-=+ +=- [COMPLETED] The Second Universe -=+ +=-

Part 15: WE HAVE A CONFIRMED-

A group of Marines flanked them, taking out a good chunk after clearing a few rooms. "BEACON OUT!" A soldier transmitted, throwing a gunship beacon. This alerted an allied AHM-64 to their location, which, though normally far too powerful for this task, was the only vehicle close enough to support. It riddled the building with battleship gun-sized rounds and caused it to collapse from the 4th floor up to the 6th.

This naturally killed all of the CROS hostiles active in the building, and also allowed for a quick escape. They landed on top of the MBT, with two teams scouting ahead for hostiles. They entered an empty building, perching up on the second floor, which had a window overseeing an intersection. On the road left of the one Landship 6-5 was advancing down, a CROS "C-92 Boulder" (as designated by N.E.A.T.O., haha foreshadowing)

This CROS heavy tank stopped right before the intersection as the Marines started opening fire. Their rounds naturally did not get through the tank, so they opted for a different course of action. A Marine pinged the tank, and Landship 6-5 stopped in front of a skyscraper at the intersection's corner. It then fired through the skyscraper, the shot landing in the C-92's relatively weakly armored side turret armor.

The APS systems on it clearly were not programmed to properly respond to getting shot from through a building, so the shell penetrated the turret armor and hit the ammo rack at the back of the turret. This detonated the ammo, resulting in blowout panel-like systems flipping up and forcing the fire out of the vehicle and forcing the crew to abandon it. Three humanoid aliens climbed out of the tank, and, upon spotting the Marines, raised their arms to surrender.

The Marine fireteam leader, Equinox, transmitted an order. "Form a 'rim around the intsec (intersection) and wait for the chopper. Send our buddies to a PPF." The Marine sat down, looking around to ensure the area was clear. Sure enough, it was for the time being, and a chopper landed. The teams entered it.

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"MO: WE HAVE A CONFIRMED GO-"

December 28, 35794 - 10:12:24

Coalition Forces

Approaching Former Singapore

CROS Homeworld

A large concentration of AHM-64s were flying in a spearhead formation over a large lake- a lake that used to be the Pacific Ocean, but is now no longer that. The choppers began to sight land, and they collectively increased their throttle. A section of choppers descended to sea level while another section ascended to literally inside the clouds. Maps indicated that the choppers were entering CROS 'Capital Zone' airspace undetected.

Visible SAM fire was relatively sparse, as still-active fighter squadrons were currently clearing them out. Anti-aircraft artillery fire was similarly sparse, and the choppers chose to lift their cover by bombarding a large concentration of it. Their missiles and rockets rained as they arrived over the city, and anti-aircraft fire started being shifted towards them. As sort of expected though, a fair amount of guns were destroyed before they could respond. 

Small arms and self-propelled anti air fire were being shifted towards the choppers, with most of it being fully harmless due to the choppers' immense size and thus armor. The missiles that were fired by the fixed AA and SPAA positions were more often than not subject to flare-like countermeasures that more than half the time forced the missiles off course. Rotary-barreled autocannons wiped out entire buildings with ease, also unintentionally setting off ammunition magazines. 

These choppers were modified to have special turrets on their sides that crews could mount up to 203mm ship guns to as opposed to the more primitive jury-rigged rifle-caliber gun upgrades visible in the earlier stages of the war. This allowed the helicopters to essentially multiply their firepower and add the capability to engage more targets at once. Notably though, this city section's airport was left unscathed as scans indicated only vehicles carrying civilians and unarmed personnel were leaving.

A missile suddenly came flying from an empty roof, and this missile, from its contrail, was clearly OFR in origin- specifically, an R-1013S1 suppressed-friction sub-light heavy airburst missile. The missile, traveling at sub-light speeds, impacted into the side of an AHM-64, breaking its shield instantly and starting a large fire on its right side. Turret fire knocked away the SAM launcher's cloaking, and the infantry aboard the AHM-64s opened fire.

"Spotted a..." the pilot struggled for a second. "large weapon- SPAA- down below. Gonna go down to check it out; looks like OFR gear." "Understood, we'll support." The AHM-64 broke off from the formation, other vehicles following it. It strafed the building with rockets- though these rockets were really more like unguided cruise missiles due to their large frame. The buildings were obviously reduced to ash as soon as the rockets struck.

"Nice shot- all your dinner tonight's on me." A female pilot transmitted over comms, noticing a rocket had directly struck the SPAA position. "Hell yeah. Thanks, Sarge." The pilot who landed the shot said, then turning his helicopter to the left. The AHM-64 barely missed a building, and then started to ascend back up. The now stream of helicopters came under fire again and responded in kind, occasionally turning their missile pods towards the hostiles firing at them.

More than half the time, the SPAA positions firing the helicopters were taken out by fighter craft and orbital bombardment. Armored vehicles were visible on the streets suppressing hostile positions and downing buildings, with some IFVs and other vehicles originating from both sides visible rescuing civilians. Zooming past a fortified city block, an AHM-64 took a missile hit - this time an R1015B3 - to the cockpit.

The missile not only shorted out its link to the pilot, but also disintegrated the vehicle up to its middle fuselage. This caused it to drop out of formation and fall towards the ground in a fireball, flattening a city block as it crashed. "SHIT! WARBIRD 4-7 IS DOWN!" A pilot transmitted, getting on comms after. "...No ground units nearby to support. Breaking off for rescue." "Alright, go ahead." The response came. An AHM-64, the one right behind where the crashed one was in the formation, dove left.

A large concentration of CROS units were visibly converging on the downed AHM-64, machine gun fire also coming from the cockpit. A squad of Marines exited the chopper. The sheer numbers of the squad helped suppress the assault outright, giving them the opportunity to break up into fireteams and secure a perimeter.
"We gotta rescue 4-7 ASAP. Can't provide support, so you boys have to teleport 4-7 and yourselves back. Rejoining formation now." The AHM-64 returned to its spot in formation.

The Marines quickly got to work, as 2 fireteams quickly swept a building on one side. Another fireteam set up a firing line directly behind the wrecked chopper, yet another two cleared a building, and another swept the chopper's remains.  Audible explosions were heard from the windows as infantry armed with M1127 carbines ripped through resistance.

A fighter strafed near the downed AHM-64, explosions ripping the building it hit apart on that side. Rubble collapsed on the CROS units inside the building, most of them however escaping unscathed due to teleportation. Rifle and rocket fire bombarded them, which, while inflicting a few casualties, also revealed the location of the attackers. This allowed an air strike to occur.

A BF/A fighter blasted the building with its high-caliber autocannon, sending bits of rubble flying all around. It pulled up just a few meters from the ground, its exhaust cooking part of the rubble as it reaccelerated into the atmosphere. A Marine opened the cockpit's glass, yanking the pilot out of it. "LET'S GO!" The Marine transmitted, giving the pilot an SSAE. "VIP secure. Teleporting back now."

The Marines remanifested in the chopper, the pilot now having fully healed. Turret fire audibly rang from outside inside the chopper. "What the fuck-? I can hear all the shit outs-" The Marine talking to himself was interrupted by a broadcast from STELCOM. "All Coalition forces, be advised, we have a confirmed triple S threat in the city. CSF naval squadrons are arriving now. I REPEAT, 𝑾𝑬 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑨 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑴𝑬𝑫 𝑬𝑳𝑫𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑪𝑯 𝑮𝑶-"

(this cliffhanger is for the lore i promise frfr pls have mercy)

(5313 words)

v1.0.0. July 30, 2024, release