09-10-2020, 09:31 AM
August 29
Chuaztlapoc
Part 2
Lt. Gen Axtlan, the commander of Army Corps V, was not a happy man.
His troops had made great progress in their assault on Chuaztlapoc, at first.
The mechanized might of an Imperial army corps, in its fearsomely fast headlong launch at an enemy, had sent the loyalist defenders of the city reeling. Some portions of the loyalist perimeter, such as those held by Shorn Ones, Major Huatli's battalion and the former Civil Guard units, had managed to stand up to the Army reasonably well. But the rest of the perimeter, manned by armed civilians, had collapsed like a house of cards that had been soaked in water and then been placed in a wind tunnel.
The civilian defenders of Chuaztlapoc, no matter how passionate or determined, had no idea what they would be facing when an entire mechanized Xiomeran army was launched at them. They had found out the hard way, as the first three days of the assault passed. Watching their comrades mowed down by the hundreds, the civilian units had collapsed, their members utterly demoralized by the assault. The other defenders - the ones with actual military experience - had increasingly been forced to shore up the crumbling civilian units. After three days, the line had steadily been forced back, from the countryside around Chuaztlapoc well into the city itself. Now, the inner wall around the old quarter of the city was the only line of defense left.
The defenders of Chuaztlapoc had been steadily broadcasting propaganda messages to the attacking units, trying to get them to stop their attack. Trying anything they could think of, to stop what seemed like an impacable advance towards the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, where the Empress and her last defenders were waiting for what seemed like the end.
The attack was progressing, but not quickly enough for Lt. Gen Axtlan. His forces had taken relatively minor losses, at least compared to the Chuaztlapoc defenders. But they had taken more losses than he had expected - a fact that did not make Emperor Xochiuhue happy, as he was quick to remind the General on almost a daily basis. Under immense pressure to end the resistance in Chuaztlapoc once and for all, Lt. Gen Axtlan decided enough was enough.
"Get the damned commander at Yaulhuanan on the line," he snapped at his communications officer. Yaulhuanan was the closest air base to Chuaztlapoc, and its 12th Air Wing had been assigned to support the assault on the city.
Col. Avitori, the commander of the 12th Wing, listened tiredly to Axtlan raving on the other end of the line. Axtlan had been quite vocal about the Air Force's perceived deficiencies, lack of toughness, and general lack of support for the Chuaztlapoc operation. Avitori, frankly, was quite tired of Axtlan. But he had his orders. He ordered a squadron of Apacan fighters, accompanying five Toco strategic bombers, to depart for Chuaztlapoc. Their orders: to use their missiles and bombs to wipe the wall of the city, which had stood for over 400 years, off of the face of the planet. After that, they were to destroy the Hall of Chuaztlapoc.
Such a mission would result in much of the ancient city center of Chuaztlapoc being destroyed, leveling a priceless religious, cultural and historic site. It would also result in the final destruction of the Shorn Ones, and the death of the Empress. All of this was of little concern to Axtlan, facing Xochiuhue's anger. Avitori was not as content. As the planes took off, he prayed to his gods for forgiveness.
The squadron flew silently towards Chuaztlapoc. None of the pilots had much to say.
On the ground at Chuaztlapoc, the mood was equally as somber, but nowhere near as quiet. In the operations center at the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Etlahuatzitl and Major Huatli eyed the radar screens with resignation. The defenders of Chuaztlapoc had expended their limited air defenses over the previous three days; they had nothing left to stop the planes coming towards the city. Huatli felt a profound sense of anger and frustration, but also defeat. She could beat most people in combat, but she couldn't knock planes out of the sky.
Seated next to Etlahuatzitl and Major Huatli, Yauhmi silently closed her eyes and issued a prayer of her own. She had nothing else left. Next to her, Tlalmaxxi held Tonauac tightly, as if her embrace could fend off what was coming and keep the boy safe.
In another part of the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Cozamalotl calmly read a book as Cuetzhual and Natcahuacu looked at him in astonishment. "We're about to get blown away, and you're just sitting there reading?" Cuetzhual shouted. Cozamalotl looked up for a moment. "If I'm going to die, I might as well go out doing something I love," he said, turning back to his book. After a moment, Cuetzhual and Natcahuacu sat down next to him to wait for what was coming.
As the squadron arrived in the target zone, the squadron commander, Macoyotli, looked down. Below him, he could see the units moving towards the city. They had halted their advance, waiting for the planes to approach and perform their bombing run. Armed with potent CDS-80 laser-guided "bunker busters" and CDS-192 cruise missiles, the warplanes would make short work of Chuaztlapoc's ancient barriers and buildings.
