Airfield Sigma held several squadrons of gunships and hundreds of long-range surveillance, assault, and suicide drones. Most of these gunships and drones had been deployed on the field. The rest were mostly sitting in the hangar.
When the two reserve platoons engaged the Terran infantry forces, the remaining pilots in the airfield quickly rushed to their gunships. Drone operators in the control tower worked to activate the remaining combat drones and get them into the air.
Colonel Decker's plan was for the two platoons to buy enough time for their gunships and drones to get into the air and repel the attack. It was a decent plan, but he had grossly overestimated how well his troops would do.
The two platoons fell much quicker than anticipated, and by the time the marauders and reapers breached the hangars, most of the gunships and drones were still going through the preparation procedure on the ground. Marauder grenades and reaper detonation charges quickly tore these aerial units to pieces, neutralizing their threat once and for all.
As the battle came to an end, Athena returned to her own body and turned to Adrianna. They had been staying outside the base when the fighting was still going. Now that the Terran forces have taken control it was safe for them to enter. "Let's go."
"Sir," Inside the airfield, Rum turned to Athena. "Their reinforcements are likely on the way here. What are our orders now?"
"I have eyes around the perimeter. We still have some time." Athena instructed before gesturing at the control tower not far away. "Send a squad of marauders and reapers and take that tower. The rest of you secure this airfield. Focus on the airfield and the garage."
"Yes sir."
"I can go with them, Athena," Adrianna proposed.
Athena nodded. "Be careful. And keep your helmet closed. There will likely be a lot of cameras inside."
Athena knew it would be impossible to hide the presence of her Terran forces. This wasn't the remotely located Research Outpost Delta where all the surveillance footage was stored on a local database. This was a military airfield on the capital planet of an advanced kingdom. Most likely, surveillance footage taken here was automatically backed up in remote data centers. If the Imperials won the war, they would likely access those data centers. Athena just hoped she would be gone by the time either side had the time to wonder who the hell she was.
Right now she and Adrianna were still in their Imperial power armor, but they had physically removed any identifiable information from their armor. Their voices were also filtered through the microphone system built into the armor. Unless they showed their faces, it would be difficult to trace them to two of the countless Imperial soldiers missing in action.
As Adrianna and Rum turned and left, Athena shifted her attention back to the hangar. A group of her marines and reapers had already entered the building. Initially, there were a number of gunshots, but they soon died down as the last of the resistance was destroyed.
"Sir, the hangar is secured." A marine whose voice Athena didn't recognize came out and reported. "We took around two dozen prisoners. What should we do with them?"
"Leave them for now. And the ships?"
"We are still exploring the entire hangar, sir. We destroyed maybe a dozen gunships on the ground that were trying to lift off."
"Good." Athena nodded. "Make sure to cover everything…"
"Human technologies detected in close proximity to units…"
"Analyzing technology…"
"Analysis complete. Technologies show resemblance to Terran engineering…"
"Terran structure Factory has been unlocked…"
"Well that's neat...wait, factory?"
"It could be the garage, sir." Dash reminded Athena. "The 4th Regiment is a mechanized regiment. It has a fair share of armored vehicles and light tanks. Most of these vehicles were still sitting in the garage when we broke through."
Athena nodded. Regardless of how the unlock happened, the reality was that she could now build Terran mechanical units from the Factory. She quickly opened the game and noticed the Factory had given her an astounding 300 more supplies. On one hand, this meant she could build a lot more Terran units. On the other hand, Factory units likely cost a lot more supply than infantry units.
As her Terran units continued to scour the airfield and her Zerg roaches reported everything was all clear, Athena took the moment of freedom to enter the game and explore the new units the Factory allowed her to produce.
The Factory could produce some of the most powerful vehicles in the Terran arsenal, but like Athena expected, most of these needed other buildings like the Factory Tech Lab or the Armory. As of now, only two units were available.
The first was the hellion. Hellions were high-speed raiders designed for scouting and skirmishing roles in the terran forces. Their main role on the battlefield was to quickly close the distance with enemy light armored infantry, rain fire with their plasma fuel powered infernal flamethrowers, and then escape once things got too dangerous. They excelled at hit-and-run tactics and, due to their extremely light armor, tended to suffer in prolonged firefighting.
Hellions cost 100 resources and were worth 2 supplies each.
Widow mines were far more than just mines. Each widow mine was an automated weapons factory equipped with a miniature assembly line and an onboard AI. Standing around 1.5 meters tall and similarly wide, widow mines could dig themselves into the ground as ambushers or sentinels. Once they detect enemy units nearby, they would fire sentinel missiles that would hit the enemy units before detonating into a storm of shrapnels, killing the enemy units and everything nearby. They were infamous in the terran military for the numerous friendly fire incidents.
Window mines cost 200 resources and were worth 2 supplies each.
These two units weren't too expensive in resource or supply. They had their strengths, but unlike the marines and marauders, they also had quite obvious weaknesses. If they were used well, they could easily be worth their price. If they were used poorly, Athena would get a rather low return on her investment.
Suddenly, Click tapped his helmet and turned to Athena.
"Sir, we have taken over the control tower and defeated the last of the Decima defenders. The command staff and officers of the 4th Mechanized Regiment have surrendered. Their leader is requesting an audience with you, sir. Would you like to go see them?"
Athena nodded. She took a few steps toward the control tower before sighing to herself. She closed her eyes and took over the body of one of her marines in the control tower.
