Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Love and War ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Spartan429 
Anime/Manga: Love Hina Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 07.02.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 625 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Love Hina Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 07.02.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 625 | Status: Work In Progress
"abc"-speech
"abc"-speech over radio/TV
abc-thoughts
"abc"-English speech
Location: Forward Operating Base. Outskirts of Hinata City.
Status: Engaged in combat.
Alert Level: Defcon 1
The first thought that pops into a person’s head is that aliens have invaded the Earth. Only when they see the conventional modern day weapons and the Chinese flag emblazoned on the front, do they realize what it is.
It was massive. It stood on a pair of armored, hydraulic legs. The “hips” were attached to a central unit by alternating hydraulic joints for maximum mobility. On top if that was what passed as a Black Hawk helicopter’s cockpit enlarged five times with a small window. Braces were on either side of the cockpit. Attached to the braces were long-range, high powered rail guns housed in a hexagonal frame, with the top and bottom sides lined up with the horizon. On the lower adjacent side of each frame was another frame, which housed what looked like rocket pods. And directly above those (upper adjacent side of the first frame), were high velocity cannons. On top of the cockpit was what seemed to be an oversized, high powered telescope. On the back of the mech, a small nuclear reactor/generator was attached, with armored cables plugged into the telescope thing and the mech itself. (A/N: For those of you who have played Chromehounds, this should sound somewhat familiar.)
It just stood there, like it was surveying the landscape. A feeling of imminent death and destruction radiated from it and washed over the troops. The cockpit looked down upon the base with what could be interpreted as “disgust.”
“Nobody…move…a muscle,” Steven said into the comm. “General, I need that entire division of tanks to start launching shells. Repeat, I need maximum cover fire.”
“Roger. Stand by.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Steven replied. “Guys, when the shells hit that thing, start hauling ass to the base. We don’t stand a chance at this range.”
“Got it,” they all replied.
“Alpha, all tanks are ready. Prepare for one hell of a sprint.”
“Roger that.”
The giant mech was now starting to walk forward. It took incredibly huge steps, which shook the ground, causing small pebbles and clumps of dirt to bounce off the ground.
“All units, open fire!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The tanks started to launch their high velocity shells. They sailed through the air and impacted on the mech with loud bangs.
“Move! Move! Get to the base!”
Alpha started to haul ass towards the base. Dust and dirt were kicked into the air as they ran, leaving a trail behind them. The tanks continued to shell the mech, which started taking steps back from the force of the shells.
Piff! Piff! Piff! Piff!
Miniature geysers of dirt started appearing all over the area. Machinegun and rifle rounds whizzed by in waves. Attack choppers were visible coming from uptown.
“They’re launching the counteroffensive!” Steven cried out. “The bastards are trying to overrun us!”
Alpha ran with renewed energy, dodging bullets all the way to the outer wall. They jumped over the wall and barbed wire, landing in a rather painful heap on the other side. They quickly recovered and slammed against the wall, weapons up.
“Pick your targets and fire at will!” Steven yelled.
With only the distant muzzle flashes of PLA rifles, everybody started taking potshots. Brooks was doing his usual thing, laying heavy suppression fire down on the enemy. Harland had put a twelve inch extension onto his M4’s barrel and attached a scope. He was now taking the role of team sniper the best he could. Steven and Keitaro kept firing bursts at any PLA troops that were trying to advance, firing the occasional grenade. While the tanks were due for ammo restocking for their main cannons very soon, the mech was being pushed back by the high explosive shells, and everybody hoped to God that it wouldn’t recover.
“Squad four is out!”
The mayhem then escalated as engineers ran over to restock five of the twenty tanks lined up against the second wall.
“Squad one is out!”
“We need reinforcements!” Julio came over the comm.
“Squad two is out!”
The battle was getting very bloody. The casualties may have been mostly PLA troops, but the few Marines that did get hit, got hit bad. One poor private was hit in the left shoulder by a stray rifle round, which effectively shattered his collarbone, ripped the joint apart, and put a jagged crack in his shoulder blade as the bullet exited out the back. A group of medics rushed him into the first aid tent while he screamed bloody murder. With luck, he would eventually regain partial use of his left arm in three months.
Squad three was firing whatever shells it had left, which seemed to do the job as the mech was still being pushed back. Suddenly, the tanks stopped firing.
“Squad three is out!”
“Please be dead. Please be dead. Please be dead,” Keitaro mumbled.
The mech wasn’t moving. There wasn’t a scratch or dent on its armor, but it wasn’t moving. It just stood there as if somebody had hit the pause button. That is, until it took a step forward.
“Shit! It’s still alive!” Keitaro swore angrily.
“Its rail guns are rotating!” Harland cried out.
“Everybody hit the deck!” Steven yelled.
Chingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchi ngchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingching!
Im agine a tsunami (for the slow people, it’s a giant wave) slamming into your school (yay!), or office building. Then imagine that said tsunami was comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of hot bullets. That’s how the troops at the base felt when the mech fired its rail guns. Each rail gun was putting out one hundred rounds per second (that’s six thousand rounds a minute!). The base’s lines of defense were getting shredded.
“Get to cover! Get to cover!” Steven yelled. The tanks behind them started smoking as they got penetrated by the multitude of bullets. They went up in flames as the gas tanks got hit.
“Those rail guns are firing fucking AP (armor piercing) rounds!” Brooks yelled out. He was blind firing his weapon over the top of the sandbag wall so that he wouldn’t get hit.
