RECCE II (The Union Series Book 5) (12 page)

The sergeant major had me wait until all three
sections were in the water, choosing to close the other commanders up to my
section for one final brief before we set off.

He flicked his head toward the pipe entrance. ‘For
those of you who don’t recognise what they’re looking at, that’s the pipeline
that we saw during our first recce of the area several days ago. Yulia claims
it’s the exfiltration route being used by the rogue Guardsmen - which makes
sense considering the information provided from the captured personnel in the
Guard headquarters.

‘I believe they’ve followed this pipeline for a
reasonable distance, before detonating explosives somewhere around where it
enters the forest so they can escape and rendezvous with their new Militia
friends. They’ve had a head start on us, but don’t forget that anti-orbital
missiles are heavy bits of kit that aren’t designed to be carried by hand. They
must be having a nightmare getting them out of the pipeline, and it’ll only get
worse for them amongst the trees. To that end, I’d anticipate a cluster of
rogue Guardsmen - and Militia - either inside or outside the pipe. Maintain
strict noise and light discipline, and nobody is to use the net unless I say
so.

‘We’ve been off the net for twenty minutes,’ he
added, ‘but our silence won’t last much longer. We’ll be able to transmit
through the pipe walls as soon as it breaks the surface. When we get eyes onto
the extraction point then I will break net silence and attempt to contact B
Company so that we can have fire support on call.’

He lowered his voice as he gave a final warning. ‘Everybody
wants to rescue the boss and his lads, but remember the threat we face. Don’t
be reluctant to fire at targets within the forest just because you’re afraid of
hitting your mates. It’s a cruel world, but I’m sure they’d rather die in the
crossfire than meet whatever fate that bunch of fucked-up weirdos have in store
for them. See this as a regular, hasty platoon attack, as you did when you were
fighting for the headquarters. Maximum speed, maximum aggression, maximum
firepower. If we find our comrades, then that’s a bonus. Understand?’

‘Yes, sir,’ we chorused. Everyone was anxious to get
going now, sensing that our quarry was close.

‘Good. Corporal Moralee, let’s go.’

6

Advance to Contact

To contents page

We patrolled along the pipeline, each trooper
maintaining a five-metre gap between him and the next man so that we could
communicate easily. The threat of falling into a hidden drain was gone, but we
still needed to be as quiet as possible. Even the slightest sound seemed to
echo along the pipe, magnified by its shape and the metal from which it was
constructed, so we had to maintain a steady speed to avoid too much splashing.
This time I had Yulia hang onto my daysack instead of following on with Myers,
making sure that he could react to any threat without having to worry about
her.

I barely paid attention to the water sloshing around
my waist, or the occasional tug from Yulia’s grip on my daysack. All of my
senses were tuned to the endless stretch of pipeline ahead of me. I knew that my
visor and headset would detect anything untoward long before my eyes and ears did,
yet still I strained, almost willing for our enemy to appear.

My heart thumped as adrenalin began to seep into my
blood, preparing my body for combat. They were close, I knew they were. It was
as if I could feel their presence, or perhaps it was wishful thinking by a
trooper desperately anxious to rescue his comrades, and hungry for revenge.

We had moved almost a kilometre into the pipeline
when Myers suddenly froze, lifting his rifle slightly to scan something in the
gloom. A few hundred metres ahead there was a faint greyish glow, as if
something was lighting the pipe walls.

‘What is that?’ Myers breathed, his words barely
audible even with my headset magnifying them.

I zoomed my visor display toward the light, trying
to identify its source, but to no avail. If there was anything to see, then my
visor would have allowed me to see it.

Yulia brushed against my daysack as she leant around
to see for herself. ‘It is daylight,’ she whispered.

I nodded. ‘That must be Bhasin’s escape route.’

‘I think so.’

I looked back and whispered to Weatherall, ‘Pass back
to the sergeant major I’ve found a potential extraction route, possibly a hole
in the pipe wall. I’m going to move up to investigate.’

Weatherall responded with a slow nod to confirm that
the message had been understood. He then turned and passed it back to the rear
of the section.

Not wanting to wait for the sergeant major’s
response, which I knew would be an affirmation, I patted Myers on his daysack.
‘Let’s crack on, mate.’

