HOME | DD

Description
----Entry 186, Pvt. N. Andranovich
---- 3rd Mar. Azrioc, Delphin System

“5 months. I don’t know about the war effort, but 5 months on this blasted planet sure as heck hasn’t done me any good. To be honest I’ll take back my thought concerning not knowing about the war. We’re still losing. It just isn’t ending. We haven’t had reinforcements in three months, and at this point we are in control of less than 25 percent of the planet. They have to be closing in for the kill. They have airspace control, so they can bring in troops and supplies whenever they want. I think the Central Command is putting Azrioc down as another loss already. We aren’t even worth pulling out. I just wish they hadn’t sent us in…”

“ZULU COMPANY LET’S MOVE! Weapons and ammo NOW!”

----Entry ended----

“Andranovich, let’s go! Move it, move it!”
I grab my rifle, “Yes sir, Sergeant Major!” So much for 3 days behind lines to rest. We can’t even keep the line from coming to us for that long. I’m out the door behind the rest of my platoon 45 seconds later. Zulu’s CO, Capt. Dallas, comes on the COMMS, “Zulu, listen up! Hostile breakthrough in sector Theta-16-03. You will be aware from the conveniently flashing lights on you HUD that this sector is the one a few blocks to our 12. They came up through the sewers so you should be able to smell ‘em in about 2 minutes. Now we don’t have any orders except stop ‘em so get moving and Command will be feeding us updates as we go!”

“Ok 2nd Platoon form up.” Lt. Mayer COMMS softly, “2nd squad take point.”
I swear nothing ever excites that man. We move down the street at a jog weaving in and out of the rubble and wreaked vehicles. I scan the intel package on the sector we’re moving into, on my HUD. Residential, High Density. Oh goody, apartment buildings. Although, it’s strange cause I don’t see many high-rises, just a couple clustered over to the southeast.

We’re entering the sector now. And now I realize why I didn’t see the high-rises. They have all been flattened. There is A LOT of rubble, and the streets are pretty well blocked. Blast. This is gonna slow us down.

Capt. Dallas comes over the COMMS again, “2nd Plt. I have a job for you. We need personnel extraction from this building here. Clear out the hostiles pinning them in there and then fall back to the sector line.”

A building pops out on our HUDS. It’s one of the few still standing down to the SE. HUD zooms in, selecting a room on the 3rd floor. HUDS pan back out and highlight our route. Crud! That alley doesn’t exist anymore. Command really needs to update their intel.

“Lt., how are we supposed to get through there?” Sgt. Hart asks.

I can hear the fighting now. I switch open my main local COMMS channel, and the chaos really hits my ears. There are a lot of people all shouting at once and blasts are coming through despite the sound scrubbers.

We move down the street about 50 meters. “We’ll cut through this building here,” COMMS the Lt., “It looks pretty clear of debris.”

We get halfway through the building and dots start to show up on my motion trackers. They aren’t green. “Sgt.” I COMM, “Hostiles.”

“I see ‘em.” He reply’s, “Brant, Gordon, go take a look. Lt. hold up we have bogies incoming.”

Brant and Gordon move up to the front of the building and scan the street and the rubble. They motion us forward and the platoon moves out into the street weapons ready. The COMMS click as Gordon starts to speak, “I don’t see anything yet Sarge, but…”

And then his head explodes in a spray of gore. Suddenly we’re in the middle of a cauldron of fire. Brant goes down, blood pouring from a gaping wound in his neck.

The COMMS explode with activity.

“Suppressing fire!”

“MEDIC!”

“Hostiles on the left! 7:30!”

One voice emerges from the rest, restoring some order. “2nd squad grab the wounded. 1st Squad, covering fire. 3rd Squad fall back and take up position in the building.”

I look to my left and there’s the Lt. throwing Brant over his shoulder as if he weighs nothing. As he turns around he continues to give orders, “2nd and 1st fall back now.”

I turn and race back toward the building we have just come from, vaulting a burned out car. 5 seconds stretch out to an eternity as I move into the ruins. I skid to a halt and realize someone is on the COMM. It takes me a moment to realize it’s not someone from my platoon, or even from Zulu.

“This is a general alert. The enemy is mobile on all fronts. All units activate and take up last option protocols. All other orders overridden.”

“Sarge?!” I COMM, “What in the heck does that mean?!”
“Hold on Andranovich! Lt. what are we supposed to do now?” Sgt. Hart shouts.

I look at my motions trackers. They’re a swarm of red. We’re about to get surrounded.

“We need to move, back to battalion HQ.” Lt. Mayer is calm as always, “2nd squad keeps moving the wounded. 1st squad takes point, and 3rd cover our backs. Move on my mark… Mark.”

I’m up and running now, scanning the ruins to the left and right as we race down the street. I see a man run up to a window in a building to my right. He raises his rifle, aiming at one of my squad mates. Oh no you don’t. I let fly with a 3 shot burst and watch him stumble backwards. No time to enjoy my marksmanship though as more hostiles appear and we start to take fire.

“We’re gonna have to get off the street,” the Lt. COMMS, “there’s a subway entrance up ahead. I hope the tunnel’s still in one piece.”