“No fucking wonder the Chinese got pissed about their weapons programs being sabotaged!” Julio said over the comm.
“Get some men on those goddamn AA guns!” Steven shouted over the comm’s broadcast channel. The PLAAF was sending out squadrons of choppers, which included their Z-9G and Z-10 fast attack helicopters. “Where is our air support!?”
“A squadron of AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys are currently heading our way. They’re about three minutes out.”
“Dammit! Somebody get on the radio and tell them to pick up the damn pace!” Steven was in a very angry state of mind by this point. “I want anti-tank rifles on that mech right now!”
“
The rifles are in the weapons storage tent by the command center,” Julio replied.
“I’ll get it!” Keitaro said. He jumped up and ran along the wall, crouched down to avoid getting hit. The opening to through the second wall was like the first, a two foot high section. Keitaro ran to it and rolled on his back over. Bullets were flying everywhere, and it was hard dodging all of them. Over the wall, past the remaining operational tanks, which were still reloading, through the hole in the barbed wire fence, and into the center of the base. Keitaro was running at top speed now, and he wasn’t slowing down for anything. Men were running all over the place, trying to hold off the advancing hostiles. Keitaro ran into the weapons storage tent and started looking for the anti-tank rifles. There were pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, rockets, grenades…anti-tank rifles.
Keitaro grabbed the latches, undid them, and opened the case. The rifle was laid in fitted foam, pre-assembled. He pulled the rifle out, and inserted one of the already loaded clips and chambered a round. There were extra clips in the case, which he pocketed.
“Kid, get your ass back out here right now! We’re literally getting pulped out here!”
“Keep your pants on, Gunny. I’m on my way.”
Keitaro ran out of tent and headed for the first wall. As he ran, he passed by the first aid tent just as somebody was walking out.
“Hey Keitaro!”
Keitaro jerked to a halt and spun around. His stomach lurched and an icy wave spread throughout his body. Standing in front of him was Naru, the one person he really did not want to deal with right now. Even though her hair was disheveled, her clothes torn and dirty, and her skin sporting numerous cuts and scrapes, she was still a vision of beauty. Keitaro didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with her now, but he cared to much to just leave her.
“Naru! What are you still doing here? It’s way too dangerous!” An artillery shell impacted nearby to enforce his point. A multitude of tracers whizzed overhead. “You and the rest of the girls need to get outta here!” He activated his comm. “Alpha-Two requesting an airlift for nine civilians ASAP-
“Are you kidding me?” Naru cut in, an angry look on her face. “I haven’t seen you in a year-and-a-half and this is how you’re gonna act towards me?”
“Now is not the time for this, Naru!” Keitaro said loudly. “This base is about to be overrun by Chinese soldiers, and I am supposed to be at the front wall holding them off! I don’t have time to argue with you over--get down!”
Keitaro jumped forward and tackled Naru to the ground as a Z-10 attack helicopter zoomed overhead, paving a small ditch in the ground with its 30mm cannon right where Naru was standing. The chopper pulled up and evaded the nearby AA batteries as it turned around for another pass. It loosed one of its HJ-9 ATGM missiles, which automatically sought out the nearest heat source, which happened to be a nearby mortar crew. It hit dead on, and the men were burned and cut down before they knew what hit them. At least they felt no pain. Keitaro recovered before the missile even left the pod, he got into a crouched position and shouldered his M16-A2 rifle. He set the rifle for three-round burst and squeezed off two at the chopper. They grazed off the wing and a few hit the fuselage, but did no real damage. The chopper veered off to regroup with his squad, but got nailed by an AA round and smashed into the ground.
“Alpha-Two, this is Echo Twelve. I’m on the helipad and prepped for immediate airlift. Have those civilians escorted over here on the double.”
“Copy that, they’ll be over in two minutes,” Keitaro responded. He helped Naru off the ground and looked her straight in the eyes. “Listen Naru, I really don’t want to have to do this to you, but your safety is important to me. I promise that we’ll see each other again, but right now I have a job to do. Okay?”
Naru looked at him, tears flowing freely. She knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any easier on her. With tremendous effort, she nodded her head and smiled.
“Okay,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Keitaro looked around and flagged down a passing private.
“Private, I need to you to escort the civilians in the first aid tent to the helipad, double time!”
“Can do,” he said briskly.
“Bye, Naru! I’ll see you soon!” Keitaro said loudly as he ran back towards the wall. He leaped over it and ran along the front wall until he met back up with his team.
“What the hell took you so long?” Steven said angrily.
“Sorry, there was a situation I had to handle.”
“Well, less talk and more shooting!”
“Yes, Sir!”
Keitaro rested his anti-tank rifle’s barrel on the wall. He flipped off the safety and looked through the scope. The mech was now hive hundred meters from the base, its rail guns still firing. The tanks that hadn’t been destroyed were once again launching shells at the thing, but they didn’t stop it. At this range, the mech’s small cockpit window was just visible.
“Gunny, that cockpit window looks like the weakest spot,” Keitaro said. “I’m gonna take the shot, so cover your ears.”
“Got it,” Steven replied. “Everybody plug your ears! AT-rifle is going hot!”
Keitaro checked the range setting on his scope and carefully aimed at the window. As fast as these bullets traveled, even a light cross breeze could push it off target by a meter. This was going to be a tough shot to make. The crosshairs were right in the center of the window, and Keitaro pulled the trigger.
CRACK!
