Read RECCE II (The Union Series Book 5) Online
Authors: Phillip Richards
Hearing boots splash in the water, I turned to see
Griffiths approaching, his eyes fixed onto Bhasin.
I continued. ‘We have a score to settle . . . you
and us.’
Bhasin didn’t move. He was probably trying to figure
out a way to deal with us. There was little hope of escape, so his only options
were to surrender or fight to the death.
My eyes flicked down to his sides, noticing the
pistol holstered against his thigh, the grenades and fighting knife about his
waist, and the rifle he clutched in his arms in front of him. Nothing he
carried could be brought to bear in less than a second, and a second was all we
needed. I kept my rifle trained to his head, finger gently squeezing the
trigger. A tiny fraction of extra pressure was all I needed to send a dart
punching through his skull in a spray of crimson.
I suppose this would be the moment where we would
have some kind of final showdown, if we were fictional characters in a hologram
made on Earth, but that’s not what happened. We were in the middle of a
warzone, with the might of two colonial powers bearing down upon us. Nobody
cared about Bhasin anymore, or what we did to him.
I pulled the trigger.
Griffiths jumped as my rifle fired. With perfect
accuracy, I shot Bhasin in both legs, then in the abdomen, and then in both
arms. There was no hope for the Guard colonel to fight back, as his body rocked
with every round. One of the darts partially severed his right arm as it struck
bone, and Bhasin’s rifle dropped into the muddy water.
His screams lasted a matter of seconds. Griffiths
stooped over him, ripping his respirator from his face and then plunging his
head into the water.
I stood and watched as Bhasin’s body squirmed
amongst the reeds, in an instinctive yet futile fight for survival.
‘That’s for Sanneh, you fucking scum!’ Griffiths
spat, shifting his weight onto the Guardsman’s back.
Aleksi appeared beside me, having heard the sound of
gunfire, and now he stared down at the wicked murder taking place before us
with mild disdain.
‘Are you going to stop him?’ he asked with a raised
eyebrow.
‘No.’
Aleksi considered my reply, then shrugged
indifferently. ‘Fair enough, I probably owe you this anyway. Louis won’t be
happy, but as far as he’s concerned everyone here has died in the firefight.
Make sure you delete any imagery of this, otherwise we will end up in
serious
trouble when things calm down.’
I nodded grimly. ‘Understood.’
Aleksi turned away and left us to finish dispensing
our own form of justice against the hated Guard colonel. After a short
struggle, Bhasin finally succumbed to the water, and his body went limp,
sinking deeper into the mud. Griffiths stood, and the two of us looked down at
our victim.
‘Do you feel any better?’ Griffiths asked me after a
while.
I thought about it. ‘Not really. I don’t regret
doing it, though. He deserved it.’
The Welsh trooper sighed deeply. ‘I just wish we
could have found Helstrom. Bhasin might have been somewhere at the top of all
this shit, but Helstrom was the one who killed Sanneh.’
Griffiths was right, our vengeance would never be
complete until we had Helstrom as well, but it appeared that he had somehow
slipped out from our clutches. Perhaps the Militia commander had never been at
Trondheim at all, I wondered. Perhaps he knew that his headquarters was going
to come under attack, and had made his escape long before.
‘There’s still a chance we could find him if he’s
still alive,’ I offered.
Griffiths looked at me.
‘Come on.’ I turned my back on Bhasin’s lifeless
corpse. ‘Let’s get back to the saucer. The Europa invasion has only just begun
. . .’
# # #
Author’s Notes
Well, it's been a long time coming, but we got there
in the end! Recce II was much harder to write than all its predecessors, partly
due to the pressures of work and family, but mostly because the book needed to
continue from where Recce left off and complete the story whilst tying off
(most of) the loose ends. It was certainly a great deal more difficult to write
than I thought it would be- probably harder than if it was stand-alone. You may
also notice that I have tried to bring the focus back toward Andy Moralee and
his battle against his inner demons in response to calls from many readers. I
like to think I've done as good a job as I could have done, but I'll let you be
the judge of that...
