Chapter 255: Silverpeak MDC - I

By noon, the new southern Battalion reached the five-way intercity junction.

The MLRSs sat silent across one of the wider cleared areas near the edge of the position after spending most of their ammunition during the morning fire mission.

Brandon remained inside his BACV as the first vehicles came down from the northern road.

"About time they’re here."

The junction was already secure. Engineers were still working around the temporary position, and the containment line toward Horjus remained intact, but there was little reason for Brandon’s entire battle group to stay once the replacement force arrived.

He wanted to keep moving toward Silverpeak before something else delayed them.

Hans’s latest warning reached them as well. The Golden Eagle callsign was already causing confusion farther north.

Brandon wondered how the soldiers around Silverpeak would react when his people eventually introduced themselves.

A Guardian APC separated from the arriving formation and stopped near his BACV. Brandon stepped outside as a large, bald man climbed out and approached him. He was broad across the shoulders and heavier than most of the Commanders Brandon had met so far.

"Simon Bond."

The man held out his hand.

"Joseph Brandon."

They shook.

"No problems on the road?" Brandon asked.

"None. Your people left us a very clean route."

Brandon looked toward the eastern road.

"Horjus and this junction are yours. My group is continuing south."

Bond followed his gaze.

"Don’t worry. When you come back, I’ll have a Golden Eagle flag hanging somewhere over there."

Brandon laughed.

"I’ll hold you to that."

He brought up the latest operational package on his interface.

"The bombardment thinned most of the larger concentrations along the approach. There are still plenty left inside the city, and several mixed sectors haven’t been touched."

Bond nodded.

"I’ve got it."

"The BACV network already has the current picture. I’ll send over the latest fire restrictions and everything we confirmed since morning."

Brandon looked south.

"Good luck with Horjus."

"You too. Try not to start a war down there."

Brandon gave him a look.

"That’s exactly what Command told me not to do."

Bond laughed, and they separated soon afterward.

He returned to his Battalion while Brandon called his own formations back into movement and turned south toward Silverpeak.

...

The junction slowly disappeared behind them.

For the next hour, the highway carried them through the same broad countryside they had seen earlier, passing farmland, small settlements, roadside workshops and storage compounds. Some communities were occupied while others had been empty long enough for grass to spread through parking areas and unused access roads.

Farther south, the land began to rise. Fields gave way to low hills and then longer ridges, while the highway curved with the terrain instead of continuing in long straight sections.

The road itself was in much better condition than most of the abandoned areas around it. Its surface remained largely intact despite six months without normal maintenance, while broad drainage channels, retaining systems and rockfall barriers protected the steeper sections.

By mid-afternoon, mountains occupied most of the horizon. The highway climbed along wooded slopes and descended into narrow valleys where houses, fuel stations and small communities occupied the flatter ground.

Compared to Grefort, there was much more green here. Trees covered entire slopes, and Brandon saw more animal life in the next hour than he could remember seeing during most operations around the city. Birds scattered from the fields as the Scouts passed, several deer disappeared into the trees, and cattle grazed near a distant group of occupied farm buildings.

The convoy still had to slow as the bends tightened. Vanguards that had maintained road speed across the open southern corridor took the mountain curves more carefully, while the heavier support vehicles kept wider spacing on the climbs. The formation stretched farther than it had on the flatter roads outside Grefort.

The first real structural failure along the route came shortly after three in the afternoon.

Reconnaissance had already marked a broken bridge ahead, and the lead elements slowed before reaching it.

A short highway bridge crossed a narrow ravine. Both approaches and most of the structure remained intact, but the center span had collapsed into the stream below.

One broken section rested against the rocks beneath it while pieces of railing and road surface hung from the remaining edges.

The damage was localized. Everything before and after the missing span still looked usable, but the gap was wide enough that no Guardian or Vanguard was crossing it.

"Engineers?"

A report came back moments later.

"Both abutments are stable. Gap is within Bridge Layer limits."

Brandon looked toward the support column behind them.

"Bring the Bridge Layer forward."

The order moved through the formation.

Vehicles shifted to one side of the road while the Armored Bridge Layer came up from the Combat Support element.

The broad tracked chassis stopped several meters from the broken edge.

Engineers moved around the surviving approach first, checking the road surface and the exposed concrete where the old bridge had separated. Once they cleared the position, the Bridge Layer moved closer.

Its stabilizers lowered against the pavement and the folded span began to rise.

The deployment frame pushed it forward over the ravine, section after section, until the far end settled onto the opposite approach.

The vehicle adjusted the span slightly and lowered it into position, leaving a single armored lane across the gap. The broken section sat well inside the Bridge Layer’s unsupported span limit.

Around two minutes after deployment started, the gap was closed. The Engineers made another inspection before the radio came alive.

"Southern Command, crossing is stable. Ninety-ton standard load. Route is clear."

"Send the lead element across."

The first Guardian moved forward.

Its tracks rolled onto the metal span one side at a time before the entire vehicle settled onto the bridge. The structure dipped slightly under the weight, then held as the APC crossed the ravine and climbed onto the opposite approach.

A second Guardian followed.

Once the far side was secured, the Vanguards began crossing one at a time.

The bridge was wide enough for a single armored lane, leaving little room beside the heavier vehicles as they passed over the broken concrete below. Engine noise carried through the ravine while dust fell from the damaged approaches every time another tank reached the span.

Brandon watched the flow from inside the BACV.

Engineering and recovery vehicles followed once enough of the maneuver elements were already across. The heavier support vehicles took longer.

There was no point rushing several dozen tons of armor across one lane just to save a few minutes.

By the time most of the formation reached the other side, the afternoon sun had already shifted behind the western ridges.

The Armored Bridge Layer crossed near the rear and left the span in place.

Brandon had no intention of taking it back down.

If Silverpeak became an active front, supplies, replacements and whatever followed them later would need the same crossing.

An Engineer team and a small security element remained behind to hold the bridge until the route behind them could be reinforced properly.

Once the rear elements cleared the bridge, the column continued south.

The road beyond the ravine was intact again, and the formation settled back into the same mountain pace as before. Most of the visible damage farther on belonged to the settlements beside it instead: a collapsed house, several burned roadside businesses and abandoned cars pushed onto the shoulders.

Another BACV from the support elements deployed along the route during the afternoon, extending the corridor coverage while Brandon’s remained mobile with the forward companies.

After that, the road continued deeper toward Silverpeak.

Late afternoon turned toward evening, and the valleys were already darkening when the trees opened at one long bend.

Parts of Silverpeak appeared through the gaps ahead. Buildings climbed the distant slopes and occupied the flatter ground between valleys, while transmission lines crossed one ridge before disappearing behind another. Smoke rose from several areas deeper inside, and a few lights were already visible.

Silverpeak was alive.

A large overhead sign appeared farther ahead, its lettering still clear above the highway.

------

SILVERPEAK CITY

------

The forward elements pressed on while the main formation followed through the narrowing valley.

Brandon kept his eyes on the Radar when he suddenly noticed a group of gray markers several kilometers ahead.

They were spread across both sides of the approach rather than clustered together. Some were inside the tree line. Others sat farther back behind natural rises and abandoned roadside buildings.

Brandon switched to the broader formation channel.

"Southern Command to all forward elements. Retreat to the nearest mechanized elements. Bulldog One and Two, take point."

"Roger that, Southern Command."