Demon
D E M O N
IRON LEGION
'THOSE ONCE LOYAL'
1st ARMORED BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM 'THUNDERING HERD'
Mareko
N0 W0RS3 3N3MY
Livien Magnus, Ord Radama
902ABY
Through the mercenary arm of the Techno Union, Aurodium Sword, the Iron Legion was dispatched to the world to lay siege and seize the planet's capital of Livien Magnus. Kroeger was ultimately, the right man for the right job. His legion of the lost and the damned had seen themselves largely rebuilt now, with the individual battalions under his command being tested seperately of one another in various conflicts, mainly on the payroll of the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. This would be their first, full, combined arms operation at a Brigade level.
Its test wasn't one Kroeger assumed difficult, but he prepared for the most dangerous course of action to be taken on all avenues by the enemy. They were a people long kicked and beaten and now besieged by the scarred and broken visage of an entity that had despoiled them over generations. He knew they'd fight to the last. But at this table, Kroeger held aces and he was all-in.
The Shadow of the Empire landed in force, the Long Night of Solace stilled in its foreboding overwatch of the world, appearing a glinting dagger of hate in the grey and violet sky of Radama. In the marshes and swamps surrounding Livien Magnus, the Iron Legion set down with dropships ferrying Cataphract tanks, Barran IFVs, Imperator SPGs and other vehicles and supplies from its home on the Pellaeon-IV star destroyer to the surface. Each formation was lined up down to the platoon level as they cleared out stretches of the dark woods to field the troopers en-masse. The planning process was relatively simple. City sieges were something that Imperial doctrine had learned and written many lessons on even if grave mistakes were learned on the field in the Braxant Campaign. Himself and Konrad Bolter devised the scheme of maneuver and fires.
Recon elements would delve into the sewers and secure any subterranean infiltration and exfiltration points as recon droids scouted the city's defenses for anti-aircraft and artillery batteries. The former would then be plotted with planned targets painted over each of them, to allow for gunship support which could remove the latter and allow for freedom of maneuver outside of the city.
Within six hours, Iron Brigade was REDCON-ONE. His tanks were on line, ready to push forward. A battalion each secured a cardinal vector of approach into the city as his scout troopers worked to secure the subterrenean entrances to the city. They acted quick, quiet and in a hurry, setting det charges to prime their collapse if need be. Several anti-air batteries were pinged by forward observers in their observation points concealed in the surrounding terrain features of the city. Each grid relayed back was assigned a planned target number with an 'Imperator' battalion with guns laid on each.
It would be a slaughter.
Or at the very least, Kroeger could hope it would be. Plans rarely survive first contact.
In the command seat of his Cataphract he ritualistically sparked a cigarette alight. It was a new model of a familiar chassis. The 90M. Part of the payment from the Trade Federation was a full modernization package for his vehicles and equipment. Partially to keep the Iron Legion at fighting strength in service to the Federation's interests...and more so to work out the kinks in each of their products. They were as much a militant arm, if on the black book side of things as they were a quality assurance measure for the Trade Conglomerate.
Comms checks and 'REDCON' statuses lit up the command nets as the units set in their starting postures. Through a plume of smoke, Kroeger pulled his command screen closer, eyeing each blip on the map display as they set in place, nearly mirroring the plan he'd given them hours prior. The discrepencies were negligible, a rounding error at best. He nodded, satisfied with what he was seeing.
<"All Iron elements...Demon Actual."> He said, the net quieting to a static silence, using the break to take another rip of the cigarette. <"Begin SP. Soon as Hell's Hammers hit phase line 'Mynock', our batteries are hitting their 'AAA'. No rules restrictions, barring you keep any landing pad or vital infrastructure intact. Our priority objective is securing the Southern Gate. Bound up between the Cataphracts and Barrans and dismount your troopers five hundred meters out. It's going to be a bloody close of the gap...but it has to be done. Getting our troopers inside the city will be the only means by which we seize the objectives."> He said, letting the net cool into a silent pause again.
<"Move up...hail Empire..."> He said to which each prominent callsign replied in kind, the repulsor lifts all thrumming to life as they began their approach from all cardinal sides of the city. Five kilometers out, the garrison might make visual contact with the attacking Imperials...only for high explosive mass driver rounds to start raining into the city proper, honed in on various anti-aircraft batteries and emplacements.