Warzone 2102: Omega Squadron

[Tucalipe]

- Sir! We have air and long-range units incoming! - warned the soldier via its commlink.
- Engage the Vindicators, and launch our own VTOLS! - ordered Luke, as he rushed down the stairs to the bunked hidden under the HQ.
From the VTOL pads, the technicians could already see their air units closing by. However, they were too fast to be VTOLS. Within instants, Omega's VTOL's launched, armed with Bee A2A missile launchers. As they closed by the other jets, the VTOL leader reported:
- Sir, they are not VTOLS. They are too fast, and have dedicated jets for forward propulsion. They are offering no resistance and are lightly armed.
- Roger that, squadron leader. Keep the attack. We are still expecting the ground units. Our Ripple's are ready.
Back on Omega, when a LR Alert is issued, all non essential personnel is sent to the buildings basements and bunkers. The only personnel authorized on the surface were artillery spotters and radar controllers. Spotters were usually given cyborg armor equipped with no weapon. On its place, a laser guided spotter device as well magnifying lenses that supplied the spotter clear vision of the laser aim gave also place to a more heavier armour, as well better walking engine, in case the spotter must run for its life.
- INCOMING! - shouted one of the spotters. They enemy units were coming from the northern side, which wasn't protected by the nearby river, allowing any wheeled units to attack the base. For that matter, most of the defensive artillery was aimed that side too. - Spotted, three green armoured units, heading south, bearing one three point five. Spotted five green armoured units, heading south, bearing minus one niner point zero. Clear for attack, repeat clear for attack.
With those orders all the available artillery batteries fired upon the intruders, while the intruders themselves fired upon the base. While all omega's shells hit their targets, easily destroying those, the enemy's shells exploded above the base, in a thin grey cloud, with no explosion whatsoever. After a couple rounds fired, the enemy's units were all destroyed, and the VTOL's were returning to the base. However, the grey thin cloud did not dissipate. Instead it settled down while the LR Alert was de-activated and the technicians rushed to take replenish the artilley ammunition and repair the damaged VTOLS.

Commander Stevens barely sat down on the bunker's underground office to write a report to Main HQ when a call on his commlink took him by surprise.
- Sir! Help us! We are... Aaargh! I can't! - and from that all he could hear was screaming and painful yells for "Medic!". That comm link was followed by another, this time by one of the spotters. - Sir! -said the spotter, and a sound of hatch opening was heard. He had taken his helmet off to try and see better what was going on. - What is going on? Everybody is dying. Wait, I... I... I need medical attention! Everybody is dying! I... I can't breath... I *cough* can't...
He rushed to the monitors to check the security cameras nearby the VTOLS. The scene was horrible. One of the VTOL pilots opened his hatch to help the dying technicians. These were falling apart as if they were being corroded by acid, even though it wasn't raining and the base was already rad free. The pilot rushed to one of his comrades, trying to take him to the nearest sickbay, but as he ran, Luke could see his pilot uniform ripping itself apart, leaving only the metallic components. After his uniform, his arm was next. Luke zoomed in and could see the pilot's arm dissolve, still trying to carry the downed technician to the sickbay. With the wheight, the debilitated arm simply cracked and let the technicians remains fall to the ground. The pilot, now suffering with the excruciating pain tried to run to the sickbay himself, but as he gave the next step, the impact broke his leg, and he fell to the ground, shouting for help. Luke couldn't see more of that. He turned off the cameras and activated his commlink
- All sections, activate radiation protocols. Absolutely no surface personnel is allowed to enter an underground bunker or structure. I'm sorry, but we can't let them in.

As he gave that order, all bunkers and structures closed their air ventilation systems and turned on their air recycling ducts. All doors sealed, and all bulkheads activated. Some of the survivors, while they still could, punched and kicked the outward doors while they still had hands and feet, shouting "Let us in, goddamit! We are dying here!"

