Austronesia Empire, Imperial Majahapit, New Guinea, Support Base.
1st Year of God, Monday, 4th Week, 3rd Month of Abraham
The rear ramps of the Golden Eagle crashed open, and the soldiers of Omega-141 stormed down the decks with their hands tightly gripping the stretcher carrying one of their wounded comrades.
Several medical personnel, marked by bright red cross armbands, rushed forward with a trolley bed between them and quickly took over from the exhausted soldiers.
"What happened to him?" one of the medics asked, her eyes scanning the stretcher.
"Some Greenskin Wizard possessed our friend and mind fucked us!" Woods yelled over the scream of the turboprops.
"What?" the medic asked in confusion as she rummaged through her bag for a blood pressure monitor and other tools.
"He saw something he shouldn't have," Riley added, raising his voice to compete with the noise of the engines. "Now he's possessed by the primary target and killed several of our men before we could stop him."
"Oh," The medic with her name tag reading 'June', had her hair pulled into a ponytail and a pair of stethoscopes draped around her neck. "Alright, get him to Trauma One!"
"Mason gave him 20 CCs of traq-shot and hooked him up to an IV fluid drip since then," Price reported.
"I also cast [Recovery] and [Dispel] spells that help out slightly," Polites chimed in.
"Understood," June quickly scribbled down the details on a clipboard attached to the trolley. "Any physical trauma?"
"Its mostly mental except for the wound on his leg," Riley answered as they reached the thick white curtains of the medical tent.
"Don't worry," June said with a comforting smile. "We'll heal your friend."
"Thanks," Riley watched as she and her team wheeled Tavish inside. Turning to the others, he sighed. "We wait here."
The group slumped down near a couple of guards stationed at the medical center, who nodded respectfully at them. Exhaustion finally overtook them, and before long, both Riley and everyone else had dozed off where they sat.
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Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono allowed himself a rare smile as the message came in that the Tempest Scions had landed successfully at the Army Support Base.
The latest reports from the field indicated no sightings of undead, and the nightly attacks had ceased, finally granting the weary defenders some much-needed rest.
In the command center, Cahyono began clapping with his hands. "Good work, people," he praised, and the staff, momentarily pausing their tasks, joined in with a round of applause. On the central display, Specialist Sergeant Riley's tired face appeared with a satisfied smile.
[Sir,] Riley's voice crackled over the comms, [We did suffer four casualties. One fell in the fight against the Necromancer, and three others were killed by the same one who fell and became possessed. He's currently in the Medical Center undergoing treatment.]
Cahyono nodded gravely. "Understood. Despite the losses, you and your team performed admirably. I'll be recommending the entire unit for commendations."
[Thank you, Sir,] Riley saluted. [If there's nothing more, I need to check on my men.]
"Go ahead," Cahyono said with a smile. "And tell them drinks are on me when this war is over."
After a quick salute, the screen went dark. The moment was short-lived as one of the comms officers spoke up.
"Sir, incoming transmission from Command."
Cahyono straightened. "Put it on the main screen."
The screen revealed Emperor Maximo's imposing figure, causing all officers to snap to attention and saluted sharply.
"Your Majesty!"
[At ease,] the Emperor said, returning the salute. [I want to congratulate you on a successful mission. UAV surveillance shows no undead forces remaining in New Guinea. It seems the undead threat has been totally eradicated.]
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Cahyono replied. "We've had no further reports of undead activity."
The Emperor's expression remained steely as he continued. [The Men of Stone project, spearheaded by Sir Odysseus, is also yielding excellent results."
Cahyono's grin widened. "Far better than anticipated, Your Majesty. The greenskins won't know what hit them when we deploy those units."
Maximo sighed in frustration. [This war is becoming intolerable. If we can crush these alien barbarians in one decisive strike, we'll be in a much stronger position for whatever comes next.]
Cahyono nodded, fully aware of the strategic advantage that lay in choosing their battles. The Emperor wasn't wrong as the overwhelming force could tip the scales in their favor.
Maximo's tone shifted as he continued. [This afternoon, I want a full battalion to launch an all-out assault. Purge the orc plague once and for all.]
Cahyono hesitated, "Your Majesty, why not authorize a missile strike? We have plenty in our arsenal, and without the Necromancer, their forces are weakened. Sending our men in could mean unnecessary casualties."
A cold smile appeared across the Emperor's lips.
[Don't concern yourself with that,] Maximo said quietly. [I have something I want to test.]
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Austronesia Empire, Imperial Majahapit, New Guinea, New Guinea Highlands
1st Year of God, Monday, 4th Week, 3rd Month of Abraham
BOOOOM!!
