The “Battle” of Brecourt II - Part 4 of 6
Posted on Mon May 15th, 2023 @ 1:37am by Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Captain Samuel Woolheater & Lieutenant Kurt "Berlin" Vogel
Edited on on Fri May 26th, 2023 @ 7:18am
Mission:
MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Brecourt II
Timeline: The Past
1681 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure
[ON:]
=== CONTINUED FROM PART THREE ===
---Space---
"Falcon Leader, Blue 2." squawked Vogel's comm. "Be advised: we have an enemy carrier. Her bandits are swarming Blue Squadron. I have 3 of my men down, including Blue 1. Cannot adequately provide CAS at this time, over."
Kurt ground his teeth in frustration.
"Copy Blue Leader. Fight the fight. Stay alive." Kurt rapidly switched his comm to the ALL channel. "All Squadrons, Falcon Leader. Blue Squadron can no longer provide CAS to our Marines. All remaining fighters will proceed to engage in Alpha Charlie****. I say again, all fighters proceed to planet atmosphere. Every fighter here be prepared to engage is CAS if called upon. Protect ground forces at all costs. Falcon One out."
He switched the comm to the Marine frequency.
"Falcon One to Marine One. Ma'am, be advised: Blue Squadron is engaged. They cannot provide CAS at this time. All remaining fighters will engage the enemy inside the atmosphere. All Falcons are at your disposal for ground support. Call targets at convenience on the ALL channel, over."
"We have several elevated turrets near our position," Naxea breathed hard. "Northeast of our position. Will mark with targeting transponders!" Naxea nodded to several Marines who took quick aim and fired the transponder tags--small devices that relayed a target's information back to CAS forces.
Kurt checked his LIDAR for the target location. "Red 8, you are closest, can you engage the lased target, over?"
Several tense seconds.
"Roger." The starfleet fighter swooped around, leveling before giving his engines a burst to regain airspeed.
"Marine 6, this is Red 8, callsign "Cookie", I have your target. Beginning attack run."
Red 8 pointed his nose at the painted target. Inside the cockpit, the pilot heard her targeting computer chime rapidly until the note became constant and steady; a perfect firing solution.
"Its away!" Red 8 declared as she pressed the wide, red trigger to release payload.
Three miniature photon bombs, guided, like moths to flames, by the infared targeting transponders provided by the Marines, released from their moors on the wings of the fighter. They sped toward their targets, straight and true. Three impacts, one after another, resounded amongst the hills and valleys of the countryside of Brecourt as the munitions found their marks. The turrets disintegrated into scrap.
"Splash three! I say again, splash three! Good hits!" Red 8 declared.
Kurt Vogel hit the ALL channel. "Good shot Cookie."
Woolheater saw the turrets explode in one, two and then three fireballs. He saw the Brecourt gunners fall from the turrets on fire and to their deaths. As he travelled to the civillians that he thought might still be in the badly damaged building to the right of their position, he saw other dead marines killed from earlier action or that had been cut down earlier. He had the grim duty to relieve them of the weapons and he took a new COMM link and earpiece. He paused a moment to check in.
=A= SQUAK! Baby Bear to Rip Van Winkle, you got your ears on XO? =A=
There was no answer. Sam cursed under his breath and switched to the backup channels.
=A= Ground infantry position XRD, Baby Bear to field command. I am with Chief Man'darr and Sgt. Gami on the move. Position x-ray delta is lost. Going in after civillian traffic at map position Foxtrot...Tango...Sierra. Better known as Fuck This Shit. I need some time to get over there. I am at the midpoint between XRD and FTS - requesting CAS....=A=
A large explosion made Sam duck for cover and he continued, =A=.....I say again....request CAS to lay down suppressing fire on the Brecourt barracks. This side of the river. THIS SIDE....Scorch it to the ground. Copy traffic? =A=
Man'darr and Gami both laid down suppressing fire the best they could.
The weapons were loud and Sam had trouble hearing but he maaged to get it right.
Jesus Christ I hope he is kidding Kurt thought to himself as he watched another enemy fighter go down in flames. The German hit the button to reply to the comm. "Last caller, this is Falcon 1, be advised: I show that last request as YOUR poz. I say again: that is YOUR OWN position. Request position confirmation, over."
=A= That is Aaaaffirmative! We are crawling with bad guys over here and could use a couple of your crop dusters. We'll keep our heas down; you knock 'em down. =A=
Fuck me Vogel thought. "This is Falcon 1: I need sign/counter sign to go ahead with that request. April. I say again: April."