* * *

About half an hour later, there were no traces of survivors on the base's surface. Nothing made of organic matter was left intact. Rank badges, inner layers of bulletproof and shrapnelproof vests.
- I want a survivor count ASAP. - ordered Luke via commlink - Absolutely no one leaves the base without my permission. - and as he said that, he sat back on his chair, and cleaned the sweat off his forehead with his uniform's sleeve.

[WarTux]

WOW. NEXUS's first attack on Omega base is almost frightening!

Although personally I think NEXUS should get down and dirty and do more military strategy. During the campaign, he put on an impressive show of tech and super-defense, but his military force was never really a threat to Gamma base- but of course that lassat was!

[Roux Le Corps]

Wow, i have to give them this, Omega team must be new recruits if they jumped into the mist, but at the same time, this is a step for nexus, taking out a base while leaving its perfectly molded shape for later salvage ^_^

[Jorzi]

Although they found out the trick quite fast, they're not such sitting ducks anymore in their isolated bunkers... They'll propably come up with something to protect themselves againt the acid gas soon enough, now that the project is aware of Nexus' existance.

[Roux Le Corps]

not yet, so far its a random attack, they never pointed out who attacked them, just that they were should work out nicely

[Tucalipe]

Three days have passed since the attack, and nothing else happened. No enemy party came forward to assume the attack, nor another invasion. Nothing.
The technicians and soldiers used cameras to surveil the surface, looking for something that could solve that mysterious attack. Why wasn't the equipment dissolved by that acid? What acid was that? Was it even an acid? All those questions floated around Luke's head but he couldn't get their solution. They couldn't know if it was safe to go out.
- Sir. Pardon me asking, but how's the rescue coming - said the voice on his commlink.
- Calm down pilot. We are gonna get you out of there. - although one of the VTOL pilots was now dead, the remaining squadron was still alive, as they didn't open their hatches
- OK, sir. But our emergency rations are almost finished with.
- Just hang in there, soldier. I'm not giving up on you yet. We just gotta wait a little more...
But Luke was tired of waiting. He came up with an ingenious plan. Attach a piece of meat to a tank and set it to autodrive to the middle of the base. So they did. After they closed the inner door, and opened the outer blast door, they set the tank on autodrive, with all the security cameras focused on the piece of meat. Nothing happened. They waited for a full hour, yet the piece of meat was begining to cook due to the heat generated by the tank.
- Lt Burmen, I think you are safe now. Make a run for the nearest sickbay. We'll open the doors when you get there. - said Luke over the commlink to the stranded pilots.
- Yes sir, thank you sir. - said the pilot. A few seconds later the VTOL hatches were popped open and the pilots made a run for the nearest sickbay. They got there with no injuries at all.
- Lift the radiation protocols. I think we are safe.
As Luke ordered that, the bunkers and structures recycled their air, opened all bulkheads, and many scientists rushed with speciment vials and containment units to gather atmosphere, or pieces of remaining uniforms, as they had no bodies to examine.
Luke also left the base to see the aftermath. About 100 soldiers, technicians and medics were lost on that attack. He approached one of the scientists collecting atmosphere with a device closely resembling a vacuum cleaner.
- Can... you smell that? - asked Luke
- What, do you mean, commander?
- Smells like... Orange?
- Does it? - retrucated the scientist, and he stopped to take a big sniff. - Yes... it does... I'll have this analyzed right away, commander.
As Luke walked through the base, he looked for corrosion on the ground or any other inorganic structure, with no sucess. However, he could see a thin layer of reddish-grey powder covering all the base ground. As he leaned down to take a better look, the orange smell became stronger. - Doctor! Come here! - shouted Luke, and another scientist rushed to his location. He was carrying a briefcase with a "biohazard" sign on it, sided by a red letter "R" on each side
- Yes commander?
- Take a sample of this powder please. I think it has something to do with the bombs they launched.
- Sir - said a soldier over the commlink - The scavenging squad is ready to move out. - The scavenging squad as a force created by Luke's request to salvage any component that might be found on destroyed enemy units. This time they were tasked on retreiving any information from the enemy artillery.
- Move out. - ordered Luke.

