United States Government Intranet
According to Mr. Foley, they are now in New Orleans. They are going to stay there until later afternoon the next day, before heading over to Texas.
- American Secretary of State
British Columbia is slowing down in fighting. But the PRC is still trying to supply them. We have effectively stopped 47 ships and 102 submarines trying to get supplies to British Columbia.
We are also noting the names of the 5 rogue elements that is currently engaging the US Army in Canada, mostly in the eastern sections. These are;
The Royal 22e Régiment
The Royal Canadian Regiment
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
The Canadian Grenadier Guards
and the Les Voltigeurs de Québec
These are professional military forces, and we expect them to know our tactics. Stay cautious out there.
- American Secretary of Defense
I cannot believe we have to repeat this, but on behalf of the Department of Arts Research and Technologies, do NOT underestimate any arts user for any reason at all.
From all data we are receiving, Arts users make Terrans significantly stronger in terms of RAW Power over the average human from Earth.
We define RAW Power as how strong a Terran is via the utilization of their arts with or without the usage of an external tool - which is divided into a separate category.
From the documents we were allowed to view that, certain Arts users, such as Rosmontis of Rhodes Island, are capable of lifting multiple Reinforced Concrete Pillars, heavy vehicles, and several other objects.
We have not tested if she can use her arts to lift a 70ton MBT, but if she can lift that, that is a horrifying prospect.
We have also noted the destructive capacity of the Reunion Leader, Talulah. From combat reports sent by the Doctor, her fire based arts are to not be underestimated. We were lucky with FrostNova, who is now in Rhodes Island custody, that she was frozen and on the ice in some Ursus military base. Her Ice based arts would completely stop most of our forces and force us to result to more destructive means of warfare.
We also have some documents about Amiya. We in Baltimore are currently going over them, but we are finding a lot of redactions
We will report if we have anything else to say.
In any case, Arts users in their own raw form are proving themselves as a detrimental force in any further international operations. They full well have the capability to kill us and stomp us under their feet if we do not act with caution.
Not to mention, some by their own raw genetics are significantly stronger and significantly more powerful than the average infantryman from Earth.
And their guns, these arts based fire arms. They may be minimal and expensive on Terra, but it does mean they are any less dangerous. In fact, some of our research implies they are more dangerous than most guns from any nation back on Earth.
All forces are be to extremely careful, and all forces are to start abiding by some of our suggestions.
- Secretary of DARTs
We are trying to negotiate the acquisition of several materials on terra. These resources could prove to be very useful in production of projects and upgrading our vehicle's armor alone.
- American Secretary of State
[ IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT ]
On this day, of 2055 ( On Earth for the Terrans in viewing this ), Ms. Mayla Hawthorne, former Advisor for the Department of Homeland Security, will be chosen as the Acting President of the United States of America. She is eligible for a re-run on the Democratic Elections, and for now, will be marked as a Political Independent until she decides to re-run.
Due to the unique circumstances, the U.S. Government has voted to make this term not count, meaning she can legally run for 2 full terms.
When the New Years come, so help her God, Mayla Hawthorne.
May she take good care of the United States in the Executive branch.
- United States Legislative Branch, the United States Judicial branch, and the United States Pentagon
"Skin on our teeth"
5:44 PM
Zima had climbed over the fence and was rushing after Rosa. She didn't bother yelling, lest they reveal their positions - which didn't even matter considering that the UAV above had spotted them unbeknownst to them. Catching up to Rosa, the Polar Ursine was stopped as Zima pulled her off to the side and ducked down with her behind some rather dead shrubbery. Angrily and annoyed, Rosa looked at her, silenced by Zima's glare. "Why'd you stop me? Gummy's-"
"In trouble," Zima jutted in, sighing, "I know, but we can't just run in there with a harpoon."
She pointed at a Russian soldier clearing a classroom, "They have guns, rifles to be exact," she sighs, "Which means that they are much stronger than we are familiar with."
"So what do you want us to do?" Istina and Leto caught up, "We can't just leave her in there!"
Zima sighs and lightly hits her, "Look," - Hey! - "remember, we have alternative ways of getting up to the top floor remember?"
Rosa paused, blinking before slapping herself, "Right... how could I forget that.." Shaking her head, Zima began to get the other 3 to sneak with her, "Come on, round back of the school, just as we left it hopefully." Istina lightly held the medicine bag that she had, slightly going ahead.
The Russian Soldiers had noticed them a long time ago, thanks to the UAV, but they were acting completely oblivious. Which means if they see them out of the corner of their eye, ignore them or start walking away.
At the back of the school, there was an alternative exit that, before the disaster, was used for emergency purposes.
In the minds of the 4 USSG members, this was an emergency, so it was appropriate. There should not be an alarm, because that thing was disabled a long time ago after the disaster and the power cut. Zima opens it, slowly sneaking in, holding her weapon tightly.
