© 1999-2001 Imminent Storm of NEWST.
 | Recon-sats detected several thermonuclear blasts at the location of the ED missile base. This was taken to mean that either Team Thunder had completed its mission, or the ED had made a SERIOUS miscalculation. In either case, no communications from the team was made or received. HQ officialy reported their status as M.I.A. |
The stalemate in Europe was now months long, and HQ was getting anxious. The longer they waited, the more likely the possibility of the ED launching a preemptive strike. The discoveries at the New Dawn facility were also a high priority. The strategic commanders at HQ soon had a plan.
Analysis of the ND facility would take days, so HQ went on the offensive. For 2 days straight, Project Las-Sats bombarded key defense outposts and bases along several decoy (and one genuine) transport routes. Then, a massive transport group successfully penetrated the ED defense line and dumped 100+ units--heavy assault tanks of all types, trucks, and other support units--deep in enemy territory. Their objectve was a large ED ground- and air- base.
The base was situated in a shallow valley that ran in a north-south direction. The surroundimg hills were heavily wooded, and snow-covered this time of year. The base's defenses were built in 4 separate systems. The outer system was made up of Anti-Tank missile bunkers placed out from the base in the surrounding woods. There were also walls and barriers with sensors to slow tanks down for the artillery. The next defense system was a set of isolated packs of dense defenses, or "forts", that guarded the hills overlooking the base. They consisted of hardpoints, towers, bunkers, and emplacements of all kinds, designed to complement each other. They also had massed cannon and rocket artillery in the forts. Next, there were concentrated defenses at all road and ground entrances to the base. Lastly, internal defenses guarded key structures and resourses, also with artillery. All of that was on top of the units and aircraft within the base.
The fight started early Tuesday morning, as a group of our fast Retaliation-Pulser-Halftracks caught enemy defenses by surprise. They focused on and breached a small portion of the outer defense line. When the enemy artillery opened fire at the group, most shots missed, and only 1 unit was destroyed. It was enough, however, for the CB unit accompanying the group to pinpoint the artillery and order a counterstrike. The enemy artillery was pounded into the ground in seconds, thanks to a new rotary 155mm Howitzer designed for the new Dragon body. It basically replaced the 155mm Ground Shaker and 105mm rotary Hellstorm, combining their range and firepower into one awesome package. It was named the "Thor's Hammer" artillery.
The attack proceeded at a blitzkrieg pace. The pulse-halftracks left a hole in the outer defenses and now, the Vengence, Wyvern, and Dragon units were advancing through it. The light group bypassed the defence forts which were quickly becoming artillery fodder. Ignoring the big enemy Dragon tanks that were attempting to counterattack, the fast group rushed the third line of base defenses. They easily broke through one entrance, only suffering a few losses. Soon, they began causing damage to the base itself. The main force had now managed to clear and secure the west ridge over the base's valley, and their artillery was now pounding the eastern ridge's forts.
The enemy VTOLs now responded and began attacking the Retaliation-Pulse group in the base. The main force was left untouched by the VTOLs, allowing them to deploy their SAM units efficiently. They were using a new type of SAM that was smaller, more agile, and had a flak-like warhead that would do more damage to nearby targets when it hit. With enemy VTOL after enemy VTOL falling from the sky, the artillery firing on the repair/rearming pads, and the main assault force blasting away at the last few lines of defence, the base would not last much longer.
And it didn't. A mere 4 hours after the battle started, the base was demolished, and the (surprisingly few) remaining troops surrendered. The construction crew quickly went to work building a new base where the old one had stood. Sifting through the rubble revealed a few items of interest. One looked like parts from the odd laser weapons the ED was now using, and there were a few light-bodied units with the same armor as the Wyvern and Dragon.
After a command team (to man the new field command center) and a research team (for the research facilities) flew in, the new base was now operational. The research team went to work on the the laser parts and the light body. Everyone knew it wouldn't be long before the enemy retaliated.
Meanwhile, back on the New Dawn scene with Special Ops...
It took almost the entire day to restore power to the New Dawn facility and to extract the 3 giant cyborgs. HQ officialy dubbed them "Ultra-Cyborgs", or "Mega-Borgs". However, the term "mech" was more commonly used by those working on them. Research crews continued to work in the facility after the mechs were sent to a special lab for analysis, which was expected to take several days.
With the power back on, the research teams could gain access to the control rooms, labs, factories, and computer systems of the facility. It was determined that this was a main factory and research facility for the New Dawn, which it seems gained political control over this small area just before the Collapse. Their chief subject of research seemed to be advanced A.I. and computer control systems. Although most of the data on the system was incomplete and badly corrupted, there were a few well-preserved and encrypted sections of memory.
| Two days passed before the ED retaliated against the new forward base. At about the same time, preliminary reports were comming in on the Mega-Borgs and the New Dawn research files. All three of these proved to be very interesting; very interesting indeed. |
