Mass Release 5: AEINC - ch 12.7

Initial Battles (7)

In the distance beyond the artillery range of the Mine, the NUSA officers are reviewing the tactical map. Thanks to aircraft drop pods, they managed to replenish their numbers, but some of the officers were still openly displaying their displeasure at how callously the high command was throwing their men to the meat grinder.

Inside the command tent, the brigade officers and respective staff are discussing the progress of the ongoing campaign. The commanding officer, Colonel Gideon Cross, has a grizzled appearance with a weathered, scarred face he maintains with pride and a large muscular body enhanced by cyber and Bioware. His deputy officer is a young-looking Lt. Colonel with a lean build and a pair of designer glasses in front of his bright red cyber eyes, and he always has a smirk on his face no matter the situation. The executive officer is another young-looking female Major, with long blue hair tied into a bun, and a visible cyber arm replacing her right arm starting at the shoulder. Finally, the NCO is a Command Sergeant Major a tall black with a strong build and a burn scar on his face, he is also a veteran of the Unification Wars.

“The casualties are too large for a single fortress,” the Colonel growls, “what the fuck is this, a medieval army? How come the best of modern warfare can’t storm a single complex without losing an entire company?”

“The high command expected Wube Inc.’s defensive capabilities,” the Lt. Colonel responds with a level tone,  “the casualty numbers are within expectations, besides,” the officer pushes his glasses up, “we’re just taking out old trash from our stores. The high command needed an excuse to modernize their armory.”

“Old,” the executive officer sputters, “those are my men being killed there! They’re not old toys to throw away like garbage once you buy new ones! If you're going to spend their lives at least make it count!”

The bespectacled officer stares at the indignant officer until the Major breaks out in a cold sweat. Once the lower-ranked officer was suitably chastised the Lt. Colonel clarified to his junior, “They weren’t ‘throw like garbage,’ Major, they gave us valuable combat data on Wube Inc.’s capabilities. There are other theaters where the war isn’t doing as well as here which is why we’re keeping the pressure on them, or are you telling me you found a sudden bout of empathy to a bastard who burns people to death?”

The NCO raises an eyebrow, “Don’t we use the same tactics using white phosphorus and incendiary rounds? Or the flamethrowers issued as standard equipment during the South American wars?”

The bespectacled officer glares at the NCO's scarred face, an open sneer on the Lt. Colonel's face. The NCO earned the nickname Scarface after refusing to fix his appearance with chrome or cloned tissue, “Are you questioning the methods of our nation too, Sergeant?”

“Don’t talk to me about ‘questionable conduct’, *boy*, I was there inhaling the ashes of entire communities before you were in your father’s balls," the non-commissioned officer bluntly retorts to the superior officer, surprising the man, "If anything, I hate how we’re pussyfooting around and didn’t bring the big guns already. In the long run, we end up killing more of our men if we hesitate in making the appropriate sacrifices now.”

Unbalanced by the callus remark from the Sergeant, the Lt. Colonel takes a moment to recompose himself, “As I said, direct orders from high command. You should know we are the first wave, nothing more, nothing less.”

Scarface openly scoffs, showing no respect for the higher-ranking officer, recognizing when someone reaches a high position through political connections. While the officers are bickering among themselves between serious discussions of tactics and strategy, a messenger arrives and gives the new tactical data to Scarface.

This expression shifts to an unreadable neutrality before addressing the officers, “There was a change in the enemy behavior, they’re advancing against our forces.”

“Foolishness,” the Lt. Colonel sneers, “they should have stayed inside their walls if they were so afraid. According to analysis, each death they suffer is a large blow to their manpower and morale.”

"Don't be so sure about that," the Colonel warns his deputy, "A cornered animal with nowhere to go is at its most dangerous."

The XO and NCO nod in agreement, and they change the tactical display to a live feed of the front lines. The Lt. Colonel's jaw hangs open at the video, while Scarface enjoys his schadenfreude, “Well, you will have more combat data now.”

…

At the front lines, the soldiers retreat at full speed from the enemy, unable to comprehend the insane tactic deployed. The security forces led the vanguard, relying on their automatic medicine dispenser to survive the enemy attacks, using the remaining tanks as improvised cover. They quickly cleared up the area of escorts by throwing dozens of grenades at the soldiers, meanwhile, the Tanks focused on the other armor using their Uranium Cannon Shells, however, instead of the group being exposed outside the walls,  *the walls followed them*.

The construction robots built power lines on the new beachhead and built another roboport, and from there new walls and defenses were surged.

As the new fortifications were erected, a second combat group advanced to clear up the area, allowing for more fortifications to advance. Each new expansion would form a square cross before advancing forward in the direction of the camp.