Macoyotli sighed to himself. "Approaching target area, sir. Do we commence firing?" his wingman asked. Macoyotli could not say anything. "Sir? Do we commence firing?" his wingman prompted again.
After a moment, Macoyotli pressed the button to respond. "Have I ever led you all wrong?" he asked his pilots. After a moment, a series of responses from the pilots affirmed he had not. "I am going to ask you to do something that will probably get us all killed, if we do it. Anyone that doesn't want to follow me is free to continue on with this mission. But I will not go down in history as the man who killed an Empress, killed the Shorn Ones and countless civilians and other Xiomeran warriors, and wiped one of our most important historic monuments off the map. If you can do that, that is your fate. But I cannot. Are any of you with me?"
Silence greeted him on the radio frequency. Macoyotli began to wonder if one of his own pilots was about to shoot him down. Finally, the silence was broken. "I'm with you, sir," his wingman said. "I don't want this blood on my hands either. I swore to serve the Empire. Slaughtering our people isn't serving anyone."
One by one, the other pilots echoed that sentiment. Not one broke. Macoyotli was pleased - he had trained them right after all.
"I have an alternate target for us, then," Macoyotli said. "Follow me."
Back on the ground at the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Etlahuatzitl and Major Huatli looked at the radar screen in amazement. "The planes were on approach to the city - now they're turning. They appear to be moving to the east," Major Huatli said. "I'm not sure what's happening here."
In the air above the battlefield, the squadron moved as a single deadly arrow to their new target.
On the ground, at the headquarters camp of Army Corps V, Lt. Gen Axtlan and Temocui looked at their own radar screens in astonishment. "What are they doing? Are there some defenses at Chuzatlapoc that we didn't know about that made them turn back?" Axtlan asked in bewilderment. Looking at the trajectory the planes were taking, Temocui suddenly leaped from his chair. "Get Avitori on the line now! And get our air defenses on line!" the political officer shouted.
As Axtlan continued to look bewildered, Temocui angrily grabbed the communications officer. "Tell our air defenses we're under attack! Shoot those damn planes down!" he yelled, his voice taking on an edge of hysteria.
As the squadron moved to their new heading, Macoyotli thumbed his mike again. "Heads up, the Army isn't as dumb as we joke they are. Someone down there has to know what I'm doing. Be ready for anti-air defenses," he warned. With acknowledgements from the pilots, the warplanes moved into a protective position to screen the bombers.
Anti-air missiles began to soar into the sky around the headquarters camp, as the squadron grew ever closer. Despite Macoyotli's warning, a fighter took a missile to the right wing, spiraling towards the ground in a fireball. Another fighter took a missile to the tailfin, spinning out of control. "Protect the bombers!" Macoyotli shouted, as the missile fire grew more intense. "And you bomber jockeys - you know what to do."
As the squadron finally arrived at its new target, another fighter was downed, and yet another. But just as had been planned, what was about to happen to the target was inevitable. It was just a different target.
One by one, the bombers dropped their bombs. The headquarters of Army Corps V disappeared in the light of a fireball that even Huītzilōpōchtli would have envied.
As the ground shook as far away as the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Yauhmi opened her eyes. "I know what's happening here, Huatli," she said. "Our prayers have been answered."
Back at Yaulhuanan, Col. Avitori sat upright in his chair as his second rushed in. "Sir, Macoyotli's reporting in. They, um, did not proceed against Chuaztlapoc, sir."
Avitori wordlessly reached for the headset his second was offering. He listened to Macoyotli for a moment. "I see. So, do I assume that Yaulhuanan will be the next thing to get bombed off the map if I don't agree? Hmm. Very well. I suppose I am part of the rebellion now, then. We'll discuss the details when you land. And Macoyotli...you did the right thing. What I should have done."
As his second looked at him in shock, Col. Avitori sighed. "What? I never liked Axtlan anyway."
---
On the ground at Chuaztlapoc, with the loss of their command center, Army Corps V found itself without leadership. The result was chaos.
Some units tried to press forward with the attack on Chuaztlapoc, only to find themselves under fire from other Army units who had decided that was a bad idea. The commanders of some other units, if they disagreed with the idea of changing sides, found themselves removed from command - and removed from life, if they insisted on arguing the point.
As Army Corps V turned on itself, and fire and smoke rose from what was left of its command center, the defenders of Chuaztlapoc watched from the city wall. Eventually, as it usually does, the chaos resolved itself.
Several hours after the command center of Army Corps V had gone up in its fiery demise, a group of Army commanders approached the city wall under a flag of truce. What was left of Army Corps V had decided that, indeed, Yauhmi was still the Empress after all.
