Lt. Colonel Daniel Snyder clicked his comms for Squad Push, everyone under his command.
"Alright people we have the go, I want good separation, first and third take point, we are looking at light infantry with a possibility of light armour. If they are armed and refuse to surrender, they are no friends of ours. Move out!" He then isolated one suit in particular. "Your Highness, if you would stick with me in the rear. I need my troops to focus on the job at hand."
"Understood Colonel. I will be right on your heals." Arthur replied, he knew that if he was to move out to the lead elements, he would be placing undue pressure on the soldiers to protect him rather than dealing with the enemy.
The platoons of powered armour headed across the open ground at a fast jog, heads constantly scanning the tree line for enemy soldiers looking to take pot shots at the advancing suits. As the point squads got to the enemies initial line of defence, they stopped and took up defensive positions and waited for the Colonel to catch up. It was clear that the Leviathan attack had caused major damage and loss of life. There were body parts strewn all over the area and the occasional moan from a seriously injured Loyalist soldier. No one would move forward without further instruction, there was too much chance of the enemy lying in wait, or perhaps bringing forward their own powered armour.
Lt. Col. Snyder looked over the scene before him and had to fight down the urge to vomit. This was as bad a scene as he had ever been in and the fact that the soldiers were all his fellow country-men made the whole situation worse, ten-fold. He immediately thought about the Prince and spun to see the young man on his haunches vomiting as hard as he had ever seen someone. He had been quick enough to unseal his visor and was making a mess of the ground and not the inside of his helmet. There would be others joining him, he had no doubt, even the most seasoned troops would never have seen anything like this before. He went over and crouched by the Prince.
"I'm sorry Sir, this is a sight even hardened Marines like myself are struggling with." He explained to Arthur.
"I knew what to expect Colonel, but nothing can prepare you for the actual experience of battle and its aftermath." Arthur said, his dry reaching finally subsiding.
"You do not need to prove anything to us, Sir. You have done more than enough to earn our respect and allegiance."
"I need to see what is happening to my people, while Harold sits in his gilded chair laughing at some poor joke from a jester."
"I understand Sir, but I must insist that you come no further, we are about to assault their main force, and it will become extremely dicey at the best of times. Please understand I need to have focus, and as long as you are here, I have my focus divided."
"Colonel Snyder, I want to thank you for indulging me thus far, I will return to the CP and await the outcome there." I have two bodyguards with me, so I will not impose on your troops for that."
"Sir, you have done more in the last thirty minutes than Harold has in eighteen years, you are a true King and leader. I must go, but I hope to see you again soon." The Colonel nodded to Arthur and took off to the gathering of his officers and NCO's. Arthur stood and turned away from the scene of devastation and slowly moved to the rear.
For the next nine hours the powered armour forced the Loyalists back, until they were penned in a small canyon that had no exits other than the entry. It was there that they put up the fiercest and most deadly defence of the battle. Seven armoured troops were killed and five more were knocked out by direct heavy mortar fire. Snyder consulted with his officers and decided it was time to call in the Air Force and bring this debacle to an end. There had been, conservatively, four hundred and fifty killed or wounded on the Loyalist side, most of those were from artillery fire or grenades hurled fifty metres by the powered armour. They had battled through a small village that was abandoned and half burned out before they even got there, no one was around to explain that the villagers were safe, so Snyder had to assume.
"Alpha India 1, Reaper 1/5, do you copy?"
"Copy Reaper 1/5, we have popped smoke at our location, do you see, over?"
"Copy, Alpha India 1, heads down chaps, this will get a little loud and hot."
"Copy Reaper 1/5. Bring the pain. Alpha India 1 out." He opened up the channel. "Alright people get low and shut off your speakers this will be loud, and seal all vents and visors."
Snyder was about six hundred metres from the target area, but he quickly moved another fifty to the rear, he hated these bomb runs and this one would be a bad one. He couldn't hear anything, but he saw the Reapers stream overhead, there were eight of them, this was definitely going to be a very big one. All of a sudden the ground shook and Snyder and his men were bounced a few feet off the ground, not really in any danger, but the feeling with no sound was frightening in and of itself. A moment later everything took on an orange hue and he could see the heat haze ripping over his position. No unarmoured soldier would get out of this one undamaged.
After about thirty seconds, Snyder got up and activated his speakers, the sound was like something out of a nightmare, there were roaring flames all over the place, and not a single piece of flora was unaffected. He used the magnification on his visor to try and see into the enemy positions, but there was simply too much fire and smoke.
