FD COM – OTHER FORCES

 

by A. Gubler

 

Introduction

 

The Australian military maintains extensive peacekeeping forces across known space. These formations and units fall under command of ADF – Peacekeeping Forces a four star formation on level with Earth, Tirane and Rimward Theatres. Australia has also committed a large number of troops to the multi-national war against the Kafers in the European Arm of space. These forces fall under command of the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force. The ADF’s High Command and Intelligence Command also have a special forces unit of SAS soldiers each for their various high-level needs.

 

Narrative

 

I will never forget the way Anzac Day dawned on the shores of the Uwa-Wan Bay with the yellow star 61 Ursae Majoris rising out of the Elysian sea with two moons in the sky. The yellow rays rising from the red sea where significant for us and the local Japanese militia as we both wore rising sun insignia. Technically it was still day 16 of Verde in the Joian calendar but the date on Earth was the all important April 25, 2302. But here on Joi there was no playing of the last post, no game of two-up, just one big, long moment of silence…

 

The Tiger Battalion, or the 5th Battalion (ANZAC), Regular Australian Regiment to the uninitiated, had marched through the 19 hour night to carry out a dawn assault on the Toyoda Foundation’s facility on the outskirts of Tosashimizu city. The alien Kafers had been entrenched there since their March landing and had to all reports converted the complex into a “CH*!!” or safe-place. We were going to prove them just how unsafe it was…

 

The Raven Brigade’s artillery was laying down light but effective fires on the identified Kafer bug holes. Reportedly the Germans had dropped an orbital nuke on the Kafer “CH*!!” over at Halbinsel. The nuke hadn’t done much damage to the subjoian facility but the Kafers where so riled they had all stayed smart for weeks. Plenty of German Heimatshützen and British Gurkhas had died taking out that “CH*!!”.

 

The Kafers had to know something was coming as we had the Jap militia moving nosily up the main road from Tosa plus the artillery fire. We were just hoping they wouldn’t notice us moving up a shallow river valley from Uwa-Wan Bay. The tac nets started to chatter away as the battalion shaked out from march column to assault formation – two rifle companies up (including us in Charlie-5) and one back (the Kiwi company), with the FMS company’s combat walkers amongst the rifles and missile platoon in over-watch. My platoon, number eight, had the left flank with a section of assault pioneers in front and the comforting form of two big Emu combat walker-assault guns behind us.

 

We went through a quick platoon evolution from four “brick” patrol sections to assault formation. My command section with just myself and my radio-operator, two fire support sections each with two 9-mm machineguns and Command Candidate Leader Chen’s assault section with six rifleman. Chen’s section took the lead with a sire support section on each flank and my group with the pioneers and the assault guns up back.

 

The ground was the typical Joian heavy grass, up to three meters high as we moved towards the Todaya’s out buildings which were cloaked in dust from the barrage. A strange looking reptile with soulful eyes, a big skull and even bigger hands popped out of the grass in front of where my section was advancing. It certainly didn’t look Kafer but we were so surprised I’m sure no one would have shot it even if it did. I guess it was one of those strange moments that happen before battle as I stood crouched amongst the grass with an alien goanna that looked like it was about to give us a philosophy lecture. Later we were to give the creature the name Quintus and it almost became a part of our platoon.

 

Suddenly Quintus the alien reptile freaked out with a lot of chitering and tried to scramble down a burrow hole of some sort. Taking that as a sign I snapped a “go to ground” order to my platoon. No sooner had we hit the dirt than a spray of Kafer 27-mm grenades blasted across our line of advance. The Kafers had indeed noticed out flanking advance, later we were to learn that preparatory artillery fire just got them excited and made them smart and a smart Kafer is to smart by far. I was lucky but Chen and the assault section out in front weren’t as they withered in the crossfire.

 

Before I could respond a Tri-Beamer burst of three 28-MW plasma bolts exploded right around me. I was sprayed by burning grass and dirt and my Taipan was ripped from my hands, we never found where it landed. Jones my radioman went down with plasma burning through his vest and legs. It took me a few seconds or minutes to gather my wits. Bit by bit I put the platoon together and with the pioneers and the Emus we went forward paying dearly for every metre. It was to be a long day ahead of us and at the going down of the sun we shall remember them.

 

Extract from “Tales of the Tiger and the Raven Part II: No Joi” by Chief Leader Anton Balin, Ares Military Press, 2304

 

Index

Peacekeeping Forces

50th (Defence) Brigade
Hyderabad Neutrality Protection Force
Treaty of Singapore Mandate Force
Treaty of Asunción Mandate Force
Treaty of Fremantle Mandate Force
Fifth Treaty of Versaille Mandate Force
Treaty of Darwin Mandate Force

Commonwealth Expeditionary Force

5th (Armoured) Brigade
13th (Assault) Brigade

Independent Units

 

 

Peacekeeping Forces

Most international peacekeeping forces are formed on a needs basis, usually mandated during treaty negations that end conflicts. Australia maintains a policy of promoting as many peace treaties as possible. The ADF will also backup all these negotiations with military force, when needed.