The rifle let loose a quite literally ear shattering blast as the high-density, solid bronze-titanium alloy rifle round ripped through the air. It hit the mech a half second later, smack dab in the center of the cockpit window.
“I got the hit!” Keitaro yelled triumphantly as he peered through the scope. His smile turned into a frown when he saw the damage. “Dammit! The round didn’t even penetrate the window! The damn thing bounced right off leaving only a small set of cracks! That’s got to be at least six inches of bulletproof, Kevlar reinforced Plexiglas!”
“The fucking thing is damn near indestructible!” Steven swore. He vented his rage by nailing a PLA soldier’s gut with a three-round burst.
“We have used everything we got short of tactical nukes to destroy that thing!” Harland shouted.
Click.
Harland’s statement set off the little light bulb in Keitaro’s head. His mind started formulating what can be considered a very desperate idea. His thinking was cut short, however, when the mech launched a salvo of rockets.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions engulfed the vase as the rockets impacted. Bodies were thrown up into the air along with various objects, others were cut down by jagged shrapnel. Three more tanks were sent to the scrap heap as their armor was completely ripped from their chassis.
“Gunny! I have an idea about how we can take that thing down! Do you think you can get temporary control of the all personnel at the base? I need to everyone to nail that mech at the same time for the plan to work!”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t think that there’s enough time for me to explain the entire plan to you,” Keitaro said bluntly. “I just need you to get control of all our forces, so that they you can give them the order to fire when I need it. Do you think you can do that?”
“Damn right I can do it,” Steven said.
“Good. I need to get a crucial piece of equipment first, I won’t take long.”
Keitaro didn’t waste any time. He jumped to his feet and sprinted for the base entrance. Over the wall, past the barbed wire fence, and past the various tents to the helipad. The chopper, a UH-1H (an updated version of the UH-1N Iroquois), was prepped for takeoff and ready to go. The girls were already onboard and the preflight checklist was almost complete. Keitaro ran up next to the cockpit.
“Hold it! Do not takeoff!” he shouted through the cockpit window. “One of the passengers has something I need!”
“Well you better make it quick!”
He ran over to the open hatch and looked inside. The girls were strapped into their seats. They were looking very miserable at the moment, which was no surprise.
“Su!” Keitaro called out. Her head perked up and she turned toward him.
“Hiyas, Keitaro!” she said. “Watcha doin’ here?”
“Do you still have that backup photon power pack for your Mecha Tama-chan?”
“Of course I do!” she replied, pulling out a small, rectangular box from her pocket.
“I need it!”
“Why should I give it to you?”
“Ah, Christ. Because the fate of the country depends on this battle, and I know how to win it, but I need that pack.”
“Hmmm. I still don’t know if I should give it to you.”
“As soon as I return as the landlord, I’ll give you a year of free rent and all the bananas you can eat.”
“Deal!” she said, tossing the pack to Keitaro. She actually didn’t care about the year of free rent, considering she was a princess with quite a large bank account (she still hadn’t told anybody this). But all the bananas she could eat, hot damn!
“Thanks, Su,” he said as he caught the pack, turned, and ran back for the wall.
As he ran, he took out a magazine from his AT-rifle and took the bullets out. Carefully opening the side of the photon pack, he took out the power cells. He stopped running when he got to the second wall, because the next part was tricky. Taking out his military issue multi-tool, he used the pliers to pry the anti-tank rounds out of their shell casings, leaving the charge at the bottom of the casing untouched. He dropped the bullets, took the fuel rods, and proceeded to carefully insert them into the casings until they were nice and tight. He inserted the now highly unstable bullets into the magazine. He left the bullets on the ground and resumed running for the wall. He got back to the wall, ejected the clip from the rifle, and inserted the clip with the unstable rounds.
“Alright, Gunny. I am ready to go. How about you?”
“Just say when, and the entire base will unleash hell.”
“Perfect. Get ready…readyyyyyy GO!”
“Fire, fire! All units open fire!”
Bullets, rockets, shells, everything went screaming through the air. PLA troops were forced to cover, and the unlucky ones were cut down. The mech wasn’t damaged by the merciless barrage, but it was distracted. Keitaro jumped over the wall and sprinted for cover. He ducked behind an overturned Ford pickup, peeked over to survey the area, then sprinted for the next destination. This run and cover routine was key to Keitaro’s plan. He had to get right near that mech without being noticed. With all of the fire coming from the base, the PLA troops should be too busy to see him. The mech was dead ahead, and Keitaro needed to get right behind it.
A howitzer shell landed a few meters to the left, and sent Keitaro sailing through the air. He landed with a thud and tried to get back up. His muscles were starting to burn from the constant running, and he had several fresh cuts from the shrapnel that had grazed him. Still, he ran from cover to cover, slowly getting closer to the mech. It was enormous, towering over Keitaro like a mountain. He swung around its left flank to get behind it. On its back was the nuclear reactor. That was his target.
“He’s about to fire his cannons!” Steven’s voice yelled through the comm. “Kid, get away from that thing!”
The mech’s twin howitzer cannons fired. A tremendous shockwave knocked Keitaro to the ground as the high (mind you, these are very high) explosive artillery shells exited the muzzle. At this range, the howitzers had poor accuracy, but the explosives in the shells turned into raging fireballs that incinerated anything nearby. One shell soared over the base and impacted roughly six hundred meters behind. The explosion that resulted created a massive crater and set fire to the rear wall. The second shell impacted three hundred meters to the right of the base. The right wall and tank squad three were completely burned to ashes.
