Gabatrix: The Cipra Campaign

"Sergeant," the same concerned marine said. She was looking at the data feed from her armored arm display. "The UHN Champlain and UHN Nelson have been destroyed. The defense fleet can't hold out anymore. Reports are coming in that......" she paused.

"What is it?" he asked as he turned to look at her. He gripped onto his machine gun as he kept one eye on the transport ship.

"The.....Chairman Aniruddha is calling for a retreat...the....the UHN fleet is going to withdraw soon."

"No....," Yuchen remarked as he felt the sense of dread. He looked back up for a brief moment. Even in the daylit sky, minor flashes were still going on in orbit. If one looked closely enough beyond the great canyon walls, one could see the orbital space battle that was taking place. Fort Lee, the gate array could also be briefly seen from its tethered locale. The array was fully powered, the folded wormhole was fully active. A series of tiny lit dots, most likely the UHN warships, were beginning to make their move.

"They have to stay....they are the only thing stopping the Itreans from.....from....."

He heard the engines activate on the transport as more civilians arrived at the port. It was too late for these individuals. The transport's vertical thrust nodules glowed a bright blue as the vessel was lifting off from the ground. Everything that was of the most significant value to him was leaving. He wished in every fiber of his being that he could be on that escaping transport, but any action now was beyond too late.

Another series of explosions arrived as three more railgun rounds slammed into the city. The great colony metropolis was in flames more than ever. Smoke billowed as the magnificent structures were taking direct hits. The defense emplacements, however, seemed to be the biggest targets. The AIO turrets seemed to be holding their own in providing withering flak fire high in the sky, but the railgun rounds couldn't be stopped. They would occasionally hit one of the guns, knocking them down or destroying them. A series of missiles were launched from one of the silo tubes before a hypervelocity round slammed directly into the launch doors.

"This was.....such a beautiful city...," one of the marines said. "I wanted to retire here....now it will be just like Eutera."

"Come on," Yuchen remarked as he told his platoon. He turned to look at his men. "Let's go! Get on the vehicles. We are heading out....."

Another explosion occurred in the sky. It interrupted his speech as everyone turned to look at it. Everyone responded in utter shock. The CC-4 transport took a direct hit from one of the many missiles that the defense turrets were trying to take down. It was at a far enough distance in the sky as the warhead penetrated and blew the entire interior apart. It fractured in two as the burning debris came showering down upon a set of buildings.

"NOOO!" one of the marines yelled. "Ju! Lenisa!....no.....no...."

The feeling was completely mutual. Yuchen was speechless. His heart sank, and it felt like his soul had been ripped out of his body. His wife and son were snuffed out. A single missile was all it took to kill his family and the loved ones of some of his comrades. It was as if time had stopped. The UHN fleet was getting decimated. They were still trying to do their best to protect the planet, but it was apparent that the situation was uncontrollable. The UHN was utterly unprepared for the sheer number of Itrean ships in their possession. It was outnumbered four to one. Within a course of a couple of weeks, at least twenty of the UHN warships were taken out. Hope always existed that the Itreans would tire out during the siege, but it was obvious that it was only bleeding the military dry.

Yuchen could see more of the battle of New Hong Kong. The weapon batteries continued to fire at the invasion fleet that couldn't be seen. More Itrean railgun rounds were hitting the defenses. He remembered the places he and his family saw alone in this single metropolis. The dreams, watching his son grow up and get married, becoming a grandfather....all gone....shattered as the Itreans were relentless.

"The.....Itreans have sent a broadcast message to the planet," one of the marines said. "They want us to surrender, lay down our weapons, and they will promise a quick death....they said it in English."

"Like hell," an angry marine said. "I'm going down fighting! Bring their ships to here! I'll fuck them all up!"

"No...." Yuchen said as he took a deep breath, trying to swallow his sadness. "You won't fight them in this city. The battle is lost, and staying here will only get you killed. Fuck the orders of what any military official tells you. Get those M30s to the Lantau tunnel. Tell every military vehicle to escort every retreating civilian car or vehicle to Huǒshān kǒu Korea....if that fails, find an alcove and hide it out.....fight the Itreans.....fight them!"

