Cold.
It crept beneath her tattered cloak and weaved through the thin fabrics of her shabby blouse, its chilling touch glazed her delicate skin within. The warming glimmers of sunshine were long gone, replaced by the faint glow of the moon and the cold winds of the night. Her shaky hand grasped tightly onto the cold trembling fingers of her little sister, who was draped in the same tattered cloak and disheveled clothes. Confused and scared, her little sister timidly followed behind, her lithe hands clinging onto her own. The two girls sneaked under the shadows of the alleyways, trying to conceal their presence as they cautiously treaded the streets of Alue. Their faces were hidden under the shadows of their hoods. Only their quivering lips could be seen.
They shivered under the chilling night, the cold grappling their hearts too. The warmth of hope within them had long faded, replaced by anxiety and desperation for help. Her little sister was always frightened by the mere sight of any of those foreign occupiers, thinking that they would inflict pain on her body. Soraya was more worried that they might do something worse. She heard screams and cries around Alue too many times, heard too many rumours and stories of the tragedy that befell those who were captured or taken away by them.
Soraya shook her head, subconsciously gripping hard on her little sister's hand. She did not want to dwell on the imagery of those gruesome prospects, but the fear of the foreign occupiers only continued to linger. She promptly glanced beneath her cloak, her iridescent eyes staring at her soiled hand holding onto a small woven basket of sweet potatoes. These were dug out from a school's backyard just a few streets away. Guilt lingered around her mind, but she didn't have a choice. She just hoped they weren't followed or noticed by anyone.
Their lithe feet slowly shuffled along the uneven gravel as they stuck close to the dilapidated stone walls. Wooden crates and boxes messily cluttered the alleys with nothing left inside of them. Soraya eyed at the crates, careful not to trip over any planks or wood as she pulled her little sister along. Then, she heard some sporadic explosions from the distance, and her face turned somber. She felt a forceful tug, a worried plea from her little sister.
"Don't worry..." she turned around to look at her trembling sibling, reassuring the girl and herself, "...they are far away."
Even though it has become a daily routine, Soraya and her sister were still frightened by the familiar sounds of explosions. When it first came, the blast destroyed their house, the fires burned their father, and the aftermath withered their lives away. The foreign occupiers took delight in that, and day after day they would do the same to anywhere outside of Alue. She wondered if the Murian army could endure such hell every day.
As they carefully approached the exit, Soraya spotted the familiar eatery from across the desolate street. A somewhat well-known restaurant famed for its chicken, the place was once bustling with people. Now, its windows were shuttered with planks, the rows of tables and chairs abandoned outside the eatery collecting dust, and a huge cross sign was displayed on its door.
And just like the restaurant, everywhere in Alue looked the same. A town once vibrant with life, mixed with the carefree denizens and curious travellers from other parts of the world, was now but an empty shell.
"Sister..." her little sibling murmured, her voice shaking from the cold and fear. "...are we home yet?"
Soraya turned around to soothe her little sister, her hand gently caressing her sister's head as she tried to force a smile.
"We're almost there, Lily," her quivering voice answered, "just across this street, down that corridor, and we will reach where Mama is."
Despite her reassurance, fear continued to grip her heart. The closer they got to their new home, the more anxious she became. She silently prayed to the godly entities above that no soldiers would catch them today, again. Putting her little sister behind the crates, Soraya peeked out of the corner of the walls to spot for foreign troops. Then, frightened screams and fierce hollers suddenly echoed from across the streets, and like an anxious prey-in-hiding, Soraya immediately hid behind the crates, cuddling with her trembling sister. Her hands pressed against her sister's lips before she could let out a shriek.
"...don't make any noise," Soraya whispered, "...or they will catch us here..."
Frightened yet curious, Soraya meekly peeked behind the crates to check at the commotion across the streets. Beside the shuttered eatery was a two-storey house with two burly men suddenly barging out from the main door, the unmistakable forms of rifles slung behind their back. Mercilessly, they dragged a little girl out by force, dressed in nothing but her pajamas, crying as she got tugged away by her collars. She incoherently screamed as another man dashed out of the door, desperately pleading the soldiers only to be kicked to the side.
"No! Let my daughter go!"
"Daaaaaaaaaaad-!"
"Shut the fuck up!"
The little scene of chaos unfolded right in front of her as her widened, teary eyes stared at the little girl crying for help. She wasn't just another random girl - she was Xueyi, her raven-haired, highly energetic and happy-go-lucky neighbour who sometimes talked too often and always got herself into trouble with her teachers in school. This was the first time she saw her cry.
Soraya only trembled, her mind too afraid to even approach her helpless friend; she lowered her head slightly back behind the crate, pretending not to listen, pretending that nothing ever happened.
"You can take me and all my assets, but leave her be-"
Metal clicked, rifle drawn, and a skull cracked. The occupier slammed the wooden end of his weapon onto the man's head.
"Annoying bastard," he declared with the muzzle pressing against his chest. Then, the thundering cracks of gunfire resounded. The man spoke no more, his body slumped motionlessly on the walkway, the deep red slowly dyeing his clothes.
"Nooooooooooo-!"
The little girl helplessly wailed as she struggled within the soldiers' grasps, but the men casually dragged her away from the house. She kicked and screamed, cried and squirmed, but the men would take her further and further away from her home. Her voice slowly became a distant echo, her petite figure gradually disappearing into the night, and Soraya watched all of it trembling behind the pile of crates, her sister silently sobbing within her embrace. As the last vestige of her friend faded away into the darkness, so did the foreign occupiers.
