Downtown Skirmish
#2 of Operation: Liberation
The sun began to rise as we crossed a bridge, heading into downtown Newnan from the direction of Newnan High School. I hated Newnan when I was growing up here; now, I hate to see downtown in ruins. It was a Saturday, the seventh of April. Usually, downtown would be bustling with anthros, all walking around to the nearby shops or just going for a stroll. It felt pretty foreign to see it dead quiet.
Debris fell from a nearby destroyed bank as Rapier and I followed the street, the smell of fire and death filling the air. The dead littered the street; some civilians, some military personnel, and even some lifeless Russian soldiers.
"It appears that your unit has already passed through," Corporal Rapier said as we approached the town square, passing by nothing but destroyed or crumbling buildings.
At the square was burning anti-aircraft guns and scattered sandbags, the dead bodies of anthros in Russian military gear hunched over some sandbags. In addition to that, the building in the middle of the square was completely in ruins, as well as the shops that surrounded it. I sighed and sat down on a bench near a crumbled building. Ugh, all this dead and bloodshed. And it was true, I've seen more dead than the average anthro on the frontlines. I took out a tan colored canteen bottle from my backpack, placing my AUG in my lap as I took a drink of the warm water inside the canteen.
"I bet this place was beautiful before the Ruskies got to it," the British husky commented as he walked around in front of me, looking at the surrounding buildings.
"It was an okay place, I guess," I said, screwing the cap back onto my canteen. Downtown Newnan was actually a nice place, that's if you've only visited Newnan OR actually liked living here. It would be a beautiful place if jerks weren't the ones that made up the population.
I sneezed and before I knew what happened, the crack of a rifle sounded in the morning air and grazed the right side of my helmet.
"Contact! Contact!" I yelled out, taking cover behind the low, broken wall of the destroyed shop in front of me, my assault rifle in my paws and my small backpack on my back.
Rapier must've seen where the shot came from, because he started shooting and charging towards a building past the square.
I followed him as he ran, taking cover behind sandbags as he stopped to reload behind a decimated truck.
"He's over there!" Rapier shouted, pointing ahead as he ducked, a round nearly missing his head by inches. The sounds of AK-47s firing soon followed.
"What the hell?!" I shouted over the sound of the firefight, "I thought this place was already liberated!"
The gunfight raged on as Rapier and I took pop shots at the Redneck Gourmet building, the building where the muzzle flashes and small arms fire were coming from.
"Cover me!" I yelled out, taking the backpack off my back and reloading my Steyr AUG, "I'll advance forward to get to a better firing position, then I'll cover you!"
"Alright!" I heard the British husky shout from across the street to my left, reloading his L85A2 assault rifle as bullets whistled over both our heads. "GO!" he screamed out, standing up behind the car and unloading his assault rifle at the building.
Gathering myself, I hopped over the sandbags and assaulted forward, firing my assault rifle at the building as adrenaline pumped throughout my body. The ground around me absorbed shots that came within inches of me as I dove into a huge artillery crater, reloading my AR. Where did I find the luck and courage in myself to do that?! I was only about fifty meters away from the front of the building. I provided cover fire for Rapier after I motioned him to advance forward, aiming straight at the bottom floor windows.
A sudden jam in my assault rifle caused it to stop functioning and on impulse, I took my Tac. 45 sidearm out of my thigh holster and continued shooting. "GO!" I heard the Brit yell out, with him diving to my left. Slinging my rifle behind my back, I swiftly shot up and made my way straight to the building, my Tac. 45 in my paws as I dodged the incoming rounds. I took cover against the side of the wall of the Redneck Gourmet building and grabbed two fragmentation grenades from my vest, pulling the pin on each one and throwing them into one of the large, open windows. The sounds of shuffling pawsteps, followed by explosions and screams of pain, silenced the inside of the building.
Rapier ran up to me and we both breached the glass door. Almost immediately, I disarmed an anthro, dressed in Russian fatigues, in the doorway as Rapier proceeded to clear out the rest of the structure. The anthro I disarmed laid dead on the wooden floor as I smelled death and the odor of burnt wood, a shot ringing out from upstairs. Rapier came downstairs, panting as he held his assault rifle in his paws, "I need a breather."
We both walked outside into the fresh air, sitting down on the pavement. I ejected the magazine out of my Steyr AUG, inspecting my rifle to see what caused it to jam. Just as I expected. I found a small rock inside the ejection port, which somehow trapped the bullet casing in the chamber. I removed the rock with my claw and the empty casing fell out.
"Ugh," Rapier grunted, taking off his MK-7 combat helmet and ruffling his hair.
The both of us, honestly, looked tired and beat up, as if we got out of a boxing match with wild bears. I messaged my feet. "Over here!" the sound of rustling gear and pawsteps ran toward us from the street east of us.
Rapier and I raising our weapons to the east. There was only a group of four anthros running toward us, wearing multicam gear and carrying American style assault rifles.
"Don't worry," the male fox of the group said to us after coming within a few meters of us, "we're friendly. I see the meadow and all that other shit."
Rapier and I stood up, slinging our rifles over our shoulders.
"Currently, my platoon is advancing on Atlanta," the female lioness of the group walked up to us, "we heard a firefight nearby and ran over here." The female lioness appeared to be in her mid-twenties and had a First Lieutenant bar under her combat vest, while the male fox beside her looked older and had a First Sergeant patch on his sleeve. Compared to me, they both were slightly shorter than me. The other two anthros that accompanied them looked younger, assuming that the oldest they could be is at least twenty-two years old.
"I'm Lieutenant Tyga Snowfall," the lioness introduced herself, " Third Platoon Leader of the 2nd Air Assault Medical Detachment. Where are both of y'alls units?"
Rapier and I introduced ourselves as we followed the Lieutenant and the rest of the squad away from Redneck Gourmet, heading down the street they came from. We explained what happened the night before and told her what units we were from, with me running down the street to our left to retrieve my backpack.
"Damn, rough night," Lieutenant Snowfall commented, "you both were dropped WAY to far from your units, especially you, Warwing."
We walked towards a group of about seventy anthros, who all either wore the Army Universal Camouflage or Multicam. They were all either relaxing or establishing a defensive perimeter.
"Alright, you battered bastards!" the female anthro shouted, her voice even making me freeze. They all looked the Lieutenant and gave her their complete attention. "Now!" she began, "we will resume our advance towards Atlanta and liberate it from the Russian Federation while linking up with the British 1st Jump Regiment! Pack your gear and move out!"