10/12/1478, 2 KM from the town of Yorg, Rukenia, 4:20 PM.
“Check if your weapons and gear are in fine condition. Get ready, as were nearing our designated target.”
The voice from their squad leader only grew the sense uneasiness and uncertainty brewing inside the steel armored BKM-2 infantry fighting vehicle. The light emanating from the glass protected light bulb was barely enough to illuminate the gloomy faces the men inside projected. The ambient noise, coupled with the vehicle’s annoying vibrations produced by its diesel engine was also another factor that contributed to the dissatisfaction which each squad member harbored. Being fresh out of military training after conscription, these men were going to meet with the harsh reality of warfare. Thoughts of their friends that they met during their training dying was damming their young psyche into a lifetime of ptsd, if it did ever happen.
Despite this, the higher echelons of the Svalvard People’s Army and Air Force pressed on with their advance in the Rukenian front. The capital of their enemy was merely a town away, finally, after a year in the Second Pan-Continental war. That thought was what re-assured the men in the group that after this, they could finally take a break and wait for their next deployment somewhere else. One of these men was Maksov Kobalonov, a soldier that was about to taste his first actual experience on the fires of live combat.
Their metal ride eerily vibrated, as the sound of rockets coming from the attack helicopters shook their vehicle. There was a few seconds delay, till the distant sound of loud booms echoed faintly in the BKM-2 as the rockets hit their target. Curiosity filled the young man’s mind.
“What was that?
The man beside, comrade Kolrad Luchs, rolled his eyes due to his younger peer’s inquiry.
“Probably an enemy fortification being taken out. Seems like were nearing their defensive line. Civilian casualties might be unavoidable thanks to those fuckers intentionally placing their forces beside their own fucking families!”
Kolrad’s outburst only seeded worries in the young soldier’s mind, worries of having to face stiff resistance during his first deployment. Hailing from the least developed regions in the far eastern parts of Svalvard, Maksov had been accustomed to a usual snail paced life, far from the fears of rising tensions between the Great powers of all of Proterun. Because of that, he was shocked to be conscripted almost instantly after he reached the required age. Facing the harsh brutal training that trainees, like him, had to endure, he hoped that after the war is over, he’d be stationed somewhere where he wouldn’t have to use his gun against his enemies.
Now, with the thought of having to kill civilians just because their enemy was being dirty, it was terrifying.
“Damn this..”
He adjusted the position of his lower part of body to ease the uncomfortable his feeling receptors were sending straight towards his brain. His movement created a clink as the new position disturbed the light machine gun slung on his back. Out of all the combat-ready soldiers present, he was one of, if not, the most anxious looking fellow among all of them, and one of his friends noticed this, and gave him a pat to the back.
“Relax, were probably barely going to kill any if the air forces did its job for us.”
The reassuring words from his best friend, Levi Keliskov, calmed down the uneasiness that he harbored, well, at least for now. He met his best friend in training a year ago. Levi had been there for him when he thought he could break from the stress, and he hoped that he’d be there for him for the rest of his life.
*BOOM!*
A loud explosion ringed in their ears, then IFV jerked to a stop. The force of the heavy armored vehicle suddenly halting its tracks forced the unfortunate ones who couldn’t balance themselves, sideways, subjecting the men to hit their comrades by pure accident. They clutched their body parts where the point of impact could be felt sending a sharp pain towards their brains.
“Fuck!”
“What’s going on!?”
Their voices were met with shock as the following words came out of the radio.
<<Kontakt 300 metrov sprava! Eto vrazheskoye protivotankovoye orudiye, i oni ispol'zuyut listvu kak prikrytiye! (Contact 300 meters at the right! Its an enemy anti-tank gun, and they are using the foliage as cover!)>>
Then, the distinctive sound of a shell whizzing by could be heard outside, slightly shaking the vehicle. Thoughts of them being ambushed flooded their minds, making the men panic.
“Fuck! Were going to die here!”
<<Shut up! I can’t focus!>>
Then, as the gunner turned the turret, repeating shots from the 20mm auto cannon created vibrations within the vehicle, showing the IFV’s defiance.
*Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da!
Then, the gun went silent. As Masov’s heartbeat became rapid, so did his breathing. His respiratory system absorbed the oxygen from his nostrils in a fast pace, and exhaled carbon dioxide as a by-product. He gripped his LMG, hoping for his fears to subside.
<<Target neutralized.>>
The voice coming from the gunner calmed his senses, and met peace. Breathing slowly, he prepared his weapon for the incoming battle, the noise of a helicopter’s propellers shook the metal insides of the IFV, as it passed overhead. Sound of multiple gun and cannon fire was becoming more frequent, indicating that they were nearing their destination. As minutes passed, the light from the outside world gradually became dimmer and dimmer, until the only source of light came from the mechanical lamps and the glow from the explosions or tracer rounds that could be seen from outside their firing ports. Maksov’s body began sweating due to stress and anxiety was making him uncomfortable. Then, their IFV stopped and a voice came out from their comms.
