LANCEJACK (The Union Series)

by Richards, Phillip

  ‘You want to do it?’ Geany asked disbelievingly.

  I ignored him, ‘Johnno!’

  Johnno looked over from where his party remained pinned. Sparks sprayed over his head as a dart just missed him, ‘Yeah?’

  ‘The roof!’ I pointed upwards, and he looked up toward the sky.

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘Bring down the roof!’ I shouted again, and Johnno looked once more up to the huge sheets of glass high above us.

  I heard Konny shout from behind me, ‘Andy, what are you doing?’

  ‘Some random civvie just told him to do it,’ Geany told him.

  From a distance I could see Johnno weighing up the idea, looking up, then around him, then up again. After a couple of seconds I saw him shrug. What the hell, why not? Blasting out the air gave a little bit of shock factor, if nothing else.

  As Johnno instructed the nearest smart launcher crewman to the roof, a hand grasped me roughly by the shoulder and forced me to turn around.

  I recognised Konny’s furious voice instantly, ‘What are you?…’

  It was too late, the smart launcher fired, and its missile, briefed verbally by the firer, screamed upward toward the glass roof high above us. It knew what it had to do. Detonating just before it smashed into the glass, the explosion shook the ground beneath me and caused Konny to release his grip on my shoulder.

  There was a sudden rush of air, like a gale blowing across a hillside. I knew that the warm, lighter city air was escaping through the huge hole that had been blasted through the roof, only to be replaced by the cold, toxic New Earth atmosphere. Sirens wailed along the street as a few tiny fragments of glass rained down upon us.

  ‘What was the point in that?’ Konny screamed at me as we both picked ourselves up.

  A missile exploded against the other side of our truck, hurling us down to the ground. The enemies fire had slowed, but only momentarily while they donned their respirators. Everyone on New Earth carried one, even if it was just to walk for a minute up the road. It was an aspect of normal daily life for them.

  ‘Why did you do that?’ Konny repeated furiously.

  Who the hell was he to gob off at me, I asked myself, after he had frozen uselessly in the truck?

  ‘It’s better than doing nothing, Konny!’

  I looked around me, searching for Ev, but he was gone. I didn’t know why I looked for him anyway - he was a deserter - and judging by his two appearances nearby to large enemy ambushes, he was also a rebel traitor.

  Why did I even do what he said? Because he had been my platoon sergeant, I reminded myself, and there was nobody I trusted more.

  I looked up to the sky, desperately searching for our salvation and the proof that Ev, a man who I had once seen as a god amongst men, had not betrayed me.

  ‘Rapid fire!’ Johnno passed the message down from the platoon commander at the front of our stricken convoy, ‘Give them all you’ve got boys, let’s give them a good show before we go!’

  In our final act of desperation, we tried to outmatch the enemy, but it was too late. There must have been at least a hundred rebels firing a barrage of darts down upon us. Though they weren’t as accurate as us, it was still a wall of steel that held us in place, hugging at our cover as it became increasingly riddled with holes. The platoon’s attempt to up its rate of fire was short lived.

  I took one last look up to the sky, near enough resigned to my fate. There wasn’t much more that I could do as an NCO anymore, I decided. It was time for me to join the fire fight alongside my comrades, and die like a trooper should.

  Just before I looked away, however, something caught my eye. Against the brilliant turquoise sky, a tiny sliver of metal had appeared among the clouds.

  My spirits soared. It was them! Even at such a great distance I knew the distinctive shape of a dropship, and I knew that we were saved.

  With its human crew directly connected to the controls of their magnificent craft by implants inside their skulls, the dropship was almost completely immune to hacking, unlike the robotic LSVs that had been turned against us. I knew that they would see us as clear as day, and instantly recognise us as friendly. All we had to do was mark our enemy.

  ‘Okonkwo, give me your launcher!’

  Okonkwo chucked me his rifle, and I snatched it out of the air before returning him my own.

