NationStates Jolt Archive

Operational Map

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd188/NS_Crossbowman/oplivingsea.png

Red arrows are Stoklomolvi movements
Blue arrows are Alfegan movements
The icon in Calicut is the capital of Calicut
The red icon to the upper left is the naval base

I will represent myself and Calicut. If anyone is willing, they may RP as Calicut if they notify me by TG or in this thread, preferably here.

Balochistan Naval Base, 0200 Hours

Soldiers and infantry were hurrying about the base, preparing for a massive naval invasion of the Stoklomolvi Princely State of Calicut. Calicut, one of the most vulnerable states in the area, contains valuable resources that could easily be exploited. A declaration of war would be issued when the invasion force is near.

Troops and equipment were being loaded onto troop transports, which would then launch landing craft to land on the heavily defended beaches. Armoured units slowly embarked on the larger landing craft, which would strike the beach after the beach was mostly cleared. Logistics teams readied supplies and medical equipment for after the landing was complete. Defeating Calicut, however, was going to be hell. Resistance and partisans would be everywhere. However, that is the future.

OOC: I'm willing to RP as Calicut if you wish.

[OOC: Fine with me. Waiting for Alfegos.]

OOC: What's the background info on Calicut (pop, demographics, type of government, etc.)?

[OOC: I was originally going to post something about this on the wiki, but I got lazy.

Kingdom of Calicut
- Population: 634,900,192
- Leader: King Pratap Singh Shah
- GDP per capita: $780
- GDP: $495,222,149,760
- Military: 1,849,000

Extremely basic information; like I said, I was planning something more fancy, but I was lazy.

0200 hours
100 miles south of the Sub-continent
Taskforce Goldenrod

In the silence of the early morning, a quiet throbbing cut through the air at 3000m altitude. Out above the clouds, a formation of airships slowly cruised forwards, lights cut out completely. These were the airborne side of the Alfegan attack that would soon be coming the way of the unaware state of Calicut, many miles away. In the bridge of the AAS Consul, the capital ship of this operation the Operation Commander, Lieutenant-General Ii'so, sat watching a tactical display on the main bridge. The windows had been darkened to pitch black, the pilots utilising the onboard RADAR unit and computers to see through the night. Dim red lights glowed in the ceiling as the craft slowly rocked in the rare gust up here, the entire bridge silent save for the humming of computers and the occasional movement of controls.

To the far north, the virtual battlefield command screen showed the other half of the airship group moving in: Taskforce Lupin. The display was completed by the Alfegan fleet, moored off the coast of Stoklomolvi as they waited for the attack to begin. A little alert sounded on the display as he noted the airships were now in range, whilst still being offshore. At a distance of almost 350 miles away from the nation, they would take three hours to arrive. On the way, they would have their time.

Alongside the AAS Consul, the AAS Luna sat with targeting systems ready. As the commander loaded up the final taskforce firing co-ordinates, he began to receive NIR images from the satellite passing over of the the defences. If the targets intelligence had found were not all the crucial ones, then this would aid him. Small red dots pulsated where targets had been decided: a massive line far up the coast. He opened a channel to the other airships, hearing a burst of gibberish as he set the decryption unit to the right setting.
"Firing in ten seconds on selected targets."
"Affirmative. All missiles prepared to fire."
Aboard his own airship, the two weapon system controllers in the corner began frantically moving about at their controls, text streaming past on the screen as they typed in commands, using a mouse to pinpoint the areas of attack on-screen.
"Five seconds."
Deep inside the airship's main gondola, machinery began to activate as commands skittered along communications lines. Little lights began displaying inside as missile cells became active, then armed.
"Commence firing."

A small explosion took off one of the plastic/ceramic side panels of the gondola, followed a jet of flame as a booster charge ignited. The Sledgehammer Cruise missile soon started up, wings unfolding as it rolled before it shot off at high speed. It was followed by many more, all heading to defence targets scattered along the enemy coastline.

