New Calypso: The First Offensive

November 25^th, 379 years After Planetfall
Outskirts of New Calypso, Asteria

Standing atop of a small hill, Captain Rosalia Kelsen watched as the city in front of her billowed thick clouds of smoke. Aircraft roared overhead, some of them unloading their deadly payload into the city, far behind its Climate Control Barrier. Kelsen calmly observed the impact point through her binoculars, witnessing new pillars of black smoke as the detonations reached her ears. She couldn’t see much more than that, of course, and could only hear the distant sounds of weapons fire in response. With a sigh, she lowered her binoculars and looked at the surrounding suburbs. It hasn’t even been two weeks since the war started, and operation Killjoy was in full effect. Even if she couldn’t see all of them from her position, Kelsen knew hundreds if not thousands of soldiers like her were involved in the operation, storming the capital to flush the Dominion’s forces out of the city. As more aircraft soared over the battlefield before her, Kelsen heard footsteps to her right, prompting her to turn around. Approaching was her second-in-command, First Lieutenant Lawson, holding out Kelsen’s helmet under one arm and quickly saluting her with the other.

“Captain, Command reports that stage 1 of the operation is successful, and we are to move to stage 2 immediately.”

“Understood, any news on our guides?”

“Negative ma’am, we’ve had no contact with any Watcher elements in the last twenty minutes. This’ll be the second check-in they’ve missed, we have to assume the worst, ma’am.”

“Great, the good news keeps piling up. Alright, let’s mount up and figure this mess out.”

The young Lieutenant nodded before throwing Kelsen’s helmet into her arms. Kelsen briefly turned around, her amber eyes taking one last look at the burning city before donning her helmet. Detecting its user’s presence, the helmet’s HUD activated, displaying additional information about the troops she was now facing. It was a convoy of a dozen vehicles from the 27^th Mechanized Infantry Division, currently idle on the highway leading to the city’s eastern gate. They were designated as Angel company and were tasked with reinforcing elements of the 32^nd Armored Division, designated as Valiant company, to push deeper into the city. Kelsen watched silently as her troops returned to their vehicles before doing the same.

Unlike the conventional Warden IFVs forming the bulk of her convoy, her personal vehicle, nicknamed Armored Diva, was a modified Warden variant with its turret replaced by a drone catapult and a simple machine gun station. Kelsen approached the vehicle, closing in on the opened side door slightly behind Lieutenant Lawson. The man entered the vehicle and Kelsen swiftly followed, her eyes adjusting to the vehicle’s interior brightness. Instead of the usual two rows of seats used to ferry passengers, Kelsen instead stood in front of a small command and control center, divided into two control stations where many screens and communications equipment filled out the space. Lawson sat at one of the stations, tapping on a few buttons while Kelsen briefly checked that her helmet had synchronized with the vehicle’s radio network.

“Lieutenant, patch me through to our boys.”

Without giving a glance at his superior, the Lieutenant pressed a few more buttons before turning around to respond with a nod.

“Done, comms are open on channel 5, ma’am.”

Kelsen nodded in response before bringing up the terminal mounted on her left arm. As she sat at her station, Kelsen tapped gently onto her terminal, hearing static for a fleeting moment before it indicated a successful connection to the correct channel.

“Alright people, Command reports that stage 1 of the operation is successful and we are to move to stage 2. That means it’s our turn to shine, ladies and gentlemen, and I expect great things from you. Order of battle will be Angel 1-1 as the lead, followed by Angel 2-1, Angel Actual and Angel 3-1 will bring up the rear, understood?”

“Crystal clear ma’am, let’s show these Domies what we’re made of!”

“Angel 1-1 copies, we’ll lead the way.”

“Roger that, try not to get us lost, 1-1!”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too, 3-1, it happened once, you bastard!”