They make their way inside, making their steps as light as possible, Leto in the furthest back holding the supplies they scavenged. Making it out of the hallway from the emergency exit, they slowly looked towards the main area towards the center of the school, seeing that there was Russians resting there, quietly eating some food.
Rosa gripped her weapon, before Zima grabbed her and shook her head, "No," she quietly warned. Dropping her shoulders in a huff, Rosa turns away. Zima points at a stairwell, "Start going up there..." at the order, Rosa begins heading up, her weapon pointed forward. Zima and the other 2 followed suit. They made as little noise as possible. Even with Leto carrying multiple supplies, she was keeping it as silent as a mouse.
At the top of the stairs, Zima peaked over to where the hallways with the closet was, and saw that there was 2 soldiers leaving it. They were the people that were guarding the front, and they began to head into another room, lights on their helmets on.
Rosa let out a short hum, "Huh... how convenient."
Zima agreed with her, lowering her weapon, "Yeah... that actually makes things easier."
At the realization, the group of 4 began to slowly move along the hallway, keeping themselves low. There was still windows, and there was still unknown soldiers nearby. They made it through 'miraculously' at the fact that nobody had noticed them.
Not.
Approaching the door, Zima began to press herself against the wall. Rosa behind her, Istina ready with her Arts. Leto set the supplies down as softly as she can. Zima had noticed that the door was slightly jar, not as wide opened as it used to be when they first saw it through the window. The USSG leader began to slowly push it open.
Only, to be shocked, alongside the other students, at the sound of Gummy and another female voice. The female voice seemed to be telling something, a story of a land of wheat and a land of snow.
What really got them was the fact that former was laughing. Like she wasn't just horribly sick before they left.
Like she wasn't being haunted by nightmares moments ago.
As if everything was alright and she was safe.
Opening the door, Zima stood up straight, joined by the others. "What's going..." she began, her voice trailing off as she takes a good look at their young member.
Gummy was sitting up straight and laughing at a person with a Red Cross on their arms and their back. She still had her jacket on, but she didn't seem as sick as before. Judging from her mood, she had eaten.
She was happy. So happy.
It was something that Zima was amazed about as she fully entered the room. Rosa entered soon after, "Gummy?" She uses her code name, sounding confused and curious, "Gummy, we're back-" she stops, seeing the sleeping Rifleman at the corner of the room. The Captain had her eyes shut and laying on the cot, and the Medic was still very much so focused on Gummy, telling her of a land far, far away.
Pushing all of her suspicious aside and still worried for Gummy's health, Istina, after taking the Medicine bag from Leto, enters the room, "Hey hey, Gummy." She calls, stepping over to the girl, disregarding the Medic and making the Ursine look at her curiously. "I got the medicine you may need," she starts digging into the bag. Zima heads up to Solnishko who was resting on the cot across from Gummy and lightly rests her hand on Gummy's shoulder.
Well if Gummy feels safe... she sighs, keeping her hand on Gummy's shoulder and sitting on her cot. "Hey.." Zima was going to put on her polite face for now especially as the Medic was looking at her, "These people didn't hurt you, right?"
"Nope!" Gummy cheered, looking at Zima with a bright, heartwarming smile. Zima couldn't help but smile in response, while the Russian medic coo'd. Rosa sat at the back wall, stunned. Istina pulled away, relieved that Gummy was better by tenfold.
"So..." Zima turns around, looking at the Solnishko, who had opened her eyes, and was looking at them. Pretending like she wasn't monitoring their every move via her own goggles and the UAV, "Who are you all?"
Sitting up, the Captain smiles at them, speaking, "Russian Army, apart of the United Nations contingent sent from Earth."
"...who?" She asked, Istina looking at the captain as well, eyebrow raised in unfamiliarity of the names. In the back of the room Leto who had supplies, was also confused and stared at the captain. In suspicion, Zima slowly reached for her weapon, and immediately after, Solnishko spoke up.
"We are not the Ursus Army in any shape or capacity," the Captain reassured, "in fact, they've been pissing off our comrades America and Britain lately." Now those names were absolutely unfamiliar. Atleast with Russia she could have guessed the origin.
Outside, the BTR-82A and the T-90M comes around the back of the school, parking and idling.
"Listen, I have a proposition for you 5."
Solnishko stood, Gummy laying back down and humming happily. Zima puts her weapon down and crosses her arm. "Go on, tell us." The captain smiles.
"With pleasure," the Captain rests her hands at her side. "We, as per our humanitarian mission here, are offering you a free ride out of this hellscape of a city." Zima raised an eyebrow, interested. Gummy's facial expression changed into one of hope. Leto let out a sigh. Istina's jaw dropped.
Rosa was rightfully suspicious, "What's the catch?"