The next day, the dense forests of the New Guinea Highlands shuddered under the force of battle as Orcs were charging through the trees with their war cries echoing as they fired their crude Shootas.
The human troops were stationed in one secutity checkpoint. They are platoon-size, and though heavily outnumbered, they fought back in a brutal exchange of gunfire.
The staccato of assault rifles rang through the air, accompanied by the thunderous roar of attack helicopters overhead with their chainguns mounted on them spat out streams of bullets, mowing down Orcs by the dozens.
But it still wasn't enough.
"Reinforcements! We need reinforcements, dammit!" a sergeant shouted over the cacophony of battle with desperation in his voice.
His plea was abruptly silenced as the soldier beside him was torn apart by a massive bullet as his torso was reduced into a mist of blood. The Orc responsible let out a triumphant roar and charged forward with a wicked cleaver. With savage strength, it hacked through one soldier and shot another with its crude weapon before the squad's concentrated gunfire riddled the beast's body with bullets, finally brought it down.
A nearby corporal cursed as he took cover behind a fallen tree. "Seriously, does a platoon like us along with two choppers is enough to fend against a damn army of Orcs? Command should've sent in a missile strike earlier. Or hell, even a nuke!"
The captain crouched beside him and reloaded his rifle with a calm expression. "They're sending a full battalion. Colonel Ciaphas and armor support are on the way."
The corporal scoffed while blind-firing over the log. "We shouldn't even be here! They could've bombed that camp the second the Necromancer was dead, after the Special Forces got out. Why wait?"
The Captain glanced over at him with a sharp gaze. "If Command wanted to bomb it, they would've. But they've got something they're testing."
Before the corporal could respond, they could hear the unmistakable thrum of rotor blades, growing louder. Soon, three more helicopters descended over the treetops, each carrying massive humanoid figures beneath them. Their stone bodies gleamed in the dappled sunlight as they were lowered into the fray.
As the choppers lowered their cargo between the human forces and the Orc horde, the ground shook when the Earth Golems touched down.
These are the Men of Stone.
[GIF]
"What in the hell..." the corporal muttered with his wide eyes fixed on the towering figures, as the soldiers around him shared varied expressions of shock and awe.
Before anyone could fully process the sight, a massive Orc brute roared a blood-curdling challenge and rallied the horde into a frenzied charge. But the Men of Stone stood their ground, and one of the Golems, with a colossal arm fitted with a massive gun, raised it and unleashed a storm of 25mm Mithril rounds. The Orcs unlucky enough to be in its line of fire were shredded and their bodies were torn apart like paper in a hurricane of metal.
The second Men of Stone stepped forward with flames erupting from a flamethrower mounted on its back, and a wave of intense fire, burning hotter than any earthly inferno, washed over the charging Orcs, cooking these walking green mushrooms like a BBQ and turning the frontline into a blazing wasteland in an instant.
The third Golem, armed with a roaring chainsword, rushed forward. Its massive stone body moved with astonishing speed as it brutally cleaved through the ranks of the Orcs, and the magical enhancements on its stone skin allowed it to shrug off most of their bullets, though a few managed to leave only minor dents on its surface as it pressed on and mowed down Orc after Orc.
The battlefield became a slaughterhouse as the Men of Stone tore through the Orc ranks, proving themselves to be unstoppable against even the horde of Orcs
An Orc swung its crude axe at one of the Golems, only to be split in half by a single sweep of the Golem's chainsword. Another fell to a precise blast from the Golem's magic gun and its body disintegrated under the sheer force.
But then, from the rear of the Orc horde, a High Orc appeared. Towering above its kin, it wielded an enormous axe forged from adamantine, as its eyes locked on the Golems with unshaken confidence. As a creature of immense strength and ferocity, the High Orc charged forward and meet the Earth Golem head-on.
The clash of their weapons shook the very air, sending sparks flying as the Golem's chainsword met the unyielding adamantine alloy of the High Orc's axe.
For a tense moment, they were locked in a brutal stalemate as the High Orc roared in fury as its immense strength was enough to crush armored vehicles, but the Golem remained unyielding in its mechanical fury.
Then, with calculated precision, the Golem aimed its magic gun at the High Orc's feet and fired a blast that shattered both the Orc's feet and the ground beneath it, causing the High Orc to howl in agony and lost its footing, and the Golem seized the moment. With a vicious strike, it drove its chainsword deep into the High Orc's chest and grint through its flesh and bone.
With a final brutal twist, the Golem ripped the High Orc's head from its body and raised it triumphantly before casting it aside like refuse. The Orc horde, witnessing the fall of their leader, stop in their tracks as their once-ferocious charge crumbled into disarray.
The captain, crouched behind cover, grinned grimly as the tide of battle turned in their favor.
"Looks like Command's little experiment worked after all."