We've fallen into a pattern.
Every other day had become a long crawl under the burning sun until it retreated beyond the horizon. General Saejima wanted not to attack the barbarians yet. Our considerable amount of artillery had yet to arrive, plus he was insistent on learning about how they fight. Little skirmishes broke out between our patrols and their recon teams. Were we better trained? Very much so, but that didn't make it easy.
Someone knew how to put these angry civilians to use, and I can picture joy on the General's face. A worthy opponent to test his skills with, we his disciples in warfare.
16:00
West of Kispos, Clysperis"Shieldbearer." Cain Haseda began, trudging up to his superior along the unpaved road. Little but desert around them, besides a cluster of adobe houses in the distance. "I'll bet you 50 that if we get attacked, there's rebels watching us from those houses." Tanao looked over at Cain. "No." He replied flatly. Cain smirked; "Why's that, Shieldbearer?" he asked. "Because that's where I'd be. Keep your eyes on it." the Shieldbearer retorted, pointing at Cain's MSG90.
"Understood." Cain muttered, eyeballing the highest window. 700 meters. He dropped to his knee, delicately turning the dial on his short and wide scope; bringing it back to his shoulder when he heard the click he wanted. "I don't like this." He whispered to himself, wasn't too much to see inside the windows. It just seemed too perfect though. His squad had noticed him staying behind, laser-focused on that hamlet. Silently, they all fell against the gravel and crawled up over the small hill separating their road from the hamlet's line of sight. "Hey. I see movement, house with the blue door." Cain noted.
Little flickers of fabric and skin lit up by streaks of light. Then, a long barrel. "That's a sniper, probably more." Slowly tracing the hooded man, he watched them take a knee; bringing their rifle up over the windowsill. "He's found us. Gimme the call."
"Shoot 'em."
Cain scratched at his nose with his knuckle, then drew his rifle in close; dropping his head against the cheek rest. Nothing more than a gentle breeze about; minimal wind compensation. The enemy sniper had taken aim, far too late however; Cain wrapped his finger around the trigger. Then pulled it back. The little smoke trace disappeared into the air with the crack of his muzzle, twisting off to the right then pulling inwards as it closed in on its mark. The man instantly collapsed to the floor like a ragdoll, his rifle falling out the windowsill. "I got him."
He sat in uneasy silence, he could hear his squadmates crawling about. But he dare not take his eyes off the hamlet. Then, a volley of shots came screeching by, a dim green tracer flew by Cain's leg with a loud crack; bouncing off the gravel and zooming away. The Shieldbearer growled, gravel and dust kicked up around the squad. "Awano, Nagao! Get ready to move up! Rest of you get focus on those snipers."
Seeing bullets by the handful reach out and just barely miss him, Cain shuddered for a moment, but falter he didn't. Refocusing, he brought the black crosshair of his scope around the houses and spotted another sniper. Using his last shot as reference, he lined up his sights and held still. One shot. Two shot. They spun towards their prey, both barely missing his head as they slammed into the mudrock walls; enough to make the sniper fall to cover at least. On to the next rebel. The crawl towards those houses was to be long and grueling, he needed to make his ammo last. Until his squad could get closer at least.
By week's end, 2000 Black Sash Corps infantry had landed in the Midlands. Plus the 46th Fighter Wing, a pack of veteran fighter-bomber crews with newly upgraded
S-9kai-3s; an important opportunity to cast the NQF's air doctrine against the jagged rocks of asymetrical warfare. Their finest tacticians awaiting an influx of combat reports from the front to hone the art of war doctrine for the Federation.
As for the rest of their ground forces. They'd be another week at least, NQF military actions have so far have been small but aggressive. A deterrent to opportunistic barbarians, looking to set up camp in the hills between Apne and Kispos.
16:20
FOB Strange Oracle, Bespi, Clysperis"I need more information. More. To see how they fight, what cards they hold. Even their supply routes. Their eyes are without a doubt on Kispos, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when." Pacing before his cadre of officers, Field General Daigo Saejima pondered impatiently. "Major Onomyouji. I'm proposing we pull your force recon troops back to Kispos and concentrate their efforts on finding out about the barbarians' force composition." He began, staring at the petite captain, adorned with a teal peaked cap; a sign she was part of the NQF special forces. "Do you have any objections?"
"No, General." She shot back. "Excellent. Get our foreign comrades on the line; I want to know what they have going on in the region." A nearby officer bowed to excuse himself, over to the command centre. "But following this, Major. I have something else in mind for your Force Recon. Excused." Major Onomyouji bowed and took off behind the other officer.