Chapter 2
#2 of Operation: Liberation (New)
The sun began to rise as we crossed a bridge, heading into downtown Newnan from the direction of Newnan High School. 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. Today, building debris and bodies of civilians and soldiers littered the streets, the smell of burning flesh replacing the once, soothing smell of Spring flowers.
"It appears that the Taskforce has already passed through," Corporal Knox said as we approached the town square, passing by nothing but destroyed or crumbling buildings, as well as burning AA gun emplacements and tanks.
"It appears so," I commented as I stepped over a pool of blood, my carbine up and scanning for lurking targets, "I just hope they haven't gone too far."
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. Ugh, so much dead and bloodshed. I kneeled behind a short, sandbag wall and took out a tan-colored canteen bottle from my vest, propping my M4 against the sandbags as I took a drink of the warm water inside the canteen.
"I bet this place was beautiful before the assholes got to it," the British husky commented as he kneeled beside me, scanning the surrounding buildings with his assault rifle at the ready.
"Trust me, it was," I said, screwing the cap back onto my canteen. Downtown Newnan was a nice place to hang out during the spring time, with anthros to talk to and outside shops to browse.
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, ducking behind the low wall of sandbags as I dropped my canteen and grabbed for my carbine.
Knox immediately returned fire with his rifle, advancing as he ran at a low crouch towards a decimated pickup truck. "Right ahead, twelve o'clock!" he shouted, pointing ahead as he ducked, a round nearly missing his head by inches. The cracks of AN-94s firing soon followed.
I started firing at the red-bricked building he pointed at, firing in bursts.
The gunfight raged on as Knox 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, reloading my M4 carbine, "I'll advance 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 sandbag wall and charged forward, firing my carbine 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 carbine. 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 Knox 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 M9 sidearm out of my thigh holster and continued shooting.
"GO!" I heard the Brit yell out.
Slinging my rifle behind my back, I swiftly made my way straight to the building in a low crouch, my M9 in my paws as the incoming rounds missed me by inches. 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 paw-steps, followed by explosions and screams of pain, silenced the inside of the building.
Knox 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 Knox proceeded to clear out the rest of the structure. The anthro I disarmed lie dead on the wooden floor as I smelled death and the odor of burnt wood, a shot ringing out from upstairs. The husky came downstairs, panting as he held his assault rifle in his paws, "clear."
We both walked outside into the fresh air, sitting down on the pavement. I ejected the magazine out of my carbine, inspecting it what caused it to jam. Turned out it was a double feed, so I quickly fixed the issue.
"Ugh," Knox 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 paw-steps ran toward us from the street east of us.
Knox and I raised our weapons to the east. There were a group of four anthros running toward us, wearing multi-cam gear and carrying American style assault rifles.
"Don't worry," the male fox of the group said to us after coming within a few yards of us, "we're friendly. Flash and Thunder."
Knox and I stood up, slinging our rifles over our shoulders.
"My platoon was tasked with clearing out any remaining pockets of resistance," the female lioness of the group walked up to us, "we heard the firefight nearby and ran over to investigate." 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 Sergeant First Class patch on his sleeve. Compared to me, they both were slightly shorter than me. The other two anthros that accompanied them looked younger, assuming the oldest they could be is at least twenty-two years old.
"I'm Lieutenant Tyga Snowfall," the lioness introduced herself, "Georgia State Defense Force. Where are both of y'all units?"
Knox 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 too far from your units. We're heading towards our mechanized detachment to start rolling towards Atlanta and link up with Taskforce Green"
We walked towards a group of about seventy anthros, who all either wore the Army Universal Camouflage or Multi-cam. 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 Axis of Evil after linking up with the Taskforce! Prepare to move out!"