Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Gains and Losses

50 reapers didn't sound like a lot, and if they charged the 4th Regiment head-on, they would’ve failed to achieve much, but when these 50 reapers hit the Imperial troops who were already at the breaking point from behind, they were enough to cause the entire line to collapse. 

By the time reinforcements from the Imperial Navy, three squadrons of Mamba-class starbombers, and two squadrons of Rattlesnake-class starfighters arrived at Valley C, it was all over. 

The 4th Infantry Regiment was completely wiped out. 2,500 troops were killed with nearly 300 vehicles destroyed. All 10 captains were killed in action. Colonel Kai might have avoided a similar fate, but all he had left was his Regiment Command Staff and a platoon of his bodyguards. It was hardly a position any colonel wished to be in. 

As soon as the regiment was wiped out, Athena immediately ordered the terran troops to disperse and withdraw. Widow mines unburrowed from the ground and scuddled away. Reapers jet-packed back onto the cliffs and disappeared into the mountains. Marines and marauders fled the valley and escaped via the rough terrain. 

By the time 2 more regiments arrived at Valley C, all they could do was stare at the aftermath of the brutal ambush in horror. 

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“This has gotta be one of the most pathetic battles the 329th has fought! A full regiment, thousands of men, trapped between two mountains and slaughtered. What a fucking mess!” Johnson cursed as he put a newly lit cigarette into his mouth, hoping the nicotine could help him stay awake. 

4 hours later, as the day was finally starting to brighten, the 3rd Regiment finally returned to Prosperity. They were allowed to go back to the barracks and get some much-needed rest, but for some of them, rest was hardly the top priority. Athena quickly found that out as she observed her bodyguards sit in a public area that was a part of her office and engage in a casual conversation. 

“It could’ve been worse.” Leonard shrugged as he took a sip of water. “The enemies don’t seem to have any artillery units. If they did, the fight would’ve ended a lot sooner.”

“The 4th Regiment never should’ve gotten into that position in the first place!” Johnson snapped. “Using natural terrain to set up an ambush has been a tactic since 5,000 years ago! Only an idiot would fall for it.”

“Careful, Johnson.” Athena warned the man. Johnson, like many military veterans who have been grunts their whole life, had a tendency to speak without thinking. There were people who could criticize these decisions, but neither she nor Johnson was among them. 

“Sorry, sir.” Johnson apologized. “I’m just…fuck! I got to know some boys from the 4th Regiment when we were in Fort Samsa together. It’s common for us to die in battle, but getting killed like this…it’s a dumb way to die.”

Holt nodded in quiet agreement. Leonard quietly finished his cup of water. Lee simply leaned back in his seat, silent like a rock. 

There was silence in the office for a while before Athena stood up. “I’ll go get some rest. Wake me if there’s any news from the colonel.”

“Yes sir.”

As Athena headed to her private quarters, she couldn’t help but let out a smile on her face. She had put a lot of time into planning this battle and had taken a lot of risks in the process, and she was glad to see they paid off in the end. 

The casualties in this battle were much less than the losses the 329th took when seizing Prosperity, but the blow to the morale was much greater. 

Most of the assault on Prosperity followed a plan. The troops went into the fight knowing what was going on and who they were facing. Sure, some units took more losses than others, but all the units emerged more or less intact. In the end, the Imperium was the victor, and the Hour of Triumph rewarded the brave soldiers for this victory. 

What happened not long ago... was not an attack. It was an ambush that no one was ready for. An entire regiment went on a mission that should be a piece of cake, and within less than an hour, it was completely destroyed with next to no survivors. Their losses achieved nothing for the Imperium. Were their enemy losses? Sure, but the enemy losses were insignificant compared to the massive Imperial casualties. 

It was the 4th Regiment that was destroyed today. Who knew which regiment might suffer the same fate in the future? It was no wonder even veterans like Athena’s handpicked bodyguards were growing concerned. She could only imagine how the common troopers were feeling. There were surely those within the unit who had no fear of death, but most troops more or less still had desires for self-preservation. 

She shut the door behind her, laid down on her bed, and closed her eyes. 

“Nova. What is the status of our units?” 

“All units have returned to the base, commander.” 

“Good. Go over the casualties for me.”

“Yes, commander. The group of units sent to Starport Cinder consisted of 50 marauders, 150 marines, and 6 SCVs. They have lost 32 marauders and 72 marines. All remaining forces have returned with the remains of all units killed in action.” 

“The group of units sent to Valley Charlie included 50 hellions, 400 marines, 200 marauders, 100 widow mines, and 50 reapers. All 50 hellions are lost. 178 marines and 92 marauders were lost. 4 widow mines were destroyed. 29 reapers were killed.”

