Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 64: Sea of ​​Fire

Adam's Humvee runs down the chain link gate of Ursus train station, veering the wheel hard leaving the Belkan Lieutenant coasts the Humvee to a drifting stop. Right behind him, the other Humvees and vehicles also drove into the station properly as more than two dozen run alongside them. Adam spares a tired cursory glance, seeing that they had already lost around a dozen civilians in those bloodied miles. Left with no time to mourn, Adam opened the door and popped half of his body out, shouting.

"Get them inside and use the vehicle as a barricade! Those with long-range scopes are to set up on the second and third floors of the station! The rest will stay down here, we shall not let them pass! The train is already near us!”

A chorus of affirmation can be heard before a hubbub of activity occurs on an otherwise abandoned station. A soldier shoots the padlock on the door of the station building, letting the battered civilians come in for a brief moment of respite. Outside, the chosen civilian drivers start lining up the vehicles in a semi-circle around the building before they too ditch the cars. Joining the barricade are the Humvees, positioned directly in the middle of the door, utilizing their protected nature to provide an additional layer of protection for the civilians inside. The station building is small and easily collapsible with enough rifle-caliber bullets. As such, the people inside start setting up some fortifications on their own. Old lockers, dusty tables, broken benches,... Everything is used to give themselves more protection. This is the end of the line, and they'll be damn if they die to a stray bullet now.

Of course, there are injuries among the soldiers and civilians. Those with medical skills like Tomasz and the two medics among the Rusviets and Belkans try their best to patch up and keep the injured alive. However, their limited medical equipment is unable to treat the worst of injuries. Things like lost limbs and severed arteries require special facilities to be ministered, the best they can do is to stabilize them before hoisting them on the train. It's in times like this that the miraculous Belkan biofoam is a godsend in first aid treatments. As for the departed... They're lined up at the corner inside the building, their forms draped over using ragged fabrics the civilians found while searching for fortification materials.

Utilizing the brief respite when the Polanians are still trying to track them down, Adam turns to Surbella who is aiming the Humvee's machine gun down range. "I need to go and check the track line, can you hold the fort with the General?"

Surbella nods while Rokossovsky steps out of the car, holding the Captain's rifle instead of his SMG. "We will, Lieutenant."

Adam gives them a nod before dashing into the station building. Outside, the surviving protectors of civilians huddle behind the vehicles and windows on the ground floor. Higher above them are the mixed Belkans and Rusviets sniper teams watching the cardinal directions. Though there's a set of perimeter walls around the building, it doesn't enclose it fully, leaving small gaps for potential enemy troops to flank them. As such, the snipers' job is to ensure the gaps aren't exploited by the Warsaw garrison.

Adam runs around, kicking down a few wooden barricades that are laid over the train track. The barricades are there as a means for the Polanians to say that the track has fallen out of use. Were this a normal occasion, Adam would have taken a whole day to ensure this particular track was safe for his train to ride on. Unfortunately, the current scenario has rendered Adam unable to have five minutes of peace, much less an entire day.

"Long Caster to Alpha, be advised, detecting multiple enemy units coming down the route on your direct front, two minutes out! I'm seeing multiple squads of footmobiles accompanied by armored elements! By the Gods, they're hellbent on wiping you off the face of Gaia!"

"Yeah well, old news! What's the status of our get-away-ride?" Adam asked with an eye roll, heaving the last barricade off the track before running to the very end of the station.

The reply to Adam's question comes when the man is busy unlocking a gate. "This is Bravo, our ETA is approximately ten minutes!"

"If you can double time then that will be much appreciated, Bravo! Ten minutes later the station would be overrun already!" Adam said as he ran back to Surbella and Rokossovsky.

"With how bad the Polanians kept their tracks, it's a damn miracle we Thomas hasn't derailed yet, bro!" Lukas complained. "I'm gonna see if I can get to you guys as fast as possible! More guns are always welcomed, right?"

"Don't crash and burn now, you hear me!? Those bikes are freaking expensive!" Adam quipped back before taking up a position behind the Humvee he arrived on.

