//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: The End has Begun // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 23 While the Gadfly was en route to the battlefield, I was lost in thought. While the base was secured, there were too many questions left. How the Forgotten Army did become so good in fighting? How did the Russians found this secret base? Is the CMC safe and sound back home? Then I heard a voice in my head. “Lieutenant, can you hear me?” “Yes, Twilight.” I replied in my mind. “I decided to keep the link between you and me. Frankly, I am interested in your fighting style. If you don’t mind.” She sounded embarrassed. “Not at all.” The Gadfly reached the DZ. We rappelled down. The Captain gave the go. “Operation Rubicon is go, Operation Rubicon is go. Assault force inbound on DZ… …Uplink positions are confirmed.” Broadsword and Longsword were on the ground with us, along with the command vehicle. Snow and forests everywhere as far as I could see. Broadsword got order to secure Whiskey, Longsword moved to Sierra. “Locksmith, follow Broadsword to Whiskey.” “Yes, sir.” We met no resistance and secured both Uplinks. Then I upgraded it to Air support. “This is AIR-COMMAND-EUROPA, your signal is conformed!” Badgers, Marksmen, Panthers and Cheetahs were deployed. We got into the Badgers who brought us to Sierra, so we could upgrade it to Force Recon. “This is TROOP-COMMAND-EUROPA, your signal is confirmed!” “Hostiles spotted, eyes on T-100 Ogre Tanks.” “Typhoon here, inbound on your target!” Eurofighters destroyed two of the four tanks, so we had no problems in taling care of the other two. The T-100 Ogre was indeed one of the most terrifying tanks an enemy could face, but was still vulnerable to Gunships and Combat Engineers like us. As we destroyed one of the two tanks, a flare was shot in the sky. Evacuation. The surviving crew members climbed out of the hatch. “Should we finish them?” a Grenadier asked. “No, let them go. They pose no threat anymore. Besides, killing them makes us no better. They have wives and children like we do. And we should give them a second chance.” A Mi-55 Locust arrived to pick the Russians up and flew out of the battlefield. “You’re a merciful person.” “Yes Twilight, I am. I always show mercy and so does our commander. The Russians may are our enemy, but they are still soldiers like we are.” I putted my hand to my radio. “Tom, everything alright over there?” “No, I am freezing my body off. But apart from that, no contacts or anything.” Then we got into the Badgers again. They, the Panthers, and Broadsword regrouped at the road that leaded to Alpha, while regular forces defended Whiskey and Sierra. Selfbow guarded by Archers was also in position. Emerald scouted ahead. “Emerald here, Bears and BTR-112 Cockroaches are guarding it.” “Copy that. Selfbow, take those Bears out.” “Yes, colonel.” The Marksmen opened fire, causing the Bears to retreat. The Panthers took the IFVs out. Then we took cover behind the walls of Alpha but we did not secure it to avoid DEFCON 1. Funny how things can turn out. The Russians deployed KA-65 Howler Gunships and Cockroaches which we took out with Ural and Olympus. Sometimes single Bear Platoons were deployed which Broadsword and Longsword took care off. The Spetznaz did not even tried to secure Foxtrot or Zulu, just focused on Alpha. It didn’t take long until we heard the Captain say, “It is accomplished Colonel. So much for the legendary Spetznaz. Should have lain off the Vodka. After action report is ready Colonel.” We threw our arms into the air and cheered. “Interesting.” “And that, Is how you do it.” I said to Twilight. In the Barracks, my Platoon was upgraded with the Ability to deploy Archers, Self-healing mines and a Trap sensor. We also found out why the Forgotten Army was getting better. As Russia was close to defeat, and many hated the President Vsevelod Vsevelodovich Kapalkin, the 26th Assault Battalion joined the Forgotten Army to defeat not only Europe and the USA but also their own country. All that data was in the Uplink Alpha. The 26th Assault Battalion called himself Ultranationalists now. Well, this war is getting out of control. The news was shut down. “Did you find anything?” “Yes, Tom. A splinter group from the Russian Spetznaz has joined the Forgotten Army. They call themselves Ultranationalists. Their goal is to overthrow the president of Russia and they spare no one.” “That explains why some of the guys we took out when we saved Dinky had Russian names. About your friends, they were brought to a safe house in Cherbourg.” I raised an eyebrow. “Cherbourg? Why not home?” “He shrugged his arms. “I don’t know, but at least they’re safe from the war.” “But they were supposed to be home right now. Who gave that order?” That was a little bit suspicious. “As far as I know, it came from the President. For their own safety, as we got reports about ambushes.” “Okay… I just want that this war comes to an end.” Then a call for help came in. “This is the 9th Army of the European Federation Army stationed in Cherbourg! We’ve got enemies on all sides. We can’t move!” I got on the radio. “Come in! Come in! Come in! This is Lieutenant Hartmann! What’s your status, over?” “Lieutenant! The Russians are charging! They are tackling us from two sides! We need more troops! Everything’s collapsing right now!” There was an explosion in the background. “We need enhancement right now!” Another explosion and static. “Hello… Hello… Damn it!” I slammed the radio on the table. “Broadsword, Locksmith, get to your transports.” “Yes Sir, right away.” A few minutes earlier Perspective: Dinky For our own safety, we were moved to Cherbourg, a seaport in France. I missed my home but the city was beautiful. Pablo escorted us. I had read about the battle of Cherbourg in 1944. Terrible but it belonged to the past now. The residents didn’t saw us, but the house had a beautiful view of the city and the sea. In the Harbor was a very large container ship. Sweetie Belle was drawing a picture of Pablo, Scootaloo played table tennis with a soldier, Apple Bloom was reading about French food and I watched the Harbor. Suddenly, there was an explosion. Pablo looked out of the window. “The Russians!” he screamed as Helicopters dropped Tanks and infantry off. He got to the radio. “This is the 9th Army of the European Federation Army stationed in Cherbourg! We’ve got enemies on all sides. We can’t move!” an explosion interrupted the connection for a moment. “Come in! Come in! Come in! This is Lieutenant Hartmann! What’s your status, over?” Peter voice came from the other end. “Lieutenant! The Russians are charging! They are tackling us from two sides! We need more troops! Everything’s collapsing right now!” another explosion interrupted him. “We need enhancement right now!” Then the radio was dead. “Hello… Hello… Damn it!” He slammed it on the table and grabbed his gear. “We must get you all to the safe room!” We were scared but felt safe with him. But as we moved to the safe room, the building rumbled and a piece of debris fell on me and everything went black.