"Well," Solnishko reassured, a warm smile still on her, "There is no catch," she stands up and looks at Gummy and the rest. Thoughts of the dead students outside came to her and she nodded, "Only thing?" Rosa's brow furrowed.
"The only thing is that you let us help you," the captain answered. That made Rosa relax, but she did feel a bit uncomfortable, "Just let us-" she didn't get to finish, something that began to catch everybody's attention and made Gummy whimper and cover herself in a blanket.
It was an explosion, JAGM missiles slamming into targets in the far off distance.
"Oh no, oh no no..." the Medic begins, grabbing her rifle and heading out. The captain looked down at the poor little Ursine girl. Feeling sorry and pity for her, she goes into her kit and begins to produce a set of noise cancelling headsets and headphones. The large headphones for her humanoid ears, and the much smaller ones for her Ursine ears. Zima watched her carefully, making sure that she doesn't do a wrong move.
"What's going on?" Istina questioned, holding her wand-like weapon and her Originium arts book tightly. Leto got ready to throw hands. Rosa had her weapon at the ready. Gummy began to relax, soft moist eyes looking at the Captain. Solnishko smiled down, turning the 2 electronics on.
"There..." she held her AK-74, "Can you hear me?" The Ursine nodded. Zima tapped the captain. "What did you do?"
"Well," the Russian begins, "She's now wearing 2 pairs of Noise-Canceling headphones. It is set to where she cannot hear most loud noises, but still be able to hear some of us speak." An explosion rang out in the back, and Gummy raised an eyebrow when everybody else lightly flinched. "See?"
2 more explosions began to slam out, followed by a panicked voice coming over Solnishko's communicator. "Russkies, get yourself on the move NOW, we got hordes of Whiskey Delta heading your way from the northwest and the south, from the center of the city and near the southern entrances."
Solnishko grabs it and, keeping her voice soft in respect to Gummy, spoke, "How far are they from our position?" Another explosion, and it made Zima look outside, seeing smoke and flames. "We're looking at less than 500 meters from the school, we recommend you Egress with The students IMMEDIATELY. JAGM OUT!"
"Egress?" Istina questioned, joining Zima in looking outside.
"Look!" The latter exclaimed, seeing a brief moment of something flying from above into the ground, followed by a large explosion. The USSG students began to head to the door. Zima looking at the Captain, "We trust you on this..." that bit of a scowl warned of punishment if the Russian was lying. She exited out, following whatever Russian soldiers there was heading down the steps and to the back exit.
The captain looks at Gummy, who was trying to get up, with some struggles. "Hey hey..." she spoke, "Easy, easy there."
The ursine girl looks up at her, with a tired look, "Little... help?" Solnishko slings over her rifle, shaking her head a little. "Alright, alright, I got you," helping some of the blankets off her. Once Gummy was out of the blankets, the captain helped her out of the bed by lifting her up.
"Come on now," she managed to get Gummy on her feet. She staggered a little, and it made the captain's stomach churn at that. "Nevermind.." she decided, taking the Ursine's hand and walking her out of the room.
"Thank you..." she responded, still having the headsets on. Gummy felt the hope rise in her as the chance to safely get out of the city was growing wider. Solnishko began to direct Gummy down the stairs, deliberately making sure she doesn't look out any of the windows and into the courtyard.
"Come on, we're almost there," she ushered, Gummy picking up the pace. Going down the hallway and making the turn towards the Emergency exit, they made their approach to the open door. The sounds of suppressed AK-74s outside made the captain worry, just as they stepped outside into the back end of the school.
Before them, the BTR awaited, its door opened. Inside, a few of the infantry had turned some of the unused seats into something for Gummy to lay down on. Zima and the rest of the USSG had their weapons drawn, and in Rosa's and Istina's case, firing off makeshift harpoons and Originium arts off down a street.
"Into the BTR, come!" One of the Russian soldiers ordered, the Captain quickly bringing the Ursine to the BTR. She still couldn't believe that they were going to get out of this hell after being here for so long and surrounded by the dangers in the city. The captain let go of Gummy's hand, "Go, go, go with a friend if you must."
Zima and Leto waited patiently, holding their melee weapons - or in Leto's case, her fists up - waiting patiently for Gummy to get in. With a small, yet hopeful smile. Gummy began to get in, climbing up.
The Tank Commander inside was considerate enough to turn some spare uniforms into a pillow and some fabric into a blanket. "Can I lay down here...?" Gummy asked, looking at the seats. The TC chuckled, "Da, of course, lay down little bear. I am sure you are tired." Zima and Leto got inside soon after, sitting down on seats facing gummy, and also facing the front.
"Tight vehicle," Zima commented, looking at the Gunner, "Hey, you sure this thing will keep us safe?" The Tank Commander looks at her, and waves.
