Phase Line Gamma
North Shepistan Beachhead
Primed and ready, the war robots of Canissia waited the go-code.
Smaller robots would push ahead, covered by their larger cousins, using heavier weapons for cover fire. It was important to make sure the robots performed well, because the area they were headed into was a soup of chemical compounds-- nerve gas, mustard gas, and even some areas of biocontaminants. The robots would be immune; the men they were going to rescue were not. And that was the whole point of the operation.
The operation kicked off on schedule, on land and in the air, as fighter drones prepped for launch on Canissian carriers to provide air support.
The robots pushed forward, guided by human controllers in nearby APCs. The transmittal range on the robots was impressive, but no one wanted to take any chances on Shepistani jamming. Each 'bot was equipped with a self-destruct in the event of loss of signal-- a series of thermite charges specifically targeting the robot controls and computers. Heavy equipment back on the beachhead was ready to serve as back-up, and follow-on forces of manned tanks and other vehicles kept the lines open as needed.
The robots charged in, their control APCs not too far behind, and fought therir way to their objective-- LZ Ellis, the largest of the original Canissian landing zones on Shepistani soil and the one where surviving paras had fought their way to. It was a huge concentration of paratroopers, encircled by Shepistan forces and militia, and it was getting harder and harder to reach by airdrop. The Shepistanis had decided to concentrate everything they had on the dug-in forces at LZ Ellis-- the beachhead was too difficult to dislodge, especially with the LZ Ellis forces left in the rear to harass Shepistan logistics.
At first, the Shepistan commanders had wanted to dislodge the beachhead and then besiege the paratroopers, using them as bargaining chips. But the paras sat on the route to the beachhead, and it was just too difficult working around them. So plans had changed-- destroy the paras, then concentrate on the beach landing forces.
As the noose tightened on the paras, the regular Army commanders on the ground at 'Victory Beach' had devised a plan-- rescue the paras at minimal risk of loss to humans, by sending in the first all-robot task force.
The air strikes were done by drones, controlled from nearby AWACS-modified aircraft, which were themselves protecte dby both drones and human pilots.
Even at the close-air tactical level, drone helicopters provided invaluable support, and realtime over-the-hill surveillance, albeit at a terrible cost-- but the cost was in ROBs, not blood-- no letters home to bereaved parents, just another invoice for the manufacturer requesting another batch of replacements.
Air cover surged forward, pressing against Shepistani triple-A and fighters-- in some areas, human piloted fighters had to step in to take over air CAPs, but at the fore, it was a shockwave of drone fighters that led the charge through the skies.
But the real heroes of the chgarge were the series of small, light, cheap and portable robots known collectively as the 'Johnny-5s' due to their small size and resemblance to the plucky combat robot featured in the science-fiction movie
"Johnny Five is Alive!"
Rolling off of manufacturing lines in Canissia by the ton, the compact little 'Johnny-5' class robots were cheap and plentiful, their most useful feature being the adaption of ordinary infantry weapons to robot use, negating the need for specialty weapons to be constructed. Anti-tank and machinegun versions swarmed the battlefield, autonomously moving, seeking cover, and locking on target, needing human control only for the 'shoot/no-shoot' option at th elast moment.
The robots were cheap-- without the cost of the infantry weapons-- under $3,000.00 per chassis, and smaller than a soldier, and naturally built almost at a low-crawl silouhette level.
They reached their objective at LZ Ellis, and the robots automatically searched for defenseive positions, concealment, and cover.
Six larger Combat Engineer robots dug in small fighting emplacements for the little 'Johnny-5' series 'bots to dig into-- it was an easy process, since the CER or Combat Engineer Robots already had the specifications for depth and width programmed into their processors; they needed only to do a quick terrain sutability scan and begin digging holes that were half the size of those needed for human soldiers, making th eprocess that much faster.
The paratroopers were pulled out, in a couple of instances by specially-made rescue 'bot, specifically designed to retrieve wounded soldiers in dangerous conditions.
The Canissian Royal Paratroopers were pulled out, and the escape-and-evasion portion of the evac begun. The APCs with the controllers, and the APCs with the human paratroopers began to leave the area, but the final phase of the plan was still being put in place. The controllers were replaced by a DCV, or Drone Control Vehicle, a specially-designed vehicle that would take over the robots' basic combat functions and continue to provide fighting cover as the humans withdrew.
Left behind were hundreds of little 'Johnny-5' robots, fighting to their deaths-- either destroyed by withering Shepistani fire, or by self-destruction when heavily damaged, ammo ran out, or if capture was imminent. Explosion rent apart millions' of ROBs worth of taxpayer's money, but at no loss of life save for that which was already lost before the dramatic rescue took place.
As literally thousands of paratroopers were rescued, the news brought great relief back home in Canissia, where the population was weary of the grim news of war on the daily broadcasts. While King Arik's approval ratings were bouyed --temporarily-- by the headline-grabbing drama, funding for robotic warfighting experiments soared.
It was a much-needed shot in the arm for Canissia. King Arik knew it wouldn't last long, and continued to hold out hope that a deal could be reached with Shepistan and the Old Dominion soon.
Results:
Dramatic robot rescue of surrounde dparatroopers leads to increased interest on robot warfighting replacing humans as much as possible.
- PeZook
