Resurgence - Cataclysm Chapter 9
January 6th, 3153
NRS Refuge
1200
“Any movement with the Blakists?” General Lee asks as he walks into the War Room with a couple cups of coffee. Both he and Wallner have been reviewing unfathomable and exhausting amounts of updates and information.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Lee raises an eyebrow inquisitively. He can hear Wallner sigh as he firmly presses a button on the console he is next to, which changes the hologram to the three Swordships. All three keels open up with two large armored doors on each. One by one spheroid and aerodyne dropships begin departing alongside dozens of new aerospace fighters. Watching this unfold he hands a coffee to Wallner, who responds with a nod as Lee takes in the update.
“This happened just minutes ago. We have images of their insignia.” Wallner hits a few more buttons and an image of the number ‘44’ with wings, sword, and on a red upside-down triangle appears. Alongside it is a similar emblem but, with a ‘4’ and a ‘444’.
“My grandmother did everything she could to eradicate these monsters and now they are back and worse than ever. We have confirmation that Avitue is alive and she has a daughter from the intel the Prince’s Champion brought back, wasn’t she all about not slaughtering innocents?”
“She was that way back in the Jihad, but now? I think we have our answer in Winchester and Ranford… it must have been cryo, like how the Exarch stayed alive. She has already bombarded two large cities and is already deploying multiple Shadow Divisions while they outnumber us in total forces in ground and air.” Responds Wallner.
“Wait, what’s that?” asks Lee as he shifts their focus to the star charts, pointing. They know they are essentially in a “bubble” of Blakist electronic countermeasures, however that does not block visible phenomenon. “Damn Blake to hell for this.”
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January 6th, 3153
Davion Palace
1600
The fortified bunker and wall system around the Davion Palace was used constantly while the Draconis Combine occupied New Avalon. Luckily, the occupiers kept it in good shape and did not destroy it as they left the world. MIIO was able to restore and secure the entirety of the bunker compound in just a couple weeks.
Apart from Mount Davion just beyond the palace grounds, this is the most heavily defended location on New Avalon. About a kilometer from the palace to the Northwest lay Phase Line Bravo. In the last few hours since Julian arrived at the palace the Word of Blake surged out of the city like madmen. Into the killzone of pre-targeted artillery they charged. It started off savage, in what appeared to be countless deaths. At first the Suns troop’s morale shot through the roof.
However, it was a feint to expose the exact locations of the artillery. While the first wave of Blakists were cut down to a man, waves of aerospace fighters surged through to seek out the artillery. Some were mobile enough to take cover in underground bunkers and those that were not, were lost. Even worse though is that the aerospace fighters did not discriminate.
While the artillery was deployed in locations that civilian structures were not too close by in Avalon City the Blakists still shot through buildings and even blew up buildings to try to knock them down on the artillery and to clog up roads that could be used by the Suns or Nomads. Casualty counts were huge already. Adding to chaos, any non-military holovid channel is playing Blakist propaganda, complete with the heinous orbital assaults on Winchester and Ranford.
As Julian stands above the holotable, watching glimpses of the fighting on Phase Line Bravo, he can hear the voice of the masked figure in the back of his mind. He was talking about Blake’s light from the video Julian was shown by his command staff. They are trying to poison our rallied people into believing all is lost. We must keep the morale we fostered by retaking our Capital world!
The terror of Barrington had certainly not helped the situation. Even though the artillery target zone was clearly outside the city Blakist propaganda started saying the massive blazes within the city were started by the First Prince. Burning skyscrapers are currently sending pillars of smoke into the sky. To further top that the Blakists pushed civilians out of the city and into the artillery barrage as it was well underway. Now, the holovids are filled with people screaming and jumping from buildings that are burning. This plays on some channels and on others huge numbers of civilians are being shot or running out of the city into an artillery bombardment targeting the rushing Blakist forces!
Changing his focus to avoid being self-destructive, Julian listens in on a conversation between Kitsune Kurita and Knight Joy with another Knight to the South that is preventing the Blakists from reaching the NAIS. So far, this Niemeyer fellow is able to keep them at bay. Coordinating the Nomad and Armored Cavalry Suns troops, they continue to outmaneuver the Blakists in hill and forest territories. Every second improves one more defensive position.
After the connection ends, Julian speaks up, “Lady Joy,” she turns toward him, “Any word from the Nomad positions on Brunswick?”
“Yes, First Prince, Knight Dumont and Knight Kerensky are holding strong at Novais. Unfortunately, Knight-Errant Lawson and Colonel Talvard have both been lost with Brunswick City in a similar attack to what happened at Phase Line Alpha.”
“Thank you for those updates, Lady Joy.” Julian says as she nods in return, checking for additional updates on her holopad alongside Kitsune.