"Yes, it will keep us safe, do not worry at all."
Istina and Rosa were ready to go in, but the Captain stopped them, "You're not riding with them," she orders, closing up the hatch. Rosa raised her weapon, "Why not?"
"Because," she points at them, "Unlike them, you have ranged weapons, they don't." The Tigrs came around the corner, the back one's Kord firing off. "We're riding in them." The sound of a missile detonating somewhere close by made them flinch. Rosa was ready to complain, but even the BTR began to fire, shooting off its Explosive belt at some incoming hostiles, looking like Originium zombies with all of the crystal that was coming out of them.
A Tigr pulled up beside them, the doors open and the RWS operator swinging the gun around. The driver honked, "Get in! Let's not be sitting duck as the Americans would say!" He yelled. The Captain got into her seat, still holding her AK-74 and rolling down her window.
The back doors were open, and the 2 remaining USSG students got inside. The rest of the Russians packed into the Tigrs. While she was waiting, Rosa was able to fire off a harpoon, impaling multiple enemies at once. "Nice shot," one of the Russians commented, aiming her rifle outside and squeezing off shots at the incoming horde.
And yes it WAS a horde. Mostly coming from the city center and the southern entrances of the city.
The doors closed, but the back remained open for them to shoot out of, allowing Istina the opportunity to shoot off some Arts, killing many of the horde and thinning their numbers. The Kord began to shoot, its .50-like munitions tearing apart the smaller infected. The other Tigrs were moving, and the BTR-82 was heading down the road already.
The captain hit the driver, "Ow!" He rubbed his arm, a little annoyed. She, meanwhile, just rolled her eyes.
"Drive!" The UAV set up a beacon off to the east. "Get to the beacon!" following orders, he slammed on the gas, the car's tires screeching a little as it began to take off.
The T-90M caught up with the convoy, its turret fully back as it fired HE after HE into the hostiles. Istina stopped casting her arts, her ears twitching as she recognized the sound profile of the rounds going off. "Oh... that's where it was from."
The Tank fired off another HE before resorting to its Coaxial. The doors to the Tigr closed as the vehicle picked up the pace. The Captain rolling up her window, "Come on! We're almost there, its 400 meters away!"
The UAV operator above was just given the orders to go 'Weapons free', and he was using that to his full ability, slinging as much JAGMs at buildings and the incoming as possible. His plan was to try and cause some building collapses, to restrict movement of the enemy, and buy more time.
The BTR with Gummy in it was sailing on through. The aforementioned Ursine was at peace, especially when one of the soldiers inside turned up the Noise-Cancelling effects, making most of the loud noises be shut off.
"She seems so peaceful," Zima comments, looking out of the portholes and watching as the BTR's gun turned a bunch of enemies into bits. It was something she wasn't used to, but as long as it was on their side, then she wouldn't complain about it. Leto was watching over the Gunner's shoulder, watching how the operator manipulated the simple controls to the turret.
The Tank commander was talking on the radio with the Tank Commander of the T-90M. Zima let her do what she wants, occasionally looking over Gummy, who was secure, safe and had her eyes shut. Some of the collar in her skin had returned, which means that she was gradually feeling so much better and happier.
Soon, the APC lurched, the driver calling out happily, "We're on the out ramps! Almost home free!" She exclaimed with cheer, Gummy's eyes opening up again and looking around. "We are... out of the city...?" She asked, hopefully.
The Tigrs was next to follow, the one with the captain onboard almost flying off the ramp as it sped on down. Rosa and Istina hanging on for dear life as the vehicle touched solid ground and began to drive back towards the village.
Finally, it was the T-90, and it had reached the bottom of the ramp. The gun was facing back at where it came from. There was a defender looking at the vehicle. It was bloodied, its eyes glowed behind the visor, and it seemed to be staring right at the gun of the tank.
The gunner looked at his TC, who shook her head with a nod. The Autoloader activating to put an APFSDS round in.
Just as a polite 'Fuck you' before they leave. The gun trained on the defender, and fired, the munition sailing towards the defender.
When it impacted, it went fully through the defender, and the force of the round sent then flying backwards.
"Nice," the TC comments, making the gun snap forward, "Let's get back to the village da? There may be eggs and Borscht waiting for us." The crew couldn't agree more, getting the tank on the move and catching up with the rest of the convoy far ahead.
Above, the UAV had completely emptied their munitions, no more JAGMs for them to use.
But it did not mean that it was useless.
It had a bit more time left before it was forced to RTB.
And so, it spent a bit more time, taking pictures, recordings, and scouting out Chernobog.
Because let's be honest, these forces can't be coming out of nowhere. And the fact that it's from the city center and the southern entrances was mighty suspicious.
After taking all of that, it began to RTB, heading back to New Roanoke.
And a certain Liberi watched the sky like an angry, little hawk.