Day 1: Kyoto Base, 1600 SMT
The air on Kyoto base moved through the sterile, clean conditioning filters as it had run for the past hundreds of years. On deck C of the base sat a large array of Drone Freighters, sitting with the Dragon emblem emblazened across their bows. And in front of those transports, stood rows of Soldiers, of all kinds, ranging from Dragons to the Order to even a special freelancer sprinkled in for the cause. At the head of the soldiers stood the Admiral of the Blood Dragon fleets, Kaito Fujimoto. The admiral stands at the head of the men, giving a rather short, yet empowering speech, and at the front of the 2 main columns of soldiers stood commanders.
Of the Dragon platoon: Taisho Sachiyo Gomen, on the Order columns Commander Aemon Avery of the Order, and between the two, notably closer to Gomen, Freelancer Tal Ravis. The odd bunch were going to be the leading force in one of the Dragons largest operations since the invasion of Tomioka itself. The Admiral stands over the large group of forces, adjusting his stiff, poignant uniform as he stands to address the forces below him.
"Dragons, today, you stand before an army of change, that will shift our entire balance on Tomioka, and bring us a leap closer to control of Nagano, and driving out Samura and the Naval Forces! Tomioka is a planet long under struggle for its reign, with the Dragons fighting fiercely, but the cause you stand for today will increase our foothold tenfold! The Dragons have an old asset that we are calling for: A togo class battleship, known as the Fuji, an old name to the Dragons, that we will no longer have Kusari squatting over to defile in its resting place on Tomioka!
The old flagship exploded in Tomioka orbit, crashing down onto the surface in a fiery blaze, running itself aground in a large lake roughly eight months ago, and has sat decomposing for months. The Dragons now see use in this however, with the War machine in a rebuild process, salvaging this ship is of no higher importance than it is now, and that is what you stand here for, to bring back the glory and honor of the Dragons through the arms of the old flagship: the Mount Fuji!"
A roaring cheer goes up from the platoons, all three commanders remaining standing up front of the pack, continuing their observance of the Admiral. Fujimoto stands straight, a smirk visible on his lips as he turns
"The plan for this is simple, but will be a gruesome campaign for all of the men before me today, and it will require the utmost of all of you, especially your commanders at the front. The Dragons will send a squadron of four Drone Freighters into the atmosphere, due to the lack of stealth capabilities and our inability to disrupt radar systems, expect heavy resistance on landing near the beach-heads. From there you will fight your way through Tomioka's jungles, taking the three Naval installations upon the shores, immediately upon capturing the last facility, we will have designated ships make their entry and begin the hours long struggle of removing the Fuji from the lakebed and getting it into orbit.
This is one of our biggest ventures on Tomioka, and the men standing before me will be the largest we can allocate to this, so honor the Dragons and well, and crush the Kusari Republic! Senshi of the Dragons, proceed to your assigned vessels, and prepare to depart for war!"
Once again, roaring cheers go up from the crown of soldiers, each one dismissing by row and column, with each column of ships neatly fitting into a Drone Freighter. The 3 commanders waiting behind, Kaito Fujimoto dismissing off the stage and returning to his own quarters. Taisho Gomen scratches her head slightly and conglomerates with the other 2 commanders of the mission, putting on a stony, professional face and bowing slightly to her comrades. Konbanwa to you both, the commanders of the mission will be heading in on a seperate Drone Freighter to guide our troops into the beach-head storming, we should head out now... And so the commanders stand, the guiding hands for the Dragons largest operation on Tomioka yet, ready to depart and change the face of the Dragons future.
Day 1: Assault Carrier Taigei, 1630 SMT
The Taigei's portside ventral hangars were bustling with dropships and gunships being prepped and armed for the landing mission in conjunction with the Shogunate, against the occupied crash site of the Fuji's wreck. Crew and mechanics bustled back and forth, checking ammunition feed systems, firing mechanisms and anything that could foul up or be damaged.
Large screens, built into the inner bulkheads of every hangar switch on and show a spinning Tenrai emblem. At the same time, Tenrai marine squads arrive into the hangar with their equipment, ready to board their designated craft. A short sound pattern plays over the speakers as a few officers, both men and women, step out onto the overhead walkway that runs along the innermost bulkhead. A view of the group is shown on every screen, allowing everybody to see and hear the officers.