“Take them down!” Sheridan gives the signal to his friend and the man manually activates the artillery array. 

Originally used to take down Sniper positions too close to the Mine, the Manual cleans an area of enemy combatants, several shells exploding in quick succession allowing for the construction robots to place a new artillery turret further into the advanced Mine, while a series of Logistic Bots loads the artillery shells.

This process of advancement and fortification continued until the Mine walls grew like cancer, with fractal patterns expanding outwards to hunt the enemy soldiers and cover any gaps.

As the limits of the original Mine expanded, they left the protection from the original anti-air guns, however before the aircraft assigned to take down the growing abomination arrives, new anti-air guns are installed by the construction bots, recharging in a manner of instants instead of over time, unlike previously. This change was thanks to the Engineer switching the recharge time from normal to accelerated. The process quickly drained the capacitors of the base, but it allowed the AA guns to take down the Warthogs and other support aircraft when they came for strafing runs.

Watching this carnage unfold, the NUSA and Militech forces retreated doing their best to defend themselves against the new tactic from Wube Inc. The tactic itself wasn’t out of the analysts' prediction, however, the psyche profile of their enemies predicted a different attack pattern, preferring to stay holed up inside the base instead of risking their resources and loss of life.

Yet, this new development wasn’t enough to consider the operation a failure, as there were several gaps within the expanded Mine to exploit, and the inner walls were still vulnerable to concentrated firepower as Wube Inc.'s rocket launchers were exclusive to the security forces.

With a cold gaze, the Colonel calculates the casualties in each engagement and relays the results back to high command for further analysis. As the First Wave, they must act and bring out all of the enemy's tricks, “Call for a fighting withdrawal of our men. We will orderly retreat and bait them into following us, forcing them to stretch their resources. Meanwhile, our armor and borgs will attack at the undefended walls at the base of the Mine.”

“That might be true,” the Major carefully agrees before bringing up an important issue, “but what about the Wyoming army?”

“What army?” the Lt. Colonel says, “They can’t even organize crime, let alone build a professional army. They are all dependent on Militech personnel and hardware for everything.”

Sergeant Scarface shakes his head, “This is why fresh out of the office school newbies are a pain.”

The Lt. Colonel glares at the Sergeant, “What are you talking about?”

The Major clarifies the issue to her superior, “Sir, we intercepted a message from the Wyoming Volunteer Army and they will arrive at the Mine in an hour, you were away when the Colonel was informed. The base is already at increased alertness, but were still need to plan our follow-up move.”

The deputy officer wanted to retort, but at that moment a messenger arrived in the tent with urgent news, “Sir, the enemy approaching the base at five o'clock!”

Both the Colonel and Sergeant curse, “Already? How did they manage that? Are they using Wube vehicles?”

“Yes sir," the messenger confirms, "At least several Buggies scouts are charging at our position, together with their Flame Tumblers!”

The Colonel doesn’t waste time issuing orders, “All soldiers on the camp, to your battle stations! We still outnumber them by far, and our kit isn't inferior to them. Let's show those bastards what it means to mess with the glorious NUSA!"

“If it’s not one thing it is another,” Scarface growls as he commands his staff, “I hope high command can throw us a bone eventually.”

...

Jackson Colt looks at the reinforcements that arrived. The Engineer sent the self-driving vehicles where the Wyoming Volunteer Army waited before the volunteers boarded the automobiles and manually drove to the meeting point. With careful coordination, the state forces reached the front lines and flanked the joint NUSA-Militech forces.

"They're not enough to win us the war, but they're enough to pin them down," Jackson mutters under his breath as he checks the map view, "I wonder what they will think when they realize the manual Artillery targeting is twice as far as the automatic systems."

Nodding to himself, the Senior Security Leader shells their encampment, as the Mine expansions, the artillery range upgrades, and the manual targeting combined is finally enough to hit the enemy camp directly, "let's see if you like being on the other side for once, assholes."

Jackson watches the map view to confirm the effectiveness of the attack, and he sees when the artillery shells reveal the camp as the buildings are destroyed by the explosions. Stored ordinance, vehicles, barracks, soldiers, and everything else take damage. The few anti-air guns trying to defend the base are destroyed by the Flame Tumblers rushing inside the enemy base fearlessly ramming into the buildings and melting them down with the attached flamethrowers. Some madmen escaped from the raining shells and the wrath of NUSA's soldiers.

By the time all ordinances are spent, some enemy soldiers managed to retreat, but Wube forces managed to inflict horrific casualties on the opponent. Jackson finally signs in relief, as half of his men perished through the siege, and they only survived this long because of Wube's miraculous medicine.

Once the clean-up around the enemy base finishes, Jackson invites the leaders of the reinforcements to his temporary tent to discuss the next steps for the war in this theater.

