RECCE II (The Union Series Book 5) (4 page)

Once the firing stopped, I made a conscious effort
to slow my breathing as Myers and I moved up to the entrance. Unlike the
chamber opposite, this one had been sealed off by a plastic airlock with a zip-type
door attached to the walls by a thick foam-like material. The Guard had
originally installed them when they set up their headquarters, creating a
breathable atmosphere for their command staff to work in. Although riddled with
holes, the air lock was relatively intact, which meant that it would need to be
unzipped or cut through to gain access.

As we edged around into the entranceway, my visor
identified a target through the plastic airlock. It was impossible to tell if
the figure on the far side of the chamber beyond was friend or foe - my full
spectrum imaging couldn’t identify any features in the darkness - but it looked
threatening enough.

I fired twice in quick succession, putting two darts
into the centre of the target’s mass. The figure barely made a sound as it
crumpled to the ground.

Knowing that there was no time to waste, Myers
lurched forward and stabbed the airlock with his bayonet, piercing the plastic
before tearing downwards.

Suddenly another target appeared, and we both leapt
backward in surprise.

‘Shit!’ Myers barely managed to get the word out
before I gripped his daysack and snatched him backward.

There was a terrible noise and a flash of light as
the figure fired at us, his darts punching through the airlock and striking the
wall right next to my helmet. Sparks showered as the pair of us ducked away
from the entrance.

‘Contact front!’ somebody shouted from over my
shoulder.

Suddenly the warren erupted into noise, and I
realised that somebody had appeared further along the access tunnel as well.
The rocky walls around me flickered with red light as a torrent of darts was
unleashed over my head.

‘Get in there, Moralee!’ the sergeant major shouted
urgently.

Needing no encouragement, I darted back into the
chamber entrance, firing another two rounds in the general direction of my
enemy. There was no time for my rifle to correct my aim, and I was probably too
close for that anyway, but I achieved the intended surprise. Just as we had
done, the figure leapt to the right and disappeared from view.

I needed to maintain momentum, not just for the sake
of my platoon but for the sake of my own survival. The figure had jumped out of
the way just as I had, but I wouldn’t allow for him to compose himself like he
had me.

‘Cover me!’ I ordered Myers, and reached out to
grasp the open gash that he had torn in the airlock door. I tugged it back
toward me with all my might, ripping it fully open before stepping through.

The second airlock door hung loosely from the wall -
somebody had already torn it down - and Myers and I quickly passed through it,
anxious to maintain our offensive. My finger hovered over the trigger as I
searched for my prey, but no targets appeared on my visor.

The chamber beyond was packed with electronic
equipment, much of which appeared to be intact. The Guardsman I shot lay dead a
few metres away, but the other man was out of sight. Another plastic airlock
covered an opening to the far left corner, glowing with an eerie blue light
that appeared to emanate from the chamber beyond it. There was nothing to our
right that anyone could hide behind without us noticing, so I deduced that
there was nowhere left for our foe to hide other than around the immediate corner.

My headset confirmed my suspicions, cutting out the
background noise of the gun battle raging behind me and instead magnifying the
distinctive sound of a man breathing slow, laboured breaths, desperately trying
to remain quiet. For a second I imagined him trapped and hiding around the corner.
No doubt he had made himself a small target, crouching into a ball and waiting
for me to emerge. He knew he was going to die, he just wanted to take someone
with him.

I crept as far into the entrance as I dared,
pointing with a closed hand toward the second airlock. Myers obeyed the silent
command, switching his aim to cover my back whilst I prepared to finish the
job.

People don’t like using rifle cameras to hold
weapons around corners whilst remaining in cover - not in holograms anyway.
Some might say it’s cowardly, but those are the same people who tell you that
there’s honour in modern war. I needed to kill the man hiding around the
corner, and it didn’t matter how I did it.

I stood up, tall as I could, and then held my rifle
high over my head. Then, aiming the weapon downward and to the right, I slowly
moved it around the corner whilst watching the camera view through my visor.

Just as expected, the man was indeed crouched in the
corner of the chamber, no more than a few metres away from me, aiming his rifle
at chest height. It wouldn’t have made a difference even if he had been aiming
at the point where my rifle emerged, because I didn’t wait until I could see
into his eyes with my rifle camera, I fired the second I caught a glimpse of the
first part of him, his shoulder. The Guardsman jerked as the dart struck him,
and then I fired another two rounds into him for good measure, stepping around
the corner before thrusting my bayonet into his chest to finish him off.

The next pair in my section, Weatherall and
Griffiths, stormed past us, quickly sweeping through the chamber before taking
up positions at the second airlock. The access tunnel screamed with magnets as
the platoon continued to fend off an unseen enemy.

Satisfied that the chamber was clear, I moved back
into the entrance just in time to see Two Section’s Delta fire team run further
up the tunnel, firing wildly. Puppy was there, waiting to bring up the
remainder of the section to continue our assault. The sergeant major was
crouched beside him.

‘Room clear,’ I said. ‘Two enemy dead. One doorway.’

The sergeant major peered through the shredded
airlock. ‘Good. Keep assaulting, but don’t over extend.’

Puppy and his fire team piled past me, hurrying
toward the second airlock without need for any orders from me. They quickly exchanged
positions with Weatherall and Griffiths, stacking up ready to assault.

I followed after them, stopping just behind them as
they launched into the blue-lit chamber beyond.

I leant out and watched Puppy’s fire team sweep
through the second chamber. Like the chamber my fire team had assaulted, it was
packed with electronic equipment. In its centre was the source of the blue
light, a large holographic map of the warren that slowly rotated.