"Warriors, Dragons. Soon we shall launch to link up with a combined Shogunate and Order strike force to assault the Samura and Naval Forces installations that have been set up around the wreck of the Fuji on Tomioka's surface." A map of the region flashes up on the screens, cycling through progressive images showing the general plan. "Strike craft launching from bases in Dragon territory will launch raids on the region to try and keep the defenders off balance while watching for enemy fighters aiming for the Shogunate Freighters. During atmospheric entry and the initial assault, gunship wings will move ahead to target any anti ship weapons to safeguard the landing. After landing, Aerial units will move to their assigned roles, either overwatch or raiding while ground forces will clear their designated areas.. Fight well and with honor. Know that this operation will further the goal that all dragons strive towards. Now, mount up and prepare to launch.
At the end of the speech, the hangars return to their bustling state as marines and equipment are loaded up, final checks are conducted, engines are fired up and drives flared to prepare for launch. The group on the walkway climb down a ladder to the deck before dispersing to different ships. The speaker, a 20 year old women wearing the insignia of a Kumigashira, boards a gunship bristling with antennae, presumably the command and control (C2) ship for the Tenrai forces. The deck crews retreat to the inner maintenance sections as the armored hangar doors start to open, revealing the glistening view of Tomioka from high orbit.
Day 1: Kyoto Base, 1645 SMT
The Order camp aboard Kyoto was an eyesore in the display of Blood Dragon might representing itself next to them. Their dropcraft were of mixed sort, Liberty models of freighters with clearly distinguishable Grizzly-class shuttle no doubt outfitted for command role once on the surface. All of them wore black uniform and tactical gear, even their weapons were painted black: the fabled Kemwer that in short timespan made its fame across Sirius as most powerful weapons known to man. They were hardly coherent unit in comparison to parade of highly segregated Dragon outfit. Each of them was given freedom to modify their wargear to their skill and preference, resulting in myriad of combinations among their ranks. A lot of them wore balaclavas of different designs, black masks and some went as far to carry along their gas masks along as form of further intimidation. “No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection” may be right in case of The Order marines.
Their leaders were assembled around a table with a map pinned to its surface by a knife. By definition, they were preparing to embark on world which may simply not offer sufficient infrastructure to widely apply electronic equivalents of some more mundane equipment issued to them. Only the most essential gifts of technology that could not operate without any form of energy source such as long range communication systems remained. Their optics, advanced rangefinders were still perfectly functional as regular binoculars even after running out of energy or sustaining damage.
“...By time we arrive, we will have four hours of darkness until dawn. We will land away from their patrols and advance on foot to take them unaware when the main strike happens. We will rendezvous with scout parties already present on the surface expecting us. Just a reminder for you to memorize the battle plan, you won't be able to rehearse once deployed.”
Order commander of the operation dismissed his officers from the last run through their plans before committing. He looked absolutely serious no matter the time of day and talked little unless it was expected of him. No matter what his subordinates thought about him, they could never challenge his loyalty and effectiveness in service to The Order. His battle plan was not elaborate - a lot of finer details dependent on the scouts already sneaking upon their unaware objectives. No one dared to point out anything to surviving Corps of Toledo even with many of their replacements joining up after the actual battle, they took into unique culture of their unit. As long they got their jobs done, they were trusted with full approval of The Order Overwatch to fulfill their mission in the cold expanse of Sirius as they see fit.
Day 1: Kyoto Base, 1700 SMT
A certain Mister Ravis sat atop a rectangular crate of something unimportant, with his trademark boonie hat sitting next to him as he closely inspected his personal rifle. He'd been told to bring his own weapon, probably because the Blood Dragons thought that this random Freelancer would inevitably lose anything they gave him, so he decided upon bringing a simplistic ballistic carbine that he was probably well-versed with.
Probably.
The weapon itself was fairly imposing to hold and look at, even though it was a shortened, carbine-length firearm with little more than a vertical foregrip and a scope for external attachments. He'd already gone ahead and took the liberty of setting it barrel-up in his lap, and now only had to rotate it around a bit to check for any obvious defects.
Doing so yielded no results, as everything from the charging handle to the boom switch were in place and functioning properly. Noticing nothing glaring on the outside and hoping that the gun wouldn't spontaneously blow up in his face once he got out in the field, Ravis reached over and grabbed a full magazine of 6mm rounds, stuffing it into the flared magwell until it gave a satisfying click. One good smack at the base of the magazine ensured that it was seated properly, and the main course was all set to go.
Before he went and boarded his transport, however, he saw fit to conduct another quick equipment check. Looking down at the vest on his chest, he felt around at the various pouches to make sure that nothing had fallen out in the last couple of minutes, moving from corner to corner and confirming the presence of spare magazines, radios, and other assorted goodies. Afterwards, he looked towards the thigh holster that had latched onto his right leg, and was pleased to find that the retention lanyard for his pistol hadn't caught on anything and snapped.