Julian returns to thinking… one positive came of the last couple hours. Turns out Marshal Braun survived the Blakist strike at the river. With him back to assist in command with Phase Line Bravo and his harsh lesson from the Blakists, his resolve has since doubled. His Stormcrow Battlemech returned in tatters, barely walking straight. Unfortunately, it would likely be the last combat it saw for some time as repairing it would not be a priority over line equipment.
Reorganization! That’s right, we need to get this mess of units sorted out. Looking up, Julian points at a trio of other command staff officers doing various tasks but, were clearly checking the time for upcoming chow. “You three!”
“Sir!” they all shout, standing at attention.
“At ease, gents. I need you three to start working on reorganization charts. We are going to lose a lot of units fighting the Word of Blake, hell we have probably lost dozens of garrisons on their warpath to here. Get units into coherent formations so I know who is left and who is in reserve, we have already lost a lot of good men today.”
“Yes, sir!” They shout as they collect up their equipment and move through another hatch in the bunker to focus on their new assignment.
I despise all this death and suffering… His thoughts are interrupted as he hears a woman’s voice from the door to the interior courtyard of the Palace Grounds open and close.
“First Prince.” Siobhan says as she comes over to him at the holotable, nodding at Joy and Kitsune as she passes them. “Julian, I just got the latest update from Phase Line Bravo. Fighting remains heavy. No sign of civilians being used as shields for a couple hours. We have rolled out some artillery from their concealed bunkers with additional heavy air support to ward off the Blakists. We brought down many of their fighters in their first attack, they try that again we will eviscerate them.” Her calling him by name as well as the different tone of her voice continues to show him that a true bond beyond First Prince and XO is forming. She always portrays her battlefield update in a manner that gives the appearance that they have the upper hand.
“Thank you for the update, Siobhan. Right now, our forces are holding?”
“Yes, although I have already begun calling up some reserve units from Phase Line Charlie to support. The new wave of Blakist forces have been touching down and preparing to attack, moving into Barrington. We have confirmed with the fleets that they are indeed the 44th Shadow Division, supported by a new 444th Division, likely just more of Avitue’s people. There is another division, the 4th that is touching down on Brunswick. We have communications on the surface mostly under control between military forces, same with the fleets but they have huge numbers of ECM equipment flying in the atmosphere above us, disrupting communications.”
“Speaking of the artillery, any idea how many civilians were forced out into the barrage?” Julian asks with a heavy voice.
Even with such a grave threat on the horizon Siobhan is impressed that he cares about his people enough to ask about them before solving the upcoming tactical situation. “Do… you want to…” she starts before he cuts her off.
“If you have to ask, it is worse than I expected. Tell me the numbers, they are my people, I at least need to know they were here. They deserve that their First Prince even knows they were alive, even if just by a number.” He states with a grimace, his head hanging low as he leans with his hands on the holotable. He is thankful the room is fairly dark and the glow of the table isn’t too bright.
Siobhan takes a gulp of water, closing her eyes for a brief second before she responds quietly, directly to Julian. “Across the entire battle line, we are looking at well over fifty thousand dead civilians. What has been established is that the Blakists sent into the suicide charge were Militia troops, many from the Jihad itself. A few were captured alive with extreme neural degradation. Their leadership showed them where we were and set them loose with aging mechs and vehicles. In a bizarre twist, between occasional personal effects and other markings a number of them show signs of being from the deep periphery, not directly associated with the Word of Blake. This may hint at where the Blakists lived since their defeat.”
“When we have kicked them off our world… wherever they are from… will be glassed.” Says Julian with resolve backed by rage. Easing his tone, “But as of right now, Phase Line Bravo is holding and we have not seen the Shadow Division show up yet?” he looks up at Siobhan, she can tell his eyes are red from shouldering the unthinkable loss of civilians.
“Yes, Julian. We have layers and layers of defenses with the Davion Assault Guards, Dawn Guards, and Nomads. Jeratha is probably the weakest position of our defense but there are no Blakist formation movements in that city’s direction. It would spread their lines thin and risk being cut off if we broke through to the Northwest of Avalon City. There are still some additional units that can be re-deployed like the Wild Geese, Black Knight Legion, Knight Ortega’s React Company, and other mercenary and garrison troops. As far as the Shadow Divisions are concerned, they touched down at the Blakist LZ and have entered Barrington but we cannot get aerospace assets into the area to determine their force size or movement. I would expect a type of blitz attack.”
“And Phase Line Charlie is dug in to keep them from Avalon City?” he asks.
“Yes, Julian. Our men will hold, we will fight to the last man for the Federated Suns.” She looks at him with resolve in her expression, trying to encourage him. She knows they have established the best defense of the Capital City possible.
He nods with a solemn expression as it is now just a waiting game before this monster knocks at the First Prince’s door.