___________________________________________

Operation Living Sea
Primary Assault Force
3 Aeromarine Battalion - 431 men
4 Aeromarine Battalion - 451 men

Secondary Assault Force
2 Bttl., 3rd Assault Armour - 520 men
3 Bttl., 2nd Main Armour - 611 men
1-3 Bttl., 5th Mechanised - 3x 432 men

Main Landing Force
4th Mechanised Regiment - 2192 men
1st Main Armour Regiment - 2811 men

Airfleet Presence
AAS Consul
AAS Solaris
AAS Luna
AAS Icebolt
5x Aerofrigates
5x Aerodropcraft

15x Aerofreighters (commandeered airship transports for equipment and men)

Naval Presence
APS Ultimatum (Battleship)
APS Excelsior (Missile Cruiser)
APS Diamond (Cruiser)
APS Sapphire (Cruiser)
APS Glory (Aircraft carrier) - 32x Harrier II Jump-jets

APS Omega (Transport)
APS Omicron (Transport)
APS Sigma (Transport)
APS Delta (Transport)
APS Pi (Transport)

Coast off Calicut, 0300 hours, next day

The Stoklomolvi naval group travelled down the coast at full speed over the course of the next day, and prepared for the landing. The missile cruisers then opened a bombardment with cruise missiles, of which 602 were fired in total. Satellite imagery laid out portions of the defences, though jungle obscured the majority. At any rate, without knowing how much damage was dealt in terms of bombardment, some 23,000,000 conscripts, volunteers, and random people gathered from prison yards were sent in landing crafts. Most of the infantry sent were demoralised, afraid, and reluctant, though they would fight to the death regardless. If they did not fight, they would die; if they did, they might live, and they would be sent back home. The volunteers, however, were bloodthirsty and patriotic. Even still, they formed but a small portion of the landing force.

The landing craft launched from the multiple logistics ships, and slowly made for land. Only time would tell how many of those sent would come back.

_________

ORBAT - Operation Living Sea

Landing Force
- ~23,000,000 convicts/conscripts/volunteers
- ~12,000 Vodniks/cheap vehicles

Main Force - 4,840,000 manpower
- 300 Imperial Guard Infantry Divisions; 3,000,000 manpower
- 120 Imperial Guard Armour Divisions; 1,440,000 manpower
- 40 Imperial Guard Mechanised Divisions; 400,000 manpower

Naval Support - 8,000,000 manpower
- 43 Kirov class battlecruisers
- 26 Slava class cruisers
- 680,000 LCVP; assault ships
- 400,000 generic landing craft

Logistics - 90,000,000 manpower; generic

(OOC: Some reaction of the Calicut men? Plus maybe a more detailed map? Thanks.)

0200 hours, the next day

For the past twenty-four hours, the bombardment had continued as the airships closed in. The bunkers cracked open using the Sledgehammers were now being filled with Screamer and Longbow artillery missiles, to target any infantry and light targets in the land area. If everyone was forced back into the bunkers, they'd be sitting ducks for any more cruise missiles or shorter-ranged Crossbow missiles.

As the enemy cowered under this bombardment, the airships begant o enter the territory. The first locations were landing zones: 1km long fields identified from the satellite footage as flat landing zones for the airships. As the small Aerodropcraft holding the aeromarines moved to the forward of the advance, they began to open up with cannons: 35mm Autocannons ripping up infantry and light targets, the heavier 50mm cannons targeting any light armour. Behind, the bloated transport airships were surrounded by the Aerocruiser and Aerofrigate airships, ready to drop their load once the Aeromarines were on the ground.

A series of black parachutes opening signalled the drop of the aeromarines: crammed at double the normal capacity into their craft, they were glad to get out into the fresh air, drifting down with backs strapped to their legs and rifles in hand as they received fresh fire from the airship door machineguns. As each section it the ground, they quickly dropped off their parachutes, leaving them on the ground as they ran to form a defensive perimeter. Hopefully they would be able to hold off any aggressors as the first transports moved down to land, following bright white flares dropped around the centre of the landing zone.

