Operation Grey Thunder

[Korolia]

Operation: Grey Thunder

Lt Col McKnight entered the briefing room, where a pack of officers were awaiting in front of a large screen. She nodded, smiling politely, taking a deep breath in the room where all the body warmth was making the situation quite uncomfortable. Excitation was running in the air. This was the first massive deployment of the LMC.

"Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for patiently waiting so long. We all know the navy battleships have rather smallish briefing room, and I am aware of your lack of luxury right now. Trust me, it's not about to get better." She started, causing a few laughters.

The screen lit up, showing planet Atka.

"This is our target. Planet Atka, where Planetform has been working lately to turn into yet another colony world for Liberty. With the war against Rheinland, Atka is becoming a priority and a key staging area that the Liberty Navy must not lose. And to make sure this piece of rock doesn't fall in our friendly neighbor chancellor's hands, we marines are to hold the ground."

The screen displayed large gas emitter partially sunken in a snowy land.

A CO2 emitter.

"These are Planetform CO2 gas emitter, used to reinforce the atmosphere of the planet in order to turn this snowball into something that can actually support life. We suspect they might be the target of Rheinland raid forces sometime soon."

The screen now displayed a moderately sized structure, made of concrete and steel and looking quite solid.

"This is the on-planet base of Planetform, name, Home Two. The LMC have been invested with the powers to take it over and make it our new base of operation. There might be still some civilians down in this barrack, and we don't want to invomodate them, but our priority is the mission, so we'll make sure they be kept safe or evacuated as soon as possible. Our first objective is to install a network of automated interception missiles in order to defend the emitter sites and determine an efficient defence perimetre."

Home Two, a Planetform survey and operation center.

Audrey paused, clearing her throat. So far, everyone was calm. Standard operating procedure.

"What you are about to hear now, is classified."

"We have strong reasons to believe the Rheinlanders will not want to destroy the CO2 emitter. They want the planet for themselves, and have little reason to destroy any terraforming process. That is why the Navy has been building in secret missile platforms under the gas emitters. High speed ballistic missiles, that once activated, could blow up a couple of fleet in just the blink of an eye. We now have reasons to believe these plans might have been compromised in the last few weeks. This is the true reason why we are now being sent to reinforce those structures. These launch sites must not be destroyed."

Navy ballistic missiles are hidden underneath gas emitter installations.

"Now, tactical. We are going to use winter gears, evidently. Winter gear and outersuit, that planet has too low oxygen level. We are going to have normal gravity, so we will be able to run just fine. We are not going to use fighter support, as the violent storms on this planet prevent any safe flight. In fact, they are so violent, we won't be able to get a reading from anything down there which is good and bad; good because nobody is going to blindly planet bombard this piece of rock, and bad because we have no way to talk with fleet command except by the mean of shuttles. This my friends, is going to be a full land battle, to defend our missiles."

The screen switched to display a map of a gigantic snowy canyon. In one small valley were the emitters and the Planetform based, dubbed "Home Two". Only three other places were clear to build anything.

"We can put our bet that Rheinlanders will attempt to land on either spots. Unfortunately, data are too minimal to disperse our forces freely, so command has opted to wait, watch their strategy and then push them out of Atka. That will be all for now, the next briefing will be set tomorow, at 0800 hours. Questions? Operation Grey Thunder is beginning."

---

There is no bathroom!

[Korolia]

The marine dropships, essentially modified gunboats, landed nearly in catastrophe near the base of Home Two. The small station manage to remain visible outside the snow thanks to an intelligent heat distribution over the surface of the building, allowing anything cold and watery landing upon it to melt within seconds.

Soon enough, soldiers were deploying from each dropships, running about in order toward their duties; the first to invest Home Two, the second to establish a security perimeter. In the matter of a few hours, key strategic points were designated, patrols were set, guards began their watch, weapon turrets were mounted, missiles were readied - Home Two and its surrounding became a fortified base of operation.

Audrey inspected the surrounding area and finally stepped in Home Two, awaiting the pressurized chamber to seal itself, more than eager to remove her space suit. She took a deep breath as a petty officer escorted her to the newly established briefing room, where the electronic material was still being installed.

"Ma'am, the civilians are asking when can they get off this rock."
Audrey shook her head,
"Not for a long time I'm afraid. None of our dropships are going back in space until all of us get off Atka. Unless Planetform is willing to risk a ship down here just for them, tell them they are stranded. Try to keep them comfortable, but make it clear this base isn't under their jurisdiction no more..."

She opened up her datapad, addressing to the same petty officer that escorted her;
"Have a team of 15 men go to each gas emitter, but have them all rally back at the launch site. We'll try to keep the Rheinlanders confused as long as possible, but let's make no illusion... they'll want the missiles for themselves. Issue them a long range comm pack. Have them warn us soon they see activity. Proceed."

---

There is no bathroom!

[Korolia]

"Man down, man down!! Get us some help down there, quickly! If anyone receives this signal, pleas-"

The cry erupted from under feet of snow, concrete shielding and metal tunnels, down below the Planetform emitter, down where the missile pad was, re-transmitted up to the surface by powerful radio signals. It froze the blood of all who heard it, especially a certain captain Adams, leading the first group of LMC forces in the missile platform...

Panic, confusion and fear spread through the ranks of the men he lead, and only the firm and solid tone of his 1st sgt calmed his company of men. But his eyes, too, showed doubt.
"Captain, what the hell is going on? There's not supposed to be no one down that shaft!" his sergeant whispered to him discretly as the men set up a defensive perimeter around the emitter entrance.
The officer didn't answer, replying to his radio instead;
"To unidentified transmitter, we have received your distress call, this is Marine Corps captain John Adams, do you read me?"