* * *

After a few hours, Luke received the reports he asked for.
The enemy air units were lightweight, with barely no armour. It had no visible cockpit, however an array of cameras must provide a high definition image for the pilot, who must be enclosured on a more safe place. They propulsion system was powered by the very same the Omega's VTOL's used, however, the enemy wasn't using VTOL's. The restricted angle of vectorial rotation of the jet exhausts and the presence of dedicated exhausts for forward propulsion pointed those were STOL's. That was great news, as it meant they would still need a small strip to land on. Further information was denied due to the destruction of the incoming bombers.
As for the tanks, no hatch was found, neither viewport, nor life support systems. The body was made of a green-grayish metal, with no markings on how to open or fix the tank. The propulsion was very much like the track system Omega used for HT's and mobile artilleries. And the howitzers used to launch the shells were just like the ones Alpha Squadron found on Chicago two years ago. However, no remaining shells were found. Further information will be obtained as the Research Divison cracks open the tanks operating system.
A detailed analysis of the atmosphere revealed 75% of nytrogen, 20% of oxygnen and 5% of trace gases as carbon monoxyde, argon, neon, xenon, and water vapor. No strange elements found. No unknown solid particles found. Umidity level matches the one expected to this geographic region.
The initial analysis of the grey powder Luke asked for shows it has the same behavior and appearance of regolith, however its precise materials couldn't be determined. It is highly magnetic and produces a very faint eletromagnetic field. During manipulation, scientists reported a citric scent, closely resembling orange or tangerine. Further information will be available after microscopic studies.

[WarTux]

Hmm... I'm confused. You say Team Alpha discovered the howitzer tech in Manhattan, but that mission took place in Chicago. Or did the Project build New Manhattan on Chicago?

[KukY]

Hmm... I'm confused. You say Team Alpha discovered the howitzer tech in Manhattan, but that mission took place in Chicago. Or did the Project build New Manhattan on Chicago?

The Project recovered howitzer tech in Beta Campaign, which happened in ruins of Chicago...
Ok, now I am confused...

[Roux Le Corps]

maybe in this they changed the names of cities as a 'move' from their past? or a slight mistake on the authors part

[WarTux]

The Project recovered howitzer tech in Beta Campaign

Well, technically Team Alpha did assume command of Beta base, which may explain why the author said that Team Alpha recovered the tech.

Another interesting thing to note: why the use of spotters? Wouldn't that role be better suited to sensor towers, especially since they coordinate artillery attacks?

[KukY]

Another interesting thing to note: why the use of spotters? Wouldn't that role be better suited to sensor towers, especially since they coordinate artillery attacks?

Those are basically the same things...

[Tucalipe]

> Sorry about Manhattan/Chicago... Geography isn't my strong point. Thanks for pointing it out - kudos for you guys. The ex-Project (now called New Manhattan) did settled on old Manhattan though. The rebuilt Central Park can be seen from the upper floors of New Manhattan's Military HQ. (Yes, I do think a lot on details).
> As for spotter, they're mobile, they can run as fast as a wheeled light-bodied tank, and they can lie down to avoid detection.

[Roux Le Corps]

new unit anyone? hahaha

[WarTux]

new unit anyone? hahaha

Meh- I'll stick with Sensor Turret-Cobra-Hover.