Thane Beach
Jundwin Province
Kingdom of Calicut

The desolate stretch of sand called Thane Beach was the most suitable site for an amphibous landing in all of Calicut. It was for that reason that the entire 35th Infantry Brigade was garrisoned in and around the area. In addition the entire beach was mined and every inch of sand was presighted for the brigade of 155mm howitzers positioned ten kilometers to the rear. Finally, a dozen air defence sites and three anti ship missile batteries covered the skies and sea around the beach. While the beach's defenders could stop stop a determined for from getting ashore they'd exact a steep price in blood to gain a foothold on Calicuttian soil.

The first volley of enemy missiles at arrived before sunrise and wreaked havoc all of the country. Command and control sites, ammo dumps, and key bases were rocked with expolsion after explosion. Calicut's small coastal navy ceased to exist early in the onslaught as the bulk of the navy was caught and sank at dockside, however a few ships had been at sea at the time and were still in the fight for now.

The Air Force had fared little better, most of its bases were hit hard by the missiles and the majority of their planes were destroyed or damaged too badly to flown. Once again though a few squadrons, particularly those based at smaller bases throughout the country survived.

The Army had unquestionably fared better than the other services. Many of its troops were int he field and thus dispersed when the attacks came. While they lost a great deal of equipment, the Kingdom had placed massive amounts of munitions in reserves depots scattered throughout the country. While most of this hardware was badly outdated, it was plentiful.

The command and control networks were in shambles, but reports of the missile strikes were pouring in along with unconfirmed reports of soldiers airdropping from what appeared to be airships of some kind. For the time being there was no organized resistance anywhere in the Kingdom, local units were left to fight on their own until some semblance of control could established by the surviving members of the Central Staff.

Calicut, detail map

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd188/NS_Crossbowman/calicutmap.png

The blue water labels are what the Stoklomolvi troops called the area
Dark green is jungle
Light green is largely plains, with some stands of trees mixed in
Brown is road
Darkish yellow along the coast is the beach itself
Dark grey represent other states
Light grey is the capital
Black squares are surviving ammunition dumps; the larger the square, the larger the dump

Thane Beach, 0310 hours

At only 3:10 in the morning, it was very dark when the Stoklomolvi troops neared the beach. From their positions, the infantry could see large looming cliffs and bunkers in the distance, and many ducked. Others vomited inside or outside of the crafts. With great fear, they approached the beach.

0300 hours

The last transport airship roared off from the southern landing zone, leaving behind an engorged mechanised infantry batallion in addition to the armour. Breaking off into company-sized groups, the many vehicles moved in to attack the shore defences of the south from behind: where they wouild be least expecting an attack. The first impact of Xha'noa assault tanks was followed up with attacks from the mechanised infantry and M1A4 Warhound MBTs as they started to crack open the fortifications. Fireballs rose into the air from destroyed bunkers as heavy 160mm cannons cut holes in concrete and rent steel into shards.

0310 hours

Moving from behind, the aeromarines were now back on their airships. Two battalions mounted on five small aerodropcraft, moving ahead of the main aerocruisers, preparing to assault the positions.

As a second devestating bombardment of short-ranged missiles started up from the Aero-cruisers on the beach area, the Aeromarines began parachuting down behind the beach, with the aim to try and storm the bunkers. Hitting the ground and cutting their parachutes, they soon took to the ground as they moved slowly in on the enemy fortifications and artillery positions, the airships above firing off the occasional missile into any threatening positions.

One platoon had the task of moving a strange unit towards the beach: air-dropped, it looked like a small field gun with a large roll of hosepipe to its rear. As one fire team moved it into position, the others providing a defensive escort, it slowly made its way towards the beach. Once judged in range, it was fired, with the men moving away. A massive length of thick hosepipe shot over the beach, a small rocket towing it up to the shoreline, where it put itself out. A few seconds later, the entire length of hosepipe revealed itself to be filled with explosives, a massive series of explosions passing up its length. A mine-clearing device, hopefully enough to provide at least one clear corridor up the beach.

[OOC: Bump for Tolvan.]

[OOC: Fine, Tolvan, I'll have to RP some of it for you then.]

