VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

A MEDIC'S NATURE

Battleground: Center

UAT sector of operations,

40km to Kursk

Dark smoke from the burning fires surrounding the IF vehicles and gun positions knocked out during the fighting gave the blue sky an apocalyptic look. Fearing their machine's imminent breakdown, the UAT threw itself into desperate fighting. So fierce and swift had been their assault, many IF units found themselves engulfed in hand-to-hand battles that threw many of them into complete and disorganized retreats. The fully mechanized infantry Battalions of UAT, always anxious to move the fight closer, crossed the steppes already partially cleared by the Phoenix Unit's tanks under Marco to engage what little remained of opposition. Although these few remnants, sometimes numbering a company’s worth, stood their ground confident in their strong entrenched position, the Azoreans' combined arms tactics were a devastating surprise to the Iberians. First bombarded at a distance by mortars and self-propelled guns, the infantry then quickly closed in, an entire Battalion at a time, to overwhelm the defenders.

Angelo had drilled his officers to abide by Admiral Halsey’s principles of “Hit hard! Hit fast! Hit often!” to complement the lack of numbers they held compared to most enemies they came across. A tactic he had employed with success multiple times against Pedro and Rui to a degree where if the UAT attacked a certain location, it would be an all-out attack by the entire institution from various angles, leading to defeat-in-detail. In a sense, Angelo hybridized multiple tactics into one, bending the rules to extremes with fast maneuvers dictated by none other than instinct and leaving the details to his officers to sort out on the field because, if nothing else, what mattered the most was having everyone converging on the same target at the same time. Surprisingly enough, no matter how messy it looked on paper, most Azorean students and officers understood the plays and strived to implement them whenever there was a chance. Moreover, having a small force of seven hundred meant Angelo could always exercise direct command if need be.

Overwhelming fire, infiltration, envelopment, and mass assault with shock and awe to annihilate the enemy obtained incredible results as the UAT pushed further into the IF lines than any other Allied force, bewildering even the Azoreans, who joked with the new concept by naming it ‘Angels Calling.’

The Azoreans' unmatched advance left Rui infuriated on the right flank as he struggled to keep up, and Pedro’s troops had to mount and dismount the heavy artillery numerous times for their range to keep up with the rest of the force. But that in itself had always been Angelo’s plan, the reason why he arranged the UAT to be what it was in that battle.

Ten Tigers, five Panthers, five Panzer IVs, and four Wespe self-propelled howitzers that acted as mobile artillery, operated by Phoenix members, made up the armored corps of its university. While in support of them, two battalions of fully mechanized infantry escorted them through thick mud. All of which were arranged with the intention in mind for the UAT to wage war independently. It was a known fact that Pedro would sooner or later relinquish the artillery support from them in favor of some other unit, hence the imperative need for the Azoreans to have their own mobile guns for fire support.

Angelo’s talented instincts for outside-the-box thinking had prevailed over Valentino and Pedro’s overall strategy and textbook tactics, snowballing the entire battlefield where the odds were no longer in anyone’s favor.

When all strategies failed, it would be up to the students to give their all for the sake of themselves and their country. And perhaps, it was in this part that the Portuguese stood above the Iberians. Rilled up with burning fires in their eyes from Valentino's speech and the bitter history engulfing both nations, retribution was something achievable in the virtual world.

Desiring nothing but the fall of Kursk, the UAT students' fighting style in this battle could only be described as nothing short of unstoppable. Through their reckless fighting style was utterly devoid of any thought for defense, it was, in greater part, due to the medic corps’ extraordinary efforts to recover and heal all wounded – thus preventing needless fatalities – that allowed the UAT to keep up its offensive level virtually intact.

“No quarter!” “Slaughter the bastards!” “Give those fuckers no mercy!”

