Chapter 105

Genii forward position

With vehicles under camouflaged netting the reinforced Genii mechanized battalion sat in the wood line. Deployed to the southeast of the Daganian capital this battalion was intended to act in a gatekeeper capacity. Should the Lantean's attempt military intervention the job of these men was to stop them in their tracks.

Since their arrival little had been seen, but much had been heard. A constant roar of aircraft passing overhead at high speed had permeated the encampment. With vehicles concealed the men were safely ensconced in their dug in fighting positions. These fighting positions were little more than foxholes cut into the Dagan soil, with overhead protection coming from fallen trees placed atop. The constant enemy of each soldier was boredom. Hearing the noise of aircraft and the hollow booms of explosions in the distance each soldier yearned to see action, but most doubted that action would find them. Sitting atop their fighting position the unit commander talked with a young soldier new to the unit.

"How many flying craft do the Lantean's have Sir" asked the young soldier named Panol.

"They have very few, not more than a few handfuls boy" replied Kos, the unit's commander.

"The noise they produce is impressive" said Panol.

"They can make all the noise they wish, but noise means little in war. It is the strength of ones fighting spirit and training that counts most" replied Kos.

"Do you think the Lantean's will dare approach our area" asked Panol.

"Look around you son. We're sitting here with fighting vehicles and eighteen hundred men. Our enemy is not known for doing anything with a great number of men. It is their custom to use teams of four men to carry out their missions. What chance do four men stand against our eighteen hundred? None" exclaimed Kos.

"I've heard whispers of the Lantean's defeating the Wraith every time the two meet. If that is true should we not be worried" asked Panol.

"Rumors and conjecture nothing more than that boy, you have my word. I challenge the ancestors to send these Lantean's to face us in combat and see what we are capable of. It is they who should fear us, not the other way around. Like cowards they will not dare fight us on the ground as men. Instead they hide behind their technology and attack us from the air. You have nothing to fear from them" exclaimed Kos.

"Commander Kos, do you see that dust cloud moving this way? I've seen similar clouds of dust like that when our vehicles exercise together in mass" said Panol.

Looking at the dust cloud in the distance Kos picked up his binoculars and tried to find the source of the disturbance. Seeing could only be vehicles, but ones he was unable to make out due to their distance his blood ran cold.

Maneuver Group One

The combined forces of Eagle, Fox, and Grim Troops deftly maneuvered over the Dagan landscape. After a brief stop to refuel the maneuver group resumed their advance at a leisurely thirty five miles per hour. To the men in their armored vehicles the advance reminded those with more time in service than their juniors of the advance across the desert of Iraq towards Baghdad. Alerted by information transmitted from the ground controller to each vehicle's IVIS the men of Maneuver Group One knew that enemy contact was moments away. Any moment now they would get visual confirmation of what their information sharing systems already told them was out there.

Two miles in front of the advancing wedge of M-8 Buford tanks, Stryker's, and Bradley fighting vehicles were two M-3 Bradley Cavalry Scout Vehicles. These scouts were lightly armed and functioned as the eyes of the oncoming herd. Peering through the digitally enhanced optics of the commanders targeting sight one of the scout vehicle commanders spotted a halftrack in the distance at the edge of the wood line.

"Contact! Enemy vehicles in the wood line! Wow their camouflage is horrible. Didn't anyone tell them that a top cover doesn't stop ground vehicles from seeing you" asked the vehicle commander rhetorically.

"Be vwey vwey quiet, I'm hunting wabbits" said the gunner in his best Elmer Fudd voice.

Updating the tactical picture for the vehicles behind the vehicle commander input his findings into IVIS. Seconds after the Genii positions were known to every vehicle in the regiment. This information was quickly verified by the ground controller in the jumper high above. Over the radio came the order to engage the enemy at the scout commander's discretion. Weighing his options the two scout vehicles opted to quickly halt in their continued forward movement and allow the heavier armor coming up behind them to engage in mass.

Seeing the scout's halt the Maneuver Group commander took his cue to push forward and engage. His plan was to overwhelm the enemy quickly and with devastating firepower to beat the will to resist out of them as quickly as possible. Cavalry troopers were known to prefer the vicious knockout blow of a heavyweight boxer as opposed to the drawn out battle of jabs that lightweights were known for. Quickly a call went out to the Group's artillery assets and MLRS vehicles. Moments later the artillery commander put out the flash order for a fire mission with a very specific time on target attached. This coordinated time on target attachment would ensure all rounds would land on the enemy positions at exactly the same time despite the fact that multiple rounds were being fired from the same weapons. To achieve this each howitzer would fire their shells at different angles with each shot, altering the parabolic arc each shell would take to their target. Using this process multiple rounds from each howitzer would land in the target area within seconds of each other.

On confirmation of enemy troop emplacements forward of their current position the leading edge of the wedge formation accelerated towards their targets. Each M-8 Buford's one hundred and twenty millimeter smooth bore main gun, the same as found on the M-1 Abrams, was loaded with a high explosive anti tank (HEAT) round. The automatic loading system aboard the Buford's stood ready to rapidly reload the main weapon once the first shell was expended. To ease targeting each gunner switched his weapon sights to thermal imaging to better pick out the vehicles they intended to destroy. In the lead Buford the crew was methodically carrying out every facet of their training.

"Gunner after we fire all reloads are HEAT" called out the tank commander over the intercom.

"You got it TC" replied the gunner.

"Driver slow to twenty miles per hour, I'll put that out over IVIS to the rest of the wedge" said the tank commander.

"Roger that Sergeant" replied the driver.

Backing down on the throttle the Buford slowed, moments later to be followed by the decrease in speed by the rest of the advancing wedge. Behind each Buford was a rooster tail of dust in the air. While this kick up of dust would alert the enemy of their approach it would also obscure the enemy's sight picture of vehicles approaching behind the leading M-8's.

"Gunner, bring turret full front. Target halftrack to front" called out the TC.

"Ranging now" replied the gunner.

With the push of a button on his systems panel the gunner activated the laser range finder onboard. On command an invisible beam of light shot towards the targeted vehicle, a potion of which was reflected back to the receiver on the Buford. In less than a second the onboard fire control system computed the range to target based on the time of travel of the reflected laser light.

"Range twenty four hundred meters" called out the gunner.

"You feeling good about your shot" asked the TC.

"I always feel good about firing this thing. We both know missing is something this guy doesn't do" replied the gunner.

"Humble too I see. Gunner, fire" ordered the TC.

With a squeeze of the trigger on his control yoke the gunner unleashed the one hundred and twenty millimeter HEAT round. With a thunderous boom the main run recoiled backwards while belching fire and smoke. Traveling at fifteen hundred and eighty meters per second the twenty five point one pound shell covered the distance to target in a literal blink of an eye. On contact of the rounds nose cap with the front finder of the halftrack an explosive charge detonated within the shell. The force and heat of this detonation impacted the metallic channel running towards the nose of the shell. Liquefying into a state of superplasticity this metallic explosively formed penetrator impacted the halftracks hull easily punching through the sturdy reinforced body of the vehicle. Tenths of a second later fuel and ammunition cooked off as the vehicle was engulfed in a wave of fire and heat, exploding and throwing flaming debris all around.