Chapter Two Forty-Eight Bogged Down on the Coast (Patreon)

March 8th, 065 SDE:

Berxi threw down his paddle and hopped to the shore. The capsule’s reentry systems had worked well enough; they shed velocity with a final burn shortly before reentry and using the control thrusters to reorient the pod after the burn. The heat shield kept them together for the worst of it, then once their altitude was low enough, they deployed the chute system, which aerobraked them enough to survive a splashdown, albeit with some tossing about. The floatation system engaged after that, to keep them on the surface of the water. Where they used paddles to get them to shore, with the capsule being a strange boat.

Looking around, they’d done a good job of beaching the capsule. Sadly, they couldn’t just rest, as Telmon was already breaking out the shovels someone had thought to pack. There was no telling when Confed scouting units might come across them, nor was there a guarantee that friendly forces would reach them first. So they had to be ready, which meant digging a nice little trench around the capsule.

Sand was wet and everywhere, so they got to work with shovels, thankful for the midday sun. Berxi started dumping the excess sand behind the capsule to provide a barrier against sea water, while Telmon started ripping canvas from the parachute rigging they’d pulled in after the landing. Using it to line their growing trench, which further helped the sea water penetration.

Some driftwood and scrap on the beach was also put to use, along with some boxes taken from the capsule. Before they unpacked their firearms, which amounted to three rifles and a medium machine gun. The Re’quis II medium machine gun, as he’d been told.  Apparently it fired 8mm by 42 rounds and was belt fed with an aircooled barrel. It was made partially out of aluminum to save weight and make it more portable and had a cyclic rate of fire of nine-hundred and fifty rounds per minute. They had six two-hundred-round boxes of ammo for the thing.

As for the rifles, they were semi-automatic carbines chambered for 8mm by 65 with an eight-round clip. Same manufacturer as the Re’quis II and they consequently used aluminum in some parts to save weight. They had two boxes of ammunition for them, totaling 480 rounds. In other words they had sixty clips for three people, although with the machine gun, one rifle would likely be left unused. Unless they had to abandon their heavy weapon. Outside of that they also had a single box of grenades, which contained a few frags and a couple of antitank grenades.

By sunset, they had a nice little dugout around the front of the capsule, with sand embanked around it and the rear of the capsule. They’d set up the machine gun where it would have a good line of sight across the beach and settled in for a night watch.

March 9th, 0640 hours local time:

The roar of an engine was their first warning, before a Confederate truck came out of the treeline. She was a little different from the trucks he was used to seeing. Rather than have the driving compartment at the front, it was instead at the top of a short tower at the rear, alongside a machine gun mounting, the forward compartment was armored and there was a big wedge door at the front. Mounted on rounded sections towards the front was a pair of forward machine guns. The only reason he didn’t mentally label the thing a weird tank was her lack of tracks and the fact she didn’t carry anything bigger than a machine gun.

Two more streamed in behind her, as their military help Sergeant Saxu, sounded the alarm and manned the machine gun. He turned it towards the vehicles as their front doors opened and confederate grunts ran out, rifles in hand. The machine gun opened up, spraying death down the beach. 

A dozen men were torn to shreds before the remainder found cover, which they’d not been able to do much about. The beach was covered with debris, mostly deadwood but there were also a few old craters and scattered rocks, some better classified as boulders.

Berxi was rather impressed by the accurate fire, even as he raised his rifle. Taking a couple of shots of opportunity before someone on the other side decided to use their vehicle machine guns. Rounds buzzed over his head and he kept low.

Saxu took the rifle by his side and carefully aimed while keeping low. Two shots cracked out and the enemy machine guns fell silent. He immediately switched back to his machine gun and fired a pair of controlled bursts into Confeds that had taken advantage of the moment to get closer. Berxi and Telmon joined him with fire of their own. Berxi’s first shot was a miss, striking a rock just centimeters from a soldier’s head. Forcing the man to duck as rock fragments showered his face, Telmon’s fire wasn’t any more effective. Thankfully it didn’t need to be, a shot that made them dive for cover was just as good as one that killed.

Berxi wasn’t too sure about the wisdom but it did make sense and he was going to trust Saxu on that. Fighting was his job afterall, so if anyone was going to be right on a subject like this, it would likely be him.

Saxu panned the gun, firing short bursts at anyone who even looked like they were about to move, and commented, “Scouts must have seen us earlier, too many soldiers for a scouting party.”

Berxi responded, “Makes sense.”