“Kid, you better hurry up and get done with whatever you’re planning before we’re all cooked!” Steven yelled over the comm.
“I’m working on it!” Keitaro shot back. He ducked behind a dirt mound as some stray bullets pelted the ground nearby. He took out a bipod from his pack and attached it to the rifle’s barrel. He opened the two legs and placed them on the dirt mound. With the rifle stabilized, Keitaro peered through the scope, and adjusted for range and crosswinds. The mech was not moving, which made things a whole lot easier. The crosshairs were right in the center of the reactor. All he had to do was wait for it to start charging the cannon.
“Sir! Control reports reinforcements are in route. ETA is twenty minutes.”
Dixon grabbed the radio operator by his shirt collar and jerked him out of his chair. He grabbed the headset and started yelling into it: “We do not have that time! We are being attacked by artillery, God knows how many infantry, and a fucking two-legged mechanized assault vehicle! We…Need…Support…NOW!”
“I’m sorry Control Two, but our logistic capabilities are spread dangerously thin across a large area. This is the best we can do.”
“That is so fucking typical!” Dixon shouted as he slammed the headset down onto the table. “So much for naval effectiveness (remember that the Marines have all their supplies coming from Yokosuka Naval Base).”
“Sir! Our infrared satellite shows an increase in temperature from that thing’s reactor! It’s charging the main cannon!”
“Okay, to hell with this bullshit! We’re pulling back now before we lose any more men!” He activated the broadcast comm. “All units retreat! I repeat, all units retreat! Rendezvous at the fallback position for immediate extraction!”
The overall idea behind a retreat from the Kanagawa Prefecture was the preservation of the lives of thousands of American troops, and to reassess the situation they faced. It would take time that wasn’t available for the carrier fleet headed from the U.S. to transport fifty-thousand troops to Japan. Eight thousand were already in Japan, and seventy-three thousand Chinese troops were there, with another hundred thousand two days behind, and over a million were in reserve. It is obvious that the U.S. Armed Forces were under par when compared to the PLA. The biggest difference was training, which the PLA didn’t excel in. But training means jack shit when you have superior firepower, like a giant mech.
Anyway, a full retreat in the middle of a heavy engagement is very dangerous and hard to pull off. The enemy can easily gun down fleeing soldiers. In order to keep from getting butchered, the front line troops have to hold the forward position while the main body of the army heads for the fallback point. Alpha and Bravo team were both at the frontline.
“Hell, I was hoping to die of old age,” Brooks scoffed.
“You all knew this was a possibility when you signed up,” Steven said. “Now less talking and more shooting!”
“Amen to that,” Julio said, nodding. “Okay, we’ll draw the mech’s fire, and give your boy a clear shot.”
“Got it. I’ll try to get him on the radio.” He activated his comm, “Kid, how are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m just fine and dandy, just lounging around with bullets flying over my head, and there’s a fucking ten story mech standing right in front of me! How the hell do you think I’m doing?!”
“Fine, point taken. Bravo is going to draw the mech’s attention to the left, so you should get a clear shot from its left flank.”
“I hear ya. You might want to pile some extra sandbags and run for the hills. His is gonna be one nasty explosion.”
“Negative. I’m not leaving a man behind.”
“It’s your funeral.”
Bravo was heading around to the right wall, firing at the same time. Unfortunately, since their rifles couldn’t do any significant damage to the mech, the pilot didn’t seem to feel the need to gun them down. Thank God there were some Javelins (the Javelin was introduced by the Army as a replacement for the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in 1994) lying around. Bravo grabbed all that they could and started launching missiles at the mech. These bad babies let loose teeth shattering concussions as they hit the mech around the cockpit. Although there was no visible damage, you could tell that the pilot was probably pissed off.
“Take that you bastard!” Julio shouted as he fire another Javelin. It blasted out of the tube and shot through the air leaving a thick trail of smoke. It slammed into the cockpit window, and the explosion that followed caused an ever so small crack to spread from where the anti-tank round had hit. Inside, the pilot swore furiously. He adjusted the controls, turning the mech towards Bravo’s position, and started to increase the reactor’s fission rate as he began dumping all auxiliary power to the laser cannon.
“Hold your position!” Julio shouted.
“We need to pull back!”
“Can it Marine, or you’ll be facing a court martial!”
“Oh, Jesus, man.”
Humvees, APCs, tanks, trucks, all manner of transportation was being prepped to haul ass. Everyone around was scrambling to grab a seat. Nobody felt like walking.
The left side of the reactor was still facing him. To get the desired effect, he needed to land a shot square on the back where the armor was the weakest. He only had one chance at this…
“This one’s for Hosky,” Keitaro said coldly.
He pulled the trigger.
"abc"-speech over radio/TV
abc-thoughts
"abc"-English speech
-------------------------
Date: May 1, 2007; 1058 hours (Military Time)Location: Forward Operating Base. Outskirts of Hinata City.
Status: Engaged in combat.
Alert Level: Defcon 1
The first thought that pops into a person’s head is that aliens have invaded the Earth. Only when they see the conventional modern day weapons and the Chinese flag emblazoned on the front, do they realize what it is.
