RECCE II (The Union Series Book 5) (14 page)

As we continued the OC spoke up again, his calm
voice in stark contrast to the tension I felt moving through the forest. ‘Blackjack
call signs, this is Zero-Alpha. Looking at the ground, I assess that your
quarry intends to use a valley a few hundred metres to your south. Our
dropships have limited eyes on, but it appears to be pretty shallow and solid
underfoot. I suspect that they are using the valley to move eastward at speed
without being detected, before turning north where it meets a road a few
kilometres away. They might have vehicles to meet them there. My dropships will
struggle to get into a position to observe effectively along the road, owing to
the forest canopy, however I have asked
Richelieu
to watch the road from
orbit whilst there is no cloud cover. The ship won’t be able to drop any bombs,
as I’m sure you’re all aware, but it’ll provide you with sufficient early
warning. Advance with caution. Call if you need us.’

I glanced down at my datapad whilst I walked and
tapped at the screen to access my map. I could see the valley that the OC had
described, and agreed with his assessment. Even if Bhasin and the Militia
didn’t use the valley itself for cover, it would provide them with a simple
navigation feature that any returning work parties could use with ease. The
Militia weren’t even nearly as well equipped as we were, so it was unlikely
that many of them carried navigation equipment of the same standard as ours.

The sergeant major had obviously been studying his
own map at the same time as me, his orders coming through my headset moments after
I looked up from my datapad. ‘We will switch to two-up formation once we reach
the valley. One-Two will cross to the southern side. One-One will take up
position on the northern side. One-Three will remain in reserve behind One-Zero-Bravo.
One-Zero-Bravo, acknowledge.’

‘One-Zero-Bravo, roger.’

Two Section were halfway across the valley when we
reached its northern edge. As the OC had described, it was rather shallow, no
more than ten metres deep, but its sides were steep and rocky. Smaller bushes
and trees filled the valley, making it difficult to see anything moving along
its base. It reminded me of the valley we had fought across when Three Section
had been ambushed by the Militia the night before, except that this time we
would be advancing along its length, and it was us in pursuit rather than the
other way around.

My section took up position on the left hand side of
the valley, whilst Two Section continued their crossing. No longer concerned
about the need for stealth, I took full advantage of the net to make sure Puppy
was happy with my own intention within the sergeant major’s wider plan.

‘We’ll move in half-attack,’ I ordered. ‘Puppy, your
fire team will go in single file behind my left hand man.’

‘Roger, mate.’

‘Griffiths, swap with Myers so you’re closest to the
valley. I want a bit of firepower if anybody pops up in there.’

‘Roger,’ the Welsh trooper replied, quickly swapping
with Myers and taking a knee on the edge of the valley slope. His hefty mammoth
gun would have a devastating effect if he were to fire it along the length of
the valley, and I had no doubt that he relished the opportunity to use it. We
all despised the Militia, and Bhasin’s treacherous rogue Guardsmen, but
Griffith’s hatred was even more powerful, having seen his friend butchered by Helstrom.
Nobody wanted revenge as much as he did.

The section finished re-orientating itself to clear
along the northern side of the valley, with my fire team in an extended line facing
the east and Puppy’s men in a single file trailing back behind Myers, who was now
my furthest trooper out to the left.

Half-attack formation essentially looks like an
upturned “L”, and isn’t considered a formation in its own right. It has no
recognised hand signal, or a place in any field pamphlet, but it is a useful
combination of two other formations. With my fire team in extended line, we
could clear the ground ahead of us as well as effectively engage any targets we
encountered. At the same time, however, the fire team following on behind was
kept clear of any anticipated head-on battle and therefore formed a reserve,
but more importantly provided me with protection on my left flank.

‘One-One, this is One-Zero . . .’ The sergeant major
sounded slightly puffed from his rapid valley crossing. Though the vegetation
wasn’t as dense as it was on either side, I suspected the steep sides of the
valley made going pretty hard. ‘I have eyes onto you. One-Two are across the
valley and will be heading off shortly. Advance as soon as you’re ready, but
ensure you remain balanced with us. I want both your sections to be mutually
supporting throughout the advance.’

