fanfic_name = Gotterdammerung
chapter = Chapter XV
author = Cicero_Phelps
dedicate = The usual suspects. lol
Rating = O18
Type = Suspense
fanfic = Chapter XV
The skies around New Macross City dimmed and darkened with clouds, heavy with chilly rain. Loud hums filled the ears of anyone who happened to walk past the Prometheus as technicians performed maintenance checks on the armored vehicles, VT’s, and Destroids that would see use that day. Infantry commanders did last minute checks on every member of every squad, making sure that every soldier carried a full weapons load and was in good health.
Meanwhile, Rick and Lisa were going over last minute plans in the Ops Center, placing reserves and units in position around the city, and trying desperately not to worry about their friends in the field. Admiral Gloval stepped in on occasion, but preferred to let his trusted subordinates finalize a plan and then get his approval.
They decided to break the city down into quadrants around the SDF-1, and deploy forces accordingly. Rick positioned half of his VT squads in Quadrant One, which held city hall, the shipyards, and the waterfront, and the other half in Quadrant Four, which held the hospital, the generator, an oil refinery, and the auxiliary airfield. It was decided that halving the squadrons was better than dividing them into four groups because it wouldn’t leave any single group understrength, and they could shift fighters as needed during the battle as opposed to spreading them too thin. In addition, it assisted the Anti-Aircraft batteries in cutting down the often-overwhelming swarm of data and choosing their targets more accurately by only having one field of fire to concentrate on.
Lisa was coordinating the ground forces, and hers was a massive task, indeed. She was split between the idea of forcing a battle on the waterfront, where it would be possible to disrupt the attacker’s formation, and allowing them to advance closer to the city center and attacking them guerilla style through New Macross City, to take advantage of the SDF-1’s ship-mounted batteries. She realized that Maistroff wasn’t stupid enough to drop all his forces outside the city and into the paths of their guns; he’d more than likely perform aerial bombardment and an airborne drop, so she split the Destroids in half; most of the Tomahawks were stationed around the waterfront, and Spartans were positioned around strategic intersections in the city proper, with three infantry squads to support them.
The remaining infantry was positioned at a beachhead on the harbor; makeshift defenses (primarily barricades of armored personnel carriers) were constructed so that any landing would receive the maximum damage, but still give the defenders adequate possibilities to maneuver if the beachhead failed. Every fifth platoon of infantry was reinforced with Phalanx-class Destroid units that had been retrofitted with cluster bombs and anti-personnel rockets, to attempt to slow down the enemy advance into the heart of New Macross. To top it all off, she had battle tanks and armored rocket launchers on the sides of the battle line, to exploit any gaps in the enemy formation, run interference on any gaps in their own line, and generally create havoc for the enemy.
Late in the day, as she radioed the last movement order to the last unit commander, the radar officer shouted, “Captain Hayes, we have four squadrons of bombers inbound, five o’clock!”
“Red alert, all hands to battle stations, and engage the anti-air defenses,” Lisa ordered. “All pilots, scramble. I want those bombers dead yesterday.”
“Skull squadron, take off, meet me at Blue Angels Six. Rogues and Wraiths, follow and engage from Tango Alpha Three.”
“Bridge to Skull Leader, come in,” Lisa called out.
“Bridge, this is Skull Leader. Is that you, Lisa?”
“Yeah, it’s me. I just wanted to tell you to be careful out there, and to come back safe.”
“I will, Lisa; thanks. Remember, I love you.”
“And I love you, Rick. Good shooting up there,” she finished, and cut the transmission.
Admiral Gloval came on the bridge, shouting for status reports and tactical updates. He looked at one screen and saw a breeching pod headed towards Main Engineering…
****
It was nightfall along the base of Mount Saint-Helens, and the sentries were out in force. Beams from search lights on hovering patrol craft swept the perimeter of Maistroff’s rebel base. One black-clad figure crouched low in the mud under the high grass nearby, looking for a gap in the security perimeter, and, once it was found, to signal her accomplice to her side and exploit it.
The perimeter gap, which lay between two converging searchlight patterns, was barely a yard wide, but it ran for five or six yards towards the base of the volcano. On signal from the lead figure, they both raced towards the rocks ahead, barely making it before the lights converged again. The second figure handed the first figure a small device with a large digital face, ticking off seconds one after the other, then, drawing her sidearm, covered her as they set it against the side of the mountain. Once it was set, they waited for the searchlights to part on their predictable pattern to run the six yards back into the tall grass.
Moments later, an earsplitting explosion echoed across the mountainside, ringing the base and its outlying fortifications in a storm of white phosphorous flame and subsequent smoke and light. The base opened up its infantry bay doors to let out a search party, and the twin intruders took full advantage of the opportunity, racing inside and ducking behind the doorway, shedding their muddy clothing in favor of a duty uniform under each black outfit.
“Is this your first time in the field,” Miriya asked her companion.
“First time in a long time,” Vanessa replied, making sure her MOG was well within easy reach, should it be needed.
“Okay,” her companion said, indicating that they needed to hurry, “I’m going to head towards their command and control center and try to disrupt things from there for you; you get to the prison level and get them free.”
“Will do. Where do we meet up again when we get out?”
“There’s a gully just beyond the grass on the northern edge of the perimeter. We’ll meet there and escape,” Miriya said.
“Good idea,” Vanessa agreed, moving gently towards the elevator door.
****
Rick swore as he dove sharply, narrowly avoiding a barrage of bullets from the bandit behind him. The dogfight was getting hot, and most of the pilots he led were rookies, with less than 100 hours flight time. Hawkeye squadron suffered 35% casualties in the opening air strike, and was struggling in the air to reform; with the squadron leader, Billy Byrd, and his XO dead, flight leaders were taking turns trying to form them up, but they were losing too many men.
Rick looked at his tactical screen, and saw that his air forces were being forced back over the city, towards a central point, and that the enemy was sending reinforcements. The bombers, at least, had been dispatched, but they were outnumbered five to one in terms of aircraft. He told his pilots to switch to Battloid mode and take to the streets for now, till they could regain the advantage.
Touching down in the city center, he scanned the avenues of approach. The civilians were running like scared sheep towards the SDF-1, which had opened emergency shelters in the lower levels to protect them during the battle. Howe led an enemy element of one hundred men on a diversionary raid towards the SDF-1 while the rest of his forces tied down the SDF-1 troops at the beachhead. The NMCM, however, was doing its best to delay the advance of enemy troops towards the city center, using exploding cars, barricades, boobytraps, rocket launchers, and the like to destroy armored vehicles and troop formations, but the sheer skill of the incoming infantry was overwhelming the half-trained citizen soldiers. The red alert siren went off in Rick’s cockpit, signaling enemy mechs headed his direction. He looked up in horror to see the gleaming blades of enemy Hatchetmen headed towards the civilians. Some of the hatchets were already dripping with fresh blood…