How much more did she have to endure this? How many more friends did she have to lose? The swirl of guilt, anger and sorrow swam within her chest as the tears freely cascaded down her wet, pale cheeks. She bit her lips, softly shaking her head as she tried to rid those thoughts away, to forget about her friend, to forget about everything.
Her teary eyes cautiously swept the silent streets and saw not a single soul around. The distant sounds of explosions had died away too. Soraya heaved a breath of relief. She turned back to her little sister and held her hand.
"...they're gone..." she whispered into her sister's ears, trying to assuage her and herself, silently hoping that they were really gone, "...let's go."
Her trembling hands tightly gripped her sister's hand as she led the crossing. The two girls rose from the crates and made a dash for the other side, their bruised lithe feet struggled to run as fast they could. Soraya heavily panted as she ran, her breath ragged from tremendous exhaustion and her anxiety of being captured at any time.
Just a bit more. She thought. Just a bit more and they would be home with their mother. Just like how they had done it before until now. Every step she took was one moment closer to her safe haven.
Then, she felt an unfamiliar warmth grappling around her wrist. Her blood went cold, her body felt a paralyzing chill and her face turned paler. The basket of potatoes fell from her embrace.
From the corner of her frightened eyes, she caught a glimpse of the unmistakable figure - dressed in olive green fatigue and a jockey cap adorned on his head - snarling at her, his eyes gleaming in a menacing lust. Her eyes widened in fear, her mouth opened in shock, but no words ever came out. He was what she dreaded the most - a soldier of the Gra Valkas Empire.
"Hey," the husky voice of the burly soldier rang within her ears, "why are the two of you out in the streets in the middle of the night?"
He wasn't alone. There were more soldiers surrounding the girls, their faces showing a disturbing grin. One of them was already grabbing hold of her little sister, his hands pressing against her mouth and her chest, her cries muffled by the suffocating hold of his palm. The hood of her tattered cloak was already peeled away, revealing the terrified face of an innocent girl.
"...h-hello," she stuttered in fear, "...w-what do you want from u-us...?"
"Huh?" The soldier frowned, his grip on her wrist tightened painfully. "Oi, what kind of attitude is that? Did the Empire teach you to be rude to us? Are you saying that we are demanding!?"
His dreaded, demanding voice bellowed over her, and her frightened mind scampered a meek reply to his words. Tears were already brimming at the edges of her eyes.
"N-no! I-I'm sorry...!"
"Correct yourself!"
She yelped again, her voice trembling as she hastily bowed and rectified herself. "...Good evening, sirs... what can we do for you...?"
"Why are you hiding your face?" The soldier questioned as his face leaned closer to her's, "do you know that the Empire forbids you to hide your identity from us?"
Without hesitating, the soldier forcefully peeled off the hood of her cloak, revealing her sobbing face for everyone to look at.
"Oh, another cutie!" The soldiers behind him commented and the girl reeled away in anxious fear. "Damn, this country really has quality chicks."
"Good," the soldier finally nodded in satisfaction before he forcefully tugged Soraya towards him. The girl yelped and stumbled, her tears now cascading down her cheeks once more. "I want the both of you to come with us."
The soldiers chuckled, and the girls gasped in fear. The scenes of her neighbour being dragged away, the horrifying anecdotes spreading around the town - all of them were still vivid within her mind.
"...No...!" Soraya meekly cried out, the fear of the soldiers' gruesome acts overwhelmed her mind. "...let us go, please-"
The soldier cut her off with a violent slap to her face, the trembling girl now staggered into a wall. Soraya let out a soft whimper as she reeled from the paralyzing pain.
"Did the Empire teach you to refuse our orders?"
He bellowed at her, his face contorted into an unsightly smirk as he grabbed her by the collar this time. Just like her neighbour, Soraya squirmed and struggled, but her fragile strength was simply no match to the men who trampled over Alue's streets.
"I guess you haven't understood the proper etiquette of the Empire. You are following us back for re-education-"
Suddenly, a sharp scream reverberated from the night skies, the piercing shrill roared in everyone's ears. Like everyone else, Soraya flinched in surprise, her eyes instinctively looked up into the skies and noticed something moving across the raven-black space; an ominous flicker of red and green streaked overhead.
"Oi, what was that-"
Then, a loud bang erupted in her ears and the ringing echoed in her head. Stumbled and scared, she cupped her ears immediately, almost falling off from the soldier's grasp. She could faintly hear the shriek of her little sister, as well as the shocked cries of the foreign occupiers.
But it did not end there.
A string of deafening explosions erupted across Alue, the silent city now rudely awakened by the shocking echoes. Brilliant red and orange lit up the town, the radiance of explosions now towering over the rows of houses and building blocks. The starry night skies were now enveloped by the citadel of smoke, the air above them scorched as the hues of amber canopied over the town. The piercing screams faded away into the distance, now replaced by the harsh sizzling of fires.
Her iridescent eyes blinked in confusion. Distinctively, she could see the blackened silhouette of the radio tower blanketed by fire and smoke, its frames slowly crumbling down and disappearing behind the shadows of Alue's townscape. The soldier who nearly decided to drag her away murmured in shock, his words summing up the thoughts that everyone was struggling to form.