Bonded in this choir of madness, the students sprayed bullets on everything that moved, kicking up dust and dirt where they went, inflicting dreaded losses on their enemy, and conveying to them the feeling of pure fanaticism. Transforming their desperation into the greatest weapon in their arsenal, willpower. The PXF buffed each individual's resistance statuses as they put to the test the limits of body and mind, scratching the outer edges of what their leader already possessed, AWP. However, in doing so, the system would never allow them to truly awaken the hidden powers because it resonated differently for everyone. For Angelo, the trigger had been pure hatred accumulated over the years in his soul, but that only worked for him because he was woven like cloth with it. To others, the trigger varied with their personalities, way of life, and core, and that’s why unlocking AWP was an extremely rare occurrence. Most people are wholesome, feeling a variety of mixed feelings, having doubts, and heart changes that either corrupt or improve them. Hence, why only the most devoted people, the ones who fully commit themselves to walk their own path, could achieve the awakening power that is AWP, the closest humanity has ever been to its next evolution.

Regardless of how far they still had to walk, the PXF monitoring their vitals took notice of this sudden increase in resilience and commitment. Making the incredible and perceptive machine appreciate their efforts, thus rewarding them with buffs to their vitality and, in this way, increasing their survivability.

Their conviction, absolute focus, and above all, sheer will shook not only the foundations of IF students who, until then, had never faced a fearsome and desperate adversary, but also that of the UAT field medics rushing to keep up with the onslaught.

“f**k, I’m hit!”

Coming to her senses as the wind carried the cries of the wounded, Mara, the appointed field medic for the 1st Company, sprung into action with bullets whizzing above her head. I’m coming! Just do your best to hold on!” How many times had she held on to that one thought that was beyond her? It wasn’t her first battle that had been months ago under Valadão’s reign before Angelo took over, so she should’ve been used to the feeling of rushing to aid someone…and yet the doubts and fear remained there in her head all the same.

Nothing had changed throughout countless battles and training sessions; she still struggled with the thought of not being able to save everyone she encountered. As one of the three medics in her company, her sole job contradicted everyone else’s. She was one of the lucky few who could abstain from combat and redirect her strength to help her classmates. By aiding them correctly, she ensured their prolonged stay in the battle. However, no matter how much she tried, she could only delay the inevitable; everyone dies…always…every single time.

“It’s my leg, doc,” the wounded man looked at her with his hand applying pressure to the wound. “Though I don’t think it’s too bad…I still have 80% HP.”

“Let me see,” she said, then proceeded to examine the wound with her unique skill that was reserved only to medics, Triage. “There’s an exit wound, and the bullet didn’t hit the artery. I’ll clean it and dress it. Change the bandage after an hour to avoid the infection debuff and for the wound to close.”

“Will do…thanks, doc.”

She persevered through all of her anxieties because of the genuine smile her patients gave her each time they heard they could remain in the battle. Each wound she healed encouraged her to go regardless of knowing what the future would bring. Her tenacity and nerves of steel to retrieve wounded under any desperate circumstances had earned her an earful more than once from her superiors, mainly her lieutenant, Cristina, but in doing so, she had also won the admiration of most of the students in her company. And even some praise from Ricardo or ‘Big Richie,’ the battalion’s captain.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

The image of a blood-soaked battlefield had never even once crossed her mind when she began enrolling in the nursery department of the UAT; it had always been her dream to become a doctor to help people and not take lives. But when the VR Wars competition hit them hard, her values posed the greatest obstacle to overcome, when, all of a sudden, she and all her other classmates were struck with the concept that “killing was all that mattered” in the virtual world. While most embraced the idea, the ones who studied medicine fared the worst; in all the other battles, they were the first ones to bite the dust and always in the same manner – attempting to save someone. Something that earned them the disgraceful transition to a frontline role when the Prodigy-based generation ruled the university, where they failed even worse. Then Angelo ascended to the top, and things took a radical turn, and her status as a field medic, no matter which scenario or age the battle took place, became permanent. Truthfully, Mara still regarded the ‘Angel of Death’ as someone to be avoided, immensely disliking how he had taken over control. Still, she came to terms with her new Commander as she saw first-hand the improvements he made, getting the results they so desperately needed. Even more inspiring to her was Angelo’s commitment to earning the SCRF fund for the UAT and the entire country. I only saw the videos from the first battle; I thought he was having fun, fighting alone as he did. Then, at Bunker Hill, he stepped up when no one else dared and won us the day. Without his guidance, we lost in Okinawa to the Poles. But at Teutoborg, we redeemed ourselves thanks to his efforts in training us properly…if anyone’s capable of winning the prize, it is him.

“Doc?”

“Stay here for a while until things calm down, then get into one of the half-tacks.”