Chuaztlapoc
Part 2
Lt. Gen Axtlan, the commander of Army Corps V, was not a happy man.
His troops had made great progress in their assault on Chuaztlapoc, at first.
The mechanized might of an Imperial army corps, in its fearsomely fast headlong launch at an enemy, had sent the loyalist defenders of the city reeling. Some portions of the loyalist perimeter, such as those held by Shorn Ones, Major Huatli's battalion and the former Civil Guard units, had managed to stand up to the Army reasonably well. But the rest of the perimeter, manned by armed civilians, had collapsed like a house of cards that had been soaked in water and then been placed in a wind tunnel.
The civilian defenders of Chuaztlapoc, no matter how passionate or determined, had no idea what they would be facing when an entire mechanized Xiomeran army was launched at them. They had found out the hard way, as the first three days of the assault passed. Watching their comrades mowed down by the hundreds, the civilian units had collapsed, their members utterly demoralized by the assault. The other defenders - the ones with actual military experience - had increasingly been forced to shore up the crumbling civilian units. After three days, the line had steadily been forced back, from the countryside around Chuaztlapoc well into the city itself. Now, the inner wall around the old quarter of the city was the only line of defense left.
The defenders of Chuaztlapoc had been steadily broadcasting propaganda messages to the attacking units, trying to get them to stop their attack. Trying anything they could think of, to stop what seemed like an impacable advance towards the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, where the Empress and her last defenders were waiting for what seemed like the end.
The attack was progressing, but not quickly enough for Lt. Gen Axtlan. His forces had taken relatively minor losses, at least compared to the Chuaztlapoc defenders. But they had taken more losses than he had expected - a fact that did not make Emperor Xochiuhue happy, as he was quick to remind the General on almost a daily basis. Under immense pressure to end the resistance in Chuaztlapoc once and for all, Lt. Gen Axtlan decided enough was enough.
"Get the damned commander at Yaulhuanan on the line," he snapped at his communications officer. Yaulhuanan was the closest air base to Chuaztlapoc, and its 12th Air Wing had been assigned to support the assault on the city.
Col. Avitori, the commander of the 12th Wing, listened tiredly to Axtlan raving on the other end of the line. Axtlan had been quite vocal about the Air Force's perceived deficiencies, lack of toughness, and general lack of support for the Chuaztlapoc operation. Avitori, frankly, was quite tired of Axtlan. But he had his orders. He ordered a squadron of Apacan fighters, accompanying five Toco strategic bombers, to depart for Chuaztlapoc. Their orders: to use their missiles and bombs to wipe the wall of the city, which had stood for over 400 years, off of the face of the planet. After that, they were to destroy the Hall of Chuaztlapoc.
Such a mission would result in much of the ancient city center of Chuaztlapoc being destroyed, leveling a priceless religious, cultural and historic site. It would also result in the final destruction of the Shorn Ones, and the death of the Empress. All of this was of little concern to Axtlan, facing Xochiuhue's anger. Avitori was not as content. As the planes took off, he prayed to his gods for forgiveness.
The squadron flew silently towards Chuaztlapoc. None of the pilots had much to say.
On the ground at Chuaztlapoc, the mood was equally as somber, but nowhere near as quiet. In the operations center at the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Etlahuatzitl and Major Huatli eyed the radar screens with resignation. The defenders of Chuaztlapoc had expended their limited air defenses over the previous three days; they had nothing left to stop the planes coming towards the city. Huatli felt a profound sense of anger and frustration, but also defeat. She could beat most people in combat, but she couldn't knock planes out of the sky.
Seated next to Etlahuatzitl and Major Huatli, Yauhmi silently closed her eyes and issued a prayer of her own. She had nothing else left. Next to her, Tlalmaxxi held Tonauac tightly, as if her embrace could fend off what was coming and keep the boy safe.
In another part of the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Cozamalotl calmly read a book as Cuetzhual and Natcahuacu looked at him in astonishment. "We're about to get blown away, and you're just sitting there reading?" Cuetzhual shouted. Cozamalotl looked up for a moment. "If I'm going to die, I might as well go out doing something I love," he said, turning back to his book. After a moment, Cuetzhual and Natcahuacu sat down next to him to wait for what was coming.
As the squadron arrived in the target zone, the squadron commander, Macoyotli, looked down. Below him, he could see the units moving towards the city. They had halted their advance, waiting for the planes to approach and perform their bombing run. Armed with potent CDS-80 laser-guided "bunker busters" and CDS-192 cruise missiles, the warplanes would make short work of Chuaztlapoc's ancient barriers and buildings.
