"Sir, the hostile forces have all been terminated. As reported earlier, it was around 50 combatants in total. Thirty marines opened fire. As far as we could see, there were no survivors."
Athena nodded at the Terran marine beside her, not too surprised by the brief victory. She had noticed her resource count increased by another 1,200 units.
Beside her, Adrianna, a stranger to the capability of the Terrans, was surprised. There were 50 soldiers that showed up beside Athena, and there were 50 Decima troops. How long did the shooting even last? A minute? Whoever these soldiers were, they were good.
"If you don't mind me asking, Athena, what's your plan now?" Adrianna took a step closer to Athena. Now that the imminent threat had been neutralized, what was the next step? "We can't stay here. Most likely Decima reinforcements are already on the way. If we want to move somewhere, now is the time."
Athena nodded at Adrianna's suggestion. Adrianna made a good point given the limited information she knew. What she didn't know was that Athena's forces could grow with every life she or her units took, and while she only had marines at her disposal now, she could unlock stronger infantry and mechanical units by coming into contact with human technologies.
In other words, she was in no rush to leave this battle zone.
"If you're the Decima commander and one of your platoons suddenly got wiped out. What would you do?" Athena simply asked.
Adrianna glanced in the two directions where intense gunshots and explosions could be heard despite the distance. Sections Lemma and Omega were likely a meatgrinder now, and they were just two of the multiple landing zones the Imperial Army was trying to establish. Compared to that, the loss of a few dozen men in a single platoon was nothing.
"I would deploy as much reinforcements as I can, which likely isn't a lot. The loss of a platoon so quickly means maybe two to three platoons of enemies in the forest. I will maybe send in a battalion if I have one. I will deploy some air support if possible, although a handful of gunships likely wouldn't do too well in this dense forest. The reinforcements will be much more careful, and they will bring heavier weapons."
"A sensible decision." Athena let out a small, cold smile. "And exactly what I am counting on."
As she spoke, the dirt beneath her feet moved gently. She had deployed her ten roaches under the earth and sent them out as scouts. Just because these Zerg roaches couldn't fight in the open didn't mean they were completely useless in this situation. In fact, as of now, they were the perfect scouts.
Now, all she had to do was wait.
Colonel Decker had always taken pride in his ability to keep everything organized. It was a good habit he had developed ever since he was in secondary school. He would make these timetables for every task he had to finish in the day and try to follow his schedule regardless of if he felt like it. This level of discipline helped him make his way up the ranks of the Decima Royal Legion and become the commander of the 4th Mechanized Regiment in the 14th Decima Royal Legion. Of course, the fact that his father was a Legion Master might have helped, but the colonel firmly believed it was his own accomplishments that got him to where he was. If he had enough time and patience, even the rank of Legion Master might not be impossible.
Unfortunately for him, almost as soon as the invasion began, the colonel realized a real war wasn't something he could really schedule and plan for.
After the Imperial vanguard forces made planetfall, while many legions and regiments were deployed to overrun their positions and chase them off the planet, Colonel Decker and his 4th Regiment had an easier task. Using Airfield Sigma and the gunships within, they were to hunt down and eliminate the small groups of Imperial soldiers who, one way or another, ended up behind Decima lines.
For the common soldiers, this was a much easier mission than charging a heavily fortified and contested Imperial position, but for Colonel Decker, coordinating this operation became a nightmare. With an ever-shifting list of targets, it became his job to deploy whatever assets the regiment had available to go after these targets. More importantly, since his targets were numerous groups of Imperial soldiers, he also had to divide his own troops down into countless units.
"Sir! The 574th Platoon has engaged elements of Imperial Special Forces on the outskirts of Payera City. They are requesting reinforcements."
"Sir! We have re-established communication with the 493rd Platoon! They have confirmed the termination of two Imperial dropships and are returning to this base."
"Sir! Our fuel and ammo supply is down to 15% storage. We will need resupplying in the near future if we want to continue our deployments."
The young colonel let out a frustrated groan as he stared at the map in front of him. The map showed an area of hundreds of kilometers squared, and there were numerous red and blue dots on the map that signaled Imperial and Decima forces.
"One by one!" The young officer snapped before turning to the first lieutenant. "Intel says that unit of Imperial Special Forces should be down to 2 dozen men! The 574th is a full-sized platoon! They're requesting reinforcements?"
"Yes sir. Sergeant Olsen said he cannot guarantee that his unit will be able to intercept the Imperials before they reach the city without reinforcements. If the Imperials enter the city…"
"Fine!" The colonel looked down on the number of units he had in reserve. "Reroute the 382nd and the 584th Platoon to reinforce the 574th! Trap and terminate them outside the city! Tell all three sergeants I will personally see them court-martialed if they fail! And you!" He snapped to the third officer. "Wasn't the resupply convoy scheduled to arrive twenty minutes ago?"
"Fifteen minutes, sir, and it never arrived."
"When were you going to tell me that?" The colonel had reached a boiling point. They were in the middle of a battle and were about to be out of fuel and ammo, and no one told him?
"With all due respect, sir, I reported this to you ten minutes ago." The officer protested loudly. "Everyone in the room can back me on that…"
Colonel Decker paused. Really? Did that happen? Now that he thought about it, he distinctly remembered a conversation about that topic going down not long ago. His face turned red in embarrassment and shame, but before he could say another word, three more officers walked up with two more reports.
