Chapter 285: Into the Strange Facility - I
The line dropped.
Brandon returned his attention to the tactical display. The first Hawford formation was already breaking apart across the industrial district.
Some of its red markers remained inside buildings and hardened positions. Others were pulling farther south, abandoning vehicles that could no longer move while the surviving armor tried to find any cover that remained safe from the Apaches circling above them.
The second formation was different. It was already near the outskirts of the battlefield.
Several of its armored markers began spreading away from the road.
"Southern group reinforcements are deploying."
"Tell them to be careful."
The Radio Operator went over to do his job.
"Southern Command to Air. Second hostile formation is entering the engagement area."
"Air copies."
Brandon enlarged the southern side of the map.
The formation was still moving north, but no longer as one column. Vehicles separated toward several approach roads while infantry markers followed behind them.
They were preparing to join the fight.
One of the Raptor markers changed direction.
Another continued circling farther west.
The Apaches remained over the first formation, finishing the targets still actively firing at the Golden Eagle Army line. A few seconds later, the first Raptor crossed south.
...
The Hawford commander leading the approaching formation already knew something was wrong.
The reports reaching him were incomplete, but none of them sounded good.
What came into view beyond the industrial buildings was worse.
Smoke covered several sections of the compound. Burning vehicles stood along the roads, while other tanks sat abandoned where damaged tracks or engines left them unable to move.
Farther north, the Golden Eagle Army line was still intact.
Vanguards remained in firing positions while Guardian APCs moved between the buildings and infantry continued pushing through the industrial blocks.
Above all of them were the aircraft.
"What happened to the forward group?"
"We’re trying to establish contact, sir."
"Try harder. What the fuck happened to all that technology talk from before?"
The commander stared through the forward optics.
Another explosion appeared near one of the warehouses, followed by smoke swallowing what remained of a Hawford tank.
"Sir, we’re receiving fragmented reports. Heavy losses. Air attacks. Their armored units are still operational."
The commander cursed under his breath.
"Those bastards really left the air defense back at Sandtrup. Men, te—"
A warning suddenly cut across the formation.
"Aircraft north!"
The commander looked up just in time to catch the Raptor crossing above them. A missile dropped from the aircraft and came screaming toward the road.
"Move! Fucking move!"
The lead armored vehicle turned hard toward the side of the road.
The missile corrected with it.
Boom!
Fire and smoke swallowed the vehicle, and the rest of the formation scattered in a hurry.
"Take cover!"
"Spread the armor! Don’t cluster together!"
"Infantry off the road! Now! Now! Now!"
Soldiers dismounted and disappeared into the surrounding industrial structures while the vehicles separated toward different streets and loading areas.
Another Raptor passed farther east without firing. Nobody waited to find out whether it would come around again.
The commander looked toward the battlefield.
The forward formation was already losing the fight, and now his own force was entering the same situation.
Golden Eagle Army armor still held the northern approaches while its infantry occupied the surrounding blocks. Every time his vehicles tried to find a cleaner firing lane, another System marker shifted with them.
Above that, Raptors kept flashing across the sky before disappearing beyond the industrial district.
Every missile launch made someone wonder whether their vehicle was next.
And according to the latest report, Mountain Defense Command forces were approaching from the north as well.
The commander clenched his jaw. This wasn’t reinforcement anymore. He was feeding another formation into the same kill zone.
"Contact the forward group."
"We still can’t reach their commander."
"Then contact anyone, damn it! Tell them we’re pulling out."
The Radio Operator stared at him for a second too long.
"Now!"
The man immediately changed channels. Static answered again and again until a broken voice finally came through.
"...pulling... south... armor lost... aircraft—"
The transmission disappeared.
The commander clicked his tongue and looked back toward the smoke covering the compound.
"Leave them."
One of the officers beside him turned.
"To die, Commander?"
"You want to join them?"
The officer stopped.
"Tell you what. You can fucking volunteer yourself if you want."
Nobody answered that.
"All units, break contact. Armor withdraw by sections. Infantry cover the movement. Anything that can’t move gets left behind."
The order spread across the formation.
Its northernmost elements pulled back first while the rest established temporary firing positions along the industrial approaches. Infantry occupied corners, windows and loading structures long enough for the vehicles behind them to reverse through the streets.
Several tanks fired toward the Golden Eagle Army line before moving.
One Vanguard answered without hesitation.
Boom!
A Hawford tank crossing the road took the shell before it could finish reversing behind the next building.
The infantry covering them pulled back next.
Building by building, the formation gave up the ground it had just entered.
Nobody tried advancing again.
...
Inside the BACV, Brandon watched the red markers moving away from the facility.
"Southern Command, southern reinforcement is retreating. Shall we pursue?"
"Don’t go too far."
Brandon enlarged the southern edge of the battlefield.
"We’re here for this facility, not to march all the way into Hawford because these idiots decided to shoot at us."
"Understood."
The first hostile formation was retreating as well, although far less cleanly. Some groups still moved through the industrial blocks while others remained trapped around damaged vehicles and isolated positions.
Brandon had no reason to chase the ones already leaving.
They could deal with Hawford politically and militarily later.
Right now, he wanted to know why both sides had nearly killed each other over this facility—if that even was the reason behind their hostility at all.
"Ground elements, secure the compound. Do not pursue beyond the southern perimeter unless they turn back toward us."
Acknowledgments followed across the network.
Brandon turned toward the Radio Operator.
"Contact Colonel Voroltz. Tell him the southern force is withdrawing and ask what he intends to do about this mess."
"Already on it, Southern Command."
...
Across the battlefield, Golden Eagle Army infantry continued advancing as the Hawford formations withdrew.
Not everyone could follow them.
Several damaged vehicles remained behind, along with wounded soldiers and crews who no longer had anything capable of carrying them south.
One group emerged from behind a warehouse with their rifles lowered.
The Golden Eagle Army squad approaching them immediately spread out.
"Drop your weapons!"
The Hawford soldiers didn’t need to be told twice.
Rifles struck the ground.
One man raised both hands while another supported a wounded soldier beside him.
"We surrender!"
"Hands where we can see them."
More System infantry moved forward and separated the prisoners from their weapons before directing them away from the active firing line.
A Male Medic pair approached the wounded soldier.
The Hawford man stared at them.
"Y-you’re treating us?"
Neither Medic answered. One knelt beside him and opened his medical kit.
"Quit your yapping and stay still."
The wounded soldier shut his mouth. This was probably going better than he expected.
Farther along the road, another disabled Hawford vehicle sat partly against the wall of an old workshop. Most of its crew left with the retreating formation, but two remained beside it.
One couldn’t walk without help.
They surrendered as soon as the Golden Eagle Army infantry reached them.
The battle quieted little by little after that.
A few isolated bursts continued between the warehouses, usually from soldiers who had not yet realized the rest of their formation was already pulling away. Those stopped as well once the remaining Hawford elements moved beyond the immediate facility area.
The Raptors stayed overhead.
The Apaches remained closer to the battlefield, watching the southern approaches while Golden Eagle Army units secured the ground beneath them.
None of the retreating Hawford elements turned back.