Send a regular quick reaction

Your forces needed help that was all there was to it. You wanted Amelia to stay at base however to respond to any opportunities the other patrols discovered. You directed one of your map aids to reroute Hotel 3 to Hotel 4's position. Meanwhile you called the quick reaction **** leader. Captain Stella. "We've got a **** in contact, current estimate of enemy forces is platoon strength its likely higher. I need you to go get that patrol out of there." You ordered, you switched your cam view to her and saw her move to gather her weapons. You sent her the coordinates of the patrol's estimated position and got out of the way. She had everything she needed, talking to her would only distract from the mission.

Her forces had been on standby and she got them moving in under a minute. You could see on your sand table that Hotel 3 was also moving to engage the enemy. You could tell by the suit signals that 4 was still fighting. You had a sand aid make a note about that area. If the enemy was there they might have their main camp in that direction.

You switched your view to Hotel 3 as they ran through the woods towards the target. Already you could hear the sounds of fighting in the distance and a short two minutes later they came upon the battle site. It had obviously been going against your patrol as those still standing were circled up surrounded by the enemy. The number of bodies on the ground showed that the circle had been bigger but had gotten smaller due to attrition. You could also tell that Hotel 4 had grossly underrepresented the number of enemies present. Or the UCA reinforcements had gotten there faster. Still Hotel 3 didn't hesitate and they charged into the unsuspecting enemy whose sentries had been pointed towards the town rather than another area of the forest. Their surprise allowed for an initial advantage but the enemy had the numbers to spare and the battle soon turned into a general melee as weapons clashed across the clearing. Your initial viewpoint went down and your suit automatically switched you to another one. It didn't do you much good for understanding the situation so you switched back to Stella.

"Hotel 3 has engaged the enemy. Be advised initial troop reports inaccurate, new estimate company strength. Friendly casualties heavy." You heard one of your aides informing her as she ran through the woods. She didn't verbally acknowledge the report as you could hear her panting as she made her way through the woods. It would still be another ten minutes before she arrived at her current pace. As you switched your view back to the battle you weren't sure if that was a ten minutes your forces had. The two groups had managed to fight through and link up but they were still being hemmed in from all sides. Only the chaos of fighting in the undergrowth had so far made it possible for them to last this long as they used the natural barriers of the forest to their advantage.

There was nothing left for you to do. No orders you could give that would change the outcome. It was all up to them and Ameila now, this was always the worst part of the job. As the minutes ticked down so did your numbers until there were only five left standing, their backs together as they protected themselves and each other, not able to take any offensive moves.

It was only when the pressure slackened off suddenly that you realized that Stella had made it. You switched back to her camera just in time to see her forces collide with the enemy. They'd obviously had sentries who'd warned of her coming as they greeted her with a proper battle line. As the forces collided the press soon bounced back as those at the front sought to use their weapons to their fullest extent. The engagement was fought along the line and in the woods to the sides as both sides pulled forces back squads to try and flank or counter the enemy as they attempted to. Beyond the main battle you got a notification that the last member of the two patrols had gone down. Stella would have to win here in order to get them out. You saw the moment where that became impossible.

The enemy had managed to get a squad around undetected. There was no warning as Stella's cam went black. Her second in command was notified that they were the acting commander just as that squad moved on and slammed into the rear of the middle ranks. The middle collapsed outward. "Retreat! All forces disengage and fall back!" You couldn't fault her for the order. It was the only way to save some of her new command. She led the rearguard personally. She wasn't among the 42 out of the 400 to make it back to the town.

Status:
1000 Civilians
9570 soldiers
Sierra, Balia, Tess, Amelia all accounted for
Command center restored