Chapter 1 Overwhelming Force

“The Neuroi showed their true barbarity that day. All those years of fighting them cannot compare to what they did to us and our Liberion counterparts that August morning.” - unknown Ostmark soldier after the Battle of Brno

Brno, Ostmark

6 August, 1946

On the outskirts of the city, the sunrise illuminated the massive bases set up that contained thousands of well armed soldiers and Marines. The Liberion 1st Marine Division along with the Ostmark 20th Honvéd Infantry Division had surrounded the city and prepared to attack the Neuroi dug in there. In a Marine staging area, a small unit of them was just finishing giving a briefing.

“We will be helping our armored forces to make their way towards the center of the city. Air support is provided by both our Marine and Ostmark air wings. They’ve already cleared out most of the Neuroi fighters but stay sharp.” The Liberion land witch wearing a basic light brown uniform with the witch’s brown hair tied up in a bun that was hidden by a utility cap said. She pointed to a map that was marked with all current forces and their plan of attack.

“Looks like another all out assault.” one of the Marines quipped.

“You got that right Jackson, we take out the Neuroi hive and end this. So have a good breakfast and get ready in 45 minutes.” Heather said.

“Oorah!” came the reply in unison as they were dismissed and exited the tent though two other witches remained behind who were wearing a similar uniform.

“Guess the Big Chief is pulling out all the stops for this assault eh?”  the taller witch with fiery red hair smirked.

Heather just chuckled, Doris, her second in command wasn’t wrong, General MacArthur was eager to follow up on his victory in Vienna and take out one of the last Neuroi hives in this area of Ostmark. In fact he had brought along lots of press for this occasion and Heather had to deal with nosy journalists that seemed to always wanted a minute of her time.

“Well, as long as we got Heather leading us, we can practically do anything.” the other witch who was shorter said and wore a M1 helmet. Heather smiled as she patted Emma on the head. 

“Hey! Don’t treat me like a kid!” Emma said as she got out of range of Heather’s hand as the helmet tumbled from the short witch’s head revealing her short blonde hair. The other two witches just laughed.

“Sorry, just seeing how far you’ve come from Operation Dragoon, I’m proud of you.” Heather said to which Emma blushed with embarrassment at the compliment. 

“Ah… thanks… anyway I’m going to help Bob and Mark load up some equipment so I’ll see you later!” the young witch said as she raced off.

“Huh, she may have grown up but she’s still got that little kid in her. I’ll catch you around, I’m going to grab something to eat Heather.” Doris said as she headed out.

“Sound good and don’t mess with my Striker or I’ll have your neck Doris.” Heather said.

Doris turned back and smiled, “Got to keep you sharp, just because you got promoted doesn’t mean you can slack off on mundane duties.” the witch gave a wink before she disappeared out of the tent. Once everyone was out, Heather joined them and looked around to see among the Marines in the area, there were a few Rangers who stuck out like sore thumbs with their Army style uniforms. 

“Hey Captain Kane how have you been?” Heather said as she greeted the tall Ranger officer with a smile.

The Ranger smiled back, “Not bad, haven’t seen you since we worked together at Vienna. Brass wants us in on this assault as well.

“For what exactly?” Heather asked curiously as the Ranger leaned in a bit closer.

“Just between us, we are infiltrating below the sewers to try to get to a target, intel suggests the Neuroi are hiding something underground and they want to know what it is.” the Ranger whispered so the others around them would not hear.

“Sounds dangerous, guess you better lead the way.” Heather smirked which got the Ranger to laugh.

‘I also see you got promoted, congrats.” Captain Kane said as he pointed to the newly sewn patches on Heather’s uniform

“Thanks, just means I got more people who I got to watch over and have to babysit.”

“Ain’t that the truth, anyway, I gotta get going, good luck out there.” Captain Kane said as several of his men were calling on him to get his ass into an M3 Halftrack.