<<Disembark!>>
At his command, the locks sealing the steel hatches above them were, one by one, jerked open, letting the cold evening air into their faces. Maksov remembered the process that was taught to him by the countless drills he partook and skillfully exited the passenger compartment of the vehicle. What greeted him were the ominous glow from the fires that came from the still burning buildings, and attack helicopters flying by overhead by as they laid waste to the remaining enemy fortifications placed on the outskirts of the large town. Beside them were dozens of vehicles, ranging from main battle tanks with ERA to humble Armored personnel carriers, all bearing the cube-shaped yellow and red squares of the Svalvard military.
Not wasting any time, the group jumped down from above the IFV’s, their legs meeting contact with the burnt ground below. In front was a road leading deep into one of the town’s blocks, devoid of anything alive. Regaining his composure, Maksov began advancing into the town alongside his squad, and soon they entered.
He was instantly met with the horrible stench of what seemed to be something rotting entering his nostrils.
“What is that smell..?”
Ignoring it, he began walking, clutching his LMG in preparation for an ambush.
As he kept walking, he felt a sudden chill. He found the cause of the horrible stench. It was the countless roasted and mangled bodies of dead Rukenian soldiers, some of the corpses still having their kilt skirts, which contrasted on their entirely forest-green military uniforms. The disgusting sight was sickening, even making some of Maksov’s squad mates regurgitate their meals from their stomachs. Yet the IFV squashed said bodies under its tracks, unleashing a bloody gory mess of organic paint on the paved roads. The gruesome display of gore galore disgusted Maksov, but what he would see next horrified him, and his peers.
“W-What the fuck.”
“Fucking hell.”
An entire block was demolished, and at the center were multiple large holes on the ground and on what once seemed to be houses, probably craters from the rocket artillery raining down indiscriminately. And like all artillery bombardment on a sector jam packed with potential enemy combatants, one should not be surprised if a hundred or more non-combatants would be caught in the fray.
“Shit... That’s a kid!”
There it was, a dead civilian. An unfortunate victim of the intense bombardment his or her town was subjected too. Then, the more they walked, the more came to view. Men, women, children, elderly, dead, their bodies all lifeless and mangled. A rocket booster could be seen piercing the cemented road, making a small crater. The place was devastated.
“Ignore it.”
Snapping them out of their thoughts, the Squad leader ordered his men to proceed as ordered. Maksov sighed, tightening his grip on his LMG and continued his march deep into enemy territory.
Suddenly, a large shape appeared from one of the roads connected to the one they were on, its large gun aiming at them. It took Maksov a few seconds to realize what that figure was.
“Enemy tank!”
That was what he heard, before a sound of a loud clang, followed by a loud boom engulfed his senses. His vision faded into a bright white.
Maw-24 Attack Helicopter, somewhere in Yorg, a few moments ago.
“Careful! Careful!”
Words from his co-pilot prompted the man manning the controls of the helicopter to accordingly. Tugging the control stick to another position, maneuvering the helicopter to the right. The 1,700 horsepower engine mounted on the vehicle gave it maneuverability akin to a dragonfly. Moments later, 20mm flak exploded on their original position, giving the helicopter. An AA emplacement that had been carefully hidden among the rubble revealed itself, and was trying to shoot down their helicopter.
The gunner quickly took action, pulling the trigger on his joystick and hurling steel led from the Maw-24’s rotary cannon towards the unprotected Anti-air gun.
The AA emplacement stood no chance and was demolished instantly, its operator turned into red bloody paint. The attack helicopter then proceeded to continue on with its trajectory, hunting down enemy forces with no mercy.
“That was a close one right there.”
“Thanks for saving our asses!”
The pilot could only chuckle by his complement.
“No problem- Enemy tank!”
Jerking his head to the left, a metallic vehicle with forest-green camouflage had revealed itself. An enemy main battle tank had came out of cover, and began firing on allied positions. The 105mm gun fired a high velocity armor piercint shell, which easily sliced through an IFV's armor like butter, which was unfortunate enough to be caught within its firing range. An explosion followed, and the IFV’s turret flung into the air from the force of the blast, before falling back into the earth.
This prompted the gunner to move his joystick, which controlled the rotary cannon, and pointed directly at the enemy tank. The hostile armored vehicle, sensing the danger it was in, began reversing its path, trying to hide and use a demolished building as cover. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quick enough.
*Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!*
The rotary cannon came to life, launching bullets out of its barrels and hitting the poor tank. The helicopter also fired some rockets from its rocket pods, demolishing an entire building in the process. The Rukenian tank became a burning wreck after it was over.
All of a sudden, raindrops began falling on the helicopter’s canopy, accompanied with the flash of lightning.
“Blyat!”
Startled, the pilot involuntarily jerked his hand that was holding the joystick, sending the helicopter out of balance.
