LANCEJACK (The Union Series) (31 page)

‘Andy.’

I
stopped and looked back, ‘Yeah?’

‘Your
man Evans,’ Konny said, ‘I hope you find him.’

I
smiled, ‘Me too.’

#

We
returned to our fire teams, and as I moved into position Okonkwo gave me an
approving nod.

‘Now
we’re a section,’ he said wisely.

Mr
Moore and Westy were to my right. I gave them a thumbs up, we were good to go.
The boss nodded, and he held up his hand slightly above the top of the trench
for all of us to see. Behind us the two smart launchers pointed skyward, their
operators poised to fire. Fingers twitched nervously over triggers, and bayonets
were quickly checked to make sure they were secured correctly. The platoon was
set.

The
boss took one last look around him, and his arm fell.

With
a loud bang and a puff of smoke the first pair of smart missiles launched from
their tubes. They hung for a second in the air, before the main rocket ignited
and they screamed into the sky.

‘Go!’
I heard Two section on my right flank as they emerged from the trench and
opened fire upon an unseen position on the other side of the valley.

One
section clambered out of their trench at the same time, and they charged over
the top of the ridge with the boss close behind.

I
wasn’t going to leave it for too long. I looked along my section line and
shouted, ‘Prepare to move!’

The
section powered up their rifles, repeating the order as they did so.

‘Move!’

We
scrambled over the top of the trench, just as the two launchers released their
second volley. Trails of vapour snaked across the valley as the smart missiles
sought out their targets on the escarpment beyond.

‘Contact
front!’ Jimmy announced over the platoon net, breaking our radio silence.

‘Seen!’
The boss replied, ‘Roll it, don’t allow yourself to get fixed on this rock
face!’

Okonkwo
disappeared over the top of the ridge with me close behind.

As
I dropped into the valley I saw the garden for the first time. I had
never
seen anything like it. Even inside the endless sea of greenhouses
that covered much of the plains of New Earth, I had
never seen anything so lush and green. The valley wasn’t a garden; it was a
forest, completely exposed to the New Earth atmosphere and somehow surviving.

We
were on a steep rocky slope, too steep to run directly downwards. Instead I
could see that Jimmy’s section had followed a narrow path that traversed the
slope, meandering downwards until it disappeared amongst the trees.

Jimmy
had dropped off one of his fire teams further along the path, using the rocks
as cover and the elevated position to his advantage. The fire team rained darts
down into the forest and the enemy hiding within it. Above us two section had
moved some of their weapons to give additional fire support, and the path of
their rounds was marked clearly by my visor. The ground thumped as the two
smart missiles struck at pillboxes on the other side of the valley.

Darts
struck the rock around us we ran along the path, and small chips and stones
clattered off our armour and helmets.

The
enemy fire was inaccurate, they hadn’t been expecting us, and I guessed that
they were firing wildly onto the ridge in the misguided belief that it might
slow us down.

‘Corporal
Moralee,’ Mr Moore sounded breathless over the net, ‘Keep your men moving down!
Bypass One section’s fire support! I want your section off that slope and down
with me!’

‘Roger!’

I
watched as Jimmy’s fire team as they disappeared into the forest below me,
their weapons spitting death into the undergrowth.

Okonkwo
and O’Leary launched two grenades into the valley as we ran, without bothering
to identify a target. The grenades would do that for them anyway, and we were
more interested in getting off the high ground.

We
passed Jimmy’s fire support. I took a quick glance downward to see what they
were engaging, seeing a scattering of red crosshairs across the forest. To my
north I noticed a building of some kind, its roof spiked with antennae. I
quickly marked it with an outstretched finger as I ran.

‘Corporal
Matthews,’ I panted, ‘Get the launchers to hit that building!’

‘Yeah,
seen!’

I
heard the third volley of smart missiles, but I didn’t turn to look.

We
reached the forest and I quickly scanned around me to take in my new
surroundings. One section had already pushed into the trees, the bottom half of
their bodies concealed by the dense vegetation that carpeted the forest floor.
The trees hissed angrily as the rain hammered against the forest canopy above
our heads. It was weird to be surrounded by plants that didn’t need the
protection of greenhouses or domes, but I had little time to think about it, we
were under fire.

Someone
in Jimmy’s section was struck by a dart, and I heard the cry of ‘Man down!’
echo across the battlefield.

‘Corporal
Moralee,’ the boss shouted from where he knelt in cover behind a tree, ‘Take
the left flank!’

I
followed his arm as he drew with his finger an imaginary line around to the
left of Jimmy, and I saw a line of red crosshairs where the rebels were attempting
to form a defensive line on our left side.

I
beckoned my section to follow, and crashed forward into the wet undergrowth,
trampling over ferns as high as my chest. I ignored the enemy darts that
whipped past my head, cracking and hissing as they did so; I was in the zone.

I
didn’t bother to take a knee, the vegetation was too high. Instead I lowered my
body so that I was no higher than I needed to be to get a clean shot. I fired
several rounds into a rebel attempting to fire from behind a tree, snatching
him backward like a rag doll.

Holding
my arms out either side of me I signalled for my section to form up into
extended line so that I could bring all of their weapons to bear. They quickly
ran into position, and seconds later the forest roared with the sound of our
firepower. A nearby rebel collapsed as a dart struck him in the face, spraying
blood behind him.

‘Konny,
give cover!’ I screamed, then looked to my fire team.

‘Move!’

We
sprinted forward, zig-zagging as we went to make ourselves difficult to hit. Plant
life danced around us as it was struck by passing darts. Whether they were
aimed at me or not, I couldn’t tell.