"E-enemy...attack. We're being attacked by the enemy...!"
Once gripped by fear, then grappled by shock, Soraya now stared awestruck at the smothering plumes rising into the amber-lit skies, her mouth now wide agape. Did the Murian air force do this? Have they finally come?
"But how? I thought we have our forward radar outposts. Those junky biplanes couldn't have possibly sneaked past our anti-air coverage!"
"Oi, that explosion came from our main communications tower, right? Does Command know about this?"
"Bloody hell, those anti-air idiots are not doing their jobs properly!"
"Ajax to OP, come in!" The soldier who grappled her earlier was now gripping onto his radio, panicking as he hollered into the speaker. "This is Ajax! OP, do you read me?"
His face changed from bewilderment to frustration, his brows furrowed deep and his teeth gritted hard.
"... they're not responding," he clicked his tongue in frustration, his eyes now glaring at the petite girls. "Tch, just when we were about to have some fun..."
"Consider yourself lucky, girls," the soldiers remarked in frustration, "but you will be coming with us the moment this is over."
The piercing shrill abruptly came again, with the same ominous flickers of red and green flying overhead. Soraya instinctively covered her ears as the thundering boom resounded across the skies. Once again, the night was lit up by the brilliance of explosions and flames, the town trembled from the destruction they left behind in their wake. When the thunderous screams finally dissipated, Soraya slowly uncupped her ears, her teary eyes worriedly darted around.
The soldiers had left. The ominous glow of red and green was gone. The street lights mysteriously extinguished. All that was left was her little sister and the baskets of potatoes in the darkened, empty streets of Alue. As the blaring noise of the air raid horn began to reverberate across the town amidst the hissing sounds of fire, a surreal peace and quiet dawned upon the girls.
"...sister...!" The little sister sobbed, her frail body tumbled towards Soraya's trembling form. Feeling the soft, warm sensation of her sister's tight embrace, Soraya finally broke down. Tears freely fell down their cheeks like a waterfall as they wailed uncontrollably.
"L-Lily...!"
The girls cried into the night, unaware that the fires they saw that night marked the start of their road to freedom.
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7th Reconnaissance Company, 7th Division, JGSDF
0240HR
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The faint crackles of radio chatter buzzed within the moving vehicle as Tanaka leaned over to the left, his assault rifle poking out of the unwinded window. Ahead of the armoured convoy hollered a pair of AH-1 Cobras as brilliant amber erupted beneath their wings, the radiant trails of missiles and rockets lighting up the night skies. The cacophony of the pounding explosions, accompanied by the incessant roars of the machines, made it hard for any of the men to hear any words from the radio.
<<...3...2...Impact, now!>>
Tanaka spied out of the window with his night vision node, watching the dazzling display of fire and explosions igniting in the horizon. Black and gray erupted and cascaded, and the vibratim pounding from rockets and shells continued relentlessly. Occasionally he could pick up the high-pitched whistles of ordnance falling from the skies within the cacophony of gunfire and destruction.
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"At this rate, there won't be any Valkies left for us to shoot at!" Hanzo's voice howled from above with a hint of hypnotic excitement laced within his tone. The lance corporal smirked, thinking that he was enjoying the spectacle from the cupola.
"How's the fireworks, Hanzo!?" Yoshida yelled back amidst the deafening roars of the one-sided bombardment ahead.
"God damn boring!" Hanzo's annoyed voice came about as he slapped the machine gun hard. "I signed up to shoot at things, not to spectate the shooting!"
"Manoeuvre Warfare, everybody!" Tanaka chipped in. "With a pinch of firepower from our glorious artillery!"
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"Oh shoot!" The sergeant casually remarked, and Yoshida immediately snorted from the seemingly enthusiastic voice of their platoon commander. "There he goes again!"
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Everyone grinned and snickered at the words of their platoon commander as the radio crackled while the distant explosions echoed ahead. From his night vision node, Tanaka could spy the little figure of the commander's ARV charging ahead.
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"Ah yes!" Tanaka merely rolled his eyes. "The traditions of good old bushido! Hey, Samurai! Why aren't you leading the charge with our honourable commander!?"
"With him!? No, thank you!" The snarky gunner retorted. "You know what, I'll take that back! I'll go spectate the shooting while he shoots himself to death!"
"Does anyone want to correct our platoon commander!? Objective Akagi is like 20km away from here!"
"Unless he's suggesting for us to roll across 20 klicks to Akagi!"
"What the fuck!?" Yoshida interjected, his hands letting go of the steering wheel as he gestured to the scorched horizons in front of him. "Then what about the shit blocking our way then!?"
""As warriors of the land, we must honourably charge ahead and run them over!"" Tanaka brashfully mimicked the voice of their platoon commander as he acted out, earning the suppressed snicker of his sergeant and his section mates.
"Including the patch of landmines that is marked within our current AO!?" Hanzo's voice drifted down from the top of the cupola amidst the roars of distant bombardment.
"Landmines!? The Valkies have landmines!?"
Sergeant Takahashi immediately glanced at Yoshida with a slightly disappointed look. He pulled out the map from the pouch of the LAV's dashboard and unveiled the folded sheet. Tanaka leaned forward for a glance while Yoshida stole a couple of glances even as he drove the vehicle forward.