The marines gave a look of confusion to him. "Sergeant, that's a death sentence," the angry marine confronted him. "We would have to go through the Tazhong Pass and then somehow survive the Great Tai Fengsha. That's assuming that we don't get blasted at the Lantau Tunnel."

"I gave an order," he said as he turned to walk over towards the IFVs. The other marines joined up with them as the drivers began to prep their vehicles. The doors on the sides opened. By now, most were having to deal with their emotions and realizations of the plight that was presented to them. The sergeant lowered down the visor as the others did the same.

"I'm with the Serge on this," the woman said. "Better to be out there than here at this deathtrap."

"The M30s only have so much battery life in them," another protested. "We'll run out of power before we even make it across the planet. Then what? Huǒshān kǒu Korea only has so many resources available. It hasn't even been completed yet!"

"It's the only choice," Yuchen replied. "Come on, let's go!"

The marines marched through the grass before reaching the lowered hatch doors of the IFVs. One by one, they entered the big vehicles. The interior was perfectly suited to handle the bulky walking armored personnel. The outside explosions and bangs seemed to be a noise everyone had adjusted to. Yuchen was the last to climb into the third vehicle as the female marine remained close to him. She was continuing to monitor communications. Once Yuchen got in, he looked at the display feed of the outside cameras. He could see that the bombardment was still continuing. Nevertheless, the Itreans were successfully destroying each weapon emplacement.

"Why haven't they nuked us yet?" Yuchen remarked as he took a deep breath. "They have us."

"They might be doing the same thing that they did back at Eutera," the male marine responded.

"Corporal Lance, I need you to contact Cipran Military Headquarters. Tell them that we are heading to the Lantau Tunnel. Advise them that the city can't hold out forever. Tell them to get every single military vehicle out of the city. Get them as far away as possible. Maybe we can mount some sort of counterattack.....resist them......fight them to the end."

There was a slight lunge in the vehicle interior as the three military IFVs drove off-road. The valley was a long straightway as they kept the canyon wall on their right. It was enormous, towering far beyond their visual sight range of the camera that tried to look upward. On the left was the beleaguered metropolis. New Hone Kong's defenses were getting wiped out, and the roads were becoming unusable. The IFVs drove off the road to avoid hitting any possible civilians while trying to stay clear of any obstacles.

"Aye, Sergeant," the angry male marine replied. The emotions of seeing his family getting shot down still weighed heavily on him as he bit his lip. He tapped the arm computer of his armor as Yuchen looked at the female marine.

"Corporal Jia, I need you to keep an eye on the communications feed in the city. Marine detachments seven, eight, and eleven should already be at the tunnel. Their goal is to maintain the protection of that tunnel. If we lose it, then anybody that is trying to flee will have to either go around the Lantau Mountain Canyon. The Itreans will most likely land north or south of the city, cutting off any form of escape. That tunnel is the only means to anyone's survival."

"Aye, Sergeant," Jia grumbled. She continued to monitor the communications feed.

"Sir," the male driver called out. "At our speed, we will reach the tunnel entrance in about five minutes."

"Go as fast as you can, Lance Corporal. These vehicles were meant for this sort of terrain. Don't worry about us, and don't stop for any civvies that get in the way!"

"Understood."

Yuchen continued to monitor the camera feed as the shocks of the vehicle were working hard. The dirt and grass naturally pushed the frame as it jostled around the faster that they went. All of the IFVs had reached speeds of about 120 kilometers per hour. The sergeant witnessed as another massive hypervelocity round struck one of the remaining large towers of the city. It blew a small crater as the shockwave went outward, taking out a city block. The interior silenced much of the outside commotion. Another transport struggled to take off, but it was a gate jumper. He already knew that it was pointless. These ships didn't carry gate probes to jump to other systems. The winged vessel still took off anyway. More missiles were launched, but it was the last silo that was online. A plume of white smoke billowed from the torpedoes as they flew up into the sky. In orbit, the UHN fleet was closing in on the gate array.

"The Itreans could have taken out the gate array, and they didn't," Yuchen said. "They wanted us to try to escape....so they could kill our people one by one."