Thane Beach, 0320 hours

The infantry at the top of the beach spotted the massive, seemingly endless wave of landing crafts and started opening fire with every weapon they had. Machine guns blazed, artillery boomed, and soldiers took potshots with rifles. From the rear, motorised infantry drove out in trucks to "meet" the Alfegan men.

At the beach, the Stoklomolvi troops were falling in droves. However, for every thirty Stoklomolvi infantry killed, one beach defender was lost, and this could eventually ruin the battle plan for the Calicuttians. They could not afford to lose too many skilled infantry, since conscripts would not be suited for defending beaches.

The Aeromarine contingent soon moved to a defence line in the forests as the Aerodropcraft detected vehicles moving out. On the frontline, Captain Sa'sla lay hidden in a small shell-scrape by the side of the road, the rest of his platoon spread out either side of him on the road side. All had left their rucksacks in a hidden platoon harbour much further in, wearing only patrol packs and webbing over their armour and BDUs. He whispered into his radio final commands, as the platoon Missile Launcher was locked onto one of the vehicles. It was an AAT-87, in this close range relying on a small under-barrel designator to spot the target, a flipup glass sight showing him his target. A tiny readout on the LASER showed the range: 300 metres. He counted until they were at 150m, before letting off the missile.

As the HEAT round shot out of the forest, missing trees and thick stems to get out onto the road, the platoon opened up. A mix of AF-07P assault rifles, Para Minimis and FN MAGs began chattering, a loud burst of rounds cutting through the cover down the focused roads. A grenade flew from an underbarrel launcher, lighting up the vehicles targeted with an eerie red glow. Seconds later, artillery from a nearby Aerodropcraft began firing, explosions ripping up the area by the road.
Section One began crawling through the dense cover down the road, towards the ambush scene. Hopefully they'd cleared up this motorised contingent.

Nearer to the beach, another platoon had got into place. These had hefted along a mortar as a special weapon, calibre 81mm. Loading HEAT bunker-busting rounds, they angled the sights in as they received their range. The round was dropped in by the loader, followed by the thud of the device firing. The next round was brought over from the air-dropped crate-cum-preparation area followed by a radio report from the sentries.
"Fire a few more, but get ready to move out: they're onto our position."
There came the sound of a distant grenade launcher firing, followed, by a distant red glow as the flare ignited.

-------------------------------

The southern advance was quickly storming through the coastal defences of the coast. The first troop of Assault Tanks in the most forward advance was only twenty miles from the landing beach. The force was using the inland roads to move quickly, Aerocruisers firing the occasional missile from above as they spread out to each assigned sector, clearing an area completely before moving onto the next assigned area in a large leap. Already it was possible to see the distant beach landing, obviously turning into a massacre for the Stoklomolvi forces. How could people still use their armed forces as cannon fodder? The 1st Army of Alfegos, an entirely professional force, learnt to fight by mutual respect: if they respected their commanders, they would earn respect in return. The first year signup groups always found that out the hard way, thrown in at the deep end in the worst accommodation, the sections performing the best soon moving up within weeks or months to much more comfortable quarters, and then to the Full Service accommodation of separate rooms for each man at the Main Stations.

The Sergeant of the Assault Armour Troop thought those thoughts as his tank smashed through a low wall, firing off a burst form the Tank Commander's machine-gun as the main cannon roared again. Through the television link into the sealed vehicle, he saw a distant fortification take the full impact of the HESH round, an explosion blossoming across the side. Still, he respected the decisions of the commanders. Orders were orders, and the Stoklomolvi men were definately not being commanded by Alfegans. At least they could give them the best of help.

Nearby, an M1A3 Slinger Armoured Howitzer pulled up, the accompanying IFVs disgorging a few sections of men into the fortifications. The artillery had found an ideal place to fire from, and soon did. The 180mm gun let rip, a shell shooting off into the distance towards the beach fortifications as the vehicle commander let rip a burst of machine-gun fire towards the fortifications that the infantry were clearing to the sound of gunfire and grenade explosions.

