The engines of the Soundounk purred softly. The pilot checked the systems of the APC as the unit of RPG Soldaty boarded, each man’s face showing grim determination. They all knew that, saving a miracle, none of them would survive. None of them had families who would miss them. They had been born in the vats of Gencol and they were surrounded by their brothers and sisters. They served only the collectivist ideal. The revolution needed their sacrifice if it was to halt the Cog advance. The heavy striders of Frontline had had to fall back and now it was up to them to stop the enemy.
Eventually they were all secured. Each member of the unit had checked his equipment and was strapped in. The sergeant gave the signal to take off. The pilot nodded and the machine rose from the ground and sped forward. Sergeant Antonov looked out of the window and scanned the ground. He could see his fellows moving onto the battlefield and taking position. He felt a sickening feeling in his gut as he saw a unit of Krasnye receive an incoming salvo of Cog rocket fire. There was a series of explosions, throwing up clouds of debris obscuring the view. The maelstrom settled and the unit had disappeared, its members killed to a man. He promised himself he would make the aliens pay for that. His spirits lifted a little when he saw Comrade Sergeant Timofiyeva’s unit. If anyone could devise a winning strategy it would be her.

There came a shudder as the craft landed in a sheltered area. The RPG unit released themselves from their restraining belts and headed for their debus positions. When he was certain it was safe, the pilot let down the ramp and Antonov led his men onto the battlefield. Under cover of a derelict building they ran forward. Rounding the corner they saw their target, a unit of Cogs containing electronic warfare specialists. In the last encounter with Frontline they had been a thorn in the side of the commanders, disrupting communications. They also had stealth technology which meant they could only be seen at close quarters; a fearsome and effective combination. Fortunately they had no long range weapons. The RPG unit advanced.

One man stepped forward and threw a grenade, flooring several of the enemy and killing a few. The rest of the squad fired their smgauss guns, spraying the helpless clones with a deadly bullet storm. Finally a rocket launcher fired off two rockets to add to the mayhem. The unit of Cogs was decimated and no longer posed a threat to the Red Blok forces.
Sergeant Antonov looked around for another target. "Engineer” he shouted, "Get your ass over to those containers and blow them to hell!” Before he could carry out the order the unit came under enemy fire and was destroyed.

The battle continued. A long and costly battle for both sides. The Dragonovs played a large part in the fight, especially two support units. A three man anti-tank team did sterling work destroying both machines and infantry. They fought alongside a sniper team who killed one of the Cog leaders, preventing the deployment of extra striders. These two units also failed to survive the battle.

In all the Red Blok lost seven out of twelve units but they won the day, just. They had faced the Cogs twice, now, and their respect for this hitherto unknown enemy was growing fast.

"So comrades, come rally

And the last fight let us face

The intersidereal unites the human race.”