Saxu gestured toward a bulky module now sitting in their fighting pit. “Get on the radio, call sign Fallen Twaro. They already know our coordinates, but let them know we have been engaged and they need to pick up the pace.”

“Understood,” he replied and dived down towards the module radio, which they’d relocated for ease of use.

A quick check showed it was still working, so he started calling until he got friendly attention. Meanwhile Saxu and Telmon covered the position.

0930 local time:

Berxi ducked as a machine gun swept over their position, then popped back up firing two quick rounds. Their little stalemate couldn’t last much longer. He wasn’t sure how much ammo they’d used but it was likely a fair chunk of their tiny supply. Worse, the Confederates had brought a tank. 

According to Saxu it was a light tank, but that wasn’t much of a relief. They were not carrying much in antitank outside of a few AT grenades. The damn Confederates were now using the machine gun cover of their tank to advance.

Pulling back under the dirt bank, he popped the clip and slipped a new one in. On the bright side he was getting better at reloading. Berxi wasn’t so sure about his aim, but he had reloading down to an art. Nearby Saxu pulled the pin of one of their frags, then gently tossed it over the rim. It bounced twice before exploding at the feet of an advancing Confederate soldier and spraying everyone nearby with deadly shrapnel and sending blue mist everywhere. Several Confederates dove for cover. Berxi couldn’t even afford to give the sight more than a glance, as the damn tank opened up again.

It was nothing but a damn annoyance at this point. It might have been a ‘light tank’ but it was still armored against his weapon and while they might not have been using their dual cannons, they were more than happy to shower his position with machine gun fire, and they had two of them mounted in their hull, pointed their way.

Berxi cursed, “I didn’t sign up to fight in the fucking trenches!”

Saxu pulled another grenade from the box, “No one ever does.”

Telmon interjected, “Activity to the west!”

Berxi didn’t look, too busy shooting downrange.

He did however notice the tank pan its turret towards the west. Both cannons suddenly opened up with a rapid thunking sound. Several explosions followed as the high explosive shells raked the west side of the beach. Shouting filled the air, then several rockets slammed into the tank. Its thin armor, unable to withstand the antitank weapons, caved with fire erupting from the various ports, the hatches popping to vent smoke. The guns fell silent, while the remaining Confeds shifted to counter the attack.

Berxi turned to note a good fifty men in covered positions, shouting at the remaining Confederacy soldiers just as a pair of tanks came out of the trees. He stiffened for a second, until he noted the League markings, those were friendlies. Maybe he was going to make it out of this after all?

Sudden motion made him jump as a Confed appeared in the little trench. He moved to attack only to take a wallop to the head and a knife to the shoulder. A gunshot rang out and the Confed collapsed, blood running from a wound in his chest. Saxu, taking the machine gun again, said, “Don’t let your guard down! We aren’t out of this just yet.”

He gulped, and bandaged his shoulder with some torn canvas. Grabbed his rifle and leveraged up to shoot. His shoulder throbbed with each pull of the trigger as his rounds found charging soldiers. The machine gun mowed more down. He made a mental note in that moment to never volunteer to be a pilot again, unless Xau was going along. He figured with her luck to offset his bad luck, things might just go well.

Someone drew up near the trench on Xermon’s side. League colors on his uniform, so they allowed the man in. He drew up by the machine gun, and produced a new box of ammo for it. “How you three holding up?”

“Tired, and about out of ammo,” said Saxu. “Although we do have a decent supply of rifle rounds left.”

“Well we only have to hold for a few more minutes. Unfortunately, the Confederates seem to be fully aware of your cargo. This is only the lead element for the 42nd Infantry Regiment, recon has more tanks and trucks of soldiers coming up the east road.”

Berxi blinked, “Isn’t that bad?”

“Normally yes, but in about ten minutes the Battleship Yura will be in range to shell the road.”

A few more guys joined them in the trench, one of them came over to him, a medic’s patch on his chest and helmet. “Let me see that wound.”

Berxi suddenly felt a little safer, even as the battle raged around him. At least until Yura started shelling the road with her massive 450 mm main guns. The rounds arced over head to slam into the road with deadly force. The high explosive shells leveled trees and left craters. Men screamed, vehicles were shattered in a devastating display of firepower. Some of the shells were a little too close for his comfort but most struck in the distance.

The remaining Confederate soldiers surrendered. League soldiers ran out to tie them up. For now their little ordeal seemed to be over. Now they had to get the alien box and the research notes back to the lab, but there was every chance they’d be hit again.