As depicted on the tactical map, the first obstacle they had to bypass from their starting point was a red-coloured rectangle captioned with the label "mines", which sat just in front of the markings of suspected enemy fortifications.
"How do we even know they have landmines here!?"
"I don't know!" The sergeant merely shrugged. "Intel said so!"
"Then why are we here!?"
Almost immediately, a glimmer of light flashed right in front of the LAV. Everyone within the vehicle caught the moments of its amber brilliance and the small eruption of blackened dirt that sprouted from beneath the lead ARV. A distant sound of explosion soon followed. It was clear to everyone that a certain someone in their platoon had struck gold. As if on cue, the artillery fire had ceased as well.
"To confirm that the intel is true!" Tanaka sarcastically answered, his hand pointing towards the motionless ARV at the front of the pack. "Hooray to fucking Recon!"
Takahashi tapped the dashboard twice prompting Yoshida to stop the vehicle. As the LAV slowed and jerked to a halt, so did the rest of their platoon - Tanaka could see the 2 accompanying ARVs in front grinding to a halt. The sergeant grabbed the radio wanting to report on the platoon's situation, but the device crackled into life with their CO's voice buzzing over.
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Silence momentarily presided over the radio communication. Tanaka could already imagine the deadpanned, unsurprised expressions of their officers in their vehicles mentally sighing within their heads.
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<<...f-fuck! We've been ambushed!>>
With Herculean effort, every man within the vehicle was suppressing a laugh and a grin from surfacing on their faces. Tanaka tried to look out of the window to distract himself from the matter altogether. The billowing smoke from the wake of the relentless artillery barrage somehow looked beautiful to his eyes at that moment.
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Takahashi immediately took out a night-vision binoculars from the pouch of the dashboard and tapped on Tanaka's shoulder, gesturing to the lance corporal to observe the damage as he held on to the radio device. Tanaka grabbed the binoculars and peered into the lens, spotting for the smoking ARV that was commanded by their platoon commander.
Despite the vivid green visage, he could see the details of the lead vehicle as it began to reverse slowly. It was the unmistakable form of the 6-wheeled car with a sizable gun turret mounted on the chassis, the vehicle covered in strips of leaves and grasses. Smoke was spewing from the deformed, front tyre however.
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"The vehicle looks fine," Tanaka reported, his face now plastered with an impressed expression as he slowly nodded, "Just a busted front tyre."
"Did you just say that it survived a mine? How bad can the Valkies get?" Yoshida remarked with a baffled smile as Tanaka returned the binoculars back to his sergeant.
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"Alright," the sergeant opened the door and jumped out with his rifle raised, "you heard the man. Dismount and hold position!"
"Aww, fuck!" Tanaka grumbled as he opened the door and jumped out of the LAV. Just like in training, he naturally slammed the door shut and swiftly took up a position that flanked the left side of the LAV, dropping into a half-kneeling stance with his rifle raised. "I can't believe we're doing this."
Both Takahashi and Yoshida also exited the LAV and surrounded the vehicle, with only Hanzo left on the cupola to man the machine gun. The men watched over the flat horizon with their night vision nodes, spectating the smoke and fire that billowed over the scorched fields and structures, the jet black skies dyed with the hue of brilliant, burning amber.
"Can there ever be one moment where our PC doesn't fuck up something?"
"This is what you get from a desk officer," the sergeant answered, "at least he doesn't get himself lost."
"Sergeant," Tanaka called out to Takahashi, "what is our actual role in all this? Don't tell me our job is to run over the minefield to confirm it exists."
"Pretty sure I briefed you on that part."
"Yeah. Get ahead of the column, spot for shit to shoot for the 71st, and stay hidden," Tanaka promptly recalled when suddenly a loud, whistling noise reverberated in his ears. Before he had any time to contemplate, a thunderous explosion resounded some distance in front of the section as a geyser of dirt erupted from the plains.
"Pretty sure running over the mine isn't part of the plan!" Alarmed, the soldier quickly finished his sentence as he dived into the ground. Muscles tensed up and adrenaline flowed through his veins when another fountain of dirt erupted with a resounding boom.
"Nah!" The sergeant hollered back amidst the sudden chaos, "he fucked up the plan!"
"What the fuck is that!?" Hanzo called out from the cupola as another fountain of dirt exploded some distance away from a reversing ARV. The radio also began crackling into life with the panicked voice of their platoon commander.
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"Remind me," Hanzo questioned as he observed another splash erupting again, "how did the enemy know we're right here?"
"Because our wonderful commander just ran over a mine. His position was given away!" Takahashi replied as another splash erupted again, with the enemy shell seemingly hitting nothing but the dirt. Tanaka wondered if the Empire's gunnery skills were simply just horrendously bad or their weapons were atrociously mediocre.
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"Ah yes," Tanaka instinctively responded to the words crackling from the radio, "and now our platoon commander is spazzing out all over the comms again."
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More dirt splashes erupted around the field as explosions bellowed the area, the sparks of vermillion seemingly lit up the innocent grassfields. Then, brilliant flashes of yellow suddenly illuminated the darkness around the vehicles, the blinding light revealing the green and brown paints of the JSDF ARVs as it erupted from the thin muzzles of their 25mm autocannons. Tanaka flinched in surprise for a moment as the repetitive droning of the rapid-fire cannons screamed into his ears. The streams of viridescent tracers shrieked across the darkened space and pounded upon the enemy garrison that had just fired upon them.