Kelsen smiled at her subordinate’s bickering. Her three platoon leaders all came from the same class and had apparently known each other for a while now. They and their troops were all eager to show what they were capable of, but Kelsen also knew they were scared, just like her. After all, this was the first military conflict of the Vestan military in decades, and even if they had superior equipment and assets, they couldn’t underestimate the enemy. The low humming of electrical engines and the light acceleration of Kelsen’s vehicle brought the young captain back to reality, as she diligently watched her convoy gain speed on her various screens.

Their first objective was to link up with a squad of regional guards that were to be their guides inside the city, the same guides who had failed to check in twice, worrying Kelsen. After a few uneventful minutes, the convoy exited the highway and entered the suburbs, slowing down and changing to a two-file column formation, taking up the entirety of the street. The convoy progressed slowly along the main road to remain vigilant of any possible ambush. So far, no signs of any activity were found, with the local civilians having evacuated in the early days of the war.

“This is Angel 1-1, we’re reaching the city’s gate, still no sign of activity around here, over.”

“Copy, once you’re at the gate, order your troops to dismount and begin the search for Watcher, if we’re lucky they just had radio problems, over.”

“Copy that, dismounting troops now, out.”

Kelsen continued to watch her screens as the convoy came to a stop, feeling the brakes of her own vehicle. Smaller blue dots appeared around the four forward vehicles on the map, each representing one of the soldiers under 1-1’s command. They spread out and proceeded further into the surrounding alleys and streets, looking for their lost comrades. As they did so, Lieutenant Lawson interrupted Kelsen’s train of thoughts.

“Captain, Command reports heavy resistance across the western districts, and we are to proceed with caution to our rendez-vous point. They’ve also managed to divert a gunship to assist us in our advance, ETA is fifteen minutes.”

“Understood, we’ll be deep within the city by the time it arrives, let’s hope we won’t need its help. Keep me informed of their status, and what’s their callsign?”

The Lieutenant briefly turned around, checking his station before answering.

“It’s flight HK-227, a Tempest Hunter designated Hawker, ma’am.”

“A Hunter, huh? That’s some serious firepower Command has lent us.”

Before her Lieutenant could answer, however, came another response from one of her units.

“Captain, this is Angel 1-4, I think you should come and take a look at this. I think we’ve found Watcher, or what’s left of them.”

“Shit. I'm on my way” said Kelsen before turning back to Lieutenant Lawson. “Lawson, stay here and keep me updated if anything happens.”

Lawson silently nodded before turning back towards his station. Kelsen marked 1-4’s position on her HUD before grabbing her carbine and opening the closest side door of her vehicle. As she stepped outside, she was briefly overwhelmed by the suffocatingly hot air. Unlike her foot soldiers, Kelsen was not wearing an infantry kit and instead wore conventional body armor and a scarf, which did little to make the heat more bearable. Silently cursing the planet’s arid climate, Kelsen checked at a glance that her weapon was loaded and eventually reached Angel 1-4’s position, a rather large three-stories high house with an abandoned armored car in the garden. The car’s bulletproof windows were shattered, no doubt because of an intense firefight, and behind them was the body of one of the regional guards, riddled with bullets.

Kelsen’s grip on her weapon tightened as she silently watched the dead body, before shaking her head and proceeding inside the house, where one of her men guided her to the second floor. Inside lay the burned bodies of four more soldiers, the entire room covered in black soot and ash. It didn’t take long for the smell to reach Kelsen, who couldn’t resist the urge to gag and spent a fair amount of willpower to not vomit at the sight of the bodies. Taking a few seconds to calm down, Kelsen turned to 1-4’s squad leader, who reached the room shortly after her.

“So now we know why they weren’t answering. Any idea what happened?”

“No ma’am, if I were to guess, they were hit by a thermobaric while their driver took a pounding outside, but Command never told us they were this well equipped. At least we know they’re still using bullets as we anticipated.”

“Agreed. Take their dog tags and move out, we have a city to take, we’ll bury them later.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Shortly after, the house became as deserted as it was before, and everyone regrouped with the convoy. Back inside the safety of her vehicle, Kelsen sighed before opening a channel back to high command.