‘One-One, roger,’ I acknowledged, before switching
back to my section net. ‘Prepare to move . . . move.’

My fire team set off, marching into the undergrowth
as fast as we could without breaking into a trot. As we advanced, I made sure
that I kept a clear view to my right. I didn’t doubt Griffiths’ battlespace
awareness - he knew that we needed to stay balanced with Corporal Kamara’s
section on the opposite side of the valley and would adjust his speed
accordingly - but I also knew that he was only one man armed with only one
weapon. He couldn’t be expected to scan for targets and watch for our comrades
at the same time without making mistakes.

The platoon hadn’t moved more than a few hundred metres
when Griffiths suddenly raised his mammoth in alarm, pointing it into the
valley.

‘Eyes on!’ he hissed excitedly. ‘Eyes on!’

I slowed, moving right to get a better view into the
valley, but the foliage prevented me from seeing anything. Griffiths had a
better vantage point than I did, so would be more likely to spot anything
moving in the low ground.

‘Where?’ I asked.

‘Right at the bottom of the valley,’ he said, ‘about
two hundred metres ahead.’

‘Keep moving,’ I whispered, hurrying him with a
sweep of my arm. I didn’t want to let them get away. ‘What are they doing?’

‘There’s a lot of them . . . I think they’re headed
this way!’

I stopped, instantly changing my mind. ‘Shit! Go
firm and drop a crosshair onto the platoon net!’

‘Will do!’ With a quick tap onto his datapad and a
flick of the hand, Griffiths created a blue crosshair that hovered within the
valley ahead of us. Everybody within the platoon could see the crosshair,
directing them onto a point of interest.

I sent my own message to reinforce the crosshair.
‘All call signs, go firm. Reference crosshair- sighting. Enemy soldiers moving
toward us in the low ground. We’re observing and preparing to engage.’

‘Roger,’ the sergeant major replied. ‘One-Two, go
firm.’

‘We’ve stopped,’ Corporal Kamara responded. ‘No eyes
on.’

‘One-Zero-Bravo, anticipate flank interference. I
suggest you split One-Three either side of the valley to prevent anyone coming
in from behind.’

Abs, who was bringing Three Section up at the rear
of the platoon, acknowledged instantly. ‘One-Zero-Bravo, roger.’

‘They’re still coming toward us,’ Griffiths said in
warning. ‘I can’t quite see them. They’re only about fifty metres away, though.’

The Welsh trooper hefted his mammoth gun, bracing
himself to fire. Though designed with the same auto- correct capability of my
own magnetic rifle, the mammoth gun had an obscene amount of kick to it, and
the recoil could quickly spoil the aim of somebody not firing in the prone
position. Because of the shape of the valley slope and the height of the
foliage, lying down to fire wasn’t really an option.

‘Puppy, send your mammoth gunner to me,’ I ordered,
before switching to the platoon net. ‘One-Zero, I’m going to engage.’

‘Yeah, happy with that,’ the sergeant major replied
instantly. Another blue line appeared, this time crossing the valley at a right
angle. ‘No fire to the west of this line. We have no eyes onto your target, so
we will remain firm and protect your southern flank. You will need to assault
in an easterly direction.’

‘Understood,’ I replied. The sergeant major was
telling me that the only way to safely attack was from within the valley,
meeting the enemy head on. It was stating the obvious really, since advancing
onto our foe from any other direction would be dangerous.

I looked over my shoulder to see Leaman arrive
beside Griffiths at the edge of the valley slope. He crept the last few paces,
finding a suitable fire position amongst the ferns. Griffiths indicated the
direction of the enemy, and Leaman nodded.

‘Thirty metres,’ Griffiths warned. ‘They’ll cross
the line soon.’

I understood the urgency in Griffiths’ warning. The
blue line created by the sergeant major was a control measure he had imposed to
prevent us from shooting our comrades on the far bank. Once the approaching
enemy crossed that line, we would need to move in order to engage with any
degree of safety.