I identify the tunnel on my HUD and move to the entrance. I duck behind the door post and turn to give covering fire. 1, 2, 3, 4 enemies down, and my mag runs out. “Reloading!” I shout.

The Platoon moves past me into the subway. I hear Sarge speaking to me, “Andranovich pull back in here!”

I back up glancing over my shoulder. Blocked off after all. The Lt. is on the COMMS now, “Command this is Lt. Mayer, 2nd Plt., Zulu Company, 105 Ranger Battalion. My platoon is pinned down in the subway, sector Theta-16-03. We cannot move from our position.”

The words I hear next make my heart sink like a stone, even though I’m expecting them.

“I’m sorry Lt. but there is nothing we can do for you. We have units cut off all along the front, and we have no troops left to send help. Hold out as long as possible.”

If I were him I’d loose it right now, but he just responds calmly, “I understand Command. We’ll take as many with us as we can.”

At that instant I feel something hit my leg like a sledge hammer, and it drops me like a rock. The pain hits a second later. “Sarge!” I yell, “I’m hit!”

I see him racing towards me, and as he reaches me he shouts for a medic. He half stands, shouting again, and then he jerks. I look on as my sergeant drops to his knees, staring at the hole in his belly. This isn’t happening! This CAN’T be happening. We’re not supposed to be out here getting picked off like rats in a crate. We’re supposed to be behind lines resting. Why? Why in the heck is this happening?!

Then I hear a roar, followed by a blinding flash of light. The ground shakes like the very foundations of the planet are loose. This is it. They’re hitting us with arty now. Only a few more moments and it’ll be over.

But then I hear a crackling on my COMM and a new voice comes through. One I’ve never heard before. He sounds fresh and confident. “This is Admiral Arthur Colbourne, to all planet-side personal. Help is here.”

I look up, to see the silhouettes of ships moving across the evening sky against a blood red sun. The COMMS are alive with static and transmissions.

“Commander, drop Blitz vessels on my mark… mark.”

“Fire portside batteries on delta priority targets here, and here.”

My HUD lights up identifying a group of vessels moving over our heads. They are Blitzkrieg class troopships; glorified gunships, each one carrying a full platoon of airborne troopers in drop pods.

And then the sound I thought I would never hear, “Zulu Company, you can relax. The airborne is here to take over. Hope you ladies have a nice afternoon! 5 seconds to drop!”

I can see the ships overhead now and I watch as they jettison the pods, each one streaking towards the surface, leaving a trail of dark smoke behind them. What do you know? Looks like we were worth saving after all.

Description
----Entry 186, Pvt. N. Andranovich
---- 3rd Mar. Azrioc, Delphin System

“5 months. I don’t know about the war effort, but 5 months on this blasted planet sure as heck hasn’t done me any good. To be honest I’ll take back my thought concerning not knowing about the war. We’re still losing. It just isn’t ending. We haven’t had reinforcements in three months, and at this point we are in control of less than 25 percent of the planet. They have to be closing in for the kill. They have airspace control, so they can bring in troops and supplies whenever they want. I think the Central Command is putting Azrioc down as another loss already. We aren’t even worth pulling out. I just wish they hadn’t sent us in…”

“ZULU COMPANY LET’S MOVE! Weapons and ammo NOW!”

----Entry ended----

“Andranovich, let’s go! Move it, move it!”
I grab my rifle, “Yes sir, Sergeant Major!” So much for 3 days behind lines to rest. We can’t even keep the line from coming to us for that long. I’m out the door behind the rest of my platoon 45 seconds later. Zulu’s CO, Capt. Dallas, comes on the COMMS, “Zulu, listen up! Hostile breakthrough in sector Theta-16-03. You will be aware from the conveniently flashing lights on you HUD that this sector is the one a few blocks to our 12. They came up through the sewers so you should be able to smell ‘em in about 2 minutes. Now we don’t have any orders except stop ‘em so get moving and Command will be feeding us updates as we go!”

“Ok 2nd Platoon form up.” Lt. Mayer COMMS softly, “2nd squad take point.”
I swear nothing ever excites that man. We move down the street at a jog weaving in and out of the rubble and wreaked vehicles. I scan the intel package on the sector we’re moving into, on my HUD. Residential, High Density. Oh goody, apartment buildings. Although, it’s strange cause I don’t see many high-rises, just a couple clustered over to the southeast.

We’re entering the sector now. And now I realize why I didn’t see the high-rises. They have all been flattened. There is A LOT of rubble, and the streets are pretty well blocked. Blast. This is gonna slow us down.

Capt. Dallas comes over the COMMS again, “2nd Plt. I have a job for you. We need personnel extraction from this building here. Clear out the hostiles pinning them in there and then fall back to the sector line.”

A building pops out on our HUDS. It’s one of the few still standing down to the SE. HUD zooms in, selecting a room on the 3rd floor. HUDS pan back out and highlight our route. Crud! That alley doesn’t exist anymore. Command really needs to update their intel.

“Lt., how are we supposed to get through there?” Sgt. Hart asks.