  ‘What are you up to?’ He asked as I stepped back from the side of the truck and raised the rifle, allowing a couple of seconds for my target display to recognise the new weapon in my hands via the microscopic wires woven into my combats.

  I selected ‘Smoke’, ‘You’ll see!’

  I fired a string of smoke grenades along the line of enemy buildings, my body rocking with the recoil of every round. Each grenade, still set to ‘Seek’ mode by Okonkwo, picked a target in the windows and headed straight for it, exploding into balls of smoke and phosphor against the marble plated buildings.

  That was all the dropship needed. Its crew would easily be able to see a friendly trooper firing smoke into the buildings, and they were smart enough to put two and two together.

  The sky erupted with a noise so loud I could feel it vibrating through my bones, a million rounds punched through the roof and into the buildings below. We took whatever cover we could as huge sections of glass fell from above, crashing into splinters.

  ‘Shit the bed!’ Jackson exclaimed as we huddled close to our truck, afraid of something massive falling down upon our heads. There was no let up, the dropship was giving the enemy everything, and there was a serious danger of us being injured or killed ourselves by the onslaught.

  I laughed at the thought of being killed by our own dropship, after having survived for so long against the enemy, and my section looked at me as though I was mad.

  ‘How did you know to do that?’ Okonkwo asked over the noise.

  I caught Geany’s eye, ‘A civvy told me to do it.’

  Unsatisfied by the answer, but understanding that he wasn’t getting any more out of me, Okonkwo nodded.

  There were in fact ten dropships in total, carrying our entire company. They made short work of the terrorists - many of whom died trying to escape onto another street from the rear of their buildings - only to be hacked to pieces by a hail of steel darts. There was no escape, for once we were able to move freely across the street with minimum resistance we could finally leave our casualties with the conscripts and go on the offensive.

  Knowing that the initiative was now ours, Mr Moore was quick to issue his orders, shouting above the noise of the dropships’ barrage, ‘We will assault into the building directly to our front! One section will affect the break in, Two and Three will follow up in reserve!’

  In the absence of the platoon net, every section commander gave the thumbs up to say that he had heard the order, and I did likewise.

  I looked back at my section, ‘Fix bayonets!’

  Wicked blades glinted in the morning sun as the section riflemen drew their bayonets from their scabbards and fixed them onto their rifles. I did likewise, checking to ensure that it was securely fitted.

  What a fearsome sight it was to see a dropship platoon fix bayonets in anger, I remember thinking. For when those men fixed such ancient and cruel weapons onto their rifles they did so with a terrifying purpose. They wanted revenge.

  9

  Vengeance

  ‘Stay switched on!’ I warned.

  I watched as the first section broke out of their cover and charged toward the first of the buildings, followed quickly behind by the platoon commander.

  I looked over my men, making sure that they were ready to go. I caught Konny’s eye and fixed him with a cold stare. He gulped nervously.

  The platoon was ruthless, exploding into the first of the buildings with barely controlled fury. Within seconds of the first section storming inside they encountered the rebels, and the building echoed with gunshots and screams as they swiftly despatched them with rifle and bayonet.

  Jo
hnno shouted, ‘That’s the break in! Prepare to move!’

  I repeated the order, knowing that shortly he would lead us and the other reserve section into the building. It was his job to keep the reserves up behind the platoon commander, so that he always had his next section ready to launch into the fray. The purpose of reserves was to re-enforce success, rather than protect from failure, and so during room clearance it was important to maintain a constant flow of fresh troops.

  ‘Two section,’ Johnno shouted, ‘You’re next assault, punch in!’

  Like a pack of dogs unleashed, the next assaulting section bolted across the road and into the building, where Mr Moore waited for them. I watched as they disappeared inside, waiting for Johnno’s order. We would be next.

  After a tense wait, Johnno gave me the nod, ‘Follow me inside!’

