Captain Natasha sat next to several soldiers from the logistical platoon that were dropping off more rounds for her mortars. She was signing the papers as quickly as she could while her soldiers tore into the boxes to get more rounds from them for their current fire missions.
Natasha thrust the papers back at the clerk. "There? Happy? Can you hurry up and drop the ammo now?" she demanded hotly. The whole morning and afternoon her battery had been swamped with fire missions from the companies. Desperately calling for support. Too many had gone unanswered.
The clerk grabbed the documents with a flustered expression. "Ma'm the papers need…"
"Fuck your papers. Good men and women are dying because of people like you!" Natasha roared.
"The undead are half a mile from the wall. Yet your stuck up ass has the audacity to make me do paperwork instead of fighting the battle to save our lives! By God I'll have your ass in a court martial if I hear another word!"
The clerk scurried away. Natasha turned on her heel, still fuming as she stalked back to her command area, the FDC was stripped to its bare essentials, the others were busy helping bring ammo to the tubes.
"Captain, Thunder is going cold. Tubes are too hot." her FDC chief told her.
"Just what we need." she gripped as she took a seat next to a radio and picked up the transceiver.
"Hail this is Echo 7 over." a voice spoke with strain over the net.
"This is Hail 6 over." Natasha said into the speaker as she quickly grabbed the nearby paper.
"Hail we need…" the transmission cut short. Natasaha slammed her fist into the radio, cursing.
Suddenly the radio crackled again.
"Hail… This is Private Dimitry of Echo Company… Broken arrow… repeat, broken arrow. Our coordinates are as follows… 33.790, -118.284. I say again 33.790, -118.284."
Natasha lowered her transceiver and looked to her FDC. "whole battery, 33.790, -118.284."
"We have active missions from Charlie and Delta…" he protested.
"They aren't being overrun!" she screamed.
The FDC chief nodded and started the process for inputting the fire mission. The mortars shifted and started dropping rounds on the new target. Natasha slowly lowered her head as the sound of an explosion came over the net. A few tears dropped to the grass at her feet. How many more calls like this would she have to answer? How many more would she have to kill?
Lieutenant Boris was in charge of a platoon of Zsu-23 AA guns… he hadn't expected to be actively involved in the fighting. But as a precaution he'd had his men bring extra ammunition from the warehouses to their firing positions but judging by the swarms of harpies flying about… he was glad he'd made that decision.
A pair of hinds flew low over the battlefield, strafing the oncoming horde. They were swarmed, hundreds of harpies mobbed them, their bodies colliding with the rotors, first being mulched but the damage quickly became apparent as the hinds lost control, spirling to the ground. Large fireballs rising to the sky from where they'd gone down.
Boris instructed his platoon to start killing the Harpies off. Streams of 23mm arced into the sky from Fyodor, swathes of Harpies fell from the sky, yet they approached like a black swarm.
The tracers zipping overhead of the infantry companies. Two gates were available for the infantry to retreat inside the Firebase, gate 3, at the intersection of West Anaheim and Figeura st, and gate 4 at the intersection of West Anaheim and North Fries ave. Delta was already covering Charlie's retreat through gate 4 while Fox worked to delay the horde so Bravo and Alpha could enter gate 3.
Lieutenant Boris could see most of it from his platoon's position atop the food 4 less next to gate 4. A salvo of rockets soared overhead, flying overhead. Some rockets exploded when they hit the swarm of harpies but most continued onwards, hitting targets further north.
Suddenly trucks started driving up to the walls, soldiers piling out. Boris looked at confusion as he saw artillery troops taking positions atop the container wall. Yet more kept coming, taking positions and setting up machine guns. Then came several squads worth of the camp's civilian population armed with rifles, they were being dispersed along with the artillery troops. He pondered for a moment before it dawned on him… either the situation was so dire that no amount of artillery could save them now… or they had no ammunition left to shoot… which was worse he had no idea.
Private Mira dropped off the BTR as it rolled through gate 4. She slung her RPK and offered a hand to the wounded members of her squad as they dismounted the still moving vehicle. A few medics nearby started performing triage. Mira herself was not wounded, but she was the sole survivor of her squad, her assistant gunner had succumbed to his wounds a few minutes ago, bleeding out in her arms.
Mira looked around, not seeing any familiar faces amidst the chaos of the parking lot of the food 4 less. Tracers from the AA platoon on the roof filled the sky, harpies falling like rocks to the ground, guts and gore spraying everywhere.
"Charlie, Get on the wall! We have more undead to kill!" a shout came from another BTR rolling through the gate. Mira recognized her platoon leader and rushed over, grabbing a few boxes of ammunition that was being unloaded from the BTR before taking the stairs atop the wall.