"Sir, we received intel that a number of Imperial survivors have regrouped in Area D82. Their numbers are in the hundreds. We have been ordered to terminate them as soon as possible. If they managed to gather more survivors, they can pose a serious threat to our legions at the front."
"Sir! There have been reports that another Imperial unit has been ambushing supply convoys to the frontline. Likely Imperial Special Forces. We are ordered to hunt them down at once."
"Sir…"
"Oh fuck me!" Colonel Decker cursed loudly, something he had never done in front of his men before. Couldn't these new issues wait for him to solve his existing problems before showing up? This was nothing like what he learned in the academy! Even the battles he had fought against pirates and terrorists were nothing like this!
"Sir?" An officer raised his eyebrows. Was that an order?
Doing his best to pull himself together, Colonel Decker looked at the map once again. It was fine. He still had reserve units. "Deploy…"
This time he didn't even get to finish his order.
"Sir!" Another communications officer walked up to the colonel. "Legion Master Klaus is on the line. He demands your immediate attendance."
The colonel drew in a deep breath and did his best to remain calm and professional as he walked up to a communication console to meet his superior, the commander of the 14th Legion. Unfortunately for him, his composure was shattered by the first sentence exchanged in the conversation.
"Colonel Decker. I want you to mobilize three battalions at once and reinforce my location."
"Three battalions?" For a second Colonel Decker almost wanted to laugh. Whose idea was this? Three battalions? "With all due respect, sir, I've only got 10 battalions in total, and most of them are scattered all over my district! I barely have enough men to cover my own ground!"
"That was not a question, colonel."
"Again, with all due respect, sir, I am in need of reinforcements myself!" Colonel Decker remembered what went on in the numerous defense meetings he attended. "Shouldn't there be two regiments in the Legion acting as reserves? And I thought the 9th and the 56th Legion were both supposed to provide reinforcements as necessary!"
"If I have other reinforcements available do you think I will be trying to get three battalions from you?" To the colonel's shock, his legion master snapped. There was a look of anger and despair on the older man's face. "Three battalions. That's an order, colonel."
As the call ended, Colonel Decker stood there, silent for a while. Needless to say, things weren't going too well in the front.
Of course, there were still plenty of Decima Legions on the planet. The colonel knew the entirety of the Decima Royal Guard was also combat-ready. In addition, there were numerous reservists that had been drawn and armed. Unfortunately, given that the Decima defenders had no idea where the Imperials would land, their forces were scattered across the entire planet before the invasion began. This was the unfortunate reality of defending a planet this big. There were just so many places the enemies could go for, and every single one of them had to be defended unless they wanted to allow the enemies to land on the planet with ease.
Once the Imperials started making planetfall at one location, many Decima Legions had to be recalled from all over the planet. The issue was that even with railroads, ships, vehicles, and aerial transports, it would take them a while to arrive. If the local Decima forces couldn't keep the Imperials from establishing a foothold on the planet, then the Imperials could deploy further reinforcements and heavy firepower by the time additional Decima forces arrive and launch a counterattack.
The colonel slowly made his way back to the map and turned to the officers awaiting his commands.
"Sir?"
"Get the reserve battalion ready and send it to meet with the rest of the Legion. Recall all platoons of the 9th and the 3rd battalions. Supply them the best we can and get them to the front." Colonel Decker ordered, somewhat defeated. In the end, orders were orders.
Over the span of the next thirty minutes, as a third of his forces was sent away, Colonel Decker did his best to coordinate what little forces he had left. Fortunately for him, half an hour after its scheduled due time, a resupply convoy finally reached Airfield Sigma, allowing his regiment to keep deploying and fighting. Honestly, when the convoy arrived, the colonel almost wanted to shed some tears of joy. He had no idea what he would do if it never came.
Under the colonel's orders, his platoons moved from location to location via gunships and armored transports, terminating small groups of Imperial forces they encountered. The 574th, with the help of two other platoons, were able to corner and destroy the small unit of Imperial Special Forces remnants. These three platoons then moved on the group of one hundred or so Imperial survivors and routed them. The Imperial Special Forces unit harassing supply convoys was forced into hiding as well. Overall, things were slightly better.
That was when Colonel Decker was informed of something problematic. A platoon sent to pursue a small squad of Imperials into a forest was ambushed. Judging from the lack of communication after the initial calls for help, most likely the platoon was completely destroyed.
When he first heard the news, the colonel wasn't too surprised. Imperial soldiers were hardly defenseless lambs to be slaughtered, and often they would set up traps and ambush the Decima soldiers sent after them. Given that the platoon was wiped out so quickly, Colonel Decker estimated the enemies to be around a hundred in number. At least.
If it was up to him, he would deploy multiple battalions at once and crush the enemies with overwhelming numbers and firepower, but the reality was that his forces were stretched too thin. Most of his troops were scattered throughout his district. Even Airfield Sigma was only defended by two platoons and his personal security platoon, and those three platoons had to stay to guard the base of operation.
With that in mind, the colonel redirected two available infantry platoons into the forest with heavy weapons and instructed four other platoons to make their way to the forest as soon as possible. In addition, a number of gunships were tasked with providing whatever air support possible. The idea was that the first two platoons, now that they knew what they were dealing with, would be a lot more careful and hopefully provide information on who they were going up against. This would allow the other four platoons to finish the job.
For a while, as more and more intel from other sources reached the colonel, he briefly moved on from what was going on in the forest. Whoever was hiding in the forest would likely end up with the same fate as the other Imperial units. Destroyed or routed.
He was wrong.