 

50th (Defence) Brigade

The 50th Brigade is the oldest permanent peacekeeping formation in the Australian order of battle. The brigade is based at a purpose built training facility at ADB Southbank on the Llano de Tierra Negra. Squadrons and Battalions rotate into the brigade for a six month long training session before being deployed to a peacekeeping mission. Similarly companies from the Corps of Engineers, Operations and Aviation will serve in the brigade units before moving en masse to relieve other specialist troops.

 

24th Squadron, Tank Regiment of Australia
57th Squadron, Armour Regiment of New Canberra
98th Battalion, New Canberra Light Infantry
73rd Battalion, Eastern Shore Regiment

Brigade Engineer Unit 50, Corps of Engineers
Brigade Operations Unit 50, Corps of Operations
Brigade Aviation Unit 50, Corps of Aviation

 

Hyderabad Neutrality Protection Force

The Hyderabad Neutrality Protection Force is not a peacekeeping formation but a peace-enforcing command. The force was deployed to assist the newly independent nation of Hyderabad rebuild without attack from the vicious cycle of violence on the Indian sub-continent. The force’s main roles are border and sovereignty patrols as well as protecting the local population from starvation.

 

65th (Infantry) Brigade

The 65th Brigade headquarters is located in Secunderabad, Hyderabad and its units keep the peace across this one of many troubled Indian states. The brigade is of veteran quality and is equipped with Wallaroo armoured personnel carrier hovercraft and modern infantry equipment. The brigade also has several company sized detachments of artillery, armour and special forces to back up its infantry.

 

9th Battalion, Commando Regiment of Australia
5th Battalion, Australian Rifles
143rd Battalion, Sikh Regiment of Australia
145th Battalion, Sikh Regiment of Australia
Brigade Engineer Unit 65, Corps of Engineers
Brigade Operations Unit 65, Corps of Operations
Brigade Aviation Unit 65, Corps of Aviation

 

Treaty of Singapore Mandate Force

The Treaty of Singapore was negotiated as precursor to an outbreak of violence. Based on the Chyuantii-Lihgtou border, Syuhlahm in the Zeta Tucanae system The Australian armoured hovertank squadron is mandated with keeping the Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese communities apart and in dissuading the minor communal violence that has broken out from time to time on this distant world. This unit also provides a neutral force in the Chinese Arm of space able to intervene to settle disputes.

 

26th Squadron, New Canberra Guides

 

Treaty of Asunción Mandate Force

At the end of the 3rd Rio-Plato War between Argentina and Brazil a small disengagement force was formed to patrol their mutual border. This force is now being wound down due to reduced tensions but an Australian unit is still based in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.

 

9th Battalion, Regular Australian Regiment

 

Treaty of Fremantle Mandate Force

The Treaty of Fremantle was the epic cease-fire negotiations to the Central Asian War between Manchuria and a coalition of European nations. One of its provisions was for an international peacekeeping force to patrol the contested border between the Central Asian Republic and Manchuria. This force is made up troops mostly from the more affluent countries of Africa and Asia backed up by two Australian brigades. The headquarters are located at Almaty in the Central Asian Republic and peacekeeping troops patrol throughout the eastern quarter of the Republic.

 

71st (Defence) Brigade

Located at the border city of Tacheng the brigade has a very delicate task securing the demilitarised zone between the Central Asian Republic and Manchuria. The brigade is of veteran quality and is equipped with Gatto, Wirrenda and Kangaroo hovercraft and modern infantry equipment.

 

11th Squadron, Tank Regiment of Australia
52nd Squadron, New Canberra Guides
8th Battalion, Commando Regiment of Australia
5th Battalion, Wundurra Regiment

Brigade Engineer Unit 71, Corps of Engineers
Brigade Operations Unit 71, Corps of Operations
Brigade Aviation Unit 71, Corps of Aviation

72nd (Defence) Brigade

Located in the Kyrgyz/Tien Mountains the brigade watches the most porous part of the DMZ including the infamous Turugart Pass. The brigade is of veteran quality and is equipped with Crocodile-III main battle tanks, Tanakan VTOL aircraft and modern infantry equipment.

 

Fifth Treaty of Versaille Mandate Force

The Fifth Treaty of Versailles negotiated the peace between the newly re-united Germany and France, as well as securing the independence of Flanders. With the German government unwilling to garrison Flanders and with the new Flemish Republic unable to effectively secure its borders an international peacekeeping force, lead by Australia was ordered to secure this new country. While only expected to deploy for a few years the peacekeeping force has had its mandate extended several times to deal with increasing communal violence between the Flemish and Wallon French. Australia has been highly critical of this deployment believing that the German and French government should do more to secure their own backyard. However these two stellar powers seem more concerned with going ons far away from their respective national capitals.

