Rise of The Terran Alliance- Crosspost

Chapter 18- Battle of Vladivostok

Chapter 18- Battle of Vladivostok

A laser bolt narrowly misses Sergeant Ivankov's head. Growling, he fires his blaster pistol and takes out the offending droid, then charges towards the droids approaching him. As he cuts down several B2 droids with his lightsaber, a droideka opens up on him, forcing him to duck behind an abandoned car to avoid getting hit.

The Battle of Vladivostok has been going on for 48 hours by now. Initially, the Separatists had landed an army of 320,000 battle droids and 3,300 heavy droid units on the northern edge of the city of Artem. However, only 10 hours into the battle, another army had been landed, numbering 240,000 battle droids and 2,000 heavy droid units had been landed near Shtykovo.

The main Soviet army engaging the Separatists had been sundered soon after the droid reinforcements arrived. The bulk of the army began retreating down the peninsula towards Vladivostok itself, while the rest of the Soviet troops began retreating towards Romanovka.

Soviet commanders had been fairly confident prior to the battle in Vladivostok's ability to defend itself. 210,000 Soviet soldiers, with 5,000 tanks, were stationed at the northern edge of the peninsula in Artem, and much of the Soviet Pacific Fleet was in the Zolotoy Rog, ready to lend assistance. However, Hyena bombers had caused some devastation among the Soviet troops, and had sunk a number of Soviet ships before the droid armies even landed.

Something even worse had happened further into the battle. Just 8 ½ hours ago, General Grievous had been spotted in Artem. All other battles across Earth were already over. Soviet commanders in Vladivostok guessed that Grievous wanted at least one victory in this series of battle, and had come down to see personally that the Soviets were defeated.

Now, things are getting very critical for the Soviets. The eastern army, which had been driven towards Romanovka, is now being pushed back through Tsarevka. Meanwhile, on the peninsula, the western army is being pushed back through Vladivostok itself, with almost a third of the city now in the hands of the Separatists. And, General Grievous has been spotted in Vladivostok. Worst, the Soviets, which had 210,000 men and 5,000 tanks to start with, are now down to about 129,000 combat capable soldiers and just under 2,000 tanks. Land reinforcements are on their way from the eastern Soviet Union, but they're still hours away. Soviet commanders are starting to fear that they won't be able to hold Vladivostok long enough for the reinforcements to arrive, and that the reinforcements will have to retake the city.

Soviet air power has also been heavily hit. Heavy numbers of Vulture droids have devastated any Soviet aircraft to arrive in the skies over the battlefield, and strikes by Hyenas have devastated their airfields.

All of this is meaningless to Sergeant Ivankov, who is determined to fight to the death to defend his homeland. Seeing one of his comrades' bodies lying just a few feet from him, he reaches forward, pulls the dead soldier's last grenade from his belt, pulls the pin, and throws it towards the droideka that almost blasted him. A few seconds later, the grenade explodes, destroying the droideka and several B1 droids.

Ivankov charges out of his hiding place, with several of his comrades following him, firing their blasters as fast as they can.

Ivankov leaps towards the closest droids, cutting them down with his lightsaber. Around him, his comrades fire at any droid within reach, trying to dodge the hail of blaster fire coming at them.

As Ivankov cuts down a B2 droid, he turns around to see two B1s aiming their blasters at him. But, before he can react, a green lightsaber blade cuts off their heads.

Ivankov grins as he sees Warrant Officer Yamazaki, one of his ASAT teammates, standing behind where the droids had been standing. Yamazaki had originally been in Japan, but when it was clear Japan was in the clear, and that Vladivostok was under attack, the Japanese had sent him to help. He had arrived 4 hours into the battle.