Hammer and Anvil - SJO Dominion of Kintan Hex

[Cassius Droma]

Objective: One – Provide Air Support​

Location: Kintan – Over Khel’rath Forest​

His wing(wo)man responded in the positive to his question, which Cassius was glad to hear. This certainly wasn’t the kind of situation he was expecting when he signed up for this mission, or else he wouldn’t have brought someone so green along. Granted, nothing was ever so cut and dry with these types of assignments. He’d be torn apart if something happened to Thea, as he was the one who slapped that helmet on her and told her she could do this.

“Should be, yeah,” Cassius said, his eyes scanning not just his sensors, but the ground below as well. After some precision strikes, they’d managed to take out some of the anti-air emplacements, so the skies were a little less hectic now. This gave Cassius a chance to slow up a little bit and start to actually get a feel for his surroundings. After a short while, he spotted what looked like friendly signals on scanners. “Got ‘em,” he muttered, changing course.

As he got closer, his sensors could pick up more signals, and he quickly assessed the situation. Already he was seeing a target he could hit – what looked to be an anti-tank emplacement on a ridgeline below the advancing Ranger forces. It wasn’t specifically an actual anti-tank gun, it seemed, just a big turbolaser put on some repulsors. Still, it looked like a verifiable threat, and there were no friendly signals around it.

Gunning the engine, he locked on with his targeting and let loose two concussion missiles. As he zoomed overhead, the turbolaser exploded into a fireball, sending large pieces of shrapnel everywhere. Quietly celebrating the little victory, his eyes went back to the scanners to see if he needed to pick out any more targets.

[member="Althea Becket"] | [member="Dusaro Dresari"] | [member="Gir Quee"] | [member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Objective: One - Survive, wait for Silver contact.
Location: Kintan - Khel'rath Forest - Furthest region.
Assets: 3rd Infantry, 1st Special Tactics Group
7-18th Cav group

It was clear to him the others knew what they had to do. It would be a mad dash to their next position, now with a number of guns pointed at them. With a quick nod the colonel was ready to hop back over their cover and rush back into the fray. The trio of soldiers would be stopped short before moving up, as a two missiles came into contact with the static 'weapon' they were about to rush towards. Valkren took a glance upwards as their support soared overhead.

"Damn- did our job for us, huh boss?" Lowder panted, leaning back into their cover in relief and hoping to take a quick break from the sudden action.

"I'll take it- Hey! Get up!" Valkren gripped the specialist by the chest plate and kit to assist him to his feet. "Now's the time to move! Let's go!"

With a shove to Lowder and a quick shout of orders to the both Varga and the specialist, he urged them to move back towards Hammer One's position. The officer stopped a few steps short of following the two to instinctively turn around and provide cover. Lucky enough, another cultist had just crested above the ridgeline. After a quick burst from his rifle he was able to continue on towards their previous position.

"Remind me to get that pilot a drink." He spoke in-between breaths while he bounded towards new cover.

Back at the Hammer One, Bowers was with [member="Tyrell Caphey"] and a group of Antarian Rangers from their own unit. The corporal had been hard at work on getting their communication back up, and had successfully established a stable connection to their surrounding units. Suddenly, Calderon's voice broke through.

"Hammer One! You read? You need to push up! The enemy gun is down, how copy?!"

Bowers was quick to pick up and answer the transmission, "I hear you sir. We'll meet you up ahead."

After that, the corporal turned to Caphey and the others, redirecting their comms to the channel the vehicle operators were on.

"Hammer One, clear to move up! Free to engage."

After this, a flurry of 'copy that,' 'loud and clear,' 'moving to engage,' and 'infantry squads are moving to support! Let's get some!' suddenly hit the channel, as the rangers in the battle group suddenly broke off of their APCs, moving to clear out the forest with their remaining tanks. The supporting rangers attached to the tank squads waited for their bengals to fire on the remaining nests, flushing most of the cultists that survived and attacks into the open. Easy picking for rangers, and they sure made quick work of them. By the time Valkren and the others had made it from the ridge line and to the most rear tank, most of the fighting on Hammer one's side of the 'front line' was done. Occasionally a squad or two of rangers would fire their weapons towards hidden cultists before the enemy scattered away into the trees.

It seemed like the attention drawn from the combination of several allied forces had drawn their line as thin as it could possibly be. After the initial ambush and weapon emplacement, there wasn't much for defenses in the trenches of the cult. The third Infantry and first special tactics unit were quick to sweep through the defenses dug by their enemies, engaging in brief firefights here and there but still sustaining minimum casualties. The remaining tanks in the battle group moved just beyond the trenches to hold the foothold they had. Most of the cultists close to their position were either dead or had retreated from their positions in hopes of safety away from the war, but it still didn't help to be safe.

[member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Masaru Varga"] | [member="Tyrell Caphey"]

 

[Tyrell Caphey]

Objective: One - Survive, wait for Silver contact.
Location: Kintan - Khel'rath Forest - Furthest region.
Assets: 3rd Infantry, 1st Special Tactics Group
7-18th Cav group

Another sound broke into the battle. The roaring engine from a friendly fighter passing by above them was like music to their ears. The pilot hit the weapon emplacement on his first try, the missiles making rubble out of the threat. Rangers not caught up in a firefight, cheered.

After a swift removal of the wounded rangers thigh protectors and applying a tourniquet to the leg, Caphey hailed a private to help him lift him into an APC that had to step in as an improvised casevac. In the stressful situation, they managed to notice that the fire onto the convoy had lighten up slightly. Valkrens plan had worked out well and the group of rangers felt renewed battle spirit.

"Hammer One! You read? You need to push up! The enemy gun is down, how copy?!" Valkrens voice indicated that corporal Bowers had succeeded getting the comms up and running again. Quite the technician, Bowers!

The tarisian ranger grabbed the ''Famos'' from his back and catched a breath just after they had secured their wounded comrade in the casevac. The second after, Bowers orders went through the line and the convoy responded instantly, determined to continue the push for their goal. The two of them exchanged looks through the t-visors before Caphey tapped the privates shoulder.

''On me!'' he ordered and nodded him along before catching on with the rest of the groups and tanks that broke off and made a forceful push to quell the cultists in front.

[member="Valkren Calderon"] [member="Cassius Droma"]