Kurt hoped that the Marine wasn't too stressed out to forget the countersign, which was part of an old saying: April showers bring May Flowers. Kurt just need the last word to be SOMEWHERE in the response sentence and that would be good enough.
Woolheater dug in and picked off a Brecourt sniper position. He replied while he did that, =A= I've always been partial to May flowers myself! =A=
Looking at the small aount of marines that had rallied to this position he said, "Air cover is coming....and they will knock this shit out of this place. Stay low and wait for my signal!"
Kurt checked his LIDAR for the closest friendly fighters.
"Lobster, Pockets, this is Berlin. On me. Be prepared to conduct CAS, over."
"Roger Leader." replied Pockets.
"With you boss." came the crisp Yorkshire accent of Lobster.
The three fighters formed into a triangle: attack formation. Vogel keyed his comm to talk to Sam again.
"Sam, this is Kurt: better bring an umbrella. Rain's coming."
=A= Copy that. Bring on the rain and wash away the filth! =A=
Looking for the fighters Sam saw them coming and said, "This'll be good!"
The three fighters came in low and slow. at five kilometers out, they dispersed so that there was 1 kilometer between the leader and the next fighter, a dispersion run.
"Marines on ground, this is Falcon 1. We are beginning attack run. Be advised that we are dropping ordinance at danger close. I say again: you are danger close. God be with you, you crazy psychos."
The fighters came in, about 750 meters above ground level. the leader, Kurt, dropped his ordinance, which, with no transponders to lock on to, fell in 'dummy' mode: ballistic trajectory. It was if he was back in the World Wars of just sighting the target and hoping wind didnt carry the bombs too far away. But at 750 meters AGL, it was almost impossible to miss. Vogel released the bombs, which fell to ground, impacting with a large explosion of shrapnel and smoke. A second later, Lobster followed, dropping his own load onto the target, further 'behind' and' east of Vogel's. Pockets did the same, so that the entirety of the grid square stopped being recognizable and instead resembled the stories of hell that preists told the flock. Thick, black smoke billowed upwards, and fires raged.
The fighters conducted an Immelmann turn to return to the target area, this time coming diagonally upon the zone, flying away from the Marine position to lessen the chance of a stray round. Again dumb bombs rained down, engulfing the area in more sharpnel and smoke. More fires were added to the already hellish landscape.
And the fighters werent done yet.
Another Immellmann turn, and the fighters continued their deadly work. They switched their phasers from pulse to rotary. They could keep up withering fire, but only for a short time, lest they risk overheating or melting the cannons.
"Jesus." Pockets muttered into her comm.
"Hey Pockets! Focus. We need to lay down guns on the target. You are cleared hot. If it moves and its not a Marine, its dead."
The three fighters took up positions at the west, east and 'above' the target area. They began laying waste to the entire area, sweeping the phaser fire like a red carpet of death from side to side and then north to south. It was methodical. Anything that was there received fire. Buildings splintered, earth was churned up and sent into the air in great torrents, and still the fire did not abate. The red streams went over the area again and again, until the bedrock of the planet began to glow slightly from the absorbed heat.
Only then, once their cannons had been pushed to the limit, and warning lights began to chime, did the fighters cease. The rotary cannons whirled to a halt, and the fighters began to fly away again, to look for any living targets.
"Sam, this is Kurt. You there?" Vogel called, hopeful that his friend didnt buy the farm from all that fire.
The CAS did their job. The former barracks for the Brecourt was nothing but rubble now. Covered in dust and dirt and ash, the marines were dusty with blasted powdery residue from the structures. Fires littered the landscape. Sam got to his feet and looked around at the devastation. It was a precise hit. The barracks had been obliterated and the buildings nearby had been scorched. But the civillian structures were left mostly intact. One can hardly blame the flying shrapnel on the fighter wing. A smoldering heap was all that was left. Standing to his full height Sam gave a satisfied, "MMuahh! That's better." He tapped his COMM badge,
=A= Thank you much stick jockey's. Can you get a fix on Colonel Azhul? She should be, last report, south of our position off the the side of the mined LZ. We'll mop it up down here! =A=
Sam looked at the marines that had rallied to this position, "Let's go get those civvies. Move out!"
=== END PART FOUR ===
[OFF:]
Legend:
*Close Air Support - Fires provided by aircraft to support ground forces
#Bandits - Enemy aircraft
**Pollack - Fighter slang: to paint a target with infrared lasers to aid in detection for targeting. Term comes from the noted painter Jackson Pollack
##Gulf Romeo - Brevity code: Gun Run
***Alpha Fox - Brevity code: Anti-fighter
###BDA - Battle Damage Assessment
****Alpha Charlie - Atmospheric Combat