The sky became darker, and the sunset was replaced by the ominous appearance of dark towering clouds which covered the sky in a thick layer of gaseous water. Soon enough, the rainfall intensified, soaking the helicopter further in a liquid bath.
<<What is going on-!?>>
The voices in the radio was a mixture of panic and confusion, followed by a loud static which silenced every other noise in the cockpit excluding the occasional All that was left was the sound of the screeching that echoed inside the cockpit.
“Seriously, what the hell is going on?!”
The storm was interfering with their radios, but that was too far fetched. Whatever was going on, it didn’t look good.
...
Maksov’s ears were ringing. Something big happened. No.. Something bad occurred. His vision was still quite blurry, his eyes only able to disceen the yellow tracer rounds coming from somewhere. As his mind became clearer, the feeling of rain pouring on his body jolted him awake.
“Aahh fuck!”
Something stung painfully somewhere on his body. Touching his shoulder, the sting only grew. Wincing in pain, he used his available strength to stare at the origin of the pain. Parts of the shoulder padding covering his arm was torn off, revealing a large bubble of fleshy skin, caused by the extreme heat from the hot burning fire which sprouted from their BKM-2’s ammo igniting in a fiery blast. The pain only worsened after the rain droplets landed on his burnt skin, inflicting him with agonizing pain.
Yet, he ignored it, letting the memories from his training kick in. Standing up, he was met with the sounds of a machine gun firing. He instinctively took cover behind a piece of rubble, clutching his light machine gun by hand. Looking around, he saw his squad mates pinned down on various areas on the road, unable to advance due to an enemy MG nest right up ahead, hurling hot lead at them.
“Were pinned down here!”
His squad mates attempted to fire back on the opposing force, before narrowly being shot at by the enemy machine gun. Their bullets missed or pinged off the steel covering which protected the machine gun’s operator.
With no armored support as of now, they were effectively sitting ducks. Peaking slightly, he spotted more enemy infantry had formed up at the MG nest, readying a push towards their positions. Heavy downpour soaked their bodies wet, making their situation all much worse. Yet, their squad leader seemed to have formulated a plan in mind.
“Private Maksov!”
“Yes, sir?”
“Suppressive fire!”
Hearing those words, he instinctively raised his LMG into the air, right before aiming at the enemy MG. Before they could react, Maksov pulled the trigger on his gun. Hot lead exited the barrel in rapid succession, hurling steel lumps of light at the Rukenians. Few unfortunate Rukenian riflemen were peppered with numerous bullets, ending their lives instantly. The rest hid behind cover to protect themselves.
“Fall back! Fall back!”
At their squad leader’s command, his team left their original positions and retreated in a slow pace, while shooting potshots at the Rukenians. Maksov followed suite, and attempted to fall back. However, the Rukenians were persistent in taking their lives, and started firing back once again at them. The intense firefight raged on during the heavy rainfall, with both sides not gaining the upper hand against each other.
Maksov stopped shooting as the barrel of his LMG was smoking hot, creating steam as water droplets landed on the gun. Looking back, he was almost out of trouble, and just a few meters away from safety.
“Gah!”
A painful sensation could be felt in his waist, which ruined any coordination he had with his limbs. Stumbling down, the young soldier could only wince in pain. He tried moving, but the excruciating pain prevented him from doing so. He was shot, and was bleeding.
“Shit! Maksov is down!”
One of his squad mates rushed to his aid, dragging him away slowly and behind cover once more. Another loud boom was heard. Had reinforcements arrived?
"They arrived!"
More figures could barely be described entering his vision.. A soldier wearing what seems to be an armband containing a red cross..
"He's losing too much blood."
He could feel something stinging in his torso, but then gradually vanish.. He was being treated.
“Mom, help me..”
His friend, Levi, was being too emotional. He couldn't blame him tho, he was his friend, and hw respected him for that. Then, his vision became blurry, his body slowly becoming limp.
“Maksov! No no no! Stay with me man!”
He was going to die, and yet he didn’t want to. He had so much to live for, and to pass away after just becoming a soldier.. If this was his fate...
He refused it.
Unfortunately, his basic motor functions were starting to fail him. He could barely could move, and just as it seemed he was so close to slipping away into the abyss which was death
“To.... whatever.... Gods... please, spare me..“
Then, a blinding light engulfed his vision. Had death come? What is happening? Only time will tell.
__ __ __
A/N:(Russka here, this is my true and definitive attempt on a proper fanfic based on Summoning Japan. As you should know, my previous attempts were... Strange at best. However, this time its different. I will do my best to make this fanfic as good as possible.
Note: Alot of the OG story aspects of NHS will be different, as this takes place in an alternate version of the New world. So expect alot of things to be different.
Criticism will be highly appreciated. Afterall, it is needed so that an author can improve on the mistakes pointed out by well made criticism.
And as always, I hope to see you again soon in the next chapter. Peace.)