The cluttered, increasingly congested battlefield
that provides the backdrop to the story continues to draw many parallels with
conflicts being fought today, particularly in the Middle East. As I have
mentioned previously- from an elevated perspective it might appear that all
armed conflicts are simple, good versus bad scenarios, but a closer look will
often reveal something far more complex, especially when invited coalitions and
host nation forces are involved. Even NATO allies can sometimes have
conflicting interests which can cause significant operational and strategic
frictions between them. Without pointing out specific countries, a look into
oil trade routes out of Iraq and Syria and the implications of a free Kurdistan
might highlight some of those divisions. On the other side of the coin, host
nation forces and indigenous populations can often be fractured and so deeply
divided it’s almost impossible to piece them together. You will likely see more
of this as the Union series progresses, which should hopefully make for some
interesting storylines. Remember- the first dropships haven’t even landed on
Europa yet and Andy’s tour is not yet over…
Aleksi and Einsatsgruppe-19 are the first SF unit
that Andy has come into contact with; a tiny, theatre specific organisation who
I decided to bring into the mix to add greater depth and to make it clear that
Recce platoon are far from the top of the food chain. Since I am not SF myself-
and I wouldn't want to end up in any trouble for saying something I shouldn't-
EG19 are only very loosely based on any real UK SF unit. Though highly capable
when assembled as a combat unit, EG19's main focus is to motivate, arm, train
and direct the indigenous population against their oppressors in a manner which
suits the Union's overall strategy. This makes them a thousand times more
effective than they would be on their own, raising entire armies to attack an
already weakened enemy, undermining his will to fight as his own people turn
against him, and denying him freedom of movement on his own soil. Though I
couldn't comment with authority, I suspect that similar operations have been conducted
in the past, for instance with the warlords of Afghanistan fighting the
Taliban, and undoubtedly in both Iraq and Syria today.
I hope you enjoy Recce II as much as I enjoyed
writing it, and that it completes the story set by its predecessor. It certainly
won't be the last of the series, so you can expect more of Andy Moralee as he
advances through his career, and you definitely haven't seen the last book from
me! If you find the time, please do me the honour of writing a review on
amazon, even if it’s negative. Not only do your honest reviews help other
potential readers to make informed choices, but they also give the feedback I
need to develop further as a writer. Alternatively, feel free to drop a message
on my Amazon author page, or follow me on twitter: @PhilAuthor
Thanks for reading! Phil
Books In The Union Series
C.R.O.W.
-
Book One of The Union
Series: Andy Moralee knew that life with his new company of Dropship Infantry
would be hard, but nothing could prepare him for life in one of the toughest
units in the Union army. New arrivals, nicknamed ‘Crow’ by their platoons, are
the lowest form of life in his Company, and he finds himself at the mercy of
unforgiving commanders and bullies, all the time knowing that the real enemy
are waiting for him at the end of his journey through the void. The enemy know
that the Union are coming, they have dug in and fortified, and they are ready.
C.R.O.W is a Military
Science Fiction novel that follows Andy Moralee across the cosmos, and into
combat against a well-equipped enemy prepared to fight to the very end.
Amazon
links:
www.amazon.com
(US/Worldwide)
www.amazon.co.uk
(UK)
LANCEJACK
-
Book Two of The Union Series: Andy
Moralee is no longer the young and terrified recruit who had last set foot upon
New Earth two years ago. Decorated for his bravery during the final hours of
the invasion and promoted to lance corporal, he is still troubled by his
memories and haunted by nightmares. He finds himself unable to cope with life
back on Earth, and so he returns to the red planet, the only place where he
feels he belongs. But New Earth has changed as well. A growing insurgency
threatens to turn the planet into a battleground once again, but this time the
enemy has the ability to melt away into the population, and even turn the
Union's weapons against them. Nobody can be trusted, even old friends. Quickly
swept up in the gathering storm Andy finds himself in the command of a section
that resents his early promotion, and during the battle that follows his
leadership, his loyalty, and even his faith in his comrades are put to the
ultimate test in the face of an enemy that will stop at nothing.
Amazon
links:
www.amazon.com
(US/Worldwide)
www.amazon.co.uk
(UK)
EDEN
-
Book Three of The Union Series: Eden's beauty was testament to a centuries-old
dream to turn a barren, rocky world into a paradise where mankind could live in
peace. But Eden wasn't paradise. Torn apart by decades of colonial rivalry, the
provinces were deeply divided, and as two rogue provinces begin yet another
bitter fight, the Union is forced to step in before they go too far, causing
the entire planet to descend into war.
Andy
Moralee finds himself quickly sucked into the conflict, and nothing could have
prepared him for the depths that humanity had sunk to out in the forest - where
loyalty was achieved at the end of a gun. Ordered to ally with one side of
Eden’s warring factions, he fears he now has two enemies to watch.
In a desperate
moment, Andy must choose between his mission and the only thing that separates
him from the evil that lives in the forest … his soul.
Amazon
Links:
www.amazon.com
(US/Worldwide)
www.amazon.co.uk
(UK)
Link to my blog site:
http://militarysciencefictionblog.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/phill.richards.1238#