"Quit the chatter boys!" Long Caster interjected. "Alpha, the enemy is coming into visual range at any moment now! Knight and Rigel Squadrons will render air support but they're running on near-empty guns and bombs! High Command has been notified but we have no ETA on when additional firepower will be available!"

The AWACS chief operator stops for a bit before saying. "You all have fought this far, don't give up now. For your efforts, for the deceased, and the future of the people behind you, don't die!"

Those listening to the radio chatter share a short yet determined look. While what Long Caster said is not stellar by any means, the survivors take comfort in the bonds that they formed with one another in perils. To falter and die at this stage will be doing a disservice to what they all have been through. People fought and died for the better part of the day not for a grim defeat, but for a triumphant victory. To attain that, these nearly broken men and women will give their all.

Rokossovsky smirks before reaffixing the borrowed magazines of the G1 rifle securely to his ammo vest. "Guess we will be working down that list then. Bombs, guns, knives, then our fists and teeth."

"No regret, right?" Adam smiled at the General before looking around him, seeing the men and women of different bloodlines and nationalities.

All of them showcase a grim, yet unbroken smile. Adam says the unvoiced answer. "No regret indeed."

It's at this moment that the bombs and shells start falling from above, hammering down on the encroaching Polanians who seek their doom. The enemy is here, and even the most inexperienced among them all can infer that the airstrike occurs at a remarkably lesser intensity than before. No one expected such a drawn-out battle, nor would they expect the Polanian military garrison to be so uncaring about the deaths they have suffered. Like a moth drawn to a flame, these Polanians charge with reckless abandon. It's such a weird, yet worrisome development that the intelligent officers back in Berlin are working overtime to try and get a read on why this is to be the case.

Nevertheless, it's a question for the spooks back home to figure out. For the people at the forefront of things, they are already eyeing the first wave of the enemy units. Fortunately for Adam and the rest, the Polanians have no access to tall buildings this time around. They won't have to worry about constant enemy machine guns trying to give them a new haircut.

The new round of engagement starts in earnest with the Humvees being the ones to open up first. Surbella and the other gunner use their weapons to a devastating effect on the enemy spearhead. In the current Polanian garrison arsenal, nothing can stand up to the powerful 14.5mm bullets and the 40mm grenades, not even their tankettes. Still, this doesn't mean the Polanians will take the beating lying down. Rather than just storming up the front gate, the Polanians smarten up and maneuver around. Already, the snipers on the upper floors of the station building are forced to engage the flankers. Reports come into Adam's ears constantly that the snipers are using whatever munition they have left just to keep them at bay.

Sure, all of them did get a top-up back then. However, the demanding nature of this battle forces every single one of them to expend too much ammo at once. Just the march to Ursus station alone has drained them of supplies more than anything Even the Humvees are forced to conserve their munitions, much to the chagrin of the people in charge. The Polanians seem to notice the chronic shortage of firepower on Adam's side and as such fight with more fervor. At this point, even the unwilling Polanian soldiers have lost themselves to bloodlust, especially with how many of them have died without an intact corpse.

Two minutes into the battle, help comes in the form of Sergeant Lukas and Private Dore. Ditching their bike behind the station building, the pair runs to the front, joining Adam's group.

"Freaking Hell, you look like beaten shit, Adam!" Lukas shouted before turning his body and taking potshots at the enemy.

"Said the one looking like a damn hooligan with that hair!" Adam quipped back, mentioning the messy hair of Lukas. The man got it from driving too fast down the track line.

"Yeah!?" Lukas answered before saying. "Thomas is a few minutes out! We need to hold until then!"

"It will be a miracle and a half if we survive till then! How the fuck are we supposed to load all the civies up!?" Adam shouted the question.

Before Lukas or anyone can answer, Surbella speaks up grimly. "The MG is out, and so does the grenade launcher!" The Captain then dismounted the Humvee, carrying with him a spare MP9 that was located next to the driver seat.

Adam mutters a curse beneath his breath, peaking out once more only to see something that makes his blood run cold. "INCOMING!"