Mira ended up a bit down the wall from Gate 4, setting up her RPK to look down N lagoon Ave at the oncoming horde of walkers. The slow shuffling mass was far less intimidating than the reavers that had slaughtered her squad. But that didn't make them any less dangerous.
The far end of the road was a church, built in some hispanic style. But the horde piled around the building. Spilling across the road. Mira opened fire, as did everyone around her. Tracers streaked towards the horde.
The front of the horde dropped like flies, yet more continued to replace them. It was like some sadistic creature kept them all moving forward. They moved forward relentlessly, their advance never ending as they slowly approached the walls. Mira reached for another can to reload her weapon and found none, suddenly a can was pressed into her hand. She glanced at the can. A hand too clean to have been in the battle pushed it into her, she glanced at the figure, seeing the single gold star on his epaulets.
The Major knelt next to her, opening the feed tray of the RPK with a practiced ease and quickly chucked the expended can behind him, he grabbed the new one and attached it, slapping the rounds into the weapon and closing the feed tray. The Major gave Mira a nod before standing up and continuing down the line, offering ammunition to soldiers and occasionally stopping to fire a few shots with his pistol.
Mira shook her head and returned to firing at the horde. Firing short, selective bursts to conserve ammunition. She wasn't really sure why but ammunition never seemed far from hand, whether it be a half spent belt or a box just pried out of an ammo crate.
A sudden explosion drew Mira's attention. A gargantuan mutant, larger even than a sentinel stood at a gap in the wall, soldiers near it were screaming and scrambling away from the horde spilling in around its ankles.
Suddenly an explosion rocked the creature. The engine of a T-72 roared as the machine charged the beast, smoke wreathing its barrel from the round it had just fired. The massive mutant staggered back but didn't fall. A second shot from another T-72 caused the beast to stagger again just as the advancing T-72 rammed its legs.
The beast fell back, a massive thunderous crash echoed amidst the cracking of chitinous plates, sending shrapnel everywhere. The T-72, now sitting atop the Mutant's severed lower legs lowered its barrel as the mutant struggled to stand and fired a second round, blasting the mutant's head clean off. The T-72 then proceeded to jam itself into the wall and several nearby soldiers rallied to it, climbing atop the tank and firing into the horde.
Sofia Prats had been an engineer before the apocalypse. She'd never seen herself as anything more than an average girl. Yet she stood atop this wall with her fellow hispanics, russians, whites… people she'd never imagined seeing or talking with fighting the hordes of the undead. When the armory had been opened as weapons distributed to everyone. She'd lost hope. She'd been corralled with several others to the wall. The last place she had wanted to be in that moment. How she wanted to be anywhere else, somewhere far, far away from here.
She watched as the soldiers, battered, wounded and bloodied, came back from their day's battle, and with little argument rushed to man the walls, ammunition was dispersed and even the artillery soldiers started manning the walls. That was when she saw it… that massive creature that broke through the wall.
She'd been standing a few yards away from it. The next thing she knew a tank was ramming the creature over, crushing its legs and savagely executing the thing while trying to block the hole in the wall with their own bodies. Sofia felt a sense of shame wash over her as she watched several of her fellow survivors clamber up to the gap to help hold the line, standing shoulder to shoulder with these Russian soldiers.
A loud screech caught her attention. Turning to see the gate she watched as the gate fell off its guid rails. Her blood froze as she saw several large undead swarm inside the walls. But something caught her eye, the control panel next to the gate. The secondary set hadn't been closed yet…
She made up her mind instantly, racing for the panel. She shot a few zombies that reached for her but dodged through the horde and grabbed the control level. Yanking on it with all her might. A loud hydraulic hiss echoed as the panel shuddered, the gate beginning to slide closed. She shouted, pumping her fist his jubilation when a reaver fell upon her, tearing her apart. Even then Sofia fought, the reaver dying with her as the gate closed.
Andrew silently sat down as the gunfire slowly petered out. Corpses lay strewn everywhere. Barrels glowed cherry red in the growing dusk. He'd witnessed near countless acts of valor from the wall as soldiers and citizens both fought to save their lives and the lives of those around them. Strings of notifications filled his vision as the people around him began to cheer. Realizing they'd survived.
'Quest Complete. Due to recent activity most of the undead within Los Angeles are converging upon Firebase Fyodor. Defend your position. Reward, Survival.'
'Quest issued, (series quest). Expand your survivor camp to 500 survivors. Reward 20,000xp. 463/500'
'Killed Zombies 83,765(walkers) mutants 2,978(harpies), 3,456(reavers), 4,681(berserkers), 1,496(specters), 2,899 (tanks), 1,186 (sentinels), 3,547 (gargoyles), 6 (juggernauts): rewarded 355,567 Credits, 1,531,700 xp. Please view the shop to use your credits.'
'You have gained 1,531,700 xp, 1,663,290/160,000 xp needed for your next promotion. Would you like to be promoted? yes/no.'