Perfect. His preflight checks done, he reached over, grabbed his camouflage hat, and carefully set it on his head, making some quick adjustments using the wide brim for extra leverage. Once that was all well and done, he stood up, slung his weapon over his shoulder, and slowly made his way to his designated freighter.
Day 1: Chugoku System, 1730 SMT
It took a few mere minute for the men to muster after the speech to their transport, and Sachiyo looks around lightly holding her weapon, watching the other men make their way towards the transports, and seeing the various captains follow and shepard their men as well. Sachiyo does the same, moving to the transport full to the brim of Dragon marines, and shortly after the doors close, the roar of the freighters signals the beginning of the Operation, with each ship exiting Kyoto and speeding to the Nagano Jump hole.
Sachiyo sat in the transport, a steel face looking dead ahead at the wall in front of her, but nonetheless having her own thought process in her head.
Sachiyo had been a Taisho for the past few days, being given the honor of the promotion from the Teitoku himself in order to command this batallion onto Tomioka, and bring back the Fuji for the Dragons. She believed in the cause with all her heart, bound to her and her clans obligations to raze the Republic to the ground. This mission would be her proving ground, she thought about this for the rough day it took the Freighters to arrive at the jump hole.
The alarm shook her awake, as well as all the men aboard, she hears the pilots give the all clear from the jump, looking out the small porthole window Sachiyo saw the Nagano system laid before her, with Tomioka barely visible at the side of the window. Sachiyo reaches for her shoulder radio with a relaxed movement and gently clicks the button beginning its transmission.
"This is Taisho Sachiyo Gomen, we have safely reached the Nagano system, all other Drones, radio in with status."
Day 1: Nagano - deep space, 1735 SMT
Each Blood Dragon freighter signed on, one by one without delay or interruption. The Order freighters that trailed them followed in handling their own routines and protocols to the Order C.O. Avery. Three Rhino's and single command Grizzly class freighters carried fully sized platoon of marines with all their equipment for a siege. With rangers already planetside and supplies being just a system away ready to be shipped at momenth's notice morale was better than ussual attack.
"Order contingent to the Blood Dragons. All vessels accounted for and report green status. We will mantain radio silence as soon we hit the atmosphere and land on our designated LZ's. Hear from us at sunrise."
Commander put away the microphone, hanging it back onto the console. It carried basic electronic warfare suite and jammer simple enough for even not particularly gifted marine to handle. It was not as sophisticated as what a Wedjat vessel handled onboard much more spacious Resheph class recon cruisers but it would do the trick. He checked his weapon one last time, making sure tha battery and attachments are in just right. First strike should come easy... but once Samura would find out about them, they would have to face everything they can throw at them. Good, he almost said to himself. Poor bastards do not stand a chance.
Day 1: Nagano System, 1736 SMT
Tal waited for his cue, having let go of his rifle strap to bring his vest-mounted radio up closer to his face. One by one, the Dragon ships sounded off, then the Order commander chimed in, and then a few more Dragon ships checked in before the radio fell silent.
There was his cue.
He depressed the big red button labeled "TALK" on the side of his radio, and did exactly what the instructions told him to.
"This is Bravo 2, all systems are nominal. See you planetside."
With an audible click that echoed throughout an otherwise silent troop compartment, he shut his radio off and turned to face his men, a motley assortment of random mercenaries with some Blood Dragon regulars thrown into the mix. They didn't seem to talk much, but he didn't care. He just needed them to listen.
"Alright, boys!" he yelled, unslinging his carbine and catching it just before the stock hit the ground, "It's showtime, get tactical!"
The lightweight carbine was unsurprisingly pointable, and in a swift movement he was able to bring the shoulder stock up to, well, his shoulder, and assume the low ready carrying position. Looking down, he grabbed hold of the weapon's forward-mounted, ambidextrous charging handle and pulled it back with a satisfying schlock, locking the bolt to the rear and exposing the weapon's internals through the ejection port. He tilted his weapon towards him until the brass casings shone in the ample white overhead lighting, after which he reached his finger towards the bolt catch and flicked it downwards. With another schlock, the weapon lurched forwards in his grip, the bolt launching forwards into battery.
He proceeded to check the safety one more time as the rest of his gang gradually woke up, and once done, he moved to smack the metal wall behind him that seperated the troop compartment from the cockpit.
"Hey! We're not getting paid by the hour here, so gun it!"
Tal turned back around to examine his men, the cargo bay finally coming alive with the sounds of weapons being readied, and slowly panned his head around until a viewport was visible. Through it, he saw the various features of Nagano begin to pass by at an increasing rate, and he took a deep breath as he waited for atmospheric entry and of course, the landing while probably being under fire bit.
Times like this, it paid to be the strong, silent type.