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While the rest of the section hunkered down from the deafening surprise, Hanzo listened to the retaliatory fire in delight, his hands began priming the machine gun towards the invisible enemies cloaked within the shadows of the night. Sergeant Takahashi had expected this however, his eyes already glancing at the gunner confirming his suspicions.
"Hey Hanzo!" Takahashi called out to his subordinate. "Forget it! You can't hit shit with that Minimi beyond a kilometer away!"
"Who cares about hitting shit!?" Hanzo's enthusiastic voice hit back. "I want to shoot at something!"
"Not now, Samurai! You'll get your chance later!" The sergeant hollered back, seeing that the man had not completely given up the stupid idea of shooting a gun from behind the rest of the platoon. "Conserve your ammo! That's an order Hanzo!"
He immediately received a disgruntled look from the very displeased soldier.
"Fuck you, Sergeant!" Hanzo complained in frustration, but his hands were finally off the gun handle. "Our first contact with the enemy and you banned me from exercising my rights of self-defense while that bummering idiot at the front gets to fire off his bullshit cannon!"
"I thought you said you are gonna spectate the shooting this time, Samurai! How about you run over the minefield next time!?" Yoshida exclaimed this time. "Maybe you get a chance to shoot if you survive!"
As the gunner groaned in dissatisfaction, Tanaka picked himself up and raised his rifle again, his eyes peering into the scope as he made a sweep across the landscape. As another dirt fountain geysered again, he caught glimpses of muzzle flashes within the horizon. Then, he spotted his sergeant half kneeling ahead of the LAV, unsheathing his spotting equipment from one of his vest pouches.
Takahashi observed the enemy forces ahead amidst the rain of dirt and smoke.
"Hey sergeant!" Tanaka lowered his rifle as he called out. "What did you see!?"
The sergeant stayed silent for a moment as he slung his rifle forward and looked into his binoculars. Hidden further behind the fields of landmines laid a wall of fortifications constructed from a mix of wood and concrete, or at least what was left of it. Half of the enemy's fortifications lay in ruins from the Cobra's air support and artillery fire. Collapsed wood vividly burned in bright vermillion while concrete debris laid atop of crushed guns and bloodied men, but the walls of bunkers were still functional. Machine guns and rifles were lined up and perched within undamaged bunkers. Anti-tank cannons fired behind the slabs of bundled wood and concrete, and mortars were popping off shells within dug-in pits surrounded by wooden barricades and sandbags.
"...some anti-tank guns, shooting at our brave commander!" Takahashi shouted with a grin on his face. "The Valkies also have some bunkers and mortar pits. Looks to me like a mess of wood and concrete mashed together."
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"Well," Tanaka turned towards his sergeant as a smirk emerged across his face, "I guess it's time to do our actual job."
"As much as I'd like to agree," Takahashi lowered his binoculars, "we're spotting for our ARV observers to relay additional info. As you can see however-"
The sergeant shoved the binoculars to Tanaka, prompting the soldier to observe the enemy garrison for himself. Tanaka took the contraption and peered into the horizon, his eyes now gazing at the same, burning redoubt filled with obsolete guns and desperate men.
"That's pretty much it. A line of bunkers and guns, and their forts are partially gone. They don't even have trenches. The ARV teams can pretty much spot everything from their sights."
"Well," Tanaka shrugged as he passed the binoculars back, "at least we can spectate the fireworks. Hey, Hanzo-!"
"No!" The gunner immediately retorted before Tanaka could finish his sentence. "I know what you're gonna say! Don't say it!"
"How is it like to spectate the shooting!?"
"Fuck off!"
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71st Tank Regiment, 7th Division, JGSDF
0255HR
Behind the chaos that had descended upon 7th Recon, the apexes of the JGSDF war machines lay dormant in the lushious grasslands that had conquered Alue's countryside. Leafy blades swayed in the nightly winds brushing against the muddied flaps and tracks of the steeled beasts, their imposing forms cloaked within the shadows of the night as the soft humming noises of diesel-powered engines sang to the frightened birds and grasses.
They lined up in rows of 5, their 120mm guns protruding towards the blazing fortifications of the Gra Valkas Imperial forces, their muzzles menacingly glinted under the moonlight. The tanks dominated the fields with columns of armour spread across the declining slopes, their sights now overseeing the first of Gra Valkas' defense lines.
At the center of the armour formations stood the platoon of Type 10 MBTs, their polygonal shapes and modular figures standing out from the columns of their Type 90 counterparts. As the steeled predators silently awaited for the orders to fire, the radio finally buzzed into life, breaking the bizarre tranquility of the grasslands.
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The first platoon of Type 10 armour traversed their turrets, their 120mm guns traced onto the seemingly tiny fort that stood at least 1.2 kilometres away. Within the tank, the commander was looking at one of the tablet displays from the vehicle's C4I module, its dazzling screen depicting the tactical map of the AO with positional data of the regiment units. Then, target labels began rapidly surfacing on the display.
"Damn," the commander commented as the datalink from 7th Recon began to come in, "that's a lot of targets."
"Well, that is why the entire regiment is here. Gotta share the slice of the pie." Beneath the commander, the driver remarked with a smirk.