We moved as fast as we could through the water,
taking care not to create a splash that might give us away. The going was
pretty easy now, since the current was pulling us toward the light with
increasing strength. I had no doubt that the flow of water had been caused by
the hole created along the pipeline, and that we had found the exit point for
the stolen missiles.

The grey glow became brighter as we moved along the
pipeline, until I finally caught a glimpse of daylight bursting through a large
hole in the eastern wall about four hundred metres away. Water frothed and churned,
hissing as it poured through the hole and onto the ground below.

I stopped a hundred metres back from the hole, gently
tapping my rifle to grab Myers’ attention before indicating for him to go firm.
The water level was slightly lower now, so we both took a knee, allowing it to
flow around our chests. Oblivious to the cold, we scanned through our sights
and listened for signs of enemy.

What would I do if I were Bhasin?
I
wondered. I guessed that he wouldn’t choose to blow up the pipeline completely
- not unless he knew for certain that he was being followed. To do so would
only give away his position, and potentially attract the attention of our
dropships and the company of troopers who held the hill. Would he even expect anyone
to follow him at all?

The sergeant major drew up beside me, leaning over
my shoulder and tapping his visor against mine so that he could whisper
quietly.

‘We have a winner,’ he said, his gaze fixed onto the
hole. ‘I’m guessing that wasn’t there before?’

‘No it was not,’ Yulia said.

The sergeant major paused reluctantly, as if he was
struggling to decide whether or not to believe her. ‘OK . . .’

‘I think we’ll definitely need fire support getting
out,’ I prompted.

He glanced at me, then gave a small nod. ‘I agree.
The danger of us hitting friendly prisoners is probably outweighed by the
threat of Bhasin leaving some form of rear-guard to slot us as we exit the
pipeline. I’ll warn B Company beforehand, and then all you’ll need to do when
you emerge from the tunnel is activate your net and start dropping crosshairs
on targets.’

‘OK . . .’ I replied after a moment, feeling
slightly less enthusiastic about my suggestion. If B Company agreed to support
our attack - which they certainly would - then as the first commander to emerge
from the pipeline, I would have the combined firepower of fourteen dropships
and four gravtanks at my fingertips. If I dropped a crosshair in the wrong
place, then I could easily kill the prisoners. It was a risk we had to take,
though. We couldn’t jump out of the pipeline without some form of cover.

‘I’m going to break net silence now,’ the sergeant major
warned. ‘I’d rather send the key information now, rather than right next to the
enemy.’

‘Roger,’ I whispered.

He then began preparing the necessary information on
his datapad. Rather than sending one long message, he would pre-record
everything and send it all in a single compressed transmission. I couldn’t see
what he was doing, but I knew that he would be marking the layout of the
pipeline and the estimated location of the exit hole.

‘We need to hurry,’ Yulia urged from over my other shoulder.

‘This won’t take long,’ I assured her. ‘We’ll need
all the help we can get.’

‘Zero-Alpha, this is Blackjack-One-Zero.’ The sergeant
major recorded his message ready for the Officer Commanding B Company. ‘I am
presently located along a water pipeline which is visible to your south. I
intend to break out at the marked exit point, which is believed to be the site
of enemy exfiltration. H-Hour for our break out will be at fourteen hundred
hours.’

My eyes flicked down to the visor clock on the edge
of my visor display. It would be fourteen hundred hours in a few minutes, so we
needed to get a move on to hit that timing.

The sergeant major continued. ‘Request fire support -
Vulcan cannon only - to be used on targets on my call. I will be danger close.
Fire onto marked targets for five seconds only. I will provide further
information once I am live on the net.’

With that, he tapped his datapad, sending the data
out to B Company. Myers gasped, presumably frightened by the sudden spike of
electronic activity picked up by his scanner.

We all held our breath. Not only were we worried
that the message wouldn’t be received through the thick walls of the pipeline,
but there was also the danger that Bhasin and his men would detect the
transmission. They were clearly in possession of explosives, so would they have
taken the time to rig the pipeline?

Nothing happened. At first I felt relief that the
enemy hadn’t blown us all to smithereens, but that relief quickly turned to
impatience and then concern as no response came back from the company.
Perhaps
we have been too ambitious in our pursuit
, I wondered.