[Tucalipe]

> The story's not done yet ^^

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A week has passed by since the attack. NM sent some reinforcements to replace the dead soldiers and technicians. Luke was still puzzled with what happened... Why would someone attack and leave everything intact. No raids, no further attacks, not a single attempt of communication...
- Sir, we are ready to analyze the tank's operating system. Should we proceed? - said a technician via CommLink.
- Hold that order. I'm coming. - said Luke as he grabbed his uniform's coat and went outside.
It was a very dark night, since the sky was still clouded due to the sandstorms. All the lighting was given by spotlights installed througout the base. There weren't many pilots or drivers outside. Just a couple technicians doing some minor maintenance on some tanks, and the soldiers patrolling the base outskirts on their Spotter suits. As Luke left the outer bulkhead, two soldiers greeted him and escorted him to a nearby research building. Inside, he had to wear a protective suit since the environment was totally controlled. He was taken into a control room from where the lead scientists were about to crack the final firewall on the OS they found.
- Ready when you are, gentlemen - said Luke, and with those words, the scientists sent the last line into the console, which then went blank. A few moments later, many dots appeared on the screen, randomly scattered and switching positions. They moved quite a lot for a couple seconds, then stopped for another couple seconds. It was stuck on that cycle for about 30 seconds when a technician warned:
- Professor, this resembles... binary code...
- Explain
- Each dot is a 1, each empty space is a 0. But the way they are arranged would allow a 1 terabit per second transfer rate. That transmits more information and faster than human nerve cells...
- Can you decode it?
- Sure. If I apply this protocol, I should be - and as he said that, the technician dug on his keyboard typing lines and lines of code on a side monitor. - Done. - The screen that previously showed the bits, now showed letters. The display now echoed each cycle as a new line: exec RETURN confirm stop, which kept repeating endlessly.
- Any idea on what's that? - asked Luke
- Not a single one, but it seems to be waiting a confirmation. It seems it was the operating system's last order... Let me see if I can echo its previous order. - As the technician kept typing, everyone in the room were very aprehensive, since they didn't know what to expect. - Here. I'll try echo last. Sent.
Right when he pressed "Enter", the screen shutdown. Random numbers started appearing on the screen, and were denying any input from the technicians. The facility's biohazard alarm suddenly went off, as well the incoming airstrike. Emergency lights turned on, yet the standard lighting was still on.
- What the!? - shouted Luke, trying to be made heard among the alarms.
- Sir! Our computers are attempting to contact NM.
- Shut them down!
- I can't!
- I can! - shouted a scientist nearby, that proceeded to the mainframes located at the back of the room, and started pulling all boards and chips out of their slots. After a handful boards were on the floor, all the computers shut down, taking the alarms and both the standard and the emergency lighting system with them. They lit flashlights and accounted for everyone on the room.
- Thanks, professor. - said Luke - What was that?
- I can't tell... All the info must've been lost when I shutdown everything...
- Are we safe?
- For now.
- Sir... I... Would like to disagree... - said a frightened technician. He was pointing to a screen that was fried during the system attack... The screen was off, but its last frame was still imprinted on the reflective windowshield... It was Dr. Reed's face.


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


- NEXUS, PLANT command returns complete. ECHO READY.
- Good. We can start our offensive now. Ready more bombers.


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

A couple days have passed since Dr. Reed's face on that screen frightened everyone. That attack permanently severed the base's CommLink with NM. They were on their own now. The remaining reserach facilities had finished researching the fine powder. It wasn't a powder... Small nanobots designed to break and consume peptidic bonds. The material they were made of was a unknown metallic alloy, which had a peculiar smell of citric acid. They decided to call it Orange Mist, or O-Mist for short. Right after they discovered its abilities, all tanks were recalled to be made hermetic. Hatches were made more secure, and warning signs were placed on all places that lead to open air reminding of the probable danger. However, they haven't come up with a way of detecting it, other than smelling it, which usually meant death, as the nanobots could replicate themselves using the minerals they got from dissolving humans.

Luke now held thousand of lifes on his hands, and even more, should NEXUS be really alive again. He could never allow him to reach NM. His first priority was now to find a working satellite dish that would allow them to reconnect with NM.
Omega campaign had started. And it looked it would last...

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

> Now I throw a question for the readers:
> Should I add allies for the Omega Squadron? Should I add smaller covenants under NEXUS' control?