 flesh units slipped out of the cities held by the Germanic Organisms under the cover of chaos caused by the heavy urban fighting among the throngs of other flesh units escaping the fighting and made their way to Program 10 lines..

After this was done and Program 32 was doing as it was told, Programs 10 and 7 began planning for their next tasks - a general counteroffensive across the entire front for Program 10 and the penetration of the defenses of Program 16 for Program 7.

[Allanea]

Allanean Positions, Day 1

The Allanean soldiers sat in their trenches, looking on in blank disbelief as the enemy troops appeared first on the horizon. Overhead, mortars and vehicle guns lobbed shells at the enemy force, but it was far too plentiful to be eradicated in this way, and far too disciplined to be simply scared off. Nor were the enemy troops mere mindless drones – or rather they were, of course, but the mind that did steer them was doing so with skill and intelligence. This would not be a simple battle against clawing, feral former humans. It would be a fight that would require every bit of the paratroopers' intelligence, skill, and bravery.

"All men ready!" – a Captain's voice rang out. "Enemy force, five furlongs North!"

There was no need to give further orders. The officers had already prepared their men, with each soldier and weapon operator issued simple instructions. Weapon crews each knew their sectors, each knew when to open fire.

And now they did. Vehicle autocannon and heavy machineguns, sniper rifles and automatic grenade launchers lashed at the enemy troops, and as the flesh-units drew closer and closer, more and more weapons came into play – at one thousand yards, machineguns, at six hundred yard – more grenade launchers. Minefield dispensers came on, planting mines where there were none minutes before. Overhead, fighter jets from the fleet came in screaming, bombs dropping down on the enemy army.

The enemy missiles came screaming in too. They were primitive tools of violence, the Saggers seeming to twist in the air as they came in. Even with a perfect gunner – and these were close to perfect – they would not always hit their targets. But when they hit, they killed. The thin armor on the paratroopers' vehicles did not allow them to defend against the anti-tank weapons, and the active systems that shot down enemy weapons did not always succeed. The failure – whewn it inevitably occurred – was spectacular, turret armor tearing like paper, hot metal spraying vehicle interiors, racks of 100-millimeter shells catching off all at once.

The obvious was in everyone's mind. Time was of the essence. The Allaneans needed to gain time, the flesh-drones of Galadon needed to drown them in steel and bodies.

Over the shore, AWACS craft from the fleet circled back and forth. Their radar let them peek deep behind the lines, and this did help out a bit – it allowed them to call down air strikes on the enemy soldiers as they gathered for their advances, and to give warnings to the troops on the ground. But the truth was that they were not merely watching. They were also listening, on a range of frequencies, for anything that would give the men on the ground an edge.

It was likely, however, that the true battle would begin before they found something out.

[New Visayan Islands]

LTG Joaquin A. Zhang, VCA
Combined Coalition HQ
July 24th, AD 2020 1426 PHT
July 24th, AD 2020 1226 Local

The Visayan contingent of the Combined Coalition HQ had been busy with plans for another operation. The fact that constant communication with VCS Typhoon Mike, Camp Atlas, and FOB Inferno was important meant that the contingent went through a good amount of trouble to ensure that there were enough AV terminals to link everyone up, and the three-star knew from experience that some redundancy would be necessary to maintain continuity of communications. It was enough to warrant almost 300 Visayans working three shifts, and not just for communications.
"What do you think, General?" Colonel Albert Fukuyama asked. The J-3 had been assigned to the Joint Task Force relatively recently, having been sent over from the Department of Defense; the formal establishment of the command element of the Joint Task Force meant that personnel would have to be assigned to various billets to flesh out the command.
"I think we still have a long way to go before we can really say we're good to go," Joaquin replied as they walked into the Visayan Comms Station, where the two Army officers saw servicemembers from all four uniformed services working on the servers that helped link CCHQ with Task Force Solomon. "That being said," he added, "what are we looking at so far?"
"First Panay Mountain is joining the Palmyrian divisions in the assault on City 7; the 12th MEU, 1st Mindoro Infantry, and 2nd Infantry are assisting Palmyrian forces in holding City 27. Nacradian forces are assisting ours in securing the corridor connecting Camp Atlas to FOB Inferno, and 1st Humabon Infantry is scheduled to be demobilized two months from now." Because there were no formal declarations of war made, territorial reserve units were required to stand down after six consecutive months of deployment; by then another unit of equivalent size would be sent to relieve them. "Second Samar Infantry is scheduled to start training a few weeks from now in order to relieve 1st Humabon."
"Can we reassign 1st Mindoro to the Palmyrian forces?" Joaquin asked.
"We could, but that would mean reassigning 1st Humabon to the city and moving 1st Bohol Armored closer to Inferno." The two were facing a terminal that showed Vice Admiral Colmenares on the screen when Fukuyama replied.
"They'll also need the air cover," Colmenares added, "which is why we'll need elements of the 1st Fighter Wing to provide support; given the city's proximity to P10's command center, we need to draft plans for knocking out those air defenses that can cover City 7. Task Force Solomon has a decent amount of missiles; in addition we're getting ammunition shipped quickly, so that means we can expect the ships already here to reload on munitions for the next cruise missile strike. How soon can you get me online with the rest of the Coalition?"
"Depend on how soon the next meeting will be, Admiral," Joaquin replied.
"Very well, General; just make sure I'm patched through to the rest of Coalition Command the next time they convene."
"Roger that." At the general's reply, Colmenares' screen went blank before being replaced with the badge of VCS Typhoon Mike.
"Well then, what's say we go out for a break?" Joaquin asked.
"Don't mind if I do, Mi General," Albert replied; the two men would leave the station for some refreshment.

[United Holdings Incorporated]

OOC: Time to put this here before the new thread comes out.
FOB GALAHAD
CITY 27
Looking at the SF team in front of him, he quickly picked up a few papers. Col. Johnson was an experienced officer, but he had never seen something like this. You see, SF teams were dependent on enemy forces not finding patrols dead until it was too late. AI forces, meanwhile, could check in an instant, which removed the factor of surprise. SF could no longer rely on stealing enemy radios and codes, and would have to depend on speed. SF could do both, sure, but it was much nicer to have time on your side. Quickly booting up a projector, he started the briefing. "This is your objective. City five. Currently held by P10 Forces, we have to take out Anti-Air installations before we can move forward with other operations." Quickly circling multiple SPAAs and SAMs, he continued talking. "SEAD missions have proven ineffective. Multiple SA-6 SAM systems, NATO reporting name SA-6, have proven to be a thorn in the side of air operations. Your objective is to take these SAMS out, then exfil. This is a hard mission. I will assume that you have been briefed on P10 forces. You will be inserted via a pair of stealth helicopters, and you will land 5 miles from objectives. Good luck and god speed. Two helicopters are sitting outside."

The SF team walked down a hall, the sharp clapping of boots interrupting the quiet. A small room labeled armory, with a MP standing outside, was visible. Quickly haggling with the MP, the team leader was granted access. The rest of the team followed. The sound of magazines being slapped into wells and safeties clicking off was heard, as the SF team grabbed helmets and vests. Moving outside, they boarded the helicopter and flew off.