“Command, this is Angel company, our Watcher unit is confirmed KIA and we have evidence of heavy armament used by the Dominion, are we to proceed? Over.”

After a few seconds of static, Kelsen had the answer she feared.

“This is Command, current objective remains unchanged, Angel company is to push forward and link up with Valiant company. Evidence of heavy weaponry acknowledged, we’ve had similar reports throughout the city, over.”

“Understood, sending out the coordinates for the bodies for retrieval, over.”

“Appreciated, Angel Actual, we’ll retrieve them after the operation is concluded. Be careful out there, orbital scans have shown increased activity throughout the city, sending latest intel, Command, out”

As the communication stopped, Kelsen’s station received an updated map of the enemy’s estimated locations, which was… inadequate, at best. Due to the planet’s atmosphere, the scans only provided a broad understanding that the enemy had a higher chance to be present in some blocks of the city more than others, but the map was essentially one big red soup. Taking a moment to process the information, Kelsen switched her radio back to channel 5, which linked her to her three platoon leaders. Despite her reluctance to send her troops into the unknown, she had her orders.

“All units, resume your advance on the pre-established path to the rendez-vous point. Keep your eyes peeled, without our guides, we have no way of knowing the enemy’s position once we’re inside the city. Command reports increased enemy activity in the area, but nothing concrete as usual.”

Her lieutenants acknowledged her orders, and shortly afterwards, the convoy resumed its march towards its new objective. This section of the city was in remarkably good shape, with little to no indication that any conflict occurred, bar a few burnt out cars here and there. These wrecks did little to stop Kelsen’s convoy, being crushed or shoved aside by the sixteen-ton vehicles leading the way. Kelsen watched on her screens as the convoy continued onward, checking between her central map and the upper screens where video feeds from her units were displayed. With nothing in sight, she relaxed a bit in her seat until one of the two forward blue dots on her map blinked. Before she could react, an explosion rocked the street, sending vibrations throughout her vehicle.

“Fuck, all units, halt, what was that?” screamed Kelsen, checking her map again for any hostile contact. She breathed in relief as nothing showed up and none of her units were lost.

“This is 1-1, Battle Buddy triggered an IED, low yield, minor damage sustained. Still running diagnostics but so far they’re still mobile.”

Kelsen checked the vehicle’s status through her station, and indeed, the latest diagnostics only showed some sensors lost but no breach in its armor. She breathed out in an attempt to calm herself down before addressing her convoy.

“Alright, all units, resume advance but remain alert, if the Domies didn’t know we were coming, they certainly know now.”

Kelsen regained her composure and returned her gaze to her central map, zooming it out to display her convoy’s progress. The rendez-vous point with Valiant company, the 32^nd Armored Division’s forward elements, was roughly fifteen hundred meters away from the gate, just a few minutes away under normal conditions. Yet, they had only reached three hundred meters before triggering that IED. Overlapping the latest intel she had on the enemy’s activity, Kelsen noticed that her convoy was due to pass through a block with a high chance of enemy presence. It was a dense residential block reaching into a large four-way intersection. At their current pace, they would reach it within a couple of minutes, leaving little time for the captain to ponder on her options.

She could launch her vehicle’s drone to gather more information, but there was little chance for its thermal optics to pick up anything through the residential block’s concrete walls. Alternatively, she could try and rush the convoy through the intersection, taking by surprise anyone foolish enough to take them head-on. Finally, she could simply order her convoy through another street, taking a little longer to reach the objective but bypassing the hot zone altogether. As the convoy neared the dreaded hot zone, Kelsen opened a channel to her subordinates again.

“All units, halt, the area ahead is marked as potentially hot by our latest intel.”

The vehicles stopped rather abruptly, her own vehicle’s wheels screeching to a stop in her ears. Kelsen assessed her options, and made her decision before her platoon leaders could ask any questions.

“All units, dismount and set up a perimeter, I repeat, all units, dismount and set up a perimeter. If the Domies are hiding here we’ll go slow and steady and clear them out. We can’t let them get past us.”