I can hear the fighting now. I switch open my main local COMMS channel, and the chaos really hits my ears. There are a lot of people all shouting at once and blasts are coming through despite the sound scrubbers.

We move down the street about 50 meters. “We’ll cut through this building here,” COMMS the Lt., “It looks pretty clear of debris.”

We get halfway through the building and dots start to show up on my motion trackers. They aren’t green. “Sgt.” I COMM, “Hostiles.”

“I see ‘em.” He reply’s, “Brant, Gordon, go take a look. Lt. hold up we have bogies incoming.”

Brant and Gordon move up to the front of the building and scan the street and the rubble. They motion us forward and the platoon moves out into the street weapons ready. The COMMS click as Gordon starts to speak, “I don’t see anything yet Sarge, but…”

And then his head explodes in a spray of gore. Suddenly we’re in the middle of a cauldron of fire. Brant goes down, blood pouring from a gaping wound in his neck.

The COMMS explode with activity.

“Suppressing fire!”

“MEDIC!”

“Hostiles on the left! 7:30!”

One voice emerges from the rest, restoring some order. “2nd squad grab the wounded. 1st Squad, covering fire. 3rd Squad fall back and take up position in the building.”

I look to my left and there’s the Lt. throwing Brant over his shoulder as if he weighs nothing. As he turns around he continues to give orders, “2nd and 1st fall back now.”

I turn and race back toward the building we have just come from, vaulting a burned out car. 5 seconds stretch out to an eternity as I move into the ruins. I skid to a halt and realize someone is on the COMM. It takes me a moment to realize it’s not someone from my platoon, or even from Zulu.

“This is a general alert. The enemy is mobile on all fronts. All units activate and take up last option protocols. All other orders overridden.”

“Sarge?!” I COMM, “What in the heck does that mean?!”
“Hold on Andranovich! Lt. what are we supposed to do now?” Sgt. Hart shouts.

I look at my motions trackers. They’re a swarm of red. We’re about to get surrounded.

“We need to move, back to battalion HQ.” Lt. Mayer is calm as always, “2nd squad keeps moving the wounded. 1st squad takes point, and 3rd cover our backs. Move on my mark… Mark.”

I’m up and running now, scanning the ruins to the left and right as we race down the street. I see a man run up to a window in a building to my right. He raises his rifle, aiming at one of my squad mates. Oh no you don’t. I let fly with a 3 shot burst and watch him stumble backwards. No time to enjoy my marksmanship though as more hostiles appear and we start to take fire.

“We’re gonna have to get off the street,” the Lt. COMMS, “there’s a subway entrance up ahead. I hope the tunnel’s still in one piece.”

I identify the tunnel on my HUD and move to the entrance. I duck behind the door post and turn to give covering fire. 1, 2, 3, 4 enemies down, and my mag runs out. “Reloading!” I shout.

The Platoon moves past me into the subway. I hear Sarge speaking to me, “Andranovich pull back in here!”

I back up glancing over my shoulder. Blocked off after all. The Lt. is on the COMMS now, “Command this is Lt. Mayer, 2nd Plt., Zulu Company, 105 Ranger Battalion. My platoon is pinned down in the subway, sector Theta-16-03. We cannot move from our position.”

The words I hear next make my heart sink like a stone, even though I’m expecting them.

“I’m sorry Lt. but there is nothing we can do for you. We have units cut off all along the front, and we have no troops left to send help. Hold out as long as possible.”

If I were him I’d loose it right now, but he just responds calmly, “I understand Command. We’ll take as many with us as we can.”

At that instant I feel something hit my leg like a sledge hammer, and it drops me like a rock. The pain hits a second later. “Sarge!” I yell, “I’m hit!”

I see him racing towards me, and as he reaches me he shouts for a medic. He half stands, shouting again, and then he jerks. I look on as my sergeant drops to his knees, staring at the hole in his belly. This isn’t happening! This CAN’T be happening. We’re not supposed to be out here getting picked off like rats in a crate. We’re supposed to be behind lines resting. Why? Why in the heck is this happening?!

Then I hear a roar, followed by a blinding flash of light. The ground shakes like the very foundations of the planet are loose. This is it. They’re hitting us with arty now. Only a few more moments and it’ll be over.

But then I hear a crackling on my COMM and a new voice comes through. One I’ve never heard before. He sounds fresh and confident. “This is Admiral Arthur Colbourne, to all planet-side personal. Help is here.”

I look up, to see the silhouettes of ships moving across the evening sky against a blood red sun. The COMMS are alive with static and transmissions.

“Commander, drop Blitz vessels on my mark… mark.”

“Fire portside batteries on delta priority targets here, and here.”

My HUD lights up identifying a group of vessels moving over our heads. They are Blitzkrieg class troopships; glorified gunships, each one carrying a full platoon of airborne troopers in drop pods.

And then the sound I thought I would never hear, “Zulu Company, you can relax. The airborne is here to take over. Hope you ladies have a nice afternoon! 5 seconds to drop!”

I can see the ships overhead now and I watch as they jettison the pods, each one streaking towards the surface, leaving a trail of dark smoke behind them. What do you know? Looks like we were worth saving after all.