LANCEJACK (The Union Series) (32 page)

I
looked across to Westy, who watched me doing my job as though he were a Junior
Leaders instructor on Uralis.

‘You
coming?’

He
laughed like a madman, ‘Why the hell not? Nothing better to do!’

I
remembered a trick my instructor on Uralis had taught me as I barked another
order to Konny, ‘Throw a smoke grenade out to the right!’

Konny
knew exactly what I meant. He tossed the grenade in the opposite direction to
my attack, and it exploded uselessly in a big cloud of white smoke.

‘Konny,
up the rate!’ I hollered, then turned to my fire team, ‘Move!’

As
the rate of fire from Konny’s Delta fire team intensified, we sprinted through
the undergrowth, hooking around to the left of the knoll.

I
spared a quick glance toward the smoke cloud, and saw that my trick had worked.
Often the enemy instantly assumed that we were using the hot smoke to shield us
from their targeting systems, and so they fired into it anyway. The smoke
swirled as it drew all of their fire, distracting them from what we were really
doing, which was a left flanking assault. My instructor would have been proud,
and Ruckheim, if he was there somewhere, would be kicking himself afterwards.

I
continued to push around the left side of the knoll until it concealed us from
the rest of the valley, and I ordered Jackson and Okonkwo to stay where they
were whilst I continued the assault with Westy.

They
looked disappointed, but it wasn’t a subject for debate.

‘Cover
up the escarpment,’ I ordered them, pointing a finger upward. Flanking attacks
were vulnerable, and so it was often wise to place out troopers to counter the
threat. I didn’t much want to be engaged from above!

Konny
dropped the rate of his fire support from rapid to deliberate, conscious of
ammunition conservation. I didn’t need it any more.

We
crept over the rocks, moving ourselves cautiously around to the side of the
knoll. I could hear people whispering and loud clunking sounds as parts of the
gun were connected together. Something whirred, as if it were powering up.

I
spotted them just behind a boulder near the top of the knoll, no more than ten
metres away from us. They had succeeded in assembling the gun, and were about
to lift it up into position so that it could fire.

I
looked at Westy, and he gave me a nod to say that he was ready.

We
emerged simultaneously, pumping darts into the trio. They dropped the gun and
crumpled around it.

We
scrambled to the top of the knoll to have a look at the battle. It gave us a
perfect view of the valley for hundreds of metres, and I could see our platoon
engaged in their fire fight with tens of rebels behind a sandbag wall on the
other side of a gulley, just off to our right.

‘Position
clear,’ I called out to my section, ‘Charlie close in!’

It
made perfect sense to use the knoll as a fire support position, taking full
advantage of its elevation over the battlefield. I didn’t close in Delta
though, because in my mind a plan was hatching.

‘You’re
in a perfect position to assault again,’ Westy observed from behind a rock, and
he drew a finger along the gulley. It snaked through the valley, cutting
through the rock just in front of Konny’s fire team and providing a perfect
approach route onto the enemy position.

The
corner of my mouth turned upwards as I regarded my friend, ‘Who are you, my
instructor?’

‘Looks
that way,’ Westy replied, ‘I said I had nothing better to do! Couldn’t have
done a better job myself, so far. Textbook!’

I
realised that he was admiring my handiwork, but I didn’t have the time to
gloat.

Westy
was right, I saw. The gully offered the perfect approach route. I could place
my own fire team on the knoll and take Delta around to assault.

‘Two-zero,
this is Two-three,’ I called over the net, ‘I can assault the next position in
front of you using the gulley!’

I
marked the enemy position. Mr Moore could clearly see it, since half of the
platoon was engaging it, but I didn’t want to cause any confusion.

The
other two troopers from my fire team arrived, panting from their run up the
knoll, and I quickly pointed out the enemy to them.

‘Suppress
them,’ I ordered, ‘And use your grenades, Okonkwo. Not too many, I don’t want
to run out too soon.’ We might be fighting for a while before we saw any other
troopers.

The
two troopers moved into cover amongst the rocks and opened fire. Jackson’s
mammoth peppered the sandbag wall and Okonkwo’s grenade launched toward it,
detonating on the other side in a shower of earth and blood. From such a high
position the miniature missiles, with their  guidance system, were lethal. At
least two of the rebel defenders died outright in the blast.

The
boss made his decision, ‘Yeah, roger! I’ll meet you by your Delta fire team and
follow you in. Corporal Johnston, close in Two-section! The saucers can do the
work up on the high ground from now on!’

Johnno
was quick to reply, ‘Understood, already done!’

Johnno
knew the importance of maintaining a reserve, it was critical to success on the
battlefield. He kept the troops moving forward so that the boss needn’t worry
about it.

‘Westy,
can you stay here with these two?’ I asked.

The
Welshman nodded, ‘No dramas, mate. I’ll brief Konny when he gets here.’

‘Cheers,’
I switched back to the section net, ‘Konny, close in, mate. Just you, leave
your blokes. Move on my rapid in five, four, three, two, one, rapid fire!’

Hearing
my command Okonkwo and Jackson let rip, and I bolted back down the knoll toward
Konny, who was himself running toward me. We passed each other mid-way, and I
gave him a reassuring pat on the arm as he went.

The
boss waited with his command group that now included Klaus just behind the two
troopers of Konny’s fire team. Further back I could see Two section running
toward us, sent forward into the battle by Johnno.

Okonkwo
fired another grenade. I heard a scream as it detonated somewhere near to the
sandbag wall, but didn’t bother to look.

I
fixed O’Leary and Leaman with the look of a man possessed and I beckoned, ‘Come
with me!’

We
charged out of the forest and half-ran, half-slid down into the gully. As we
did so a saucer shot through the valley, its cannon strafing the ground ahead. I
could count at least three of them now, circling the battlefield like birds of
prey before swooping in for the kill.

