I watched the clock with some apprehension, only a few hours were left and the last sailor was yet to be found, the hinds were sitting silent on the runway of Santa Catalina island, now the center of outpost Anna. In the end the zombies and mutants had been eradicated from the island, and I occasionally got a small trickle of xp and credits when a group of zombies got bombed by the mortars.
The evening sun was beginning to set when the notification finally appeared.
'Special Quest Complete! Rescue trapped sailors from Santa Catalina island, time limit 36 hours. Reward, Instant free promotion to the next rank, 10,000 credits, 70,000 xp.Sailors rescued 5/5, 00:17:03.'
'Free automatic promotion applied. Congratulations Captain, you have been promoted to Major. You may now command a full BTG, 4 additional support companies, and a full aviation squadron. Additional naval assets such as patrol boats and fast attack craft are now available for command and purchase. HQ has granted you 500 credits for your service'
I sighed. Happy I'd completed the mission, but annoyed at my rapidly ballooning responsibilities. I'll get with Ivan when I get back to Fyodor and discuss how to use the massive amount of credits I currently find myself awash with. Actually, I'll quickly expand the Mi-24s to a full strength squadron… a whopping 1,200 credits later and an additional 8 hinds were sitting on the runway.
It was a short wait for the last sailor to be brought to the airfield then a short flight over to Firebase Fyodor. Ivan greeted me as I stepped off the helicopter. "Get the Senior lieutenants together in the command center now."
"Of course sir." Ivan replied before detailing soldiers to go round up the lieutenants in question. A short twenty minutes later I was staring at my subordinates.
"Mission accomplished. I got the promotion." I said as the room erupted with cheers and whistles. Congratulations and a few officers started reaching for the celebratory vodka. I held up a hand to stop them.
"We can celebrate later. But for now I have about sixteen thousand credits that can be used to expand our little army into a proper BTG with some additional support companies and some small naval assets."
"In that case sir, we should expand the existing support platoons to full companies." Ivan replied.
"I'll need seven more tanks for that, three platoons then my command tank." Luka said quietly and everyone looked around the table. They'd all seen the handwritten catalog, a copy was pinned up on the wall behind me for easy reference.. That was going to be pricey.
I opened the store and added the tanks to the list. "That a grand… lieutenant Natasha, would you need another platoon to fill out your battery?"
"Yes sir. Though if there are credits left BTGs are authorized up to two batteries of mortars." Natasha replied.
"We'll go with a single mortar battery for now… I want to expand on our ability to reach out in the artillery department." I replied as I added a second mortar platoon.
I looked at Lieutenant Korov. "I'll only need another two platoons, though if we could get some MTBs for our own transport that would enhance our combat ability."
I added them to the list and looked at Lieutenant Tanya… "Sir, if you plan for the BTG to operate within the nearby area of the firebase then my command will need no further expansion."
"I admire the humble lieutenant. But I want this force to be able to do anything at a moment's notice. Worst case scenario… what would you need to get our sorry asses from this location to the far side of LA?" I asked with dead seriousness. My experience with the US army was more than enough to tell me that shitty logistics killed… and I never deployed either.
The lieutenant mused quietly for a few minutes then spoke. "Four more logistics platoons, and a platoon of fuelers on top of that." I nodded and started adding even more to the list.
"Alright… what else can we add before I start dipping into the support companies?" I asked. The lieutenants looked at each other apprehensive before Luka spoke.
"We can add an anti-air battery, and maybe skip the anti-tank company… not much use for AT with no enemy armor…"
"No much use for your T-72s when theres RPGs that can take out enemy mutants with similar ease… Sir, we should have every asset at our disposal. If for no other reason than its better to never use it than to need it and not have it." George replied sternly.
"You have a fair point there lieutenant." I said while adding them to the growing list. Anything else before I look into the artillery tab?"
"We could use a dedicated medic company? We just have our first aid trained soldiers performing the role at the moment. It would do a lot of good to have actual specialists in that field." Erik offered. I nodded, adding more to my list.
"There's not much I can think of… Maybe a recon company?" Natasha offered.
"No, that's a good idea. Scout out the area, long range patrols, calling in indirect… a lot of use reconnaissance can offer us." Ivan said, nodding to Natasha.
"Other than some beefing up of the artillery, I think that's about it sir." Tanya said with a frown.
I nodded to my officers and scrolled to the artillery tab, selecting a battery's worth of D-30s, Grads, and extra trucks for the sections. I let out a quiet whistle then moved over to the ammunition and started purchasing hundreds of rounds, crates, and rockets. Everything from small arms to artillery to anti-ship missiles. I paused…
"We should probably grab a few extra naval assets to patrol the harbor and channel between Wilmington and Avalon…" I said to the room. The officers looked around. No one in the room had experience with anything naval. Gena was absent, still struggling with his crew to save his ship.
I mused over the options as we unabated the merits of expanding the fleet. The hinds could realistically conduct any supply flights they needed. But I recalled what George had said earlier and added a pair of Paulk class patrol boats, a Tarantul missile corvette and a pair of Shmel river gunboats to round out the force. Between them and the ferries over at Avalon we should be able to ferry reasonable amounts of supplies back and forth as needed.