Thane Beach
0350 hours

The beach landing was slowly growing more successful for the Stoklomolvi, at an increasingly high cost of human lives. Already, upwards of 680,000 men were slaughtered, and at this point the number of empty landing craft outnumbered the number of surviving men on the beach. On the clifftops, the bunkers were being bombarded by Alfegan troops, which already demoralised the soldiers who were ordered to hold the beach. With the addition of an ever-growing number of men on the beach, the lack of ammunition was slowly taking its toll on the Calicuttians. Demoralisation took hold of several sectors, inciting the men there to flee the bunkers with the hopes of not getting killed.

Back at the beach, artillery roared and thundered all around; the beaches were nothing but craters, sans sand, the cliffs were piles of dirt, sans cliff, and the bunkers were piles of concrete, sans bunkers. Infantry on both sides were running around, and some Stoklomolvi were even in the fortifications. Confused and bewildered by the constant sound of gunfire, many Stoklomolvi infantry started suffering from very early shell shock; they started breaking down and sobbing in the middle of the field, only to get killed by a stray bullet. Machine guns ripped through the air, sending bullets into the chests of Stoklomolvi and Calcuttian infantry alike. Nobody knew who was firing at whom or what was firing at what. Bayonets gleamed, rifles fired, and cannons boomed.

The Alfegan flank soon broke the Calicuttians into a full retreat. Every Calicuttian who still had feet started running from the beach, which would be known as hell by every Calicuttian who was still a Calicuttian. The motorised infantry, which had the highest morale of all the troops on the beach, became some of the fastest runners that Calicut had ever seen. It was utter chaos.

_______________

Thane Beach
0600 hours

By dawn, over 3,400,000 Stoklomolvi men lay dead or dying on the beach. Almost 28,000 Calicuttians were slaughtered, and the beach could not even be called a beach. It was a nightmare. However, the war would continue, and the troop transports soon started steaming towards the now completely flat beach, flattening the earlier landing craft along the way.

OOC: Had some rather nasty weather here all day yesterday.

Singan Provincial Defence Command Center
0630 Hours

Colonel Ali Singh studied the maps spread out before him grimly. The force holding the beach had been written off as completely lost, but they'd put up a serious fight. Initial estimates for the Stoklomovin losses were in the 2 million to 2.5 million range, an almost absurdly high number since the entire garrison didn't even have that many bullets issued to them. The Alfegan losses were unknown, but thought to be vastly lower.

Singh was in dire straits, he'd already lost most of his men in the Battle for Thane Beach, the deployment of reinforcements would take time as the comm networks were still in shambles. Singh's only option was to throw his remaining troops as the bechhead in a suicidal frontal assault in hope of buying more time for the reserves to mobilize and man the Vikgrant Line that defended the Capital District. Already orders were going out to the units he had left. The 15th Motor Rifle Brigade and the attached 105th Tank Battalion would spearhead the counterattack. In addition the 31st Infantry Division (minus the full regiment it'd lost at Thane Beach) would provide support along with several reserve and militia units and the 3rd Para-Commando Company. The total force was just 45,000 men but they were heavily armed and very motivated. SIngh only hoped their deaths would noy be in vain.

Deepak Village, Eleven KM northwest of Thane Beach

The stream of refugees abandoning the area clogged the right lane of Highway Six, while the lead elements of Battle Group Tiger (15th Motor Rifle and 105th Tank) along with a few support units advanced down south along the left lane. The column was screened by numerous SAM and flak batteries to guard against enemy aircraft. Overhead twenty Mi-24 Hinds and ten Su-25s roared past bound the Stoklomovin transports on the beach, while a flight of twenty-one MiG-29s and ten Su-27s provided air cover. The massive strike represented virtually the entire remaining strength of the Calicuttian Royal Air Force and they had no illusions about returning home, they only hoped they could kill plenty of invaders before they died.

Calicuttian Bay
0640 Hours

The men who were still stranded on the landing craft looked up to see hell on its way. After facing massive friendly fire casualties and plain massacre on the beach, they did not wish to view another fight. What's worse, the bay was literally filled with landing craft; one could walk from one to another without getting wet and actually reach the beach. Essentially, a naval traffic jam ensued; it was very bad indeed. When the enemy aircraft zoomed by, they knew that there was going to be some mighty death.