“1-1 copy, dismounting now. Though there’s still nothing on our scopes.”

“Captain’s right, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing around. Most of the place’s made of concrete around us, sensors can’t get through that. I’ll get my boys to clear out the nearby buildings just to be sure.”

“I appreciate your support, 2-1, but Valiant’s not going to wait for us forever. All units are to proceed forward with caution. 1-1, set up a smoke screen at that intersection, better waste it than be sorry.”

“Uh, roger that, Captain, 1-1 moving out.”

Kelsen watched anxiously as her convoy slowly proceeded along the road, with the foot soldiers walking on the sidewalks, checking the occasional buildings and back alleys. If they had more time, they should have checked the upper floors as well, but they were the spearhead of the assault from the eastern side of the city. Or rather, they had to reinforce that spearhead as fast as they could or run the risk of having Valiant company quickly surrounded. They couldn’t afford to lose an armored company for such a silly reason. As ordered, the first platoon set up a smoke screen on both sides of the intersection before proceeding forward. The first vehicles reached the other side of the road, and the second platoon soon followed suit. The convoy continued onward, with Kelsen’s vehicle now crossing the street as the smoke started to fade out. Lieutenant Lawson turned around to face his superior and commented on her latest orders.

“Captain, I know Command asked us to be cautious, but continuing at this pace will seriously-”

There suddenly was a bright flash coming from the lieutenant, and before Kelsen could comprehend what happened, she was covered in blood as his station was now a mess of shattered computer screens and shrapnel, sparks coming out of the ruined electronics and turning the air acrid. In the middle of this mess was a fist-sized hole, glowing red hot as if the metal had been burned through. Frozen in shock at the sight, Kelsen remained still for a few seconds before her gunner shook her out of it.

“-tain! Captain, can you hear me?”

“Corporal? Yes, I can hear you, what happened?” she asked, as her gaze returned to the now lifeless body of Lieutenant Lawson, the bloody mess that was his torso disgusting her as what was left slumped forward.

“We’ve been hit, captain, whatever that was, the APS couldn’t keep up.”

Before Kelsen could formulate her answer, the multitude of voices screaming in her ears snapped her out of her temporary stupor.

“Shit, driver, get us out of there!”

“I’m trying, but we’re taking fire from the upper floors now!”

“Damn it, I knew this place was a trap!”

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Kelsen looked back at her map while she focused on the radio chatter that was pestering her for the past minute.

“2-1, check the Diva’s status, they’re closest to you, I’m taking care of those balconies.”

“Belay that Lieutenant! Focus on repelling that assault! All units, status report?”

“Glad to hear your voice Captain, this is 1-1, taking fire from the upper balconies above us, so far small arms fire and some rockets, we can take care of it on our own.”

“This is 3-1, still on the other side of that crossing, taking fire from the upper floors as well. Troops are moving it to secure the area.”

“2-1 here, still in one piece, we’re moving to engage the gun on overwatch on the crossing, setting up a smoke screen.”

Another explosion rocked the street, and one of the larger blue dots on Kelsen’s map disappeared. They were in the middle of the intersection, with 1-1’s units already on the other side while 2-1 and her own vehicle were stuck in the middle of it. 3-1 remained behind and was focused on repelling the assault on their side of the intersection. Red dots started to appear all around them, most of them being classed as infantry, with one vehicle somewhere further down the intersection. Given the damage it dealt, it likely was one of the field guns they were warned about in the mission briefings.

“Fuck, I’ve just lost Petty Fight, the bastards ’ve got good optics! Second platoon is still combat effective!”

“2-1, fall back, do not engage the crossing, focus your efforts on the balconies above us. 1-1, can you push forward? 3-1, hold your position until we clear out that gun.”

“1-1, confirming no obstacle ahead of us, where do you want us to go, Captain?”

“1-1, take Battle Buddy and move up, circle back towards that gun and take it out before we lose any more armor. Leave your troops with 2-1’s, speed is of the essence here. 2-1, take over the buildings and make sure to secure the area around us.”