"I've received a report from Cipran Command," Jia explained. "Cipran President Elect Guozhi is dead. Over 30,000 confirmed dead from the city.... millions unaccounted for. Vice President Shaoqing is ordering military assets to cover the retreat for individuals and maintain the defense of New Hong Kong. Vehicles that are fleeing south towards Hung Bao valley are getting shot at from orbit."

"The UHN fucking left us!" Lance remarked as he tapped the display. "I informed command of what's happening. The fleet is leaving us completely defenseless!"

Yuchen could see the events transpiring from the camera feed. One by one, each of the battleships and cruisers was flying at the gate array wormhole. The flak field that the fleet was generating was starting to fade in orbit. A part of Yuchen felt horrified and betrayed. A part of him also understood what had happened. The Itreans, ever since they attacked and conquered Eutera have stepped up their goals. The JJ-78 incident was only a prelude to this. Soon Mars and Cebravis could be next. The UHN must have concluded that the Itrean resources were near infinite. Fighting to defend Cipra would have only bled the UWA to nothing.

"Fuckers....," Yuchen commented to himself. "They should have evacuated us sooner than this. Did they really think that they could have won by simply staying here and hoping that the enemy would give up? I can blame the UHN and the Itreans for both killing our families...."

With the flak shield dissipating, more and more of the orbital strikes were breaking through. Only a few of the AIO turrets were still operational. All of the torpedo and missile silos were destroyed, but the Itrean railgun fire that was directed into the heart of the city had ceased. By now, most of the strikes were actually starting to flow outward and away from the metropolis. Guided missiles were systematically targeting the fleeing vehicles.

"The Itreans don't know about the tunnel yet...," he said as he turned to look at the feed. By now, he could see the sizeable tunnel. Dug through the hard rock, this tunnel was necessary. It allowed vehicles to purposely drive through to the other side of the enormous Lantau canyon wall. This would save them from having to make long trips around the entire rock wall. Unfortunately, it was the only tunnel at the moment. It was pretty significant but not overly excessive. There were already signs of more military vehicles that were present that were standing guard at the entrance. Traffic was dense, but it wasn't enough to bottleneck the entire road going through it. Yuchen could only hope that the tunnel would remain active for as long as possible, but even then, beyond New Hong Kong and the great desert wastes was death. The environment was sweltering past this, and there would be little food or water for these people. If one of the planetary dust storms struck, it could further turn things problematic.

"Receiving reports from Cipran command," Jia explained. "The Itrean fleet is moving closer and closer towards Cipra. All but 10% of the fleet has vacated. They.....they're going to...."

There was another explosion in the air. The gate jumper that had made significant progress in its flight had been destroyed. The raining debris flew down and smashed into the canyon walls. More railgun fire would finish off the remaining defense turrets that surrounded the city. Once this had happened, the bombardment would continue to slow down.

"They're not going to nuke us," Yuchen noted. "They never will....their goal is to capture us. Capture Cipra.....take us as prisoners."

"Fuck no," Lance replied with stubborn tenacity.

Yuchen studied the attack pattern. "The whole goal of the outer bombardment will naturally cause more and more people to head towards the center of the city. Once they spot the tunnel, they'll blow it. It's easier to track the vehicles that leave the city. The tunnel is shielding their escape. We're safe, for now."

"Shit, Sergeant, we have a new problem," Lance said as he tapped his arm display. "We're getting reports that we are to change course to head to the center of the city."

"Confirmed," Jia said. "The Vice President reports that he has ordered the Cipran main computer network to be scuttled. They're reporting that the attack severed the main conduits that are used to burn out the military quantum computer cores."

"If the Itreans manage to capture it," Yuchen said. "Then the Itreans will be able to crack all of our top-secret data. All of our weaknesses will be revealed to them. How far is it to the Tamsui district?"

"Four minutes, assuming that we plow through people," the driver answered.

Yuchen knew now that trying to save Cipra was beyond control, but there might be a few ways that they could make things harder against the Itreans. Priority was placed upon scuttling the central computer core, but at the same time, it didn't really matter. Their fleet assets were far beyond what the UHN had to repel them. Moreover, knowledge of top-secret information was pointless to a people that had enormous resources to overpower humanity as it was.