"Easy for you to say," the commander retorted as his fingers began pressing on the module buttons, "how about you try syncing all the data to every Falcon unit?"
"That's only 3 platoons."
"That's 15 tanks, you brat."
It took a while for the commander to compute all targeting positions for the Type 90 squadron before uploading his datalink onto the regiment network. Unlike the Type 10, the older tanks were not equipped with any command module. The regiment had to rely on the only Type 10 squadron for any battlefield management.
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As the radio buzz mumbled on, a highlighted label was displayed on the C4I tablet for the commander. He glanced at the information on the screen before peering into the panoramic sights, his eyes adjusting to the position that was projected on his tactical map. In his vivid green visage, the commander spotted one anti-tank gun hidden between walls of bundled wood.
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Awoken by the words of the commanding officer, the columns of the armoured beast had begun to show signs of movements, ready to pounce onto the unsuspecting prey hidden behind the wood and concrete walls. The turrets whirred into life and the gun barrels mechanically swung up and down as they adjusted to their optimal firing solutions. Every tank in the regiment was searching for their designated targets.
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As his last words parted from his mouth into the speaker, the commander immediately began to relay the details to the gunner.
"Target is an anti-tank gun at 025 degrees, distance 1.2 klicks."
The gunner swiftly adjusted his aim, the sleek turret of their tank smoothly rotated and the barrel pointed at their target with mechanical precision.
"Target acquired."
"Fire!"
And with that word, the beasts have finally bore their fangs onto the Gra Valkas defenders. The thunderous roars from the lines of 120mm cannons instantly shattered the night's tranquility, the darkness of the night pulverised by the luminescent flashes of amber and vermillion, and the invisible gale of air shoved the dust and mud away from every jerking tank. The grasses around the metallic behemoths were knocked down and fallen leaves billowed with the shockwave.
All 75 tanks of the 71st Tank Regiment had fired their first shots of the battle. Within seconds, the fort began to light up with a myriad of explosions with smokes and gravel erupting around the compound, the damaged encampment now set ablaze by the volleys of 120mm rounds.
"Direct hit." The commander observed with the thermal sights. Hidden within the veil of the black smoke now laid the wreckage of bloodied steel and flesh among the pile of wood and concrete rubble. "Target down!"
"Got 'em."
The commander continued moving the panoramic sights, his eyes sweeping across the battered fortification for his next target. Beside his body, the hydraulics of the autoloader whined as the next shell was shoved into the gun breach.
"Next target!" He called out to the gunner. "030 degrees, distance 1.3. Valky mortar."
Swift and precise, the turret traversed and the protruding gun was now pointing at its next prey.
"Target acquired."
"Fire!"
Within 4 seconds, the formation of tanks fired their next salvoes, the barrage of 120mm shells now hammering upon the remaining forces in the ruined garrisons. The song of cannon fire reverberated with the cacophony of distant explosions and hisses from the smoking gun muzzles.
Within 4 seconds, the columns of tanks fired again, their rounds pummeling any form of enemy resistance hiding in crumbled bunkers.
Within 4 seconds, the Japanese war machines fired again, their shells detonating the enemy's ammunition storage. A large explosion enveloped the shattered compound with concrete and gravel erupting around the shambled barricades.
As the radiant embers of fire consumed the last vestiges of Gra Valkas defenses, the tranquil silence and darkness of the night descended upon the armoured columns of the 71st, the steeled beasts laying dormant again after unleashing a barrage of their wrath. Once again, only the soft humming of their inorganic engines could be heard.
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The peace and tranquility were short-lived as the tanks began to whir into life once more, this time their guns facing the unfortunate survivors of their attacks.
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7th Reconnaissance Company, 7th Division, JGSDF
0257HR
Unlike the world of infrared green, reality seemed to be more beautiful to Tanaka's eyes as he watched the Gra Valkas bunkers getting pummeled by the intense salvoes from the 71st Tank Regiment. The radiance of fire and brimstone tore away the darkness that had once enveloped the horizon, revealing the destructive aftermath of 300 tank ordinances unleashed in 4 salvoes. In his mind, it could not even be considered as 4 separate salvoes when everything in front of him was seemingly eviscerated in less than 20 seconds.
"Shiiiiiiiiit!" Yoshida cried out with a grin spreading across his face as everyone watched the fiery blazes spread across the ruins and rubbles, the walls and barricades melted away from another round of explosions. "Do you think the Valkies would start surrendering after all this!?"
Not a moment after he had said that, echoes of sporadic gunfire could be heard in front of them followed by another fountain of dirt erupting around the platoon's defensive positions, the short deafening burst of the explosion ringing in everyone's ears.
"I think the Valkies have answered your question!"
While everyone simply watched the one-sided slaughter of the Gra Valkas forces, Hanzo was getting slightly restless, his fingers were playfully drumming on the handle of the Minimi LMG.
"Hey Sergeant!" He called out to their bespectacled commander. "Can you tell the 71st to leave some Valkies for me!?"
"Suck it up, Samurai!" The sergeant immediately rejected. "You're in recon! You don't get to shoot shit here!"
"What the hell man!?" The disappointed gunner protested, his right hand now raised in the air gesturing his disappointment. "We're recon dude! We're supposed to be the first people to shoot at people!"
"Is that why you chose recon?" Yoshida laughed, "I can't believe you fell into that trap."