Sensing that something was amiss, one of his men
fired a burst of darts into a piece of machinery. Seconds later, a Guardsman
emerged from behind it, only to be shot square in the chest before he could
fire his own weapon. The man stumbled backward through the hologram, the
movements of his arms causing icons to swirl and dance around him as the
projector beneath him assumed he was trying to give it commands. He then
collapsed beside the projector, legs kicking and hands scratching at the floor
involuntarily.

‘Room clear,’ Puppy announced to me as he and his
men reached the far end of the chamber. ‘One enemy dead. One doorway.’

‘Roger,’ I replied, and then turned back to my fire
team. ‘Let’s go!’

I lead my team through to Puppy’s chamber, hurrying
toward yet another connecting tunnel. The shot Guardsman continued to twitch as
we passed him, green hologram icons still dancing around him almost mockingly.

As I approached the tunnel, I saw that it was no
more than five metres long, opening up into yet another chamber filled with
machinery. A quick check of my map confirmed that it was a similar size to the
other chambers, with two connecting tunnels. Up until now there had been no
need to worry about threats from more than one tunnel, so I was happy to
assault again with the manpower at my disposal. I decided to re-evaluate our
situation once I had cleared the third chamber.

We stacked up against the tunnel entrance. The
second I was happy that we were all together, I squeezed Myers by the shoulder,
launching us once again.

I braced myself as we exploded into the third
chamber, expecting Guardsmen to emerge from the shadows as we spread out between
the scattered equipment . . . but nothing happened. The chamber harboured none
of the rogue guardsmen, and not a sound came from within the two darkened
connecting tunnels.

Hope glimmered in the back of my mind as I
considered the possibility that we had already killed what remained of their
forces, but I quickly swept the thought away. Though this shady sub-group
within the Presidential Guard were heavily indoctrinated, they were far from
stupid. Trapped in the warren headquarters defending against a rapidly
advancing enemy, they would more than likely fall back to create a gap between
them and us. That way they could leave us to waste our time slowly clearing every
tunnel and chamber whilst they consolidated their forces and formed a more
robust defensive position.

I knew by my map that one of the two tunnels led to
a storage chamber, whilst the other led to one of the larger chambers in the
headquarters - most likely where the majority of the Guard communication
equipment would have been housed. The tunnel was twenty metres long, with a prominent
bend halfway along it that prevented us from being able to see all the way
through it.

I gestured for Weatherall and Griffiths to cover the
dead end tunnel just in case somebody was hiding in there, whilst Myers and I
moved up to the second tunnel.

As we moved into position I considered my options,
deciding whether it was wise to advance further. With the manpower at my
disposal it was well within my capability to clear the dead end tunnel, but I
risked separating my section from the platoon by continuously attacking again
and again without any reserves plugging the gap behind me. I needed further
direction from the sergeant major. Only he knew the layout of the entire
battle.

I never had time to pass a message back to him,
however. Just as I began to transmit, a grenade bounced around the bend in the
tunnel, no further than five metres from my feet.

I swore, ducking around the corner just before the
grenade detonated. A rush of hot smoke and burning phosphor blasted out from
the tunnel, the force of the confined blast knocking me down to the ground.

Clutching my respirator to make sure I hadn’t broken
the seal, I scrambled to my feet, hurrying away from the tunnel entrance. Somebody
fired a long burst from within the smoking tunnel, the darts striking electronic
equipment in showers of sparks.

‘They’re assaulting!’ Myers’ voice turned shrill as
we ran away from the tunnel.

‘Rapid onto that entrance!’ I ordered, running to
get clear of the enemy line of fire. ‘Rapid fire!’

My fire team withdrew, returning fire with wild
sprays of darts as we sought the safety of Puppy’s chamber.

Another object flew through the tunnel in front of
us, this time striking a piece of computer hardware within the chamber itself.

I turned and bounded the last few metres to safety,
managing to hurl myself through the tunnel just before the grenade detonated.
More smoke blasted over me, instantly filling the warren and blinding my visor.

Several troopers cursed at once as I lay dazed on
the floor, expecting my visor to flash with warning messages as my combats
detected injuries across my body.

‘Grenade them!’ somebody shouted from within the
inky black smoke. I recognised the voice, it was Puppy.

‘Get him out the way!’

Hands gripped my arms, dragging me clear of the
entrance.

‘You OK, Andy?’ Puppy asked, his visor emerging
through the smoke as he stooped over me.

Wildgoose tossed one of his grenades into the
chamber, then threw another immediately after it exploded. The terrible noise
caused the whole warren to shudder, and for a moment I wondered if the ceiling
might collapse.

Puppy shook me. ‘You OK?’

The second grenade detonated with a mighty thump.

I returned to my senses. ‘Yeah. Just about . . .’ I
stood up, seeing that my entire section was crowded around the entrance. Everybody
had managed to get clear of the third chamber before the grenade had detonated,
but now they all stood together, as if shocked by the sudden counterattack.

‘Griffiths!’ I shouted, as I spotted the Welsh
trooper panting with his back against the wall. I gripped him by the daysack
and propelled him toward the entrance.

He responded instantly by firing a long, sweeping
burst into the smoke-filled chamber. I allowed him to continue firing for
several seconds, his powerful mammoth gun screaming like a banshee as it
sprayed the chamber with thousands of steel darts. Then, confident that nobody
could have survived such an onslaught, I tapped his shoulder to tell him to
stop.

Stunned silence fell over the warren. The smoke
slowly cleared from the third chamber, revealing a scene of utter devastation.
Our exchange of grenades and darts had torn through much of the electronic equipment,
leaving little more than piles of smashed panels and wires.