It was massive. It stood on a pair of armored, hydraulic legs. The “hips” were attached to a central unit by alternating hydraulic joints for maximum mobility. On top if that was what passed as a Black Hawk helicopter’s cockpit enlarged five times with a small window. Braces were on either side of the cockpit. Attached to the braces were long-range, high powered rail guns housed in a hexagonal frame, with the top and bottom sides lined up with the horizon. On the lower adjacent side of each frame was another frame, which housed what looked like rocket pods. And directly above those (upper adjacent side of the first frame), were high velocity cannons. On top of the cockpit was what seemed to be an oversized, high powered telescope. On the back of the mech, a small nuclear reactor/generator was attached, with armored cables plugged into the telescope thing and the mech itself. (A/N: For those of you who have played Chromehounds, this should sound somewhat familiar.)
It just stood there, like it was surveying the landscape. A feeling of imminent death and destruction radiated from it and washed over the troops. The cockpit looked down upon the base with what could be interpreted as “disgust.”
“Nobody…move…a muscle,” Steven said into the comm. “General, I need that entire division of tanks to start launching shells. Repeat, I need maximum cover fire.”
“Roger. Stand by.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Steven replied. “Guys, when the shells hit that thing, start hauling ass to the base. We don’t stand a chance at this range.”
“Got it,” they all replied.
“Alpha, all tanks are ready. Prepare for one hell of a sprint.”
“Roger that.”
The giant mech was now starting to walk forward. It took incredibly huge steps, which shook the ground, causing small pebbles and clumps of dirt to bounce off the ground.
“All units, open fire!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The tanks started to launch their high velocity shells. They sailed through the air and impacted on the mech with loud bangs.
“Move! Move! Get to the base!”
Alpha started to haul ass towards the base. Dust and dirt were kicked into the air as they ran, leaving a trail behind them. The tanks continued to shell the mech, which started taking steps back from the force of the shells.
Piff! Piff! Piff! Piff!
Miniature geysers of dirt started appearing all over the area. Machinegun and rifle rounds whizzed by in waves. Attack choppers were visible coming from uptown.
“They’re launching the counteroffensive!” Steven cried out. “The bastards are trying to overrun us!”
Alpha ran with renewed energy, dodging bullets all the way to the outer wall. They jumped over the wall and barbed wire, landing in a rather painful heap on the other side. They quickly recovered and slammed against the wall, weapons up.
“Pick your targets and fire at will!” Steven yelled.
With only the distant muzzle flashes of PLA rifles, everybody started taking potshots. Brooks was doing his usual thing, laying heavy suppression fire down on the enemy. Harland had put a twelve inch extension onto his M4’s barrel and attached a scope. He was now taking the role of team sniper the best he could. Steven and Keitaro kept firing bursts at any PLA troops that were trying to advance, firing the occasional grenade. While the tanks were due for ammo restocking for their main cannons very soon, the mech was being pushed back by the high explosive shells, and everybody hoped to God that it wouldn’t recover.
“Squad four is out!”
The mayhem then escalated as engineers ran over to restock five of the twenty tanks lined up against the second wall.
“Squad one is out!”
“We need reinforcements!” Julio came over the comm.
“Squad two is out!”
The battle was getting very bloody. The casualties may have been mostly PLA troops, but the few Marines that did get hit, got hit bad. One poor private was hit in the left shoulder by a stray rifle round, which effectively shattered his collarbone, ripped the joint apart, and put a jagged crack in his shoulder blade as the bullet exited out the back. A group of medics rushed him into the first aid tent while he screamed bloody murder. With luck, he would eventually regain partial use of his left arm in three months.
Squad three was firing whatever shells it had left, which seemed to do the job as the mech was still being pushed back. Suddenly, the tanks stopped firing.
“Squad three is out!”
“Please be dead. Please be dead. Please be dead,” Keitaro mumbled.
The mech wasn’t moving. There wasn’t a scratch or dent on its armor, but it wasn’t moving. It just stood there as if somebody had hit the pause button. That is, until it took a step forward.
“Shit! It’s still alive!” Keitaro swore angrily.
“Its rail guns are rotating!” Harland cried out.
“Everybody hit the deck!” Steven yelled.
Chingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchi ngchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingchingching!
Im agine a tsunami (for the slow people, it’s a giant wave) slamming into your school (yay!), or office building. Then imagine that said tsunami was comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of hot bullets. That’s how the troops at the base felt when the mech fired its rail guns. Each rail gun was putting out one hundred rounds per second (that’s six thousand rounds a minute!). The base’s lines of defense were getting shredded.
“Get to cover! Get to cover!” Steven yelled. The tanks behind them started smoking as they got penetrated by the multitude of bullets. They went up in flames as the gas tanks got hit.
“Those rail guns are firing fucking AP (armor piercing) rounds!” Brooks yelled out. He was blind firing his weapon over the top of the sandbag wall so that he wouldn’t get hit.
“No fucking wonder the Chinese got pissed about their weapons programs being sabotaged!” Julio said over the comm.
“Get some men on those goddamn AA guns!” Steven shouted over the comm’s broadcast channel. The PLAAF was sending out squadrons of choppers, which included their Z-9G and Z-10 fast attack helicopters. “Where is our air support!?”
“A squadron of AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys are currently heading our way. They’re about three minutes out.”
“Dammit! Somebody get on the radio and tell them to pick up the damn pace!” Steven was in a very angry state of mind by this point. “I want anti-tank rifles on that mech right now!”
“
The rifles are in the weapons storage tent by the command center,” Julio replied.