 

75th (Infantry) Brigade

The 75th Brigade headquarters is located in Kortrijk (Courtrail), Vlanderen and its units watch the border between France and Flanders, doing little more than arrest import duty avoiders and drunken youngsters. The brigade is of veteran quality and is equipped with Kangaroo hovercraft and modern infantry equipment.

 

20th Battalion, New South Wales Regiment
31st Battalion, Queensland Regiment
4th Battalion, Commando Regiment of Australia

Brigade Engineer Unit 75, Corps of Engineers
Brigade Operations Unit 75, Corps of Operations
Brigade Aviation Unit 75, Corps of Aviation

 

Treaty of Darwin Mandate Force

Based at Newmark, Alderhorst in the Vogelheim star system, 92-RTN is the main Australian contribution to the Treaty of Darwin Mandate Force and is entrusted with keeping the peace between the local French and German communities. However due to the Kafer invasion the Darwin Mandate Force has an uncertain future, the alien threat has been an enormous boost to reconciliation between the two communities originally in dispute. In fact the peacekeeping force during the invasion was reorganised as a mobile brigade to fight the Kafers off-world. Currently the balance of the 92nd Battalion is training for conventional operations against the Kafers on Alderhorst, while two companies (including a New Zealand detachment) have been deployed to Dunkelheim under the Commonwealth Expeditionary Forces.

 

92nd Battalion, Regiminto de la Tierra Negra

 

Commonwealth Expeditionary Force

CEF HQ is based at Heorot on Beowulf in the Queen Alice’s Star system. The HQ is, like the CEF, a joint effort mixed between planetary and space forces and the many Commonwealth and allied nations. But like the CEF the British Army and the Royal Space Navy dominate. The Australian ground forces commitment to CEF is an armoured hovercraft brigade, an orbital assault brigade, a unit of close air support bombers and undisclosed special operations forces.

 

Strike Aviation Unit 133, Corps of Aviation

 

5th (Armoured) Brigade

The Devil-Tank Brigade is an armoured hovercraft formation from the 1st Division attached to the CEF on Beowulf in the Queen Alice’s Star (DM +46 1797) system. As part of the British IV (Alician) Corps the 5th Brigade has an important defence role on Beowulf, the site of the furthest penetration of the Kafer invasion forces. The brigade was based in ADB Fort Galilee near Aramac, Queensland before its off-world deployment.

 

33rd Battery, Regiment of Australian Artillery
9th Squadron, Tank Regiment of Australia
15th Squadron, Tank Regiment of Australia
6th Squadron, New South Wales Mounted Rifles
45th Squadron, New Canberra Guides
Brigade Engineer Unit 5, Corps of Engineers
Brigade Operations Unit 5, Corps of Operations
Brigade Aviation Unit 5, Corps of Aviation

 

13th (Assault) Brigade

The Lightning Brigade is the crack Australian field contingent of the CEF. It is an orbital assault formation with a formidable array of heavy equipment, including hover tanks and combat walkers available to back up its lander borne parachute infantry. The brigade is the FD COM component of the specialist orbital assault 31st (Assault) Division. The 31st is a joint division comprising formations from Field and Fleet Commands as well as support forces. The brigade saw limited action at Kimanjano (DM + 34 2342) but was fully blooded on Beta Canum Venaticorum, especially in the Battle for Bayview. The brigade is currently stationed at Adlerhorst in the Vogelheim star system where it is experimenting with rapid deployment of its heavy hovertanks from orbit.

 

104th Battery, Regiment of Australian Artillery
54th Squadron, Armour Regiment of New Canberra
4th (Assault) Battalion, Australian Rifles
1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of Australia
4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment of Australia
Brigade Engineer Unit 13, Corps of Engineers
Brigade Operations Unit 13, Corps of Operations
Brigade Aviation Unit 13, Corps of Aviation
JSU, Special Air Service Regiment

 

Independent Units

ZSU, Special Air Service Regiment

This unit of the Australian SAS is attached from the headquarters of FD COM to the High Command of the ADF. ZSU is considered the peak intervention unit of the SAS and is called on for a number of high-risk special assault missions across known space. ZSU operates closely with the stealthy long-range transports and the Search and Rescue Guards (SaRGies) of Air Force Command, the Australian Diving Squadron of Naval Command and the zero-G warfare troops of Space Force Command’s Australian Spacewalker Squadron. ZSU has also been identified operating in the Nuevas Malvinas area against armed separatist in close liaison with the New Canberra Police’s Special Mobile Unit “Fidel” and Australian Federal Police.

MSU, Special Air Service Regiment

This unit of the Australian SAS is attached to Intelligence Command of the ADF. They provide elite and secret units to carry out special intelligence gathering missions across the breadth of Australian operational areas. There are believed to be three distinct company-sized groups within “M” Special Unit trained and equipped for urban, open bush (plains, light forest, deserts) and close bush (jungle, mountains) operations respectively.