“You as well!” Heather shouted back as she watched the Ranger enter the half-track as it sped toward the city in the distance. 

40 minutes later

Heather tapped her foot as she looked at her watch as the minutes ticked down. Beside her, Doris and Emma stood by while the Marines were mounted in M3 half tracks. In the distance, mother Sherman and some of the new Pershing tanks could be seen waiting to go. Right on cue, 105 and 155 mm artillery pieces thundered as their rounds screamed overhead. In addition, hundreds of friendly fighter bombers escorted by witches flew in. Turning to her unit, Heather ordered them forward as their engines revved up and began their attack. Upon entering the city, the Marines dismounted and followed the three witches on foot as the street was blocked by debris. Heather took points as she was equipped with an M4A3E2 Jumbo Striker Unit. The other two witches hung back, each one on one side of the street and were followed by a group of Marines. Clearing buildings was slow and had to be methodical. Unusually, the Neuroi were not anywhere to be seen. As the Marines breached a warehouse, Heather’s headset crackled to life.

“This is Sergeant Rodriguez of the the 4th platoon, we are pinned down by two Neuori tanks near the church in Sector Dog, requesting support.”

“4th platoon, this is first platoon, we are on our way.” Heather replied as she shouted for her units to rally back up as she also called for the M3 half track to meet them at the church. The three Liberion witches activated their Strikers and soon outran their infantry support. Being guided by the sound of gunfire and laser fire, the three turned a corner and came upon a mass of Neuroi infantry. 

“Shit, scatter!” Heather shouted as everyone immediately took cover as laser fire whizzed by them. Heather and Adonis replied with their 75 mm Combat cannons. 

“We don’t have time for this.” Doris shouted as she raised a shield to block herself from falling debris. Heather nodded in agreement. The trapped Marine group was running out of time. 

“Doris, Emma, hold these bastards off. ‘I’ll find another way around.” Both witches acknowledged as Doris continued to fire and Emma used her M2 flamethrower to destroy any of the Neuroi that got too close. As they did so Heather barged her way through an abandoned cafe and went through the back to emerge onto another street. Hustling quickly, she  saw the Marines huddled in a part of the church that had been blown open, firing their weapons at something that was parallel to her but obscured by a tall building's collapsed wall. One Marine noticed her approaching and grabbed a nearby radioman’s microphone.

“There is Neuroi at your 10 o’ clock, can you engage?”

“Roger that, taking the shot.” Heather said as she lined up her cannon at one of the open windows and intently listened for the Neuroi’s mechanical footsteps. Once she judged it to be at the right position, she fired an armor piercing round through the wall. A split second later,she heard a shriek as white debris was thrown into the ar.As Heather looked for the other enemy, tracer fire came down from the sky as the Marine witch observed an Ostmark witch with light blonde hair zoom overhead as the other Neuroi was destroyed in the gun run. Heather gave a wave as the Ostmark witch gave a thumbs up and banked away. Cheers erupted from the remaining Marines as they emerged to greet their rescuer who was soon joined by the rest of the unit.

“You're our backup?” one of the Marines asked.

“We are it Sergeant.” Heather replied as she pointed to the half tracks. “Load the wounded on our half-track, we’ll send them back to the aid-station.” The lead marine nodded as those unable to fight were loaded up. As Heather planned to continue her line of advance, another message came in.

“This is Captain Kane, Heather you read me?’

“Loud and clear, continuing to move up, what is up?” Heather asked, puzzled why he was contacting her now.

“I suggest you hold off on that. My team found something underground, it’s cylindrical and looks like a giant bomb. It’s hanging from the ceiling by black supports. My ordnance guy says that despite its small size, it looks like it got a punch that could level several blocks.”

The statement caused a chill to go down her spine. A weapon like that if detonated in a mass of Allied troops could be devastating. “You report this to high command?” thewitch asked.

“Yeah, General MacArthur and his staff are trying to decipher it, but I suggest you pull back. I’ll pass the message on.” the ranger pointed out.