“I’ll get it!” Keitaro said. He jumped up and ran along the wall, crouched down to avoid getting hit. The opening to through the second wall was like the first, a two foot high section. Keitaro ran to it and rolled on his back over. Bullets were flying everywhere, and it was hard dodging all of them. Over the wall, past the remaining operational tanks, which were still reloading, through the hole in the barbed wire fence, and into the center of the base. Keitaro was running at top speed now, and he wasn’t slowing down for anything. Men were running all over the place, trying to hold off the advancing hostiles. Keitaro ran into the weapons storage tent and started looking for the anti-tank rifles. There were pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, rockets, grenades…anti-tank rifles.
Keitaro grabbed the latches, undid them, and opened the case. The rifle was laid in fitted foam, pre-assembled. He pulled the rifle out, and inserted one of the already loaded clips and chambered a round. There were extra clips in the case, which he pocketed.
“Kid, get your ass back out here right now! We’re literally getting pulped out here!”
“Keep your pants on, Gunny. I’m on my way.”
Keitaro ran out of tent and headed for the first wall. As he ran, he passed by the first aid tent just as somebody was walking out.
“Hey Keitaro!”
Keitaro jerked to a halt and spun around. His stomach lurched and an icy wave spread throughout his body. Standing in front of him was Naru, the one person he really did not want to deal with right now. Even though her hair was disheveled, her clothes torn and dirty, and her skin sporting numerous cuts and scrapes, she was still a vision of beauty. Keitaro didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with her now, but he cared to much to just leave her.
“Naru! What are you still doing here? It’s way too dangerous!” An artillery shell impacted nearby to enforce his point. A multitude of tracers whizzed overhead. “You and the rest of the girls need to get outta here!” He activated his comm. “Alpha-Two requesting an airlift for nine civilians ASAP-
“Are you kidding me?” Naru cut in, an angry look on her face. “I haven’t seen you in a year-and-a-half and this is how you’re gonna act towards me?”
“Now is not the time for this, Naru!” Keitaro said loudly. “This base is about to be overrun by Chinese soldiers, and I am supposed to be at the front wall holding them off! I don’t have time to argue with you over--get down!”
Keitaro jumped forward and tackled Naru to the ground as a Z-10 attack helicopter zoomed overhead, paving a small ditch in the ground with its 30mm cannon right where Naru was standing. The chopper pulled up and evaded the nearby AA batteries as it turned around for another pass. It loosed one of its HJ-9 ATGM missiles, which automatically sought out the nearest heat source, which happened to be a nearby mortar crew. It hit dead on, and the men were burned and cut down before they knew what hit them. At least they felt no pain. Keitaro recovered before the missile even left the pod, he got into a crouched position and shouldered his M16-A2 rifle. He set the rifle for three-round burst and squeezed off two at the chopper. They grazed off the wing and a few hit the fuselage, but did no real damage. The chopper veered off to regroup with his squad, but got nailed by an AA round and smashed into the ground.
“Alpha-Two, this is Echo Twelve. I’m on the helipad and prepped for immediate airlift. Have those civilians escorted over here on the double.”
“Copy that, they’ll be over in two minutes,” Keitaro responded. He helped Naru off the ground and looked her straight in the eyes. “Listen Naru, I really don’t want to have to do this to you, but your safety is important to me. I promise that we’ll see each other again, but right now I have a job to do. Okay?”
Naru looked at him, tears flowing freely. She knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any easier on her. With tremendous effort, she nodded her head and smiled.
“Okay,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Keitaro looked around and flagged down a passing private.
“Private, I need to you to escort the civilians in the first aid tent to the helipad, double time!”
“Can do,” he said briskly.
“Bye, Naru! I’ll see you soon!” Keitaro said loudly as he ran back towards the wall. He leaped over it and ran along the front wall until he met back up with his team.
“What the hell took you so long?” Steven said angrily.
“Sorry, there was a situation I had to handle.”
“Well, less talk and more shooting!”
“Yes, Sir!”
Keitaro rested his anti-tank rifle’s barrel on the wall. He flipped off the safety and looked through the scope. The mech was now hive hundred meters from the base, its rail guns still firing. The tanks that hadn’t been destroyed were once again launching shells at the thing, but they didn’t stop it. At this range, the mech’s small cockpit window was just visible.
“Gunny, that cockpit window looks like the weakest spot,” Keitaro said. “I’m gonna take the shot, so cover your ears.”
“Got it,” Steven replied. “Everybody plug your ears! AT-rifle is going hot!”
Keitaro checked the range setting on his scope and carefully aimed at the window. As fast as these bullets traveled, even a light cross breeze could push it off target by a meter. This was going to be a tough shot to make. The crosshairs were right in the center of the window, and Keitaro pulled the trigger.
CRACK!
The rifle let loose a quite literally ear shattering blast as the high-density, solid bronze-titanium alloy rifle round ripped through the air. It hit the mech a half second later, smack dab in the center of the cockpit window.
“I got the hit!” Keitaro yelled triumphantly as he peered through the scope. His smile turned into a frown when he saw the damage. “Dammit! The round didn’t even penetrate the window! The damn thing bounced right off leaving only a small set of cracks! That’s got to be at least six inches of bulletproof, Kevlar reinforced Plexiglas!”
“The fucking thing is damn near indestructible!” Steven swore. He vented his rage by nailing a PLA soldier’s gut with a three-round burst.
“We have used everything we got short of tactical nukes to destroy that thing!” Harland shouted.
Click.
Harland’s statement set off the little light bulb in Keitaro’s head. His mind started formulating what can be considered a very desperate idea. His thinking was cut short, however, when the mech launched a salvo of rockets.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions engulfed the vase as the rockets impacted. Bodies were thrown up into the air along with various objects, others were cut down by jagged shrapnel. Three more tanks were sent to the scrap heap as their armor was completely ripped from their chassis.