I started adding ammunition. A shit load… then balked at the price and scaled it back… maybe enough for a few days worth of light combat? Three days seemed like enough.
I looked up from my screen. Alright… you all will not be getting much sleep tonight… "between the new forces and ammunition purchases we're near thirteen thousand."
Several quiet whistles echoed in the command center. We walked down to the wharf. I summoned everything. The ships appeared next to the Voyla, the motor pool was almost bumper to bumper cramped, hundreds of soldiers stood in formation between what looked like mountains of supplies. I gave instruction to the officers, the former Senior lieutenants now captains. A long night was ahead of them. A massive 12,284 credits were spent and I was no closer to regaining my sanity. I still had… 3,144 credits left over. Just in case an emergency brewed up, or I wanted to blow it on one of those support companies…
The night passed quickly for me, as I got to spend it in my wife's arms, listening to her soft murmurs. The rest of the Firebase was not so lucky, nor able to sleep as well as I when sudden and loud noises began. Around 0100 hours the howitzer battery emplaced at the park, the recon company and a pair of hinds scoured the nearby city, between them raining death upon large groups of undead. I awoke to a pleasant surprise.
'Killed Zombies 1,600(walkers), 400(runners): rewarded 4,400 Credits, 22,000 xp. Please view the shop to use your credits.'
'You have gained 22,000 xp, 131,590/160,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'
'Quest issued. Due to recent activity most of the undead within Los Angeles are converging upon Firebase Fyodor. Defend your position. Reward, Survival.'
I jolted upright… I nearly cursed as I scrambled out of the bed, my wife blearily reached for me, wiping crud from her eyes as I threw a uniform on. I stopped to give her a quick hug before I dashed out of the house to the UAZ jeep thing parked outside. I slammed the door and flipped the thing around, flying towards the command center.
A private nearly leapt at me, face full of anger when I nearly rammed him as I drifted the jeep into him. I got out of the jeep and threw the soldier the keys, returning his hasty salute. I rushed up the stairs and into the command center.
"Battalion commander!" Ivan shouted as I burst into the command center.
"Get to work!" I shouted as I headed to my typical spot, standing near the map but also near the radios.
"You're early sir, weren't expecting you for another few hours…" Ivan said, approaching me with a mug of coffee.
"Our damn guns.. There's a horde like no other bearing down on us…" I replied as I stared at the map.
I turned to the radio operator. "Scramble Falcon, get birds spread across the city. I want eyes on anything that moves."
"Yes sir." The radio operators began quickly relaying my orders as I turned and stalked over to the map.
"Did we make contact with those survivors in the Regency?" I asked Ivan as he took the spot beside me.
"Negative sir." i resisted the urge to start swearing under my breath…
"Damn… well shit… send Tanya, take 3 platoons over there with empty trucks, give her teh sparknotes, offer to evacuate them. They can come or not but we are blowing the bridges at Henry Ford and Anaehim st."
"Sir…" Ivan began to protest.
"Damn it Ivan. every damn zombie and mutant in Los Angeles is about to be munching on our bones. We have but hours to prepare… every yard we can shorten our lines we need to… we'll try and force them to come from the north." I said while gesturing at the bridges I'd marked for destruction.
"Fuck… push Alpha and Charlie as far north as 405. Bravo will for the western shield… Luka's company… Delta… they'll cover the channel, screen the eastern side. As Alpha and Charlie fall back Delta can reinforce their positions. The hell is the recon company's callsign?"
"Echo sir." A radio operator shouted.
"Get Echo as far out there as possible, get them to locate any horde conglomerating or heading our way." I shouted back.
"Yes, Major."
"Sir, we listed the new companies and batteries last night. Here's the list." Ivan said while handing me a folded paper.
He walked next to the table and grabbed a few miniatures, placing them on the map. He created a defensive line south of 405. I looked at Ivan. "Get the companies into position. Start setting up defenses, strong points and evacuating civilians.
A soldier struck their head into the command center. "Major, your wife is here."
"Let her in…" I replied as I continued looking at the radio operators taking reports and relaying information to the few soldiers plotting locations of various hordes moving towards the firebase.
"What's going on Andrew?" Veria asked quietly as she walked up beside me, staring at all the activity going on around us.
"The howitzers sounded the dinner bell…" I replied dryly
"Are we the meal?" she asked. I chuckled a bit.
"Are we going to be okay?" she asked after a few moments after the soldiers began moving the various miniatures around. There were hundreds of the damn things and they were all moving to a single point. I silently watched as the battalion tactical group began spilling out of the firebase, moving north to take up defensible positions.
The Hyatt regency was mostly evacuated, a few choosing to remain, the engineers blowing the bridges after the last trucks rolled across. From there the Sappers quickly piled into their vehicles and raced north to reinforce other positions with improvised fortifications or destruction.
"Ivan. we aren't yet using the grads are we?" I asked after a moment.
Ivan gave me an odd look for a moment then nodded. "Negative sir, should I begin incorporating them into the fire plan?"