“What about you guys?” Heather asked.

“I’m staying put and holding down this site until my guys can figure out a way to disarm it. We know the risk of being the tip of the spear . Get your unit out of here.” the Ranger said with determination and authority in his voice.

“Affirmative, best of luck Captain.” Heather acknowledged as she turned to her unit to pass on the news she was given. The response ranged from seeming disbelief to deep concern. 

“Damn so that is what the Neuroi are up to.” a Marine stated.

“Well let’s get the heck out of here while the going is good.” Doris replied as Heather nodded.

“Mount up and let’s pull back to the outskirts.” The Liberion ordered as the Marines moved and crammed themselves into the vehicles and the entire force headed down the streets back to the west. Overhead, there was a sudden explosion as everyone looked up to see the same witch from before spinning out of control with both her Strikers smoking before seeming to make a hard landing on a tall building about three blocks away. Grabbing a pair of binoculars, Heather trained them onto the roof and could see gunfire emitting from there as  Neuroi began to circle overhead. However this puts the Liberion witch in a complicated situation. If she went to mount a rescue attempt, they might be in the blast zone. 

“Dammit.” Heather muttered under her breath as she racked her brain on what to do. Feeling a light tap on her shoulder, she turned to see Doris and Emma right behind her along with the rest of the Marine infantry having dismounted and waiting to go. Heather just smiled, the decision was unanimous. 

“Sergeant, you guys take the wounded out of the city.” Heather ordered. The Marine of the 4th platoon hesitated as he wanted to protest before he simply nodded.

“Affirmative, see you on the other side.” the Marine said as he got into the driver's seat of the half-track as it led the others quickly out of the city. Heather led her unit back into the city as they fought through sporadic Neuroi resistance before reaching the target building. Heather left Doris with some of the Marines to guard the street while the rest of them clambered up the stairs. Opening the door to the roof, Heather could see the Ostmark witch who was wearing a light brown jacket and a black skirt. She had propped herself up against some rubble and was firing her MG 42at the Neuroi flying above and perched in Nearby buildings. Upon seeing the arrival of the Marines, she gave an expression of genuine surprise.

“Jackson, go get her. No one gets left behind!” Heather shouted.

“I’m on it!” The Marine acknowledged as he slung his BAR over his shoulder as ran over and picked up downed Ostmark witch bridal style and began to run as Neuroi from the roof of a nearby building began firing on him.

“We got you covered! Just get downstairs!” another Marine shouted as he and several of his compatriots poured fire on the Neuroi. Heather and Emma joined in, using their shields to cover the Marine as he carried the witch to safety.

“Hey guys, would be a good time we get the heck out of here. We got Neuroi crawling all over the streets down here!”  Emma said over the radio over the cacophony of the battle raging on the street.

“All units be advised, we have an unknown Neuroi weapon in the area, teams are attempting to disarm, I re…” General MacArthur said over the radio as he began to repeat his message but was cut short as a bright flash occurred on the horizon. For the Marines and witches on the rooftop, they shielded their eyes against the brightness. They watched as a massive amount of dust and debris began to make its way to them and down several Allied aircraft in the process. Before anyone could react, they were all hit by an invisible concussive force that knocked them off their feet. Simultaneously, the building on which they had been on began to tremble and tilt as it began to collapse.

Heather managed to stop from sliding off by grabbing onto the roof’s chimney. Horrified, she watched as several Marines tumbled and fell off the roof. Among them, Heather watched as Jackson held onto the Ostmark witch  tightly as they both disappeared from sight. Another nearby Marine flailed around desperately as he slid down the angled roof. Extending her arm out, Heather managed to grab a hold of him briefly. However, the chaotic motion of the building’s collapse caused the Marine’s grip to fail and he fell into the abyss as well. For Heather, it was too much as she shut her eyes tight and hoped for it to all end as all she could hear was the crashing sound of the building all around her before something struck her and she was knocked out.