  I beckoned my section and we ran after Johnno across the street and into the building entrance, leaving his work party behind to protect our casualties.

  The corridors seemed to magnify the noise of battle, every burst of gunfire telling of another room being cleared. I could see figures running through a haze of dust and smoke as the platoon systematically cleared through room after room ahead of us.

  Satisfied that all of my section were inside the building and out of the open, Johnno leant close to me.

  ‘What’s the deal with Konny?’ He whispered.

  I looked back at my section commander, who was crouched at the rear of the section with his head hanging shamefully. Konny had been rude to me ever since I had arrived, and had even undermined me in front of the platoon. But I understood his shame, because I too had once been overcome by fear. In a way, I pitied him.

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ I said quietly.

  The platoon pushed through the first floor rapidly, the platoon commander launching fire team after fire team into each and every room. We were fast and aggressive, but we were also thorough.

  Doors were smashed open with sledge hammers and explosive charges, and darts were fired into likely enemy positions. Bursts from mammoth guns were fired though walls, driving back any rebels that might be hiding on the other side.

  There were plenty of rebels in the building. I could hear their shouts as they desperately tried to organise themselves to counter the sudden offensive.

  We, on the other hand, were relatively quiet. Not a word was spoken above a whisper as we took full advantage of our headphones’ ability to magnify our voices. We were quiet as a mouse, but only until we struck.

  The platoon had almost cleared the entire ground floor when my section were finally called forward.

  ‘Three section, close in,’ the message was passed back quietly from trooper to trooper until it reached Johnno, and he patted me on the daysack.

  ‘Go on, then, mate!’ He hissed, and we moved forward through the haze, toward the sound of gunfire.

  We snaked through the corridors, our visibility reduced to less than ten metres by the dust that clung to the air like a morning fog. The troopers that crouched in every doorway were caked in it, and they regarded us with weary eyes as we passed them on our way to the battle.

  A stray burst of darts pierced through a wall above our heads, scattering chips of masonry onto our helmets, but we pressed on regardless. Our enemy was trapped and fighting to the bitter end. There was no time to be afraid.

  I quickly spotted a pair of figures knelt in the middle of a corridor, and my visor identified it as Mr Moore and his signaller. Hearing me approach, he looked back and indicated for me to halt.

  I passed back the message to stay low and tucked myself into a doorway near to the platoon commander. We needed to be close to him so that we were ready to go at a moment’s notice, but we still needed to afford ourselves the best cover that we could.

  Something wet was soaking into my combats. I looked down and realised that I was kneeling in a pool of blood, and I glanced to find its source. A rebel lay across the floor behind me, his open skull oozing onto the carpet.

  ‘Moralee,’ Mr Moore was glaring at me, ‘Where is Corporal Wysocki?’

  He noticed my section commander at the back of the section line, and his teeth bared in anger, ‘What the hell is he doing back there?’

  ‘I’ve relieved him, Sir,’ I replied.

  ‘No you bloody well haven’t,’ he snapped, ‘Get him up here, now!’

  ‘Sir,’ I protested, ‘He…’

  ‘Shut up, Moralee! Get him here, now!’

  I fought to contain my rage as the message went back and Konny came forward to take command of the section.

  ‘Wysocki,’ the platoon commander scolded, ‘You will damn well lead your section, do you understand me?’

  Konny avoided looking at me, ‘I was, Sir, then Moralee just started trying to take over!’

  My fists clenched and I snarled, ‘You little…’

  Mr Moore pointed a finger at me, the tip of his glove almost touching my visor, ‘One more peep out of you and I’ll shoot you myself!’

  Gunshots from a room less than ten metres up the corridor reminded me of how close we were to the fighting.

  I knew that I couldn’t argue with the platoon commander in the middle of a battle. I closed my lips tightly and allowed him to give his orders to Konny.