Immediately, everyone turned towards their driver with various expressions on their faces, as if the man himself had broken some sacred rule. Tanaka had a mocking smirk on his face while the Samurai grinned in disbelief.
"Hey Yoshi," Tanaka had to correct the misconceptions within his section member, "You can't call the kettle black if you're blacker than everyone else."
"Yeah," Hanzo continued as he looked down at the accused soldier, "remind me again, Yoshi. Why did you join the SDF?"
"Hey, hey!" The man in question frowned as he swept a disapproving glance at everyone. He gestured and challenged their disapprovals, his thumb pointed towards himself. "What's wrong with getting hot pussies in the Army, huh? A respectable soldier with a cute wife is a respectable dream."
"That's not the point. You saw that one cute JK (schoolgirl) in the commercials and decided to sign up for SDF. Now look where you are now!"
"Turns out that girl wasn't even in the SDF!"
"Screw off!" This time, it was Yoshida's turn to protest, his fingers now pointing at the smirking Hanzo. "That was bullshit and you know it!"
<<...all elements, this is Clover. Be advised, friendly Victors are rolling adjacent to the mines to clear them. Over.>>
As the men continued to bicker, the radio abruptly crackled audibly, capturing the men's attention. Tanaka then noticed that the return fire from the ARVs finally ceased as the world around them slowly descended back into the dark. Only the brilliant glow of fiery amber remained luminescent around the enemy compound. He dropped down his night-vision node and checked his surroundings.
From a distance away, Tanaka's eyes spotted a pair of seemingly strange vehicles lumbering across the field on his left. Their sizes were as large as those of the JSDF's main battle tanks but they possessed no weapons of their own; instead of guns and turrets, a large metallic box was mounted on each of their chassis instead. Tanaka didn't know what those vehicles were, but he knew that those boxes were meant to eviscerate the mines.
"Oh hey," Yoshida's voice rang out to Tanaka as he observed the vehicles jerking to a halt, their box launchers beginning to angle upwards, "look who's here."
"About time our engineer boys showed up."
"Nah, not that one." Tanaka blinked in surprise, his eyes peeled away from the engineering vehicles and turned to look at Yoshida. "At your 4 o'clock."
He stared at the grinning corporal with a quizzed expression, then turned his head towards his right trying to find the thing that had caught Yoshida's attention. He saw the puffy smoke and dust trailing across the grasses. On closer look, it was one of their company's trucks moving towards their commander's vehicle. Specifically, it was the truck with the hydraulic crane. Tanaka could not help but grin at the arrival of their company's logistics team.
"Oh, so the great honourable repair team has arrived!"
"Man, must've been shitty for them." Yoshida remarked as he stared at the truck stopping beside the de-wheeled vehicle. The men inside began dismounting from the truck and jogged towards the disfigured wheel. "Imagine, your first task of this grand operation is not to repair some vehicles damaged in battles, but to replace a freaking popped tyre who had just ran over a mine 20-plus minutes into the operation because some idiot thinks it is an honour to charge over a bloody minefield."
"Well, at least the gunner gets to shoot at running Valkies 20 minutes into the operation."
"Hanzo, one more time you talk about guns and I'll make you become our dear platoon commander's trusty gunner."
"Come on, Sergeant. Let the man dream about his dreams!"
As the men watched their company HQ's men do their work on the wheel of the damaged ARV, a thunderous screech abruptly began to shriek into everyone's ears and the darkened skies were suddenly lit up in a vermillion hue once more.
Tanaka turned his head around just in time to see a large projectile streaking from the vehicle's box launcher. Cloudy smoke enveloped the steeled machines and the shrieks of the rocket roared. The blinding white burned behind the rocket as it lit up in his night vision sight, forcing the lance corporal to squint his eyes for a moment. The blinding afterburner soon dissipated into the night, the projectile now popping a small parachute off its rear. To the men of recon, the sight of a mine-clearing rocket was slowly becoming a fascinating spectacle.
The men soon found out that the parachute was pulling something out of the rocket, unraveling a sturdy string from the rear of the projectile. In their eyes, it was like a string of rounded beads getting untangled from the flying container as the objects descended onto the invisible minefields. Silence ensued as the men awaited for something to happen when the odd string of beads landed; it was a brief moment of awkward nothing.
Then the shock came, surprising even the anticipating soldiers who flinched and hunkered down from the subtle whip of an invisible shockwave. The sharp howls of thunderous explosions screamed into their ears as the ground seemingly erupted, the grasses and dirt literally eviscerated from the violent blasts of destruction. Thick, black smoke enveloped and towered over the area as sulfur and charred grass filled the air.
As the flames loudly cackled in the aftermath of the explosions, the men stared at each other with their mouths grinning widely. Bewilderment and excitement were the expressions worn on their awestruck faces.
"Hoooh hooooh~!" Tanaka cheered as he picked himself up from the grass, though his loud voice was almost inaudible from the whisperous howls of the gale created by the blasts. "Now that is good shit!"
"Now Hanzo thinks he should become an engineer instead!"
"Not going to lie! I have a hard time deciding between shooting shit up and blowing shit up!"
"Hey, do you think our HQ people could get our PC's car fixed on time before those big boys could finish blasting everything into oblivion!?"