There wasn’t a moment to lose.

‘Fire!’

Less than a second later, Griffiths’ mammoth gun
erupted, spitting death down onto the unwitting targets below.

I didn’t wait for the enemy to respond. ‘Puppy, take
over here! Myers, Weatherall, follow me!’

The three of us dashed back the way we had come,
running behind Leaman and Griffiths as they sprayed the valley with bursts of
steel darts.

After running for twenty metres I turned downhill
and half-slid, half-ran down the valley slope. As I did so I caught glimpses of
Three Section further back, forming up to defend our rear.

Weatherall suddenly let out a yelp as he tripped and
fell behind me. His rifle clattered noisily as it hit the ground, and he swore
loudly. I turned around to see that he had landed face first, and though his
helmet and armour would have saved him from serious injury, the fall must have
been painful.

'Get up!' I hissed without sympathy. 'Come on!'

I ripped through the foliage at the base of the
valley, quickly indicating for Myers and Weatherall to take up positions either
side of me. I assumed that Weatherall was OK, since he was still with us. His
visor was unlikely to have cracked from his fall, and if it had then his
respirator would have warned him by now.

The sound of the two mammoth guns was far louder in
the bottom of the valley. The air hissed as thousands of darts peppered the
rock at supersonic speeds, before ricocheting as they struck solid rock.

'Weatherall, you cover!' I ordered above the din.
'We'll move first!'

Weatherall nodded, having managed to compose himself
after his fall. 'Yep!'

'Myers, move!'

Myers and I bounded forward as a pair, ripping
through the undergrowth for ten metres before taking a knee again.

I checked over my right shoulder to make sure
Weatherall had seen us stop and that he was making his bound. Fortunately, the
foliage was sparse enough for us to see each other, meaning that we didn’t need
to keep telling each other when to bound, but it wasn’t sparse enough to give
us any view onto the enemy. Griffith’s crosshair hung threateningly in the air
ahead of us, made even more threatening when I remembered that the enemy had
closed significantly since its creation. In my haste I had forgotten to tell
anyone to alter the mark, and the sergeant major’s no fire line was only ten metres
away.

‘Puppy!’ I called over the net as I made my next
bound toward the line, narrowly avoiding tripping on an exposed rock. ‘Get me
an updated enemy position!’

‘Roger! We can’t see them that well . . . they’ve
gone to ground!’

We took a knee again, the blue “no fire” line hovering
just above our heads. As I waited for Weatherall to move up, Griffith’s
crosshair disappeared, only to be replaced by another one, this time much
closer. It was only twenty metres away, just beyond a cluster of bushes that
blocked our view.

‘Fucking hell!’ Myers blurted on its appearance,
forgetting himself. Assuming Puppy had correctly placed the crosshair, our
enemy were right in front of us.

‘Puppy, keep an eye on me!’ I ordered. ‘Get the guns
to switch at the last moment!’

‘Will do!’

I saw that Weatherall had reached us. ‘Myers, let’s
go!’

The two of us headed toward the blue crosshair,
slowing from a run into a brisk walk so that we could engage any targets that
appeared from amongst the bushes. Rounds pinged and whizzed as the torrent of
darts fired by Griffiths and Leaman struck the rocky valley base, threatening
to hit us at any moment, but I preferred the risk of being hit by a ricochet
than a round from the enemy. So far I hadn’t noticed a response from our unseen
opponent at all, suggesting that they were cowering amongst the foliage, or cut
to ribbons by the darts raining down upon them. It was pretty stupid of them to
have approached along the valley base, I decided, not without any attempt to
hold the high ground.

As we battled through the bushes, Myers snapped up
his rifle and fired. ‘Contact front!’

Less than a second later I caught a glimpse of
something fleeting through the bushes only a few metres away. I swung my weapon
around, engaging just moments before my visor flashed orange. There was a yelp,
and the target disappeared into the scrub.