Why walk all the way there when she could simply speak through someone else?
A few minutes ago, inside the command center, the officers and command staff of the 4th Mechanized Regiment watched in silence as their forces were wiped out far sooner than they had anticipated. As their gunships and drones burned, these men knew it was all over. It didn't take long before despair began to set in.
"Sir," Major Stanz snapped to Colonel Decker. "We need to get out of here now!"
"Our reinforcements are on the way! We have several platoons that will be back here in minutes!" The colonel did his best to remain calm and stoic. "Sergeant Bree, take my security platoon and hold this tower at all costs! We are not losing it to the Imperials!"
"Yes sir!" Sergeant Bree nodded and rushed out of the room, followed by half a dozen sentinels in the command center.
"Sir, with all due respect, how long will a single platoon last?" Major Stanz was hardly convinced. Yes. The security platoon was made of the best in the regiment. Yes. The control tower's environment would favor the defenders. So what? He had watched the intruders decimate their enemies via the security camera, and the reality was that he was terrified. He had seen the Decima Royal Guard in action. The Royal Guard was the best of the kingdom, but he doubted they were as good at killing as these troops.
"We are not abandoning a key military base to the Imperials!"
"Sir, if we stay here, the only thing we will do is add to the casualties!"
"It doesn't matter either way." Another major quietly raised his voice before gesturing at the main display which was now showing security footage inside the tower. "They're already here."
"We still have the emergency exits! We still have time!"
"I will not repeat this again!" Colonel Decker snapped once again before drawing his sidearm and slamming it on the desk. His eyes were red with anger. "If you want to desert from your post, Major Stanz, then you should be ready to face the consequences!"
Colonel Decker had no intention of leaving. Yes. His forces were stretched thin by factors outside of his control. Yes. His enemies were surprisingly powerful. None of that mattered. Whatever the reason behind this defeat was, the reality was that he had lost a major Decima position. If he fled, what would await him? Military trials. Maybe execution. What would people say about him? About his father? His family?
He was the son of a Legion Master. The son of a hero of Decima. The least he could do was die fighting at his post. The least he could do was be made a martyr.
Beside him, Major Stanz's face turned red. He lowered his head and hid the anger in his eyes. The major knew what would happen to the colonel if he gave the order to run. As the commanding officer, the colonel would be finished, but the rest of them…they were just following orders. There was a good chance they would be spared. Their career might be finished, but they could leave with their lives. The colonel, in his foolish loyalty, took this option from him.
As the fighting continued, it soon became clear to the colonel that Major Stanz was right. The security platoon did its best to delay the intruders. They stopped the elevators and blew up key parts of the staircase. Automated defense turrets and explosives were put to use. Yet the enemies pushed forward.
Colonel Decker watched as the heavily armored enemies with grenade launchers blew their way through closed blast doors, defense turrets, and whatever cover the Decima soldiers used to shield themselves. He watched as enemies with jetpacks easily scaled several floors at once and decimated the defenders with explosives and handguns capable of blasting through the walls like they were paper. He watched as Sergeant Bree tried to ambush a small group of enemies, only for the tables to turn within seconds of his troops opening fire. The heavily armored enemy soldiers began shooting back without a moment of chaos or hesitance while the ones with jetpacks took cover behind their tougher comrades. None of them seemed too bothered by the ambush or the danger. The shooting ended quite quickly, and the sergeant himself was stabbed in the neck by an enemy soldier wearing a red Imperial Guardian class power armor.
The entire time, the colonel and most of the officers were too busy watching the surveillance footage or screaming at the returning platoons to move faster. None of them noticed Major Stanz and some of his colleagues having their own little conversation.
Soon, the entire security platoon had been wiped out, and the hostile forces were moving toward the command center. The officers knew the enemies would arrive in a few minutes at most, and if they resisted, their fate would be the same as that of the three platoons.
"Sir?" Major Stanz turned to his colonel, his voice low. "Orders?"
Colonel Decker sighed before reaching for his sidearm on the table. Regardless of how this war would turn out, he had done his duties.
"Prepare for combat…"
The next second, there was a gunshot.
"Sorry, sir." Major Stanz whispered as Colonel Decker collapsed on the floor, dead. "It's your choice if you want to throw your life away, but I am not going to die for a stupid war."
"What have you done?"
Around the command center, several officers snapped at the major in fury, but before they could do anything, a number of other officers behind Stanz raised their sidearms as well and held the others at gunpoint.
Usually, there would be loyal soldiers of the security platoon inside the command center to quickly put down any type of mutiny. This was no longer the case after Sergeant Bree left with his men.
"Does any of you want to die?" Major Stanz pointed at the officers. "You! Lieutenant! Do you still want to see your fiance again? Yes? Then put down your weapon! You! Major Peterson! You want to die here? Or do you want to go home again? Do you have a wife? You don't have a wife? Well, you're not gonna get one if you die here! Put down your sidearm now!"
"This is treason!"
"Judging by how this war is going, it will be treason if you do your duties now!" Sergeant Stanz scoffed. "Treason? Treason is simply an excuse those in power use to discredit and punish their enemies. When the Imperials win, and they are winning, it is people like Colonel Decker who will be traitors! Put your weapons on the ground! I will not ask again!"
There was silence in the room before, one by one, the other officers gave in. It was always easy to promise to die for a cause or a king. When their lives were actually on the line, things become a little more...difficult.