“Gunny! I have an idea about how we can take that thing down! Do you think you can get temporary control of the all personnel at the base? I need to everyone to nail that mech at the same time for the plan to work!”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t think that there’s enough time for me to explain the entire plan to you,” Keitaro said bluntly. “I just need you to get control of all our forces, so that they you can give them the order to fire when I need it. Do you think you can do that?”
“Damn right I can do it,” Steven said.
“Good. I need to get a crucial piece of equipment first, I won’t take long.”
Keitaro didn’t waste any time. He jumped to his feet and sprinted for the base entrance. Over the wall, past the barbed wire fence, and past the various tents to the helipad. The chopper, a UH-1H (an updated version of the UH-1N Iroquois), was prepped for takeoff and ready to go. The girls were already onboard and the preflight checklist was almost complete. Keitaro ran up next to the cockpit.
“Hold it! Do not takeoff!” he shouted through the cockpit window. “One of the passengers has something I need!”
“Well you better make it quick!”
He ran over to the open hatch and looked inside. The girls were strapped into their seats. They were looking very miserable at the moment, which was no surprise.
“Su!” Keitaro called out. Her head perked up and she turned toward him.
“Hiyas, Keitaro!” she said. “Watcha doin’ here?”
“Do you still have that backup photon power pack for your Mecha Tama-chan?”
“Of course I do!” she replied, pulling out a small, rectangular box from her pocket.
“I need it!”
“Why should I give it to you?”
“Ah, Christ. Because the fate of the country depends on this battle, and I know how to win it, but I need that pack.”
“Hmmm. I still don’t know if I should give it to you.”
“As soon as I return as the landlord, I’ll give you a year of free rent and all the bananas you can eat.”
“Deal!” she said, tossing the pack to Keitaro. She actually didn’t care about the year of free rent, considering she was a princess with quite a large bank account (she still hadn’t told anybody this). But all the bananas she could eat, hot damn!
“Thanks, Su,” he said as he caught the pack, turned, and ran back for the wall.
As he ran, he took out a magazine from his AT-rifle and took the bullets out. Carefully opening the side of the photon pack, he took out the power cells. He stopped running when he got to the second wall, because the next part was tricky. Taking out his military issue multi-tool, he used the pliers to pry the anti-tank rounds out of their shell casings, leaving the charge at the bottom of the casing untouched. He dropped the bullets, took the fuel rods, and proceeded to carefully insert them into the casings until they were nice and tight. He inserted the now highly unstable bullets into the magazine. He left the bullets on the ground and resumed running for the wall. He got back to the wall, ejected the clip from the rifle, and inserted the clip with the unstable rounds.
“Alright, Gunny. I am ready to go. How about you?”
“Just say when, and the entire base will unleash hell.”
“Perfect. Get ready…readyyyyyy GO!”
“Fire, fire! All units open fire!”
Bullets, rockets, shells, everything went screaming through the air. PLA troops were forced to cover, and the unlucky ones were cut down. The mech wasn’t damaged by the merciless barrage, but it was distracted. Keitaro jumped over the wall and sprinted for cover. He ducked behind an overturned Ford pickup, peeked over to survey the area, then sprinted for the next destination. This run and cover routine was key to Keitaro’s plan. He had to get right near that mech without being noticed. With all of the fire coming from the base, the PLA troops should be too busy to see him. The mech was dead ahead, and Keitaro needed to get right behind it.
A howitzer shell landed a few meters to the left, and sent Keitaro sailing through the air. He landed with a thud and tried to get back up. His muscles were starting to burn from the constant running, and he had several fresh cuts from the shrapnel that had grazed him. Still, he ran from cover to cover, slowly getting closer to the mech. It was enormous, towering over Keitaro like a mountain. He swung around its left flank to get behind it. On its back was the nuclear reactor. That was his target.
“He’s about to fire his cannons!” Steven’s voice yelled through the comm. “Kid, get away from that thing!”
The mech’s twin howitzer cannons fired. A tremendous shockwave knocked Keitaro to the ground as the high (mind you, these are very high) explosive artillery shells exited the muzzle. At this range, the howitzers had poor accuracy, but the explosives in the shells turned into raging fireballs that incinerated anything nearby. One shell soared over the base and impacted roughly six hundred meters behind. The explosion that resulted created a massive crater and set fire to the rear wall. The second shell impacted three hundred meters to the right of the base. The right wall and tank squad three were completely burned to ashes.
“Kid, you better hurry up and get done with whatever you’re planning before we’re all cooked!” Steven yelled over the comm.
“I’m working on it!” Keitaro shot back. He ducked behind a dirt mound as some stray bullets pelted the ground nearby. He took out a bipod from his pack and attached it to the rifle’s barrel. He opened the two legs and placed them on the dirt mound. With the rifle stabilized, Keitaro peered through the scope, and adjusted for range and crosswinds. The mech was not moving, which made things a whole lot easier. The crosshairs were right in the center of the reactor. All he had to do was wait for it to start charging the cannon.
--------------------
“Tell Charlie Company to fill in Squad Three‘s gap right now!” Dixon shouted. “Somebody radio Control and demand reinforcements! I want two companies at the defensive line and two squadrons of Apaches in the air now!”“Sir! Control reports reinforcements are in route. ETA is twenty minutes.”