"Sergeant," Lance replied. "I'm getting a new communication on the ground. First Lieutenant Nari has issued an order for all military assets to head through the tunnel and towards Huǒshān kǒu Korea. She hasn't been authorized by Cipran UHN command."

"She's disobeying an order from the Vice President," Yuchen said. "I agree with her. We need to get our forces out and protect anybody trying to flee from the city." The sergeant seemed to think about it for a few seconds.

"Detachments two and five are responding to her desire to vacate. They have severed communications with the Cipran command."

Yuchen could already see some of the military vehicles activate. At least five of the M30s, including three of the large 6 x 6 wheeled Kujang railgun destroyers, begin to activate. They pulled into the open section of the tunnel and started to flood through it. The sergeant nodded his head.

"All of you, listen up!" he addressed everyone. "I believe that it is in everyone's best interest that we go with Nari's orders. As my last order to you, you will follow my original order and protect the fleeing civilians. I don't care that it's a death trap out there. We're Cipran. We know the deserts, we're born of the deserts, we die by the deserts. Let the Itreans come to you and kill them all. Let yourselves dictate how the battle will be instead of them."

"Aye," some of the marines responded.

"Sarge," Jia explained. "Detachment 5 was responsible for protecting the heart of the city. They are the only ones that are within possible reach of that computer."

"It won't matter because I'll go there and do it."

"Sarge?"

"Lance Corporal Han Geoyl pull over by the tunnel entrance. Jia, tell the other vehicles within our platoon to pull over and take you guys in. I will take this moving tub straight to there and do what I can to destroy that computer."

"Why?" Jia questioned him.

"Detachment 5 needs to get all their vehicles through to that tunnel. Better to lose just this one than all of them. Somebody needs to do it....and that will be me."

Jia nodded her head as she tapped her arm computer and began to pass along the message.

"Fucking hell," Lance replied with agitation. "You don't know what those Itreans will do to you once they close in on the city."

"Doesn't matter....doesn't matter. You have your orders.....all of you. The Itreans might have won this battle, but you will fight again! UHN marines! Redder than Blood!"

"Blood for life!" all the marines replied in earnest. Despite the horrific situation that occurred, the marines recalled their oath rather well. It was said with a mild sense of pride. The vehicles were not far from the tunnel entrance as the three vehicles slowed down to a stop. The side hatch had opened up as the other marines started to get out one by one. The driver opened up his door and climbed out. Lance was the last one to get out. He paused before he looked at Yuchen. He knew that it would be the last time that he would see him alive......

Chapter 2: Cipra's Last Stand (Prelude)

"Godspeed, Sarge," Lance said. "Wish I was with you to the end."

"Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself.....I'm sorry." He tapped the back of Lance's armor, knowing the grief that he was having to go through while maintaining the momentum of moving forward in defending the others. Yuchen simply couldn't think about it too much as he slapped the button to close the hatch. With the last of the marines departed, Yuchen turned his attention toward the front section of the cabin. The front compartment held a separate small compartment slot for drivers that were wearing their power armor. He hoisted the machine gun towards his hip to give him a free hand. The console that linked to the main turret cannon doubled as a makeshift control station. He tapped the control panel and set it to manual vehicle control. He then used his free hand to operate the joystick controls. This consisted of several buttons that would allow him to drive the M30. The display network connected to his visor so that he could see everything that the vehicle was seeing.

With a shift and button press, the vehicle backed up before he started to speed away from the Lantau passage. It was a difficult process but not overly challenging. There was some room for him to drive off-road, but he could still see a steady nonstop passage of civilian vehicles that were going to this location. There was a slight break in the traffic that Yuchen had to seize. Thankfully, even with the pandemonium, the crowds of escaping people could see the huge military vehicle come barreling through to take a left-hand turn. The M30 was perfectly responsive as it made a hard 90-degree turn. The flex tires barely squeaked as the entire frame perfectly made the turn. Inside, Yuchen's boots kept a magnetic hold onto the deck to keep him from tumbling over.