Dimensional Travels: World at War-Chapter 95: War (2)

Jessica groaned as she lifted rubble off of her head. Fighting position they had built was gone, shredded to pieces as the missile barrage had begun. She had just barely had enough time to spread her mana, shielding the soldiers underneath her. As the barrage stopped, she collapsed against Liam, coughing up blood.

"I can’t move babe."

Liam sighed as he held her. "You saved us, my love."

In other parts of the forest, echoes of orders being shouted reaching them. 6-8 and 4-1 were retreating back one phase line. Suddenly, a black blur was seen scrambling across the forest. Jessica groaned.

"Of course they would come check on me." She said weakly, her legs giving out.

Mia reached them and saw Jessica slumped against Liam. She watched the rise and fall of her chest, confirming the girl was alive, before her eyes narrowed. The barricades and other structures they had hastily built lie in ruins, but not a single soldier was lost.

"What happened, Liam?"

The young soldier scooped Jessica up, holding her against his chest as they began retreating back to Phase line November.

"When the missiles started to fall, Jessica put up a barrier. She began coughing up blood as the barrage continued, but the stubborn girl continued holding the barrier up."

Mia’s eyes arched as she radioed up to HQ. "We need immediate medevac at Phase Line November, East sector at clearing 1A. Possible mana overload."

Liam trembled as he set Jessica down. "Hang in there babe. It will be okay." He said soothingly.

But war never waits.

"INCOMING!"

A voice shouted, and Mia pulled Liam with Jessica back into the trench.

"Fuck. Can’t we do something about these missiles?"

"There’s no PATRIOT or C-RAM here."

Chaos reigned anew as the forest was turned to mincemeat. Screams of the dead and dying echoed out as the barrage relentlessly churned the earth. Large explosions filled the air with their ear shattering concussive blasts. Mia observed the blasts calmly. She looked up, following the paths of the projectiles until she saw the muzzles flashing from each launch site."The missiles are inaccurate."

She pulled out the radio. "Paladin crews, shift fire. The enemy is firing from Mountains 3C, 2A, and 1D. They are along Sual pass and where the encampments used to be."

"Copy. Shifting fire."

As Mia and Liam reach Phase line November, Earth shaking "Thunk’s" began to echo across the forest. The wind became violent with each launch as 6-8 paladins began targeting the Mountains Mia had identified. Explosions echoed as craters in the mountains began to appear.

Mia focused on Jessica as medics arrived. She handed the girl off to the medics and took charge of the sector.

"Eric, I am taking charge of sector 1A. Jessica is currently WIA."

"Copy. Report back accountability when you can."

They broke radio contact as Eric crossed his arms, smoking a cigarette. The missile barrage had ceased as he turned to Michael.

"Did you and Ayeolla ever have that wedding? I never got an invite?"

The captain raised his eyebrow. "Really? You’re asking that now?"

They both laughed. "Yes. We ended up having a small ceremony. Just the two of us and her parents. When this is all over we will have a real ceremony."

Eric patted the young man on the back. "Good. I was wondering where you went the last few days. Are you gonna name your kid after me?"

"Go fuck yourself."

Justin looked down into the valley as the missiles landed. "They certainly ain’t howitzers, but damn they sure do pack a punch, don’t they?"

Josh chuckled, sitting next to one of the Llrathels. "Yeah." He looked down at the valley, cigarette in his mouth as he observed the Empire troops. They were loading up another volley, when suddenly the two heroes stood still. They looked off in the distance, eyes wide as they heard the unmistakable "Thunk!"

"Fuck!"

Within seconds, sections of the mountains began to be filled with craters. One explosion after the other filled the mountainside with promise of death and chaos. "Retreat! Bring the Triaz launchers to the North side of the mountains!"

The enemy had already destroyed four. They couldn’t afford to lose more. Josh watched in horror as in the next moment a massive series of explosions triggered on the South side of the mountain. The entire mountain face seemed to shift as large boulders and snow began rolling down the south face. Two launchers had not been able to make it out.

They were down to two total launchers now.

"Fuck."

After the avalanche and rock slides ceased, Josh and Justin sat at the command table. They warily regarded the map as they looked at the Generals. The tent was silent as the two heroes read the reports. Fifty empire soldiers had been lost, with four launchers now unrecoverable.

"They have paladins. How the fuck do they have paladins?" Justin grumbled as he rubbed his face in his hand.

He turned to the Generals. "If we do not find a way to push into the forests, those paladins will eat our forces alive. We could push the entire Army through those passes, but those things could take out more men and equipment we are willing to lose."

The Generals stared at the hero in silence, shock on their faces as they listened to his words. Heque spoke up. "How far away can they target us from?"

Justin stared at the map, his head dropping.

"Like 25 miles."

The Hoaz stood up, his eyes wide as he looked at the map. "IMPOSSIBLE! THAT WOULD MEAN-"

Josh looked up, mana flaring around himself. "Calm yourself, General." He called out calmly. "Do not let the men know you are shaken. A general must maintain a calm head and clear thought process. Panicking leads to more men dying. I will apologize. If Justin or I knew that the enemy had those types of assets, we would not be targeting them from a wide open mountain side."

Josh looked at the map once more. "So we funnel our forces here, and here." He circled two passes. "Let us use the cover of night and create a smoke screen by setting charges on the bottom of the mountain. We will then follow Lord Mithrael’s plan by setting up a perimeter around the forest."

General Hoaz spoke up. "What are charges?"

Josh grumbled and rubbed his face. "Fuck man. It feels like I am playing a Military simulator, but we are Venezuela." He groaned.

"Alright. Do we have mages capable of using fire magic? If so, I want them to melt entire swathes of snow. We need to generate as much steam and smoke as possible. If we have mages that can use wind magic, we need them too. They will be in charge of blowing the steam and smoke to cover us."

Justin nodded. "And while we amass forces, Hoaz, and Heque will stay back with the launchers. Keep them honest by continuing to launch volleys. Once you shoot a barrage, you move. Use the ridge lines as cover."

With the orders given, Empire soldiers began to move. Long columns of soldiers checked equipment as they spread out and lined up. Mages went to work on the other side of the mountain as night fell, and a thick blanket of smoke and fog began spreading over the forest.

Eric sat against his truck with Milano as they looked over reports from each unit. "We lost thirty soldiers in the initial barrage, with one bradley from Bravo company 6-8 destroyed." Milano said as he read the numbers. He sighed as he looked back to the rear. Dragon Elders stood there, talking with the young dragons. He shook his head.

"This has gotten crazy."

Eric shrugged as he lit another cigarette. "Same shit, different world, sir."

Suddenly, the radio in Eric’s truck came alive. "Report! A massive cloud of fog is rising above the valley! We can’t run targeting missions any further."

Eric and Milano shared a look...

And then they heard the whistle.

"GET DOWN!"

Eric tackled Milano, and the air exploded. His breath burned like fire in his lungs as he felt like his entire body was hit with a sledgehammer. He groaned as he rolled over to his side. More missiles hit, but it was only two at a time and not twelve.

"All forces, hunker down in your trenches. We are not to retreat further unless necessar."

Eric crawled over to Milano. "You good?"

The General nodded. "Yes."

Eric then looked up, seeing the massive plume of smoke and fog heading their way. "Smart. Very smart."

Throughout the night, there were no further engagements. Eric and Mia waited, taking turns keeping watch while scanning the tree line. When one was not on watch, they would cross verify with ISR. There was no sight or sign of the empire troops, so eventually Eric called off the drones.

"Maintain operational security. Keep eyes peeled for movement, and ensure you call out contact."

"Master Sergeant Dryer out."