I nodded my approval and the command squad began reworking the fire plan to incorporate the rocket battery… one of the soldiers, a radio set in hand, leaning over the maps sprawled across the table looked up to me.
"Sir… why the fuck do we not have a dedicated signals company?" I stared at the soldier as the command center fell silent.
"I… congratulations corporal…" I chuckled as I racked my brain, but couldn't find anything as for why I hadn't thought about it. Now I opened the system shop and started getting the equipment I needed. 665 points later and there were a variety of vehicles below the command center.
I walked over to the corporal and grabbed a few officer ranks from the pile on my desk and handed them to the corporal. "Alright captain, get that signal company in the loop and get this mess figured out."
The corporal now captain looked around panicked but his former squad mates looked at him with congratulatory smirks. A wave of congratulations followed him out of the command center as he raced downstairs.
Soon the whole building was filled with activity as the signal company started setting up various antennas atop the building and running yards of wiring down the halls, various soldiers installing random brackets to keep the cable hanging from the ceiling. Slowly the activity began to die down as various signal troops replaced the headquarters squad in the command center.
The corporal returned, now captain Dima. I shook his hand as he walked into the command center. "Congratulations on taking command so quickly captain, your call sign will be Lingo 6."
Dima nodded and looked around the command center, now bustling with activity, voices buzzed from various squawk boxes as larger radio sets were installed, some soldiers busied themselves corralling the new cacophony of cables and wires while others set to work figuring out the situation. A fuller picture began to develop. Where before we'd only marked the location of company headquarters individual platoons were being placed and located on the map. Then individual squads were placed as sectors of fire were laid out.
I looked at the map, trying to imagine how riflemen were feeling. What they wer experiencing right now. What was going through their minds while I stood in this nice air conditioned command center while they were out in the sweltering heat? As the sun baked the pavement to god awful levels?
Private Mira huffed as her squad leader roared a few steps away from her. The rest of her squad was clambering out of the BTR. her RPK and extra ammunition boxes weighed her down as her corporal directed her to place her machine gun up a few dozen feet away. She shouted in acknowledgement and ran over to the spot, looking around.
Her platoon had come to a stop near a bridge over the Dominguez channel north of the refinery. Her corporal ushered her into a restaurant, an octagonal shaped building and up onto the roof. High walls prevented her from seeing over but she improvised, throwing the machine gun up onto an air conditioning unit and scrambling on top of it. She grabbed the MG and was able to see over the wall.
Her firing position could not have been much better, a pair of bridges intersected over the channel, and a few cars littered the intersection. The platoon's BTRs set up on the South bridge, covering the northern road.
"Mira, sector limit left is that shell sign, right limit, ah… the left edge of that white building there." corporal Boyra instructed. I acknowledged his directions and began setting up the RPK as the Corporal began giving directions to the other member of our little fire team.
"You got this Mira?" Boyra asked, suddenly at my side.
"We're platoon overwatch, if you can't handle it let me know, i'll take over…" his eyes pierced into mine. I remembered the other day, when my old platoon sergeant had told me I was being transferred to the infantry from my post as a supply truck driver. It wasn't because I had crashed the truck was it? Because they doubted me?
"I can do it corporal." I replied firmly, turning to look out over the channel, I flicked the safety off. I glanced around, seeing the platoon getting into various fighting positions along the channel. Just north of my position was a rail bridge then highway 405… to the south the rest of the platoon was spread out covering the flank of the marathon refinery… I really was the point gun for the platoon, my small light machine gun…
I pushed the thoughts down and looked down the road, seeing movement to the east down 223rd street… a small group in dirty civilian garb, running for their lives. Behind them sprinted a few of those mutants. The ones from the training manuals the Major made earlier this month…
"Berserkers!" Boyra shouted. I quickly shifted the RPK to aim at the sprinting monsters. They easily shouldered aside the lighter cars, flipping random rubble in their path as they ran after those civilians. I lined up the sights as I had been taught and pressed the trigger.
My ears rang as the gun sang, hot brass clattering of the air condition unit and falling to the roof. Tracers arced down 223rd street, mere inches above the civilians head. My first burst was low, rounds spattering off pavement and sending shards flying… I'd nearly killed the civilians. Holding back a muttered curse, I adjusted the RPK and fired again. The tracers stitched the closest Berserker, it jerked with the impacts and slowly staggered. Another burst left it falling to the ground while other berserkers rushed past it. Flinging the body aside.
I continued firing, mentally berating myself for forgetting my ear protection in the BTR as I shifted my point of aim and fired at another mutant. I sort of detached, methodical part of me seemed to softly whisper in my ear as I continued to fire.
Only six berserkers… five now… those civilians look battered, they must be exhausted. Oh, the BTRs are firing at something. The civilians just ran across the bridge, ducking below all the tracers flying everywhere.
A deep rhythmic thumping came from above, I gunned down the last berserker as a pair of Hinds soared overhead, autocannons blazing and rockets streaking towards whatever undead I couldn't see. I checked the belt of ammo on my RPK, half empty… I looked back up the street to see yet more enemies approaching. I quickly aimed. My breaths came ragged and quick as I fired again.