Athena nodded. “The Imperials significantly outnumbered our forces, and they had stronger firepower. It’s good that we took them by surprise both times, but they won’t make this mistake again. What is my resource count now?”

“It is at 1,054,031 units of minerals and 114,458 units of vespene gas.” Nova stated before quickly adding. “I must warn you, commander, that while this may seem like a lot of resources, it is not enough for you to defeat the Imperial forces on the planet.”

“I know,” Athena replied. This initial victory hardly made her arrogant enough to think this meant she could wipe out the Imperials on the planet. “This is at most a dozen liberators or a few hundred vikings. Even if I can remove the Imperial Navy fleet above this planet by throwing vikings at them, such a decisive victory will only attract more attention from the Imperium, although even now we may have caught the interest of the Imperium.”

“Indeed, commander. Pirates and mercenaries rarely have gauss rifles and power armors this advanced.” Nova nodded. “It is likely the Imperials will devote more resources to this world. What is your plan now, commander?” 

“I have already achieved a lot of goals in this world. I have unlocked the starport. I have added a lot of minerals and vespene gas to my resource bank. I will maintain my cover in the 329th. In the worst-case scenario, the Imperium does crack down on the terran bases with overwhelming force and destroy them. Even then, I will be safe. If they don’t, if they for some reason fail to respect the capability of the terran, well…that’s going to open up a number of opportunities.” 

Athena tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The Imperials will likely discover the terran base in the near future if they haven’t already. Their first action will be trying to destroy it…we will make it as costly for them as possible. The more time we buy, the more we can mine from this world.” 

“Remember that the Imperium won’t know that I can convert minerals to units directly. They have blockaded the planet, and the satellites they have in orbit will help them confirm that no ship is arriving at or leaving this world. As far as they can see, the terran troops are just stockpiling mined minerals in our bases. In other words, not only do we not threaten their mining operation on the city, but when they inevitably have the resources to allocate to this world, they can also claim all the minerals we have just harvested.”

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“The entire time, unbeknownst to them, we will be harvesting minerals from this world and turning them into combat units if necessary.”

Nova let out a smile. Athena had come a long way since the young woman who froze when she realized her own squad was trying to murder her. She had observed how the officers around her acted and thought and was using their decision-making process against them. The ambush at Valley C was just a start. With the help of the Starcraft units, she would no doubt claim many more victories in the future. 

Athena suddenly remembered something and clicked on the command center in the game. Just as she expected, one of the previously grey buttons had lit up. 

“Commander, your command centers can now be upgraded to orbital commands,” Nova explained what this change meant. 

At some point before the ambush at Valley C, Athena received a notification telling her that the terran structure known as the orbital command center had been unlocked. Unlike the starport, the orbital command could be unlocked simply by having units close to relevant human technologies. 

It was also around the time a squad of terran units breached the central command area of the command tower and gunned down the remaining Imperials, including Athena’s old friend Captain Lawrence, inside. Since starport command towers often had to communicate with orbital forces and assets, this was likely what unlocked the orbital command. 

“Commander, I am sure you are aware that orbital command centers are upgraded terran command centers designed to interface with space assets in order to assist ground forces,” Nova explained. “Orbital commands can launch their own satellites and hack into satellites it doesn’t control. After launching their own satellites, orbital command centers can call in mules and use satellites for reconnaissance missions…”

“Wait wait wait.” Athena interrupted. “Did you say hack into enemy satellites?”

“Yes, commander. However, you will need to construct an orbital command center outside of the game to attempt to do so.”

Athena raised her eyebrows. She knew about mules and scans, and it only made sense that the orbital command had to launch its own satellite first to use these abilities. The potential to hack into enemy satellites and take control…now that was a pleasant surprise. 

If she could gain access to Imperial satellites and subtly influence the data they returned to the Imperial commanders, then she would be able to establish even more mining bases across the planet with an almost insignificant chance of being discovered.  While the Imperials had their attention on her main terran base, more and more terran bases all around the planet could be bringing in numerous minerals for her every minute, constantly boosting the troops she had at her disposal. 

In addition, satellites were often used to assist with long-range communication across star systems. Armadas usually had their own long-range communication devices, but space on warships was often limited and as a result only a certain amount of space could be allocated to communication equipment. Communication satellites could make the signal a lot stronger. There was even a chance that she could get to eavesdrop on conversations way above her paygrade. 