After all, the war has barely begun.

...

In New York's Network News 54, a pair of announcers are framed by the giant NUSA flag in the background, as the subtitles give real-time updates on urgent news.

One of the announcers, a young woman wearing a tasteful but plain black suit, starts speaking, “On today’s news, NUSA forces allied with Militech are facing fierce resistance on their Early Harvest Military Operation. Originally issued to deal with suspected acts of terrorism and alleged criminal activity from Wube Inc., some political analysts are starting to call this the prelude to the Fifth Corporate War, but less alarmist scientists call this operation the Wube Subjugation War.”

“Wube Subjugation War?" The second announcer interjects, his appearance evoking inexperience and naivety, "That sounds presumptuous, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know," the first announcer answered neutrally, "but we brought a political expert to explain the context behind this war, and perhaps understand the alternative name some experts are using. To help us understand the current ongoing conflict, we have Dr. Washington on the line. Good evening Dr.”

A man appears on the screen, his appearance in line with the Neo-Militarism style, with a sharp black suit indicating his wealth, but with a permanent five o´clock shadow to soften his disciplined image.

“Good evening Miss Anderson," he greets the announcer with a smile, "It is good to be here once more."

With professional politeness, she asks him, “What can you tell us about the Early Harvest Operation and its purpose?”

“The Early Harvest Operation is a special military operation done against the abuses and lawlessness of Wube Inc." The political expert starts, "The corporation has committed too many crimes to count and list, among them being the contempt to the Union’s laws.”

This time, the male announcer continues, “I see. In that case, when is the special military operation scheduled to finish?”

“There’s no set schedule for the conclusion of the military operation, Mr. Thompson. It could have ended in twenty-four hours, or in seventy-two hours, a week from now, a month, or even in years.”

Miss Anderson acts surprised, “Years? Isn’t that excessive, Dr. Washington?”

“Not at all, Miss Anderson," The expert shakes his head at the camera, "the NUSA government is committed to bringing to justice corporations that had gone off script like Wube Inc. did.”

"I understand, Dr. Washington," she nods before reading the next question, “What about allegations from detractors about this being an attempt by NUSA to punish the states for resisting during the unification wars? Several governors of the Free States went on public record to complain about the sudden movement of troops and military aircraft in their airspace.”

For the first time, the expert expression changes into indignation, “What those so-called 'Free States' need to understand, Miss Anderson, is that they’re part of the Union and are not as ‘free’ as they believe. The treaty that ended the Unification Wars stipulated their gradual rejoining with the Union, they *need* to get used to and accept the presence of Union authority.”

“Thank you for explaining it for us, Dr.” The male announcer interjects before carefully changing his expression to somber professionalism as he reads the new information from the teleprompter, “Our station just received recent news about the status of Operation Early Harvest in Wyoming. The joint NUSA-Militech brigade retreated to Utah’s base after Wube Inc. and Wyoming’s governorship joined forces in a cowardly sneak attack. The casualty numbers are still coming, but the official numbers count at least seven hundred casualties with more being reported by the minute, and the decimation of their armored vehicles as they were either destroyed or mission killed. Those are staggering losses for brave military servicemen and women.”

Taking a deep breath for effect, the announcer turned to the expert, “What are your opinions on this new development, Dr. Washington? Will the aid of Wyoming forces the coalition to change their strategy, or is this a small setback?”

The expert is still shocked at the news, and takes a few seconds to recompose himself, “Look, in my professional opinion this is likely to be a minor setback for the Union forces, however, the implication of Wyoming’s joining forces with Wube in an official capacity might make the so-called ‘free states’ join-up and entertain once again the notion of secession. As a professional political scientist, I understand it is in the Union's best interests to take a stronger stance against Wube and its supporters. We cannot allow this state of affairs to continue.”

“Thank you, Dr. Washington," the female announcer says with a corporate smile, "it was good having you on the show. Have a good night."

The expert answers in kind, "Likewise, Miss Anderson, have a good night."

The male announcer turns and addresses the coming, "Keep following the NN54 for up-to-date news on the ongoing Early Harvest military operation. Our teams of investigative journalists work twenty-four hours to provide you, the viewer, with the best quality news in the country. And now, our sports news! The next Ultra Bowl will be held in…”

Post Chapter Notes

This is the last chapter from the mass release, and it also concludes the initial battles between Wube Inc. and NUSA-Militech joint forces. For now, things are working in Wube Inc.'s favor though the company suffered some casualties already, with a good portion of their Wyoming security forces dead. The meat of the conflict will happen in North California and in Night City.

After this release, I will work on Nier: Revengeance, publishing the chapters on the weekend. Please enjoy the chapters, and happy holidays!