After
ten metres we dropped back to the ground. I brought my rifle back up into the
aim, picked out the nearest target and fired.

Our
visors worked in conjunction with our rifles to make us devastatingly accurate,
but it wasn’t absolutely necessary for us to hit. Suppressive fire was about
terror, about filling your foe with such fear that it compelled him to hide on
the ground and weep for his mother. Our enemy feared us that day, because we
believed that we were as good as dead. All we wanted to do was to make as much
mess as we could, and kill as many rebels as possible before we died.

‘Konny,
move!’ I ordered over the net.

The
order was unnecessary, Konny was already moving, bounding his fire team forward
whilst we gave him cover. My section was nothing like it had been two days ago
- it was now a well-oiled killing machine.

We
continued our push into the forest, cutting down anything that moved with a
deadly swathe of darts that quickly overwhelmed the small pocket of rebels
before us.

Sensing
that there was no hope in remaining where they were, several of them broke and
ran, their positions marked by sporadic crosshairs on my visor as they weaved
through the wet ferns, trying to make themselves difficult targets for us to
hit.

‘Grenades!’
I shouted, ‘Give them something to run from!’

Okonkwo
and O’Leary popped off a string of grenades toward the retreating rebels, and
they screamed through the forest in search of their targets. Clods of earth
were hurled high into the sky as they detonated.

At
the same time a series of explosions along the escarpment to our east announced
the arrival of the first Union saucer. Darting across the sky at incredible
speed, its twin thirty millimetre cannon roared as it spat death upon the enemy
positions.

‘That’s
the cavalry,’ the boss announced, ‘I will be directing all of our air assets
against targets on the high ground!’

With
the trench systems above us preoccupied by the saucer, the platoon punched
deeper into the forest, wading through the undergrowth in a long extended line.
My section took up the left, while Jimmy’s spread itself along the right with
his second fire team returned to him. He left his casualty behind to be
collected by Johnno’s work party.

Our
magnets screamed with fury as we engaged the fleeing rebels, churning
vegetation and sending chips of wood and bark flying into the sky.

I
came across a fallen rebel, his entrails hanging out of a gaping hole in his
stomach. The ferns were slick with his blood.

I
swore in disgust and jumped over the gory mess, taking care not to land on one
of his organs.

Something
moved to my right whilst I was preoccupied with avoiding the corpse. A woman
had emerged from behind a tree where she had hidden in wait. She held a Chinese
machine gun at her hip, pointing right at me.

I
gaped
. Shit.

I
didn’t have the time to shoot her. I threw myself forward in shock just as she
opened fire.

I
didn’t have a chance, I knew it as I fell. The first burst of darts missed me
because she had no targeting system and she wasn’t holding the weapon properly,
but that made little difference. Once I landed on the ground I was a dead man.

Nothing
happened. I looked up to watch her fall to the ground, a smoking hole in her
respirator visor.

Westy
knelt nearby, his Chinese rifle still aimed at the dead rebel. I breathed out a
colossal sigh of relief.

‘You’re
welcome,’ he said with a smile.

As
we cleared forward, the rebels continued to withdraw, running back to occupy
hastily prepared defensive positions along the valley floor. The trees had just
begun to part when we were forced to the ground by a sudden onslaught of enemy fire.

I
hugged the ground as the fresh barrage of darts whipped over my head. I cursed
myself for hiding from enemy fire, but the air was thick with darts and I knew
that if I stood I would surely be shot.

‘They’re
doing something!’ Westy shouted from where he lay behind me. He had grown fed-up
with the boss and was trying to stay close to the action.

‘What?’

‘They’re
putting down rapid to allow them to do something!’

I
understood what he meant. As long as we remained suppressed the rebels could do
what they wanted, like set up new positions or assault, just like we did. I
wondered if Ruckheim was nearby, controlling their tactics.

‘Okonkwo!’
I shouted through the ferns, ‘Get a grenade up!’

Okonkwo
rolled onto his back and fired a grenade blindly into the sky. The rebels must
have had good eyes onto us, because their fire stopped as soon as they saw it
launch, probably to take cover themselves.

I
lifted myself back up to see the grenade detonate uselessly against a rock. It
didn’t matter that it was wasted, it had stopped our enemy from firing.

‘Rapid
fire!’ I screamed, and the section emerged from their cover, their magnets
screaming like banshees.

My
visor identified something moving behind a rocky knoll on our left flank, and I
turned just in time to see a trio of rebels moving something heavy into
position. One of them was carrying an unmistakable barrel over his shoulder,
and I realised instantly what they were doing. It was another automated gun,
and they were going to assemble it on the knoll.

‘Shit,’
I exclaimed, ‘Boss, position on my left flank!’

I
quickly dropped a cursor on the knoll so that the boss could see what I was
talking about, but I wasn’t going to wait for him to let me attack. It was no more
than fifty metres away from me and if I didn’t act fast it would make a mess of
my section.

‘I
am assaulting!’ I informed him. If he didn’t like it then he could always order
me to stop.

I
quickly weighed up my options. I could assault directly forward, or to the
right, but if I did then I would be moving in front of Konny, which meant that
he couldn’t fire. There was only one option.

I
turned to the right side of my section line, where Konny’s fire team were
firing from, ‘Konny, I’m going left flanking!’

I
saw Konny glance at the knoll, then to the dense vegetation that ran up to the
left side of it. He gave a thumbs up.

‘Charlie,
prepare to move!’

Okonkwo
and Jackson checked their pouches and ducked into cover, as was the drill.