Of course, Athena has yet to witness how effective the orbital commands' hacking ability was. Maybe she would have trouble acquiring full control of Imperial satellites, but even then, the ability to know where the Imperials were looking and what they knew could greatly help with her covert operation on the planet. 

It looks like things were just getting better and better for her...

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At the same time as Athena was plotting her next steps, so were her enemies. The only difference was that their dialogue wasn't as collaborative as the one between Athena and Nova. 

“I can understand the argument you are trying to make, General Pierre, but the reality is that it was your overconfidence that led to your unit’s heavy losses. Yet instead of reviewing your own actions and mistakes, you decided to come to me and try to shift the blame onto a naval commander for this absolute disaster. A naval commander who was just doing his job with the caution you didn't have. Do you think these are actions befitting of a good Imperial general?”

General Pierre’s face turned red as the young commodore lectured him. This time, he was smart enough to join the meeting alone, but he was not smart enough to keep his mouth shut about the inaction of Commander Liam. Perhaps a part of him knew the commodore would stand by the side of her own, but another part of him hoped she could put the greater good above the conflict between the Army and the Navy. He was painfully mistaken. 

“What do we know about these forces so far?” Commodore Thea continued. Commander Liam was one of her father's old lieutenants and now one of her most trusted commanders, so why would she criticize him in defense of a random Imperial Army general? The question of who was wrong under these circumstances was hardly her main concern here.

“They are low in numbers, but they are extremely well trained and have superior firepower compared to my troops. Their rifles can go through our standard-issue armor in a single shot. I have sent over all the information we have right now about them, including the security feed at Starport Cinder and images taken from the battlefield. My combat engineers have also done a basic assessment of the weapons and vehicles that we have recovered from the battlefield. We weren’t able to find out where they came from.” 

General Pierre did his best to remain calm and professional despite the insults. “There is something off with this attack, commander. A unit with this level of training and equipment isn’t just some pirates or mercenaries. What are they doing on a world like this? It is unfortunate that we weren’t able to track them. As of now, we have no idea where they are. The loss of my air wing made scouting difficult…”  

“Luckily for the Imperium, at least some of us know how to do our jobs.” Commander Liam scoffed and interrupted. Did this general really try to complain about him to his superior? “Our satellites have scanned everything within 100 miles of the city of Prosperity. With the help of our recognition algorithms, we noticed a network of structures within a valley we have labeled Valley Omega. Don’t worry, general. Since your men have looked like idiots in front of these unknown forces, they can stay and defend Prosperity. My fleet will handle this threat alone.”

“Are you sure, commander?” Commodore Thea asked. Like General Pierre, she suspected there might be some hidden reason behind this unit’s presence here. The safest thing to do was get rid of them as quickly as possible and learn any information they could from the prisoners and the wreckage. “The general claims this unit has quite the arsenal.”

“With all due respect, commodore, the Imperial Navy is not afraid of some rifles and…what is it? Landmines? These petty tricks may work against the less capable, but this is the era of the warships, commodore. Our satellites only detected minor anti-air emplacements at the base, and by all accounts, they have no warships or starfighters. We will descend upon them from the skies and take them by surprise. They have killed enough soldiers of the Imperium. It is time for us to strike back.”

“Good. Take as many prisoners as you can, commander. I want to know what the hell they are doing on my planet.” Commodore Thea nodded without giving another look at the general. “I await your good news, commander.”

As the meeting ended, General Pierre collapsed in his seat. Things have gone from bad to worse. His unit have taken the brunt of the aggression from these unknown forces, and now that these forces were exposed and vulnerable, Force Commander Liam and his Imperial Navy ships were about to launch the counterattack and claim the victory? 

But what could he do? This was how the Imperial military worked. Both the Army and the Imperial Navy did the fighting and the dying, but it was the Navy that got all the credit. Anything of value, be it talent, resources, or war gear, has always been given to the Navy first and the Army second. 

In a battle, if the Navy was defeated but the Army was victorious, then the battle would still be lost. If the Army was defeated but the Navy was victorious, the Navy could either orbitally strike the enemy ground troops into submission or blockade the planet until its people surrendered or were too weak to fight back. This was why Battlefleet Silver Lance of the Imperial Navy was treasured as Lord Vitz’s private army while the Imperial Army was just, well, the Imperial Army. 

The exhausted commander of the 329th Infantry Division let out a sigh. Fine. If Force Commander Liam wanted to take care of this threat, he could do it. If he wanted glory, he could have it. All the general hoped for was to complete this mission and go home in one piece. Anything beyond that was too much to ask. 

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Well, that concludes the chapters this week. Have a good weekend everyone!

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