The marvelous steeled monsters from the 7th Engineer Battalion continued to fire another salvo of mine-blowing rockets into the night as the men watched the free, brilliant displays of explosive carnage in their enjoyment. The explosive-laden lines blew up whatever Gra Valkan mines lay hidden within the ground, paving the way for the entire task force to march forward within minutes.
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11th Mechanised Infantry Battalion, 7th Division, JGSDF
0300HR
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Away from the explosive excitement occurring over at the eastern sectors of their AO, the soldiers advancing towards the town of Alue was experiencing some form of irritation. Unlike what the soldiers had initially envisioned, the occupied Murian town was situated on a plateau, not a hill. Marching in full battle order gear, the rows of soldiers arduously climbed up the steep slope of grass and dirt with their infantry fighting vehicles slowly trailing right by their side.
"Man, this is bullshit." Behind one newly enlisted Private Haru, one of her squad members began to complain. "Building a town on top of a plateau? Who the hell thought this is a good idea?"
"Nah, screw that." Another one decided to add on. "Who the hell thought dropping us off at the bottom of the hill is a good idea?"
"Our OC (Officer Commanding) thinks that the Valkies would ambush our 89s from the grasses here with cannons and shit," the soldier commented as he pointed towards the dilapidated castle walls looming from a distance, "though I'll like to say that we're currently in a more tactical position to get screwed over by any Valky emplacements up there."
"As much as I'd like to agree on your tactical input, corporal," the sergeant within her squad interjected, "maybe you should shut up and stay on mission."
"Copy that, sergeant."
Haru remained silent throughout their brief march up the grassy slope, her eyes gazing at the shambled figures of the town's castle walls and her fingers unnervingly gripped tighter on the handle of her rifle. Unlike the more open and talkative men of her squad, she was more reserved and unapproachable. Perhaps she felt intimidated by the new environment she had to adapt in this foreign land. Perhaps she felt uncomfortable with all the unfamiliar faces around her. Perhaps she felt slightly left out by the fact that she was a new addition to the platoon's strength compared to the rest of her squadmates.
And now, under all these circumstances and problems, she was told to fight a war against an actual enemy.
Nervousness swelled within her heart as she could still vividly recall her life 4 months ago, back when she had just completed her basics of soldiering. The extreme fatigue she felt in her basic military training, the pressure she faced with her strict and firm instructors and superiors, and the stress she experienced during her combat practices. None of those hardships could compare to the tremendous anxiety that was now swirling within her heart. She wondered if, in a few weeks time, she would turn out to become more relaxed like her squadmates.
If she was still alive by then.
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Almost abruptly, the crackles of a radio buzz snapped her back into reality, her eyes darting around to see the platoon's Type 89s jerking into a halt. Everyone immediately stopped their march and dropped into a half-kneeling position as they adopted a firing posture. Haru instinctively raised her rifle and followed suit. The IFVs which had ferried them over to this plateau now lay dormant within the foliage, silently waiting for their new instructions as their 35mm guns gleamed sharply at the enemy fortifications ahead.
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<<2-2 to Catfish-2, solid copy. All Victors, engage.>>
Like a switch being flipped on, the dormant beasts idling by the soldiers' side violently roared into life. The thunderous claps of the autocannons' fire reverberated in her ears as the Type 89s opened fire. Volleys of luminous orange streaked across the air and slammed against the dilapidated castle walls. The layers of stones and bricks quickly fell apart as the shells penetrated the decrepit walls. Amidst the vociferous roars of gunfire, Haru could barely hear her sergeant as he began speaking into the radio.
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As smoke and dust enveloped the walls, Haru managed to spot a few muzzle flashes coming from the top of the stoney barricades. Rudely awoken from the violent burst of 35mm lead, the enemy garrison began to return fire blindly.
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As the radio crackle ceased, the lead IFV began rolling towards the garrison walls, its autocannon continued firing at the shambled fort. Smoke and sulfur filled the air as the vehicle assailed up the grassy slope.
"Alright, listen up!" The sergeant immediately turned around towards the squad. "While the Valkies are busy dying, we'll push up towards the walls with that 89 and then clear the insides! Start running when the smoke is up!"
"About time we start shooting the Valkies!"
"Alright, push, push!" The sergeant hollered, prompting Haru and her squad to advance across the open slope with only the darkness of the night to cover their advance. Adrenaline flowed within her blood and her heart palpitations accelerated. Her breathing was ragged and her rifle slightly trembled within the grips of her shaky, sweaty hands. While many others in her platoon had experienced their first times in the wars against Louria and Palpadia, this would be her first taste of combat.
As the 35mm autocannons continued to pummel the degraded castle walls, the nervous soldier was suddenly approached by her sergeant. Feeling his sudden touch from her shoulder, Haru could only flinch in shock as she turned her head around, her dazzled eyes staring at her sergeant's face within her infrared visage.
"Hey, Elephant!" He smiled at her as he forcefully patted her back twice. "Don't think of the Valkies shooting at you! Think about shooting the Valkies!"
Haru could only blink at his words, and before she could think of a reply, the sergeant had already walked off. She frowned for a moment, her eyes narrowed as she stared at him.
Why did he call her elephant?
A loud pop reverberated from the advancing Type 89 amidst the cacophony of gunfire, the vehicle's turret firing off a canister before it exploded into a blanket of white smoke.
"Go! Go! Go!"
And so, with those words from her sergeant, Haru began charging forward into the cloudy sea of white.
The Battle for Alue has officially begun.