[GZG] [GZG Fiction] Orduna Revisited

New Guardian Times, Strait of Matakanka, December 18th, 2196

>From our vantage point atop Glorioso montón de tierra part of the
command and most of the media accompanying the human forces attempting
to retake Orduna surveyed the steppe northwest of the cities lip. After
a month of fighting across the Strait of Matakanka the forces of the UEA
had crossed and started pushing for the city itself. The going hadn't
been easy. First there was the Kra'Vak defensive forces, which were
thoroughly dug in along the coast. Once these were overwhelmed, or
simply isolated and left for the following waves of human troops, the
human advance ran into a battalion of Kra'Vak tanks. This engagement was
still in full swing below us, churning up the plain. The situation made
all the worse by a string of minefields along the approach roads and the
plain edging the lip of the old dome wall. The Kra'Vak seemed to have
perfected the holy grail of mine building that had eluded humans. These
mines could tell friend from foe. Two specimens carefully collected
using swarms of insect sized bots had blown up as soon as they reached
the human prepared containers for study. This led to the hypothesis that
somehow the mines were not only using ID beacons on vehicles but were
also using DNA or pheromones to distinguish the species. Kra'Vak could
traverse the field with impunity, but any human force approaching was
blown sky high. Finally in an act of desperation large, squat cargo
loading bots were brought forward. With stomaches turning, the living
drapped the dead, especially the most recently deceased, over the bots'
broad back and down their cabled legs. The sight was nightmarish. The
ploy was ultimately effective however. As the bots were marched out
across the plain, ahead of the human tanks, the mine field went up and
the way was clear. A mist of gore and small chunks of metal rained back
down across the lead human units. An experience every single one of the
tank crew I have interviewed say will stay with them for the rest of
their lives.

I have been trying to pick out any features of Orduna from our viewing
station. The whole area is shrouded in smoke and dust, the city
locatable because it is under an even denser cloud. Human and Kra'Vak
airforces have had their own fierce contest, but enough bombers have
made it through to drop tonnes of ordinance on the parts of the city
rebuilt by the Kra'Vak. The mission footage from the lead bombers was
somewhat unsettling as they hit a riding beast farm that had been
created in the north of the city. The great beasts were shredded by the
bombs, their entrails exploded over the debris of their containment
pens. The scene no less disturbing for the alien colours and physiology
involved.

Now it was the turn of the land forces to make an assault on the city. A
direct frontal assault had originally been dismissed as impractical, but
ultimately no other choice has arisen. This attack would only be a small
part of the greater objective of eradicating the Kra'Vak on Mars. It was
obvious to all involved that the larger mission would involve an
operation on a scale not yet attempted off Earth. As of September 2196,
over 1 million troops, 1200 tanks, 1000 heavy artillery pieces, 1500
aircraft and 150000 bots of various forms for the assault. Assessments
said that there were enough reserves to commit to a full on attack on
Orduna. Based on previous experience, against this foe caution proves
more costly in the long run than bloodier more immediate assaults.

Operation Two-Step, the opening phase of the invasion of Tokalau had
begun in early September 2196, beginning with a feint in the south
followed within days by a full scale, multi-headed landing in the north
of the sector. The first order of business for the invading forces had
been to take Ariza, San Juan and Rosado. This western side of the
Isthmus was closer to large human bases across the water and was less
heavily redeveloped than the eastern side overlooking Xonak Daryâ. The
idea was to take the western side and then catch the Kra'Vak between it
and the human troops in the south, slowly squeezing the Kra'Vak until
they succumbed.
 
The forces that had landed in Rosado and San Juan had encountered
stiffer resistance than anticipated, but the attack on Ariza had gone
well. So now that force had moved on to attack the main body of the
Tokalau coast, with the object of retaking Orduna and potentially
reinstating its industrial base. If that was successful then they could
push for Severns and see what remained of its extensive pastures. With
that in their possession they could lock off and clear out the northern
tip of the peninsular, linking up and returning to human hands the
northern 200km of the sector. This would provide a magnificent base for
further operations. 

It was a desperately needed base, as pilot fatigue and maintenance needs
meant that the human air services would rapidly be incapable of being
the major means of re-supplying and supporting the advancing troops.
There was already a trail of downed aircraft strewn across the steppe
that dominated the bulk of the Tokalau Isthmus. And in the growing cold
neither man nor machine was going to receive any respite from the grind
of eliminating the Kra'Vak. The mechanics were finding that when the
older vehicles were shut down for servicing they could not easily get
them restarted. Refuelling was becoming a drawn out, tedious and often
torturous process as any fuel drums left sitting out overnight began to
freeze. It speaks absolute volumes of the bravery and outstanding skills
of the ground and maintenance crews that they continued to be effective
in such exigent surroundings. 

Much as the struggle for Stalingrad is seen as a turning point in the
European theatre of the Second World War back in the twentieth century.
It was hoped that this invasion and the retaking of cities like Orduna
would prove to humanity that the Kra'Vak war machine was not invincible.
Hopefully it would also provide the armed forces of the united human
alliance the confidence and skills required to ultimately defeat the
alien juggernaut. 

Thinking about all this and the enormity of the task, someday when peace
has returned I want to come back to this place on a clear night and look
down on the peaceful silver lights sparkling up from Orduna, the golden
lights that line its bridges. And I want to take in hand someone, who
hasn't stood as I do now looking down on this scene of apocalyptic
destruction, and tell them how it looked during the dying days of 2196. 

Even as my heart bleeds at the scene of devastation stretching out below
me, even though I feel I must bite my tongue in shame for saying this,
it is strangely one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I
keep having to wipe tears from my eyes as I watch our troops push the
Kra'Vak back and back, the steppe stabbed with fire. 

You can feel the shake of the ground caused by the reports of the
biggest guns. The boom or crump of explosions presses on your ears as
the tanks and bombers tear at the alien buildings down in the ravine. It
is an awful sight in the original sense of the word. Each of us
observing is filled with an excitement that has silenced us, we are
truly awe full.

Some of you, particularly those who have grown up in rural districts or
near forests, will have seen big fires that spanned a horizon. The
panorama is much more striking when the horizon is the skyline of an
enemy held city and it is one great fire formed by hundreds of smaller
ones. Tomorrow maybe they will let us down amongst it. Let us see into
the details of the retaking of Orduna.

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