  ‘Two section are just in front of us,’ he explained, ‘They’ve just finishing clearing an apartment to the left and one to the right of the corridor. There are another two apartments beyond that. I want you to push on and clear them both. Ensure that you keep protection out along the corridor throughout, and do not push any further than those two apartments. Understand?’

  Konny gulped and nodded nervously, ‘Yes, Sir.’

  ‘Brief your section and stand by.’

  Konny turned to me, and I glared back at him hatefully as he attempted to act as though he was a strong section commander gripping his 2ic.

  ‘Listen in, Moralee,’ he began, and I flinched at his rudeness, ‘We’re going to conduct a simultaneous assault. You take your fire team left, I’ll take mine right. Any questions?’

  Bravo, I thought to myself bitterly, that wasn’t bad acting. If I hadn’t known that Konny was a two-faced coward then I would have thought that he was a calm section commander who was fully in control. Despite his hero act, I could see the fear in his eyes, and not just fear of the enemy. Even if he survived the rebels, he had me to deal with afterwards.

  ‘Any questions?’ He repeated.

  I smiled sweetly, though it probably looked more like a grimace, ‘No.’

  I beckoned Okonkwo and Jackson over to me as Konny went away to brief his own fire team.

  ‘Happy with the plan?’ I asked, and they nodded. They had been close enough to hear the entire conversation.

  ‘He’s an idiot,’ Jackson whispered, flicking his head backward toward Konny.

  ‘Forget that,’ I said, waving it away with my hand, ‘Focus on what you have to do.’

  A trooper leant out of a doorway just ahead of the boss and gave him the thumbs up. Two section had completed its clearance of the two apartments ahead of us. Now it was our turn.

  ‘Three section,’ the boss hissed, ‘Prepare to move!’

  Konny brought his fire team up so that they were lined up along the corridor beside us. The section was now bunched together, but in the confines of a building, bunching was sometimes a necessary evil. Room clearance required that we worked in teams so that we could cover our backs, since every corner of every room hid a potential threat.

  Konny looked at me, ‘Ready?’

  ‘Of course I’m ready,’ I snapped angrily. I was a coiled spring, desperate to be released.

  ‘Go!’

  We moved forward, hugging the walls of the corridor as we passed the first two apartments that had been cleared by two section. Their commander, Lance Corporal Matthews, stood in one of the doorways and gave us a respectful nod.

  The next two apartment doors were directly opposite each other, lending themselve
s to a simultaneous assault. We quickly stacked up beside our respective apartment doorways.

  Okonkwo was in front of me. As my point man he always went first, not because I was afraid, but because it gave me greater control over him and Jackson.

  The doorways to both of the apartments were open, and Okonkwo and I leant out into the doorway as one, with my rifle barrel just over his shoulder.

  Inside the apartment appeared untouched by the battle. It was filled with expensive looking furniture that looked as though it was brand new. I presumed from the furnishings that I was looking into the apartment lounge.

  We couldn’t see any more without actually entering the doorway, but I knew that somebody was in there. I could hear heavy breathing from inside, the noise amplified by my headphones.

  ‘We need to get out,’ a foreign voice whispered fearfully.

  ‘You will die if you jump out of the window, friend,’ another voice argued quietly, ‘Stay with me. We can fight them!’

  The rebels clearly hadn’t considered our headphones. Their hushed conversation was loud enough for us all to hear, and I signalled that there was enemy in our room with a downward thumb.

  Konny looked petrified, but he nodded back his understanding.

  I turned to Jackson behind me and pointed at his mammoth, then at the wall. He knew exactly what I wanted him to do. I turned back to Okonkwo and gripped him by the shoulder so that he didn’t move without my say so.

  I looked back at Konny. He wasn’t doing anything, he was just staring at me as though he was unsure of what to do next.

  I shook my head angrily. Was this going to happen every time?

  Taking over the section once more, I held up five fingers, and then counted down the seconds. Everybody watched my fingers come down one at a time, all except for Okonkwo and Geany, who pointed their rifles into the doorway waiting to be set free.