I selected yes… the least I could get out of this was basically a free promotion…
'Promotion applied. Congratulations Major, you have been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. You may now command a full Regiment (4BTG),3 support BTGs, 8 support companies, and 2 aviation squadrons. Additional naval assets such as amphibious warfare vessels are now available for command and purchase. HQ has granted you 1,000 credits for your service'
'You have gained 0 xp, 1,503,290/500,000 xp needed for your next promotion. Would you like to be promoted? yes/no.'
I selected Yes again, there was no reason not to. Milk this crummy situation for all it was worth…
'Promotion applied. Congratulations Lieutenant Colonel, you have been promoted to Colonel. You may now command a full Regiment (4BTG),3 support BTGs, 8 support companies, and 2 aviation squadrons. Additional naval assets such as frigates, corvettes, and naval aviation are now available for command and purchase. HQ has granted you 2,500 credits for your service'
'You have gained 0 xp, 1,003,290/1,600,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'
I chuckled a bit to myself… two promotions then some extra xp… I looked up and my good mood vanished. There was work to be done first.
Details were set to tally the total casualties. Cremate the dead and find some awards for those that had distinguished themselves. The night was long, some sleep was taken but activity continued through the night.
In the morning Andrew stood before the Battalion, reinforced to full strength again after spending 1,700 credits to replenish the losses. The formations stood on the artillery field, howitzers and mortars dug deeply into the ground.
"We stand here to honor the fallen, those that gave their lives in defense of others. The following soldiers and citizens are no longer among us and will posthumously be honored." my voice echoed as the loudspeakers amplified it.
Several portraits were displayed below the stage. I began to list those that we were honoring, those that had made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
"Lieutenant Sergi of Fox Company is posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star for selfless sacrifice in the line of duty, staying behind to complete a mission that denied the enemy a critical bridge of the Dominguez channel."
"Private Nikolai of Charlie company is posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star for his selfless sacrifice and devotion to duty. Private Nikolai held his position as his platoon was being overrun, saving countless lives."
"Corporal Anya of Alpha company is posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star for her Selfless sacrifice in the line of duty. Corporal Anya's squad was being overrun when she took it upon herself to attack reavers head on. Her actions saved the lives of her comrades in arms."
"Sergeant Pavel of Bravo company is posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star for selfless sacrifice and devotion to his troops in the line of duty. Sergeant Pavel was wounded retaking a strongpoint, evacuated to a medical hospital and discharged, he was last seen killing a sentinel with a knife while protecting his comrades in arms."
"I will now take a moment to briefly mention the last two posthumous awardees of this ceremony. Sophie Prats was an engineer, briefly assisting Fox with construction of the walls around our camp. She is posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin for her selfless sacrifice and devotion in the line of duty. Sofia was found under the body of a reaver, having closed the secondary gate, preventing a far greater tragedy."
"Vik Andeio was a firefighter and assisted the medics in treating the wounded outside the walls. He is posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin for his selfless sacrifice and devotion in the line of duty as he defended a medical station from several specters while casualties were evacuated. Vik's helmet was found amidst several reavers and specters. His selfless sacrifice is an example to us all."
I waited a few moments then made a gesture for a small group of soldiers to walk onto the stage. These soldiers had done far and above what could be asked of them. These ones had survived… if I'd learned anything about military service. Survivors were the lucky ones. Meanwhile the medals were laid beneath the posthumous awardees, a small red ribbon with a silver star, a soldier was engraved onto the star, standing a silent vigil.
"Lieutenant Viktor of Delta company is awarded the Order of the Red Star for selfless sacrifice and devotion to duty, when the wall was breached Lieutenant Viktor ordered his tank ram the mutant. His successful actions and those of his crew saved countless lives."
"Staff sergeant Dmitri of Bravo Company is awarded the Order of the Red Star for selfless sacrifice and devotion to duty. Sergeant Dmitri held the line while his company fell back to defensive positions. Battling Reavers and Specters Sergeant Dmitri fought his way back to his unit and continued the fight. His heroic defense of his comrades in arms is in standing with the highest standards of military bearing and discipline."
"Corporal Ivan of Golf Company is awarded the Order of the Red Star for his selfless actions in the defense of his comrades in arms. Corporal Ivan manned an ATGM covering the retreat of Charlie company. He successfully slew dozens of high threat mutants, saving the lives of Charlie company's soldiers on multiple occasions."
I waited while the soldiers were pinned. Then slowly walked down the line, shaking the hand of each soldier and saluting them. Several of them were bandaged, still recovering from their wounds.
Compared to these heroes I was nobody. I made sure they all knew that. Just because I got to wear a fancy hat, walk around and get salutes didn't make me someone important. I didn't do what they did. Make the sacrifices they made.