Adam barely manages to tackle Lukas low to the ground, with Surbella doing the same to Rokossovsky, when a Polanian 65mm mountain gun fires a HE shell at them. The shell, missing the Humvee by a hairbreadth, lands just shy of the steps to the building, exploding and knocking the defenders all over. The explosive blast kicks up a wave of months-old dust and debris, engulfing the area in a blanket of temporary darkness. The shockwave knocks the wind out of everyone' sail, with Adam finding himself gasping for air as his ribcage aches so much as if a train just drove over it. Nonetheless, perhaps it's through sheer force of will, Adam still manages to come to a kneeling position, taking stock of the situation in muted shellshocked.

Miraculously, none seem to have lost their lives, saved for cases of injuries. Some take a few more bruises and broken bones while others are seemingly screaming their lungs out. One of them hugging the stump of what used to be an intact left arm. Adam can't quite tell much else, as his eyesight and hearing aren't quite back at nominal operating capacity yet, and that's with ear protection equipped. A part of Adam is telling himself to move, to take immediate action. Yet, the dusty haze around him seems to cloud not just his vision but also his mind. Around him, Surbella, Lukas, and Rokossovsky are also struggling with their sudden bout of ailments. None of them escaped unaffected by the shell, and none of them seemed to be able to fight, at least not immediately.

Through his misty consciousness, Adam can feel someone tapping his shoulder rapidly, trying to get his attention.

"Sir! Sir!" Though Adam's ears are polluted by tinnitus, he knows that someone is calling out to him.

Turning to look, Adam sees Tomasz's panicking face, trying his very best to get him back in the game. Behind the medical practitioner are a few of the civilians, dragging the incapacitated defenders inside the building. Some of them are also helping the other officers, getting Rokossovsky back on his knees, for once. Yet, in the heat of the moment, all forget to pay attention to the security around them.

A figure ventures slowly through the smoke, not one of their own. While Tomasz is aiding Adam, the good-hearted Polanian notices the barrel of a rifle, piercing through the dusty atmosphere.

"LIEUTENANT!"

Acting on instinct and adrenaline, Tomasz pushes Adam behind him and onto his back while reaching out for the MP9 laying haphazardly on the ground. The man raises the unfamiliar firearm before pulling the trigger, firing wildly into the figure obscured in the smoke. Firing from the hip on full-automatic, most of the shot missed, leaving behind trails in the dusty plume. Nevertheless, Tomasz manages to land a couple of good hits, but not before the uninvited guest strikes a shot through the man's abdomen. As the both of them fall onto the floor, shaking and grunting in pain, more visages of the enemy make themselves known.

Fortunately, the gunshots made by both Tomasz and the assailant seem to be the wake-up call everybody needs. While still somewhat traumatized, Adam and Rokossovsky pull out their service pistol, Lukas and Surbella reequip their MP9, while some others raise their weapons. What follows can only be described as an indiscriminate bullet storm, a fan fire in a 45-degree radius in front of the station building. Screams of pain and death throes can be heard as bodies collapse onto the ground. It is only when everyone involved in the spray-and-pray maneuver empties their magazines that the smoke clears up just enough to see the Polanian uniform amongst the collapsed bodies.

Adam pulls off a very shaky reload before it finally dawns on him that one of them was just shot earlier.

"M-Man down! MAN DOWN!"

Adam struggles to get back on his feet, nearly tripping over something as he dashes to Tomasz. The friendly Polanian, the leader of the runaway community, is now lying on the floor in a pool of blood, his hands still clutching the spent MP9 in a vice grip. He's alive but critically injured. Since Tomasz is downed in the open, the first thing Adam does is pull the man by his shirt, dragging him back into safety.

"Medic! I need a fucking medic!" Adam shouted before speaking loudly to Tomasz. "Come on, Tomasz! Stay with me, man! You've reached this far, don't you dare salute and farewell to us! This community still needs its doc!"

Adam is not sure how much of what he said got through, but at least Tomasz manages a bloodied smile. One of the medics runs up to Adam, helping him drag Tomasz to safety.

"Everybody, back inside! Get back inside the building!" Rokossovsky shouted while helping Surbella limp into the station building.