“Yes ma’am” answered both platoon leaders in chorus.

Despite their professionalism, the ambush was sudden and brutal. Kelsen barely managed to keep her cool as more blue dots blinked and disappeared from her screen, and more red dots appeared instead. Explosions rocked her vehicle as rockets were intercepted by their Active Protection System, shrapnel raining harmlessly on the vehicle’s armor. In response, Kelsen heard the thunderous sound of Oström weapons fire coming from her vehicle and the nearby troops, mixing with the more conventional gunshots of the Dominion’s ballistic weapons. This was a battle. This was Kelsen’s first taste of war, and she was not about to make it her last. The young captain quickly regained her composure, ignoring the smell of burned flesh coming from Lawson’s body, and focused on what she could do.

Above her map were the video feeds of her units that she could switch at will. She looked to her left and tapped a few buttons on her left screen, activating the drone resting on her vehicle’s catapult. Kelsen flipped through the feeds, looking for the feed of the recon drone she just activated, before hitting the launch button. The drone circled above the battlefield, providing valuable intel about the enemy’s position and composition. The Dominion’s forces had a field gun mounted on an armored truck on the far end of the southern road, which is presumably the one who took out Petty Fight and hit her own Warden. Before she could gather more intel, however, the feed suddenly died, no doubt because of the drone being shot down. Kelsen slammed her first into her station, silently cursing before changing her radio’s channel again.

“1-1, that field gun is located two hundred meters south of our position, sending coordinates now.”

“Appreciated, Actual, we’re currently engaged with some infantry units, nothing serious but I seriously hope that gun is not relocating.”

Kelsen could feel the sweat trickling down her face as her eyes switched from one screen to the other. All of her units were tied down by the enemy, who was raining down fire from the upper floors of the nearby buildings. As Kelsen wondered what to respond, another unfamiliar voice interrupted the conversation.

“This is flight HK-227, callsign Hawker, maybe we can help with that one. Coordinates received, beginning strafing run.”

Suddenly remembering the gunship Lawson referenced earlier, Kelson breathed in relief and fiddled again with her screens.

“Glad to have you onboard Hawker, clearing out that gun would really help us out.”

Shortly afterwards, a blue triangle popped in on one side of the screen before rapidly crossing to the other. Moments later, the thunderous roaring of the Hunter’s fusion engines briefly deafened her ears, even through her helmet, and Kelsen switched the feeds to Hawker’s gun cam, intent on watching the destruction unravel. The gunship’s rotating autocannon opened fire and pulverized most of the infantry as well as the truck onto which the field gun was mounted. Explosions soon followed, wiping any remains away as the keel-mounted coil gun unloaded its explosive shells.

“This is Hawker, enemy field gun confirmed neutralized, circling back to assist on those balconies, over.”

“Understood, Hawker, thank you for the assist. Take care of our teams moving up the floors in those buildings, we’ll tell them to hunker down until you’re done.”

“Copy, new fire mission danger close to friendlies, enjoy the show.”

Calming down after taking back control of the situation, Kelsen turned on her helmet’s see-through armor feature and watched as the gunship deployed its rocket thrusters to hover in place, its massive fuselage casting a shadow over the entire street while its rotating autocannon whirled to life. With a deafening thunderous roar, the weapon unloaded thousands of LGX projectiles into the buildings, shredding any form of life and cover indiscriminately.

“This is Hawker, first building cleared, moving on to the next.”

Kelsen quickly checked that none of her troops were caught in the deluge of fire, and sighed in relief as she noticed that they were all in one piece. Once again, she could hear the roaring of that autocannon before Hawker spoke again through the radio.

“Hawker to Angel Actual, second building cleared, we’re moving out to support Valiant company, good luck out there.”

“Copy Hawker, thanks for the help and see you back at base, out.” said Kelsen, glad to see the end of that ambush.