There
was a river at the bottom of the gully, and we splashed into it, holding our
weapons up high so that they couldn’t be submerged. Fortunately the water level
was below waist level, but it was fast flowing and it was difficult to fight
against.

‘Come
on,’ I said, and we waded along the river, trying not to trip over the smooth
slippery rocks that lurked beneath the fast flowing water.

I
glanced upward to see the constant barrage of darts being fired across the
gully, marked red by my visor. The enemy were giving everything they had in
return, desperately trying to win the fire fight.

We
rounded a bend in the river, and I saw the red crosshair that I had used to
mark the sandbag wall. The enemy were directly above me, on the other side of a
steep, muddy slope.

‘I’m
climbing up now,’ I announced over the net to Konny, ‘Give me rapid in ten
seconds!’

‘Roger,’
Konny replied, and I could just about hear him shouting the order to his fire
team.

‘Leaman,’
I pointed along the riverbed, ‘Face out along there, cover our flank!’

He
nodded. If a group of rebels came the opposite way and cut us off, we’d be as
good as dead.

I
looked at O’Leary, ‘Good to go?’

‘Yeah!’

I
looked back up the steep slope and spoke on the net once again, ‘Rapid fire in five,
four, three, two, one, rapid fire
now
!’

I
didn’t wait for Konny to acknowledge, and neither did I need to, the sudden
roar from the increased rate of fire told me that he had understood. A grenade
launched across the gully, the last one that could be fired before we were too
close to the position.

We
scrambled up the slope, our feet slipping out from under us as the wet mud gave
way. I clawed at tufts of grass, using all of my remaining strength to pull my
body upward in desperate heaves. Konny couldn’t maintain rapid fire for long.
The weapons could take it, they could fire at that rate all day long. It was
our ammunition supply that I was worried about.

The
slope became less steep as we neared the top, and we both began to crawl on our
hands and knees until we could just see the edge of the sandbag wall ten metres
away. I saw a rifle raise over the wall and fire blindly in the direction of
our platoon. It was wildly inaccurate, and the rifle quickly disappeared just
before the wall was hacked at by a spray of darts.

‘O’Leary,’
I hissed, ‘I’ll move first! you ready?’

‘Yeah!’

‘Go!’

O’Leary
knelt up and took aim over the lip of the wall, just as I bounded forward.

As
I charged the rifle appeared again over the wall, and this time it was pointing
almost directly at me.

‘Shit!’
O’Leary exclaimed from behind me, ‘Stoppage!’

My
eyes widened. O’Leary wasn’t going to shoot at the arms that held the rifle
aloft?! I threw myself to the ground, just before the hidden rebel fired
another burst that nearly clipped my helmet.

I
took aim and fired at the rifle. The supersonic dart struck the rebel on his
forearm, and the sheer force knocked the rifle behind the wall instantly. The
rebel let out a bloodcurdling scream.

O’Leary
was still trying to work out what was wrong with his rifle. I didn’t have the
time to wait for him, for now the rebels knew that we were there. I grasped a
grenade, set the timer to two seconds and threw.

Our
headsets bleeped in warning as the grenade arced through the air and landed
directly behind the wall. I hugged the ground, waiting for it to detonate.

The
ground shook with an almighty thump as the grenade exploded, sending a plume of
dirt and smoke high into the sky.

I
leapt into action, storming over the wall with my rifle raised to fire.

The
rebel who had hidden behind the wall, was nothing but a gory mess. Further
along it were four more of them, two of whom had been injured and another two
who had been shocked by the blast and now frantically tried to bring their
weapons to bear.

I
emptied at least ten rounds into the mass of rebels, firing indiscriminately
until not one of them moved. The tactical situation didn’t allow for mercy.

I
quickly ducked back behind the sandbags, seeing a fresh wave of enemy just in
time. The forest thickened again in front of me and they were using the foliage
as cover from view. Darts thumped into the wall, but it was several layers
thick and it protected me from their fire.

O’Leary
was still halfway down the slope. In the chaos of the battle he had ignored his
rifle’s warning to reload. It was bad drills, on my part as well as his. I
should have made him check before we assaulted.

He
quickly slotted the magazine back into its housing, just as I announced over
the net that the position was clear.

The
gully erupted with gunfire and I heard a yelp of pain. O’Leary spun around to
look back down into it.

‘Man
down!’ He screamed as he pulled the trigger and fired a series of rounds into
an unseen target.

I
crawled to the edge of the slope and looked down, just in time to see O’Leary
and the boss catch the last of a section of rebels in their crossfire. They
hadn’t been quick enough, though. Leaman had been shot several times. He lay
motionless on the ground, and my datapad bleeped that it was serious.

‘Leaman!’
O’Leary wailed, and I checked him.

‘O’Leary,
get up on that wall and suppress!’

The
trooper hesitated, torn between my order and his loyalty for his mate.

The
boss had already sent Two section along the gully to continue the assault, and
they charged past Leaman, splashing water over his bleeding body. We couldn’t
stop, but not because we didn’t care if we took casualties, but because our
enemy didn’t.

‘O’Leary,
get up here!’

The
trooper looked at me, ‘I’ve gotta help my mate!’

I
looked on in total dismay as he dropped back into the gully.

‘
You
fucking idiot!
’ I bolted back up onto the wall, ‘Konny, get the boys up
here!’

‘We’re
coming!’

I
pulled myself up onto the wall, picked out a target and pulled the trigger.

I
fought like a demon, ignoring the hail of darts that struck against the
sandbags. Eventually Okonkwo and Jackson emerged from the slope and joined in
the fight alongside me. I breathed out a sigh of relief as our rate of fire
increased, pushing the rebels back into cover.