Thread: Risk

Cenobite Forces
Outside Coatzacoalcos, Bay of Campeche

As the first landing crafts hit the beach and dropped their ramps, gunfire immediately started shredding the soldiers. The fire was so heavy that almost no one made it two steps beyond their landing craft. Several soldiers were struck in the head as the fire turned on the incoming crafts.

Commands were immediately radioed in for more bombardments along the beach head. Something had gone terribly wrong.

As Cenobite shells began raining on the beach head anew, the gunfire mysteriously ceased.

The remaining Marines of the first wave were able to land on the beach with no difficulty. As the naval bombardment ended, they charged toward what appeared to be cement bunkers lining the shore. As they neared these bunkers, they found them totally destroyed. Strangely, there were no enemy bodies anywhere.

***

Similar scenes played out at Veracruz and Villahermosa. After initially encountering heavy fire, the gunfire would stop completely after the Cenobite Navy started firing shells. Although the enemy bunkers were destroyed at those locations as well, no enemy bodies or body parts were recovered.

In the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Cenobite forces encountered no gunfire. They were able to capture the beaches without any causalities. Enemy bunkers were found but they appeared to have been abandoned sometime prior to the invasion.

***

As the minutes passed, more and more Marines and equipment landed safely on the beaches. The Marines of the first wave pushed forward to allow room for more Marines to land.

As the Marines passed the enemy beach head positions, they all encountered the same thing. Large mounds of Earth, man-made ridges, blocked the way to the cities. As the commanders debated whether to go over or around the ridges, a strange noise was heard. Artillery shells suddenly whizzed over their heads and struck the Marines on the beach. Enemy fighters appeared and started firing at the Cenobite helicopters that were attempting to land. Machine gun fire also erupted from the ridges and targeted the first wave of Marines.

Marines everywhere dove for cover but hundreds had already been killed.


Simultaneously, blips appeared on the radar of the Cenobite ships stationed offshore. Enemy ships and planes were approaching from the ocean. Where had they come from?

Commands rang out for more aircraft to be launched and for the ships to turn their guns in the direction of the incoming enemies.

Suddenly contact was lost with several cruisers. Several small planes were spotted just as radio communications were disrupted throughout the fleet. Anti-aircraft fire was immediately directed at the small crafts. As they were shot down, radio communications were restored to parts of the fleet.

***

As fire fights raged in the air, the marines began to fortify themselves and engage the enemies on the ridges. Progress was slow but the growing Cenobite forces were taking their toll. As the last waves of marines landed on the beaches and the first motorized infantry units began arriving, the gunfire from the ridges had nearly stopped and the Cenobite forces were once again moving closer to their targets.

10:45 Hours
Gold Beach, First Marine Division

The shelling and bombing had been going on for nearly four hours now. Marine casualties had been heavy, but there was still plenty left to get the job done.

The first priority was to locate and eliminate the source of the Orion artillery. The heavy rail guns on board the Imperial battleships would easily do the trick, but they had to be given targets first. Satellite reconnaissance was useless given the unexpected over-cast that developed during the morning. Only aircraft or ground teams could find those guns, but the the Orion fighters needed to be cleared out before the reconnaissance planes could go up, and the infantry would have a tough time advancing forward. How could the Marines go forward?

As the Marines continued to endure the bombardment, the sound of jets were suddenly drowned out by the sound of larger engines. The Marines looked up to see the Imperial Longsword-class corvettes of the 12th Frigate Squadron, on loan from the Imperial starfleet, engaging the Orion planes. A few moments later, three frigates came in low over the beach, firing their missile batteries and lasers at the enemy planes, downing a sizable portion of them, and sending the rest fleeing. The frigate Commonwealth then dipped its bow downward and fires its particle accelerator cannon into the ground near an Orion artillery battery, blowing it and the surrounding area to kingdom come. The ground shook fiercely as the PAC round buried itself deep into the Earth's crust. The frigate Alliance followed suit, as did the Allegiance. Soon there-after, the artillery bombardment ceased.

The Marines were ordered to push forward. 2nd Regiment, 1st Marines was ordered to lead the attack. Its 800 soldiers, down from 1000, rushed forward from their positions and into enemy machine gun fire. Moving from cover to cover, the Marines slowly pushed the enemy back.

By now, Imperial field artillery had been offloaded onto the beach, as had an armored cavalry brigade. The requests for fire missions came pouring in, and soon the artillery was firing non-stop. The tanks and armored cars of the 15th Armored Cavalry Regiment soon spearheaded an Imperial attack right up the centre of the Orion forces, punching a large hole in their lines. The units on their flanks soon fled, hotly pursued by Imperial Marines. Gold Beach was now secured, although 1200 Marines had given their lives in doing so.

1st Regiment, 1st Marines managed to link-up with the 2nd Marine Division at Red Beach. 2nd Marine Division had fared somewhat better. They had secured their beach head an hour before 1st Marine Division did, but at higher cost: 1800 killed. 3rd Marine Division on Blue Beach fared similarly, but nonetheless had secured its beach.

What no-one knew was that the paratroopers of 12th Airborne Division and the Marines of the 1st Amphibious Corps were fighting for their lives around Colimar and Orange, Green, and Silver beaches, respectively..