"2nd Squad, advance and reconnoiter the area for three hundred metres, do not, I repeat, do not approach the enemy position, see if you can recon from that range." He ordered. The response was fast and in the affirmative. The troops were up and running before the last word was out, they were the best in the Battalion and were ready to deal with anything, or at least anything one could train them for.
Ten minutes later an urgent call came over the radio for the Colonel and his exec to come forward to the recon position that 2nd Squad had set-up. This was an unusual request and if they were urgently requesting senior officer's presence, there was something that was sorely amiss. Snyder and his Exec, Captain Tracey Molineux rushed forward to see what the urgency was all about. Once they got to 2nd Squads position, they were met by Lieutenant Davis Hadley, a very good Marine Commander who was on the fast track to senior command.
"Sir, we have reconnoitered the area and we think that they have gone to ground in a large cave that looks to be set into the bedrock of the small cliff face." He reported.
"How can you be sure, Hadley?" Molineux asked.
"Ma'am there are bodies leading up to the cave entrance, looks like they were trying to take cover before the Flyboys dropped all that napalm."
Both of the senior officers looked at the area in front of them and magnified the cave entrance, even with the residual smoke and heat haze, they could make out the burned and charred bodies of soldiers that were trying to run into the cave. There were at least twenty men burned beyond recognition and with the amount of materiel that was strewn over the area, it was more than a good bet that the rest of the soldiers had scarpered into the cave when they heard the Reapers start their run. Something deep inside Snyder told him that this was going to be a very bad situation, and he should head for the hills, but he forced that down and ignored it. There was only one thing that the Marines could do, and that was Marines did best, advance.
"All remaining squads move up to 2nd Squads position and spread out, I don't want a fucking grasshopper to break our containment line." He was suddenly very weary and needed to sit down, it was at that moment he realised he hadn't eaten in nearly twenty hours.
"All Squads, once the containment line is in place I want 2nd, 3rd and 5th Squads to move forward and recon the area up to the cave opening, do not enter the cave without express orders from me."
"Papa Bear, Papa Bear, this is Baby Bear, do you read?"
"Go ahead Baby Bear."
"Papa Bear, we have a situation here and it isn't looking very appetising."
"What is the hold up, Baby Bear?"
"Papa Bear, there is a large cave at the end of the ravine that the Loyalists retreated down. There is ample evidence that the soldiers retreated into the cave when the Reapers brought the fire."
"Roger Baby Bear, hold one." Came the terse reply.
Snyder flipped up his visor to take a look at the scene again, he was immediately assaulted by the smell of diesel burning and the under-current of burned meat. He instantly flipped his visor back down and pumped fresh air through the armour, the smell was like nothing he had ever smelled in his life before. An itch at the back of his mind started really getting his attention, this was a very bad place, a place he knew would be remembered.
"Baby Bear, is there any sign of resistance?"
"Negative, Papa Bear, there is nothing alive in sight."
"Baby Bear, advance and reconnoiter the situation and report back."
"Roger, Papa Bear, Baby Bear out." He snapped.
"1st and 3rd Squads advance and recon the area, do not enter the cave without further orders."
"Roger, understood." Came the reply, Snyder could hear the hesitance in the soldiers voice, and he didn't blame the man at all.
The two squads moved towards the burned out area in front of the cave and slowly, but methodically cleared the area, there were fifty-five dead bodies that were immediately identifiable, but there were suspicious areas that the troopers couldn't or wouldn't approach due to heat and fire. Even though their suits were fire proof for a substantial period, the thought of digging through burned out body parts was a job they all baulked at. Finally after an hour of careful reconnaissance, the clear call came over the radio, allowing Snyder and his cadre of officers to move forward and make some serious investigations into the cave.
Snyder looked about him as he walked the final hundred metres to the cave move, there was a darkness that seemed to seep out of the ground. And the feeling got worse and worse as the career officer approached the opening. He stopped about twenty metres shy of the entrance and called his officers close, they would need to send men in there and there was no way any of them wanted to be the one to allocate the troops.
"I want a volunteer to lead the recon team into the cave?" He asked, immediately all the officer's hands raised, he smiled and thought how brave and loyal these men were. He considered the officers in front of him and finally decided on Lieutenant Linda MacDonald, she was a real leader and would be a long term member of the Marines.
"MacDonald, take a small squad of recon Marines and assess the situation inside the cave. I don't want you to risk yourselves so any danger, retreat on the double and get the hell out of there, understood?"
"Aye Sir, I might be a Marine, but me Ma didn't raise no fool. I will get going then Sir."
"Excellent, report every five minutes. No longer." MacDonald nodded and headed off calling for the recon troopers to rally on her.
Snyder watched as the troops moved forward slowly checking everything that could pose a threat.