A long moment of agonizing silence.
"Captain Adams, this is -" the transmission was interrupted by high pitched disruptions that were similar to ones produced by laser weapons, and then was cut short. There was no hesitation now;
"Sergeant Foley, gather the men, we are going in! Private Allan, signal to Home Two; the Rheins are in the missile tubes, if they haven't figured out our joker card, they sure as hell are going to soon!"

--

Few had the chance to witness the process of terraforming from such an upclose perspective. Often, after a planet has been rendered habitable, such monster installations as the gas emitters were abandoned to nature, often forgotten among a new and flourishing vegetation that would grow, replacing the barren lands it once occupied. This one, however, was in full operation, and while already impressive from outside by its sheer dimension - two football stadium the size of the Capital Planet Stadium wouldn't even fit its size - and we are speaking of surface dimension, not even its depth, which crawled within the wombs of the planet, deep down to be self sufficient by draining the energy produced by the planet's molten core heat.

Inside those dark tunnels of steel and titanium, no time was lost to aesthetic; there were no walls that covered the virtually numberless amount of machines that powered the installation. All these automated entities were operating in a near perfect synchronized silence, an eerie spectacle of modern technological advancement.

And in this labyrinth of machines barely accommodated for mankind, walked a company of marines...

Sergeant Foley raised a fist in the air, signaling for his men to halt; the elevator shaft. It was, as far as he knew, the only exit possible from this strange artificial world... So, whoever was down there are still down. He stepped aside, motioning for two men behind him to approach. "Get that elevator checked, make sure it's clean."

The pair jumped in the elevator, inspecting every corner of it, declaring it clear. The company then descended in the elevator in group of a dozen each time, a slow and nervous progression; such silence, covered only by the soft purr of machines, was very alarming...

Very much so.

There was no way it could be seen, hidden among the machines. Suddenly, it was mechanical wheels flying like razor sharp blade everywhere, steel valves collapsing and engines exploding with violent flame tongues in all direction, filling the narrow tunnel with smoke, debris, machine oil and human blood, human pieces, here and there; quite a scene for a massacre. Someone in background yelled "Ambush!!", but it was someone too late for the men who were taking point ahead, blown by the concealed mine.

For sergeant Foley, the scene seemed to go in a very painful slow motion as he saw shrapnel and bodies flying - some in most grotesque, if not totally ridiculous fashion... ahead, small explosions brightened the wall of smoke as shouting in a language, deep and low toned, was issued like orders... his instincts tapped on his humane fear and panic, analyzed the situation rapidly as drills after drills of training taught him. He aimed for the flashes of explosions - those where the gunshots from a laser rifle pointed in his direction, and opened fire as well. The hiss of laser bolts, exchanged...

And then, time came back to very fast paced action, bodies fell, screams were heard, but louder than all, the hiss, again and again produced by the super heated laser bolts... to the ears of a veteran soldier like Foley, it felt nearly familiar, but the alien feel of warfare, would never allow it to become a too familiar face to him. He wouldn't allow it, he thought, as he quickly crawled ahead, inspecting the corridor's intersection.
"All clear!" he yelled, mechanically, as two privates took position to guard the alley.

He stood up slowly, barely believing that just a few seconds ago, people just lost lives...

--

Captain Adams inspected the dead rapidly. 3 men of his company were instantly killed by the mines. Another one had very little chances to make it out, already rushed up the elevator for medical assistance, on a morphine trip. Everyone else was, surprisingly fine, for an ambush in such narrow space.

The five bodies that lied on the other side of the corridor weren't Libertonian. They wore Rheinland standard winter issue body armor, he noted. Not special forces. They were recon. Regular forces. Meaning,
"Rheinlanders have landed en force down here. This is about to get very ugly..."

--

Sergeant Foley nodded grimly as he refilled his rifle with a fresh battery magazine of 100 rounds.
"Chances are, they weren't expecting a whole company to fall on them. These ambushers got their numbers completely wrong."
"Meaning they were here to hold us off while their engineers are trying to set our missiles ablaze..."
Adams and Foley exchanged a quick look, and orders were yelled, immediately. Everyone picked up their weapons and rushed to the next depth, despite the nightmarish knowledge that every corridors might be booby trapped with yet another undetectable mine...

--

"****, what a blood bath..."
"Quiet, private..."
In fact, Foley thought the exact same thing. a ****ing bloodbath...

In total, 15 corpses, all wearing navy uniform were found around what he supposed was the missile control room. The Rheinlanders tried to work their way into the system - the screens showed the self destruction pre-initialization menu, but they were unable to crack the codes for the weapons.

But there was no time for that, not right now. They pushed the cadavers out of their way and rushed forth to the missile room itself in a hurry, regardless of potential booby traps.

--

"Achtu-"

There was simply no strategy involved, truly. Only the drill training that flowed in the blood of each of the men. Sergeant Foley went in first, crashing against the half opened door to the missile room. Inside, the remaining 5 members of the Rheinland recon team were working their way to the missile control chip. Foley opened fire, clipping one of the Rheinlander on his shoulder as the others dropped for cover. Foley's partner, a sharpshooter private entered two exact seconds later, lifted his rifle and threw a shot to the injured man, dropping him cold. The rest of the company entered in the missile room, followed by a massive firefight that ended just as quickly as it began, the Rheinlanders, rapidly overpowered by the sheer number of Libertonian marines.

"All clear, captain." Foley growled grimly as the last of the Rheinlander lied down, his body perforated with holes of dried blood.

--

Back at Home Two, Audrey listened quietly to the report of captain Adams, and ended the transmission calmly.

"Intelligence seems to have underestimated our enemy. Hasten the men" she said simply.
Inside, she felt the cold grip of doubt tightening around her heart.

---

There is no bathroom!