Lukas and a few others provide them with some covering fire, sporadic as it might be before they too rush back into the building. At this point, everybody can feel hopelessness starting to settle in. The only thing that's stopping the Polanian from blowing this station is the snipers on the upper floor. They have been the ones to silence the enemy mountain gun by killing its crew, but for how long can they keep doing that?

One of the survivors manning the window laughs helplessly when he sees what has rounded the corner in front of their last bastion. When Adam comes to the window after leaving Tomasz in the hands of the medic, he too can only smile wryly at what he sees. Now that the mountain gun has proven itself to be ineffective without a crew, the Polanians send out the last of their armored and motorized elements, dead set on slaughtering them all for good. Adam's radio was busted earlier, hence he doesn't know that Long Caster has been shouting on the comms about their CAS being completely dry on ammo. What he missed though is then promptly filled in by Lukas.

"LT, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Squadrons just tapped out. They have nothing left to drop..."

After dropping Surbella off by a window, Rokossovsky smirks. "Well, it has to happen sometime soon, and we still have what..." The General checks his clearly broken wristwatch. "A minute left before the train gets here? We still have guns and whatever else is left, no?" Though the man couldn't give them an exact timeframe, it's still a nice attempt at elevating everyone's spirit.

That said, not many have the heart to joke when they see tankettes and other things starting to line up to run them over. It's at this point that, once again, Adam starts praying.

He prays to the Mother Goddess.

He prays to the Divines that roam the land.

He asks for his fiancee's blessing, not knowing that she is shedding tears of anguish watching his desperate struggle back home.

Yet, perhaps most important of all, he prays for the illuminating Reich Marshal, hoping that she will bestow him the Fortune of War, much like how she has given him the chance to live his dream.

In the words of the atheists, divine intervention isn't real. Everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is a result of humanity's efforts and chances. Yet, what will they say when, right after Adam says his final prayer, something happens? Trails of fiery flame fall from the sky, casting righteous punishment atop the armored cavalry of the Polanians. The shockwave, the heat, the intensity of the flashes of light,... All can be felt all over the city. As the fireballs cast from above engulf the Polanian formations, a beam of red light cleaves the smoking plume, sweeping the land in a cacophony of death, destruction, and evisceration. Those who escape the superheated explosions are then immediately rolled over by a blanket of smaller, yet nonetheless devastating blasts. Amidst the incessant thumping of detonations, one can barely hear the low, growling sound akin to that of a dragon resounding through the air.

As body parts and gore fly all over, mixed with a shower of supersonic debris and whatever else, those who are lucky or swift-footed may hide inside a building or drainage system. However, as if mocking their attempts like they have done so for the righteous defenders of the innocents, a shadow looms over them for a split second. The visage that leaves behind the shadow, flying so fast that it might as well be a mirage, a trick of the light, discards something on top of the remaining Polanian annihilation force. The objects impact the ground all along the front of the station building, too fast for one to make head and tail of it. Even before they can even register what's going on, a veritable sea of fire is conjured. Sucking up all the oxygen around it, the newly erected firewall burns bright and tall, engulfing the last vestige of the Polanians in a fiery Hell.

As if decreed by Heaven above, a new player has entered the battle zone. Flying an aircraft so fast, so large, and so powerful, this person controls the plane with ease as if they and the machine were the same entity, not separated. Kicking up the plane, painted over with a scheme of black, white, and red, the pilot ascends high up to the sky, cresting beyond the cloud before falling over beautifully like a red leaf in autumn. In their descent, the pilot of this unknown airplane maintained a well-ingrained grip on the trigger before finally depressing it. The next thing the city of Warsaw knows is that there's a literal Sea of Fire in front of their nose.

As more bombs, missiles, and rockets fall on the Polanian soldiers and equipment scattered all over the slum areas, Adam can't help but laugh, He laughs so loud and refreshing that one may think that the man now has a screw loose. Yet, all refuse to comment, shocked silly by the destruction that is unfolding in front of them and the fact that Thomas the Train has finally arrived, ready to evacuate them all.

After his bout of exhilaration has subsided, Adam turns to Lukas. "You were saying?"

"This is Avalon 1, callsign Empress. Yo, troopers. Still alive?"