The bombs dropped by the Calicuttian aircraft bombed several hundred thousand conscripts to death. Which is, to say, not too large of a loss: the conscripts were untrained, unmotivated, and demoralised. Luckily, few Imperial Guardsmen were lost, for they were the main fighting force.

The aircraft continued out to sea, where a massive fleet of missile cruisers awaited. Soon, bullets flew, and a ship exploded in a flurry of bullets and fire. Missiles were launched on both sides. The clouds of death from the custom flak guns aboard the ships started puffing around the Calicuttians. S-300 AA missiles were launched from the ships' vertical launch tubes. The Kashtan point-defence systems started firing from each ship within range. Unfortunately, yet another ship exploded as a Calicuttian missile whizzed by and detonated conveniently in the main tower, sending enough force into the ship that it capsized.

Calicuttian Bay
0645 Hours

The air strike had suffered massive casualties, but had inflicted untold amounts of carnage on the Stoklomovins below. The few remaining planes, the Hinds were all knocked out, were running low on munitions and fuel. Even worse they knew that the enemy would follow them to their bases and take revenge for their fallen comrades, with that grim reality setting in the senior surviving pilot issued one final order over the radio.

"It is out time to die, let's make it theirs as well."

With that all thirteen surviving planes picked the largest intact ship they could find and dove towards them at full throttle.

Calicuttian bay
0647 Hours

The closest and largest Kirov battlecruiser was the SINC Sibirsk, which was fully loaded with ammunition and missiles. When the sailors aboard the ship realised what the aircraft were doing, they started jumping overboard in an attempt to survive. However, it was too late, as the aircraft collided with one another and went spinning into the deck and tower of the ship. The remaining fuel and munitions in the aircraft ignited, creating a firestorm that lit up the ship like a massive beacon. The ammunition and missiles still aboard the ship soon heated up, and the self-sustaining fire then exploded with a fiery blast that created a mushroom cloud seen for a number of kilometres. The ship then broke in half, bow and stern sinking separately into the shallow Calicuttian Bay. The sailors who had jumped overboard were crushed and burned by burning oil and flying munitions.

In all, over 4,500 sailors were killed with one ship down.

0640

The AAS Consul drifted towards the Thane Beach area as it detected the flight of aircraft passing towards Stoklomolvi ships. The Captain noted the aircraft on the airship's sensor screen, yelling behind him to the weapons controllers.
"Arm Missile Pod 1, and prepare to engage enemy aircraft."
"Negative, we are unable to engage."
The Captain watched as a Stoklomolvi ship went up in flames in the distance.
"Arm Missile Pods 2 and 3, and prepare to engage enemy aircraft."
He saw another explosion, as the tracking system went dead.
"Unable to lock: all enemy aircraft are down. I repeat, all enemy aircraft are down."
The Captain stood in silence as he watched the battleship fall down.

"Arm all the remaining Longbows we have. Set them to 100m dispersal, and aim them at what's left of the enemy."
He walked over to the screens displaying the sensory feed-outs from the entire airship group poured into the battlefield network. A swarm of heat signatures at ground level were grouping to move towards the beach.
"Well, there's your target."
The autocannon started up at a nearby ground target request, masked by the sound of the missiles launching. Twenty Longbow missiles in total, each armed with a 400 sub-munition explosive warhead. It would seem to them like it was raining hand grenades.

____________________________________

0640
The Jungles near the beach

In a small clearing, a medic attended to the wounds of an aeromarine hit by shrapnel. The light of the early morning crept through the trees, the accompanying dawn chorus strangely quiet. She didn't blame the birds: they had seen so much suffering in this morning. Over the radio, he'd heard the Aeromarines had had twelve men KIA'd, and quite a few wounded to varying degrees. The man in front of her moaned as he moved him, finding where the shrapnel had entered in his neck, close to his spine. She'd need to med-evac this one.

