EnigmatikMordant Prime
13th Mordant Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 3rd platoon (Mechanized)
Pvt. Cato Euchar
The sound of aircraft roaring overhead violent shook Cato from his slumber. The initial feeling of terror he felt upon being woken up by the loud roaring was replace by wonder and curiosity, as he rapidly climbed to the edge of the trench. Roaring, seemingly right above their heads, the strike craft of VFA-30 sped to their targets. The munitions were visible to the troops as they fell from the craft, before the deafening sound of dozens of bombs exploding filled the air around the trench.
“ Third Platoon!” the Lieutenant yelled, pushing his way past the masses of troops watching the bombing run.
“ We have orders, grab your gear and form up by the motor pool!” he yelled, before more officers shouting orders towards their subordinates
The trench was alive now, troops were gathering gear and weapons before running to their designated troop areas. Veteran troops looked sullen and emotionless as they worked, they knew all to well what was going to occur next. While newest among their number, ran around with newly found energy, either from excitement or from fear of the unknown. The final assault of Luiza was about to begin.
The third platoon was stuffed back into ST-110 light tanks and began making its way across no man’s land toward the city. Cato found the interior of the tank claustrophobic, every fiber of his being wishing to stick his out of the top hatch. The rather relaxed atmosphere of the ride into the operational area was replaced with a thick anticipation. Troops, fidgeted with energy as the tank moved forward, waiting for the first shot to be fired. Cato was no different, he wanted to scream in frustration, the fear of the unknown nearing getting the best of him.
Suddenly, it began, the first shot heard was the whiz of a high velocity shell coming from the city outskirts. Cato wondered what he just heard, being the first time, he had ever taken fire, and looked around at his platoon mates. Another close pass whizzed by and exploded close by, violently shaking the tank as it moved forward. The urge to get out of the tank was almost unbearable now, he did not want to imagine what would happen if they got hit by one of those shells.
Looking towards the front of the tank, he could see the crew manning their stations. Over the sounds of the engine and close passing shells, Cato could barely make out the orders that the tank commander was shouting. The bottom half of the tank commander’s body was visible from inside the tank as his head disappeared up through the hatch behind the gunner’s seat. As each shell passed overhead, the tank commander would duck back down into the tank yelling something quickly before darting back up through the hatch.
Turning his head to the back of the tank, Cato could make out the lieutenant, with the tank intercom handset pressed firmly to his ear. His face looked blank and unworried, no hint of fear or apprehension was present. He almost looked bored, looking towards the front of the tank as they inched close to their objective. It did little to calm Cato’s nerves, as the sound of shells exploding close by buffeted the vehicle that seemed to be moving far too slow. If he had eaten something this morning it would definitely be on the floor, but his stomach has empty resulting in a painful knotting feeling in his gut.
Suddenly, the tank commander dropped back down into the tank and closed the hatch before flipping a switch out of sight. Just like before, the light inside the tank dimmed before returning to a bright red hue. The platoon commander, after hung the handset over the back of the troop chair, leaned into the soldier next to him and yelled something into his ear. The soldier instinctively relayed the message to those next to him before the message got down to where Cato was sitting
“ 30 seconds!” the trooper next to him yelled, before the tank came to a grinding halt.
The sound of shells passing overhead was quickly replaced with the sound of the main gun, firing almost continuously into the area ahead of them. The soldiers in the back readied themselves, some kneeling in the aisle between the seats in the troop bay while others grabbed their weapons and turned sideways in their seats, awaiting the door.
A shrill whistle replaced the sound of gunfire for a moment as the rear ramp dropped open, allowing the troops to run out into no-man’s land. Almost immediately, the shrill whistle was replaced by the crack of rapid small arms fire, coming from machine gun emplacements and other defenders in the outskirts of the city. The rounds, pinged off the hull of the tank as the men of third platoon, ran out of the tank.
Almost immediately, the scope of the battle revealed itself to Cato, across the expanse of barren wastes, was an army of armored vehicles and disembarking troops. A few, burning wrecks could be seen behind them, hit by shells on the advance up to the city outskirts. The sounds of the main cannon of the ST-112 was deafening as Cato stepped outside of the tank, huddling close to the remainder of his platoon. The ramp of the tank quickly closed behind him and the rumbling sound of the treads could be heard as the tanks started to move again.
“ Fall in behind the tank!” the platoon leader yelled “ Keep moving!”
Machine gun rounds, cracked overhead and ricocheted off the tank as they ran forward, while the cannon shells whistled just overhead before exploding behind them. The interior of the tank didn’t seem so bad all of a sudden, and the urge to get back inside the vehicle was unbearable. Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a shell impacted the tank to Cato’s right, blowing the turret far up into the air and shooting the loading ramp out towards the troops behind it. Shrill cries of pain suddenly filled the air, as the men behind that vehicle were torn apart by the explosion or the debris shot from it. Nearly half the platoon laid broken and in pieces, strewn across the battlefield as the vehicle burned.
The look of horror was displayed across Cato’s face, his eyes glued to the scene of carnage to his right. A quick shove from one of the members of his platoon, quickly broke his concentration, followed by a harsh quip from the platoon leader.
“ Pay fucking attention boot!” the Lieutenant yelled, turning his head to shoot Cato a hateful glance before turning back towards the tank.
“ Fix bayonets!” the platoon leader yelled again, before peering over the side of the tank as it came to an abrupt stop. “ Get ready!” he yelled again, grabbing a knife from a sheath towards his hip.
Cato’ shakily obliged, fastening the large knife on the front of his rifle. ‘Can I really stab someone with this’, he thought to himself, looking at the weapon for a moment before another shell explosion broke his concentration followed by the hollow thuds of smoke launchers.
“ Lets go” the platoon leader yelled, breaking cover and running off into the mist.
A collective yell could be heard as the mass of infantry charged out in front of the tanks. For a moment, this was comforting, the strength felt in numbers momentarily erased the fear of what they were about to do. This was short lived however, as the rate of incoming fire increased as the infantry ran into the haze of smoke.
Cato continued to run forward, too scared to yell as rounds impacted around him. The screams of those hit replaced the sounds of the collective yell and upon emerging from the smoke, three quaters of the force remained. The Machine gun emplacement were visible now, focusing on the troops advancing behind them. While, rebel soldiers rushed to hastily made defense in front of them. ‘ Will be make it’, Cato thought, before a blast of auto cannon fire cleared the way ahead of them. Jumping the makeshift barrier, the platoon was now in the enemy position quickly followed by the remainder of the invasion force. The sound of firing, started to become more sporadic as other platoon moved to clear the rebel fighting positions, as autocannon fire began shooting at the fleeing rebels as the ran across the expanse deeper into the city.
It wouldn’t hit Cato yet, but he had survived his first day of combat. Three members of his platoon were dead in the field behind him along with countless other from other platoons. Cato was unharmed, shaken but unharmed, as he looked around at the soldiers next to him.
“ You ok?” a voice said off in the distance, prompting Cato to quickly look to his left.
“ Yes sir…” he said eyeing the lieutenant as he walked toward the group of Cato.
“ Good, drink something. We will be moving out in a few hours, once we consolidate” the platoon leader finished in a business like tone before walking off to meet with the officers of neighboring platoons.