Macoyotli sighed to himself. "Approaching target area, sir. Do we commence firing?" his wingman asked. Macoyotli could not say anything. "Sir? Do we commence firing?" his wingman prompted again.
After a moment, Macoyotli pressed the button to respond. "Have I ever led you all wrong?" he asked his pilots. After a moment, a series of responses from the pilots affirmed he had not. "I am going to ask you to do something that will probably get us all killed, if we do it. Anyone that doesn't want to follow me is free to continue on with this mission. But I will not go down in history as the man who killed an Empress, killed the Shorn Ones and countless civilians and other Xiomeran warriors, and wiped one of our most important historic monuments off the map. If you can do that, that is your fate. But I cannot. Are any of you with me?"
Silence greeted him on the radio frequency. Macoyotli began to wonder if one of his own pilots was about to shoot him down. Finally, the silence was broken. "I'm with you, sir," his wingman said. "I don't want this blood on my hands either. I swore to serve the Empire. Slaughtering our people isn't serving anyone."
One by one, the other pilots echoed that sentiment. Not one broke. Macoyotli was pleased - he had trained them right after all.
"I have an alternate target for us, then," Macoyotli said. "Follow me."
Back on the ground at the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Etlahuatzitl and Major Huatli looked at the radar screen in amazement. "The planes were on approach to the city - now they're turning. They appear to be moving to the east," Major Huatli said. "I'm not sure what's happening here."
In the air above the battlefield, the squadron moved as a single deadly arrow to their new target.
On the ground, at the headquarters camp of Army Corps V, Lt. Gen Axtlan and Temocui looked at their own radar screens in astonishment. "What are they doing? Are there some defenses at Chuzatlapoc that we didn't know about that made them turn back?" Axtlan asked in bewilderment. Looking at the trajectory the planes were taking, Temocui suddenly leaped from his chair. "Get Avitori on the line now! And get our air defenses on line!" the political officer shouted.
As Axtlan continued to look bewildered, Temocui angrily grabbed the communications officer. "Tell our air defenses we're under attack! Shoot those damn planes down!" he yelled, his voice taking on an edge of hysteria.
As the squadron moved to their new heading, Macoyotli thumbed his mike again. "Heads up, the Army isn't as dumb as we joke they are. Someone down there has to know what I'm doing. Be ready for anti-air defenses," he warned. With acknowledgements from the pilots, the warplanes moved into a protective position to screen the bombers.
Anti-air missiles began to soar into the sky around the headquarters camp, as the squadron grew ever closer. Despite Macoyotli's warning, a fighter took a missile to the right wing, spiraling towards the ground in a fireball. Another fighter took a missile to the tailfin, spinning out of control. "Protect the bombers!" Macoyotli shouted, as the missile fire grew more intense. "And you bomber jockeys - you know what to do."
As the squadron finally arrived at its new target, another fighter was downed, and yet another. But just as had been planned, what was about to happen to the target was inevitable. It was just a different target.
One by one, the bombers dropped their bombs. The headquarters of Army Corps V disappeared in the light of a fireball that even Huītzilōpōchtli would have envied.
As the ground shook as far away as the Hall of Chuaztlapoc, Yauhmi opened her eyes. "I know what's happening here, Huatli," she said. "Our prayers have been answered."
Back at Yaulhuanan, Col. Avitori sat upright in his chair as his second rushed in. "Sir, Macoyotli's reporting in. They, um, did not proceed against Chuaztlapoc, sir."
Avitori wordlessly reached for the headset his second was offering. He listened to Macoyotli for a moment. "I see. So, do I assume that Yaulhuanan will be the next thing to get bombed off the map if I don't agree? Hmm. Very well. I suppose I am part of the rebellion now, then. We'll discuss the details when you land. And Macoyotli...you did the right thing. What I should have done."
As his second looked at him in shock, Col. Avitori sighed. "What? I never liked Axtlan anyway."
---
On the ground at Chuaztlapoc, with the loss of their command center, Army Corps V found itself without leadership. The result was chaos.
Some units tried to press forward with the attack on Chuaztlapoc, only to find themselves under fire from other Army units who had decided that was a bad idea. The commanders of some other units, if they disagreed with the idea of changing sides, found themselves removed from command - and removed from life, if they insisted on arguing the point.
As Army Corps V turned on itself, and fire and smoke rose from what was left of its command center, the defenders of Chuaztlapoc watched from the city wall. Eventually, as it usually does, the chaos resolved itself.
Several hours after the command center of Army Corps V had gone up in its fiery demise, a group of Army commanders approached the city wall under a flag of truce. What was left of Army Corps V had decided that, indeed, Yauhmi was still the Empress after all.
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