Taking out the standard issue flare-gun, she fired off a shot marked with an M on the side. It exploded above the position, burning an electric blue before falling out of the sky. That would hopefully bring in the nearest section of platoon, which could help her move this man.
She took a small morphine pen from her medical kit, wiping the man's arm with her shemagh before putting it over his vein. A click later, and she removed the needle, placing it in a tiny yellow box back in her medical kit and fixing another in place.
"Don't worry mate: you'll be fine."
Her radio hissed as she quickly picked up her rifle. The rest of her section arrived, quickly circling the perimeter. The Sergeant scurried into the centre, followed by two other men.
"Why didn't you use the radio?"
"I couldn't get a signal, and thought you lot had moved off quite a way up the road."
"Fair enough. Let's hope they don't work out what that one was for, and think it was an artillery flare."

One man took his waterproof out of his patrol sack, tying the sleeves and base around two long sticks one man found. Counting to five, the two men lifted the man and carefully placed him on the improvised stretcher, lifting it up and moving the man towards the perimeter. The sergeant changed the radio channel to pre-set seven, before speaking.
"This is One Four Two Two Alpha to Big Bird Charlie, do you read me?"
"We read you One Four Two Two Alpha. State your intentions."
"Requesting position of nearest medical station, over."
"Position is 4.1km at 1720 mils."
"Roger that."

He turned to the squad, before looking back to the medic.
"How serious is the wound?"
"If he moves, he could die. That bit of shrapnel is almost touching the artery there. One jerk, and it'll dislodge."
"So it's best to let them come to us?"
He swore, before making up his mind.
"I'll radio in for support. In the meantime lads, let's make ourselves at home."
One man removed an axe from his webbing, putting it between his teeth as he scuttled up a nearby tree. Near the top, he began cutting one of the large limbs away from the section. In a couple of minutes, it was on the ground, another man getting to work on it to produce some impromptu cover for the men defending the clearing. The medic lay with the wounded man behind her, rifle at the ready.
"Let's hope the bastards don't try it."
____________________________________

0640 hours
8km south of Thane beach

The Alfegan force was tiny in comparison to what they were hearing mobilised: a couple of regiments against whole divisions. The consolation was they had air superiority, and were fully mechanised.
The bunker-destroying force moving along the coast was now gathered near the landing beach. The sun was rising, as were their chances of victory. The howitzers fired with the Main Armour as the Xha'noa tanks and mechanised infantry moved out. They were going to try and rout the enemy.

Thane Beach
0650 Hours

The conscripts and convicts were swarming the ruined fortifications, ignoring the concrete golf-ball sized cover and instead eyeing the thick trees across the road. Annoyingly, the Calicuttian troops approached at approximately the same time as the Stoklomolvi, and thus the two sides clashed in an odd conflict in which people were stumbling over one another in an attempt to get away. Bayonets stabbed random people, bullets were fired in sporadic patterns, and the trucks were soon littered with bodies from both camps. Several conscripts and convicts made it across the road to the trees, and started firing their bolt-action rifles at everyone in the middle of the street. Most conveniently, the brawl on the road stopped the motorised infantry, as the fighting had beaten up several drivers and many more infantry.

Unfortunately for everybody, Alfegan bombs started raining on the massive squabble, sending body parts and blood spurting through the air. Heads and bodies were upheaved as fire and explosions cratered the already ruined road. Shrapnel from trees lodged into people's heads, fire lit corpses and other infantry aflame, and the steel from the trucks began to warp due to high temperatures. Luckily for the Stoklomolvi, more demoralised troops were killed, and the majority remaining now were volunteers. In all, 34,500 Stoklomolvi fighting men and women were slaughtered by friendly fire and close combat.

The remaining Imperial Guardsmen marched off the troop transports in orderly blocks, and slowly made their way off the beach onto the cliff. Soon after noticing the warring that broke out in the road, the Guardsmen jumped behind whatever cover they could find. Some jumped into the bunker complex, others behind tiny stones and obstacles that could block bullets, and many more behind the corpses of comrades and enemies alike. When they aimed, however, all they saw was fire, as the Alfegan munitions ripped bodies to shreds. Eventually, after the bombardment ceased, they got up and began to regroup.

[OOC: Bump?]