“This is 1-1, returning to convoy, infantry units have been taken care of. We’ve taken a few hits, but we’re still in one piece.”

“Copy, all units, rally on me and establish a perimeter. We need to sort out our wounded and prisoners. Do we have any prisoners?”

After a few moments of silence, likely the time it took for the three platoon leaders to get some answers from their squads, Kelsen eventually got the reports back.

“Negative Captain, Hawker really cleared out those buildings, and the few stragglers ran away before we could intercept them. Same situation with 2-1 and 3-1.”

“Thank you 1-1, that’s one less thing to worry about.”

Kelsen then checked the status of her convoy, confirming her casualties. One vehicle destroyed, two vehicles damaged, six dead and fifteen wounded. While the wounded were not critically injured and could continue on with the mission, that was still more casualties than she hoped for, especially against an enemy supposedly as weak as the Dominion. Assessing her options, and turning back to look at what was left of Lawson’s body, still slumped over on his station, Kelsen made up her mind.

“1-1, I understand Battle Buddy is no longer combat effective?”

“Uh, sort of, ma’am, their turret ring’s jammed, but they still have mobility and secondaries though.”

“Alright, I want them to load up our dead and go back to the rear with 3-1. Once that’s done, we continue forward to the objective. 2-1, you’ll take point, 1-1 is beaten up enough as it is.”

“Understood Captain.”

After making some emergency repairs and taking care of the dead and wounded, the convoy resumed its journey towards the rendez-vous point, a large parking lot located near a commercial center and stadium. These were the longest five minutes of the day so far, with Kelsen’s eyes darting from one screen to the other, making sure nothing slipped past her. Luckily, nothing further occurred on their way to the parking lot, with the convoy safely reaching their objective. Given the deserted area, they evidently were the first. For the first time since they entered the city, Kelsen relaxed a fair bit, going as far as grabbing a half melted chocolate bar. Her eyes riveted to her screens, she quickly looked at the time before starting to feel a rumbling coming from the floor. Shortly afterwards, some additional blue dots appeared on her map, and Kelsen hurriedly finished her chocolate bar. Still munching on it, she then grabbed her carbine and headed outside.

As she expected from her screens, Valiant company had indeed arrived at the rendez-vous point, although they seemed to have taken a harder beating than Kelsen’s own convoy. This was the first time she interacted with the 32^nd Armored Division, and so far, she enjoyed the sight of an armored column of Ravagers. She then saw another vehicle entering the fray, larger than the already imposing Ravager. A Monarch. It was the first time she saw such a vehicle. She had heard of it before, naturally, but the damn things had barely been put into service when the war began. She watched in awe as the four tracks of the vehicle crushed whatever they met, bringing the vehicle next to her own, dwarfing the modest infantry carrier. She noticed the scorch marks of anti-tank weapons on the turret’s side and numerous bullet impacts scattered on its hull. Then, the side hatch that stood in front of her opened, and an officer exited out of the vehicle.

“Captain Kelsen, I see you made it to our lovely little corner of the city in one piece. Almost.” said the man as he studied the state of Kelsen’s convoy.

“Captain Volkov, a pleasure to see you and your men in one piece as well. I think we both have a certain pilot to thank.”

“Yes, Command was generous to send Hawker our way, but I still lost half a platoon on what should’ve been a simple drive. I still can’t believe they sent us in without support.”

“We’re stretched thin enough as it is, they had to ensure the city was airtight on our side of the assault.”

“Yes, yes, I was at the briefing too. In any case, we have a city to take, Captain, and I have some people to avenge. Let us not waste any time.”

“Agreed. My people will take the lead, with your support, this assault should be a cakewalk.”

Both officers quickly saluted each other before returning to their vehicles…

Unbeknownst to them, the assault on the capital would take more than three days to complete. Out of the four thousand soldiers involved in the operation, more than half would be killed or wounded in action in the intense urban fighting. Yet, Operation Killjoy was eventually successful, securing the capital for the Federation and marking the first step towards the downfall of the Dominion.