Chapter 7

Captain Edwardson stared up into the crimson tinted sky as the sun slowly rose up from the edges of the land. A fireball streaked through the clouds above as the navy skirmished with the aliens. The flaming wreak broke apart and rained down towards the outsides of the city in the far distance. A nearby explosion brought Edwardson back to the present as mud sprayed over the tank he was in. The turret rotated as another laser bolt pierced the ground even closer. The Captain was standing half out of the top hatch with a heavy gun in front of him about chest height which at that moment he ignored. The barrel slid back rapidly and the vehicle shuddered as the shell left the cannon and sped towards the enemy. It hit its mark on the alien tank which crumpled under the hit before being blasted apart by an internal explosion. Four more Imperial tanks rolled up in a line with Edwardson's and they started forward after the retreating aliens.

The Captain's company had been chosen to advance the line to protect the main disembarkation. The landing of his armoured infantry had been smooth and without any incident, they dropped off swiftly, catching a glimpse of the other units as they stepped off. It wasn't until they had climbed the hill at the edge of the LZ which was situated in a basin that they encountered resistance. All together the division had four companies of varying numbers, Edwardson's Alpha Company had close to 450 men in it who had their own infantry and armour platoons, and they streamed out of the main LZ towards their goal. Harrell Edwardson was a man of average height and an untrusting nature. He had long brown hard which was way past the regulations but he had managed to get away with it somehow. His eyes were constantly wide open and a twitch that made him jolt his head forward slightly every so often. He saw everyone as a potential threat to him or his company. However this only extended to physical threats as politics was something that he deemed beneath him and utterly pointless. As a result of this he was privy to few political secrets but had Greyman's respect in all battlefield matters.

This was perhaps why he had been chosen for the task of drawing first blood here, that or he simply had the best company. He looked around at the section of medium tanks; the thundering beasts looked so beautiful in this light. Behind them drove the tracked APCs with their compliment of soldiers. Yes it was because he had the best company and he would prove it here. His section formed the tip of the spearhead and that was how he wanted it. The drilled doctrine of the armour was displayed perfectly as they moved, the turret of his vehicle rotated with a whir slightly to the right then over to the left, scanning the surroundings. Nothing was seen so far other than the scattered line of enemy wreaks a group of bombers soared overhead before circling round and heading to the right.

As they moved forward the radio in the tank crackled with voices

"Enemy seen regrouping at objective Golf and to our right, may be trying to flank us Captain, over" Edwardson picked up the radio caster and spoke into it while squinting at the moving landscape

"I'll take first platoon and move to our right to secure the flank, Lieutenant Antioch get the other platoons to Golf and secure the area, keep me updated constantly, I shouldn't be go long, over"

"Roger that Captain, out" The driver had heard this convocation and he spurred the beast over to the right as the platoon of five tanks did exactly the same, still maintaining formation. The six APCs behind suddenly jolted forward at fast speeds to keep up with the Captain, the rest of the Company surged onwards.

It didn't take them long to reach the village where the enemy were regrouping. Several alien light armoured vehicles were moving through the area. The village was to the left down from the small hill which the Imperials were stood on. As soon as the aliens saw the Imperials they opened fire in a barrage. One of the Imperial tanks was hit a few times before one bolt made it through and knocked the turret to the side, smoke billowed out through the top then flames followed. Edwardson slammed the tank hatch down as his forces returned fire throwing shells at enemy which hit with excellent accuracy. The APCs behind split into two groups, one went round to the right still on the hill while the other swung back then round to the left into the village. The dual continued with the tanks exchanging fire until the APCs reached their destination. The ones by the village disembarked their load of thirty soldiers. Gharret jumped out first and sped his men out of the vehicle.

"First team unload on the nearest enemy armour! Second and third squads, form a perimeter now!" He barked out orders with the 2nd lieutenant emblem freshly sewn onto his uniform.

The infantry from both sides now fired the mosquito heavy missiles at the enemy armour. The missiles were guided and packed a punch; out of three missiles six hit their targets. The tanks burst out into flames and the rest did not see the men unloaded and so were taken completely by surprise. Inside the lead tank Edwardson spoke calmly into the caster

"LT Antioch this is Edwardson, give me an update over" The tank shuddered as a round left the main gun

"This is Antioch, Captain we are slowly advancing towards the objective. Resistance is minimal so far but it does look like they are starting to regroup further away. If they bring up their heavies I imagine it'll be a hard fight over"

"Roger that, keep moving forward and give the bombers something to do if they won't budge out" He then paused and spoke again

"Badger, this Alpha 3rd mechanised, we are moving to secure objective. Resistance at the moment is starting to increase but still fairly light over"

"Copy that Alpha, bombers are moving into position to support you alongside several gunships out"

The soldiers on the ground prepared another volley but enemy infantry had moved through the village and towards the platoon on the left. Gharret ducked down as several laser rounds darted overhead and three of his men went down. He swung round and ordered fire on the advancing aliens. However this was not all as the light tanks had retreated but no time was given before their heavier counterparts swarmed through. Gharret's platoon feel the wrath of these beasts as a bolt struck the ground throwing two men up into the air in cinders. He saw no alternative and shouted out

"Move towards the village! Squads, leapfrog formation"

On this command the men swarmed forward, a squad giving cover as the others moved before moving themselves as their comrades opened fire. This worked, they moved steadily towards the houses with extra firepower being given from their APCs. As the 2nd LT sprinted across the grassland a bolt landed straight into a nearby APC. This burnt a whole into it, the force of the hit knocking the vehicle onto its side. Gharret picked himself up as the auto-cannon of another APC opened up and sprayed projectiles at one of the houses; this demolished the entire wall of the target building along with the occupants