Dixon grabbed the radio operator by his shirt collar and jerked him out of his chair. He grabbed the headset and started yelling into it: “We do not have that time! We are being attacked by artillery, God knows how many infantry, and a fucking two-legged mechanized assault vehicle! We…Need…Support…NOW!”
“I’m sorry Control Two, but our logistic capabilities are spread dangerously thin across a large area. This is the best we can do.”
“That is so fucking typical!” Dixon shouted as he slammed the headset down onto the table. “So much for naval effectiveness (remember that the Marines have all their supplies coming from Yokosuka Naval Base).”
“Sir! Our infrared satellite shows an increase in temperature from that thing’s reactor! It’s charging the main cannon!”
“Okay, to hell with this bullshit! We’re pulling back now before we lose any more men!” He activated the broadcast comm. “All units retreat! I repeat, all units retreat! Rendezvous at the fallback position for immediate extraction!”
----------------
As courageous and tough as the Marine Corp is, when they are given the order to retreat, they haul ass so fast that they hardly lose any men in the process. These guys are that good at staying alive. (GO USMC!!) Every troop grabbed what supplies they could carry and ran for the nearest APC, which would take them to the fallback point, located approximately thirty kilometers to the east. From there, troops would be shuttled back to Yokosuka Naval Base.The overall idea behind a retreat from the Kanagawa Prefecture was the preservation of the lives of thousands of American troops, and to reassess the situation they faced. It would take time that wasn’t available for the carrier fleet headed from the U.S. to transport fifty-thousand troops to Japan. Eight thousand were already in Japan, and seventy-three thousand Chinese troops were there, with another hundred thousand two days behind, and over a million were in reserve. It is obvious that the U.S. Armed Forces were under par when compared to the PLA. The biggest difference was training, which the PLA didn’t excel in. But training means jack shit when you have superior firepower, like a giant mech.
Anyway, a full retreat in the middle of a heavy engagement is very dangerous and hard to pull off. The enemy can easily gun down fleeing soldiers. In order to keep from getting butchered, the front line troops have to hold the forward position while the main body of the army heads for the fallback point. Alpha and Bravo team were both at the frontline.
-----------------
“I never thought it would end this way,” Harland grimaced as he fired his rifle, nailing another soldier in the head. “Dying to defend retreating soldiers, instead of dying while pushing the enemy back.”“Hell, I was hoping to die of old age,” Brooks scoffed.
“You all knew this was a possibility when you signed up,” Steven said. “Now less talking and more shooting!”
“Amen to that,” Julio said, nodding. “Okay, we’ll draw the mech’s fire, and give your boy a clear shot.”
“Got it. I’ll try to get him on the radio.” He activated his comm, “Kid, how are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m just fine and dandy, just lounging around with bullets flying over my head, and there’s a fucking ten story mech standing right in front of me! How the hell do you think I’m doing?!”
“Fine, point taken. Bravo is going to draw the mech’s attention to the left, so you should get a clear shot from its left flank.”
“I hear ya. You might want to pile some extra sandbags and run for the hills. His is gonna be one nasty explosion.”
“Negative. I’m not leaving a man behind.”
“It’s your funeral.”
Bravo was heading around to the right wall, firing at the same time. Unfortunately, since their rifles couldn’t do any significant damage to the mech, the pilot didn’t seem to feel the need to gun them down. Thank God there were some Javelins (the Javelin was introduced by the Army as a replacement for the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in 1994) lying around. Bravo grabbed all that they could and started launching missiles at the mech. These bad babies let loose teeth shattering concussions as they hit the mech around the cockpit. Although there was no visible damage, you could tell that the pilot was probably pissed off.
“Take that you bastard!” Julio shouted as he fire another Javelin. It blasted out of the tube and shot through the air leaving a thick trail of smoke. It slammed into the cockpit window, and the explosion that followed caused an ever so small crack to spread from where the anti-tank round had hit. Inside, the pilot swore furiously. He adjusted the controls, turning the mech towards Bravo’s position, and started to increase the reactor’s fission rate as he began dumping all auxiliary power to the laser cannon.
---------------
“He’s charging his cannon!”“Hold your position!” Julio shouted.
“We need to pull back!”
“Can it Marine, or you’ll be facing a court martial!”
“Oh, Jesus, man.”
----------------
“C’mon, what’s the hold up?” Steven growled under his breath as he sent a four-round spray at a pair of PLA medics. “Hurry up and take the damn shot, Kid!”----------------
“Come on people, move it! Move it!” Dixon shouted.Humvees, APCs, tanks, trucks, all manner of transportation was being prepped to haul ass. Everyone around was scrambling to grab a seat. Nobody felt like walking.
---------------
“Just a little bit more,” Keitaro whispered, his eye glued to the scope. His finger hovered over the trigger.The left side of the reactor was still facing him. To get the desired effect, he needed to land a shot square on the back where the armor was the weakest. He only had one chance at this…
----------------
The pilot kept his eyes on the readouts on his panel. The reactor was running at seventy-six percent and charging the cannon at thirteen percent per minute. The reactor coolant was keeping the reactor at a moderate temperature to prevent a meltdown, and the containment vessel surrounding the reaction chamber was holding in any and all leaking radiation. Things were going perfectly. He pushed forward on the left joystick to turn the mech to right, aiming at Bravo’s position…------------------
Crosshairs were smack dab in the center of the mech’s reactor.“This one’s for Hosky,” Keitaro said coldly.
He pulled the trigger.