Finally, a familiar voice broke the silence, causing
us all to breathe a unified sigh of relief. ‘Blackjack-One-Zero, this is Zero-Alpha.
Message received and understood. I will have two dropships ready to provide
fire support. Let me know if you need more.’

‘Good,’ the sergeant major said, to nobody in
particular. He then turned to me. ‘Yulia can stay back with me. Let’s get
going.’

Yulia’s grip instantly loosened from my daysack. Now
that there was some light within the pipeline she didn’t need me to guide her,
and without a weapon she would be useless once we stepped outside.

I waved to Weatherall to follow on. ‘Let’s go!’

Spurring Myers with another pat against his daysack,
I stood again, water pouring from my equipment. We advanced along the pipeline
with an increased sense of urgency, allowing the current to carry us toward the
opening ahead.

‘All Blackjack call signs, this is Hammersmith-Zero-Alpha.’
B Company’s OC spoke again over the net. ‘We are presently observing the area
you intend to break out from. It is approximately one hundred metres beyond the
treeline, in an area that is particularly thick with vegetation. We have zero
visibility into the area, as I suspect you are already aware. A high level of
fire control will therefore be required to prevent any blue-on-blue incidents.

‘Update - Loyalist Militia continue to hold the
majority of Cellini, however, their assault appears to have lost momentum. I
would assess them to be at battalion strength, approximately five hundred men,
with a similar number hidden in the forest to the north. At this stage their intention
remains unclear, but I would guess that they will withdraw once they have what
they came for. Expect the Militia’s main effort to be the extraction of the
missiles from your location, and I urge you to exercise extreme caution.

‘The FEA battalion currently occupying the warren
and Hill Kilo itself are re-grouping, with the advice and support of numerous
Guardsmen still loyal to their cause. The battalion currently trapped within
the village are attempting to link up with their brothers in arms at the foot
of the hill so that they can mount a sturdier defence. They have encountered
some pretty fierce resistance, however, I remain confident that they can
achieve their aim so long as they remain calm and maintain communications.
Hopefully they manage to consolidate themselves soon, so that they can function
effectively once we are gone.’

We crept the last twenty metres up to the hole,
weapons pointed toward the light outside the pipeline. A quick glance to my
visor display clock confirmed there was still one more minute before H-Hour,
giving us the time to get as close as physically possible. Usually our H-Hours
were initiated by fire support, either from artillery, aircraft or other heavy
weapons, giving us the ability to complete our last few bounds unnoticed. This
time, however, it would be us who made the first move, followed afterward by
the dropships and their Vulcan. Because of this we needed to be close enough so
that the first news of our arrival would be our weapons firing.

My headset picked up something from outside the
pipe, magnifying the sound for me to hear. It was somebody talking, although
the words themselves were indistinguishable.

Having heard the noise as well, Myers held out a
hand for me to see, turning his thumb downward.
Enemy.

I repeated the gesture for those behind me and
continued to advance.

The two of us stopped less than a metre from the
hole, allowing for the remainder of the platoon to close up.

I scanned the opening whilst I waited for H-Hour. It
was a ragged, circular hole surrounded by scorch marks, confirming our belief
that it had been created by explosives. Although the angle I stood at prevented
me from catching a full view of the world outside, I could see dense
vegetation, indicating that we were now back in the forest. Water poured over
the lip of the hole, but the curvature of the pipeline prevented all of it from
escaping. Most of it continued to flow along the pipeline, presumably on its
way out to the sea.

Neither one of us moved even a millimetre whilst we
waited. Our rifle barrels remained centred onto the opening, as if we expected
somebody to jump through it at any moment. I could still hear the sound of
somebody talking outside, which reassured me that they weren’t expecting us.
That didn’t mean that they wouldn’t decide to check inside the pipeline,
though, especially if they were some form of rear guard for Bhasin’s rogue
Guard platoon. My finger pressed gently against the power-up button on my
rifle.

The remaining seconds counted away on my visor
display, until finally we reached H-Hour. We didn’t need anybody’s go ahead to
launch - it was up to the sergeant major to speak out if he wanted us to wait,
rather than the other way around. I reached out and gripped Myers by the
shoulder, then gave it a gentle squeeze.