‘I am assaulting!’ I informed him. If he didn’t like it then he could always order me to stop.
I quickly weighed up my options. I could assault directly forward, or to the right, but if I did then I would be moving in front of Konny, which meant that he couldn’t fire. There was only one option.
I turned to the right side of my section line, where Konny’s fire team were firing from, ‘Konny, I’m going left flanking!’
I saw Konny glance at the knoll, then to the dense vegetation that ran up to the left side of it. He gave a thumbs up.
‘Charlie, prepare to move!’
Okonkwo and Jackson checked their pouches and ducked into cover, as was the drill.
I looked across to Westy, who watched me doing my job as though he were a Junior Leaders instructor on Uralis.
‘You coming?’
He laughed like a madman, ‘Why the hell not? Nothing better to do!’
I remembered a trick my instructor on Uralis had taught me as I barked another order to Konny, ‘Throw a smoke grenade out to the right!’
Konny knew exactly what I meant. He tossed the grenade in the opposite direction to my attack, and it exploded uselessly in a big cloud of white smoke.
‘Konny, up the rate!’ I hollered, then turned to my fire team, ‘Move!’
As the rate of fire from Konny’s Delta fire team intensified, we sprinted through the undergrowth, hooking around to the left of the knoll.
I spared a quick glance toward the smoke cloud, and saw that my trick had worked. Often the enemy instantly assumed that we were using the hot smoke to shield us from their targeting systems, and so they fired into it anyway. The smoke swirled as it drew all of their fire, distracting them from what we were really doing, which was a left flanking assault. My instructor would have been proud, and Ruckheim, if he was there somewhere, would be kicking himself afterwards.
I continued to push around the left side of the knoll until it concealed us from the rest of the valley, and I ordered Jackson and Okonkwo to stay where they were whilst I continued the assault with Westy.
They looked disappointed, but it wasn’t a subject for debate.
‘Cover up the escarpment,’ I ordered them, pointing a finger upward. Flanking attacks were vulnerable, and so it was often wise to place out troopers to counter the threat. I didn’t much want to be engaged from above!
Konny dropped the rate of his fire support from rapid to deliberate, conscious of ammunition conservation. I didn’t need it any more.
We crept over the rocks, moving ourselves cautiously around to the side of the knoll. I could hear people whispering and loud clunking sounds as parts of the gun were connected together. Something whirred, as if it were powering up.
I spotted them just behind a boulder near the top of the knoll, no more than ten metres away from us. They had succeeded in assembling the gun, and were about to lift it up into position so that it could fire.
I looked at Westy, and he gave me a nod to say that he was ready.
We emerged simultaneously, pumping darts into the trio. They dropped the gun and crumpled around it.
We scrambled to the top of the knoll to have a look at the battle. It gave us a perfect view of the valley for hundreds of metres, and I could see our platoon engaged in their fire fight with tens of rebels behind a sandbag wall on the other side of a gulley, just off to our right.
‘Position clear,’ I called out to my section, ‘Charlie close in!’
It made perfect sense to use the knoll as a fire support position, taking full advantage of its elevation over the battlefield. I didn’t close in Delta though, because in my mind a plan was hatching.
‘You’re in a perfect position to assault again,’ Westy observed from behind a rock, and he drew a finger along the gulley. It snaked through the valley, cutting through the rock just in front of Konny’s fire team and providing a perfect approach route onto the enemy position.
The corner of my mouth turned upwards as I regarded my friend, ‘Who are you, my instructor?’
‘Looks that way,’ Westy replied, ‘I said I had nothing better to do! Couldn’t have done a better job myself, so far. Textbook!’
I realised that he was admiring my handiwork, but I didn’t have the time to gloat.
Westy was right, I saw. The gully offered the perfect approach route. I could place my own fire team on the knoll and take Delta around to assault.
‘Two-zero, this is Two-three,’ I called over the net, ‘I can assault the next position in front of you using the gulley!’
I marked the enemy position. Mr Moore could clearly see it, since half of the platoon was engaging it, but I didn’t want to cause any confusion.
The other two troopers from my fire team arrived, panting from their run up the knoll, and I quickly pointed out the enemy to them.
‘Suppress them,’ I ordered, ‘And use your grenades, Okonkwo. Not too many, I don’t want to run out too soon.’ We might be fighting for a while before we saw any other troopers.
The two troopers moved into cover amongst the rocks and opened fire. Jackson’s mammoth peppered the sandbag wall and Okonkwo’s grenade launched toward it, detonating on the other side in a shower of earth and blood. From such a high position the miniature missiles, with their guidance system, were lethal. At least two of the rebel defenders died outright in the blast.
The boss made his decision, ‘Yeah, roger! I’ll meet you by your Delta fire team and follow you in. Corporal Johnston, close in Two-section! The saucers can do the work up on the high ground from now on!’
Johnno was quick to reply, ‘Understood, already done!’
Johnno knew the importance of maintaining a reserve, it was critical to success on the battlefield. He kept the troops moving forward so that the boss needn’t worry about it.
‘Westy, can you stay here with these two?’ I asked.
The Welshman nodded, ‘No dramas, mate. I’ll brief Konny when he gets here.’
‘Cheers,’ I switched back to the section net, ‘Konny, close in, mate. Just you, leave your blokes. Move on my rapid in five, four, three, two, one, rapid fire!’
Hearing my command Okonkwo and Jackson let rip, and I bolted back down the knoll toward Konny, who was himself running toward me. We passed each other mid-way, and I gave him a reassuring pat on the arm as he went.
The boss waited with his command group that now included Klaus just behind the two troopers of Konny’s fire team. Further back I could see Two section running toward us, sent forward into the battle by Johnno.
Okonkwo fired another grenade. I heard a scream as it detonated somewhere near to the sandbag wall, but didn’t bother to look.
I fixed O’Leary and Leaman with the look of a man possessed and I beckoned, ‘Come with me!’
We charged out of the forest and half-ran, half-slid down into the gully. As we did so a saucer shot through the valley, its cannon strafing the ground ahead. I could count at least three of them now, circling the battlefield like birds of prey before swooping in for the kill.
There was a river at the bottom of the gully, and we splashed into it, holding our weapons up high so that they couldn’t be submerged. Fortunately the water level was below waist level, but it was fast flowing and it was difficult to fight against.
‘Come on,’ I said, and we waded along the river, trying not to trip over the smooth slippery rocks that lurked beneath the fast flowing water.
I glanced upward to see the constant barrage of darts being fired across the gully, marked red by my visor. The enemy were giving everything they had in return, desperately trying to win the fire fight.
We rounded a bend in the river, and I saw the red crosshair that I had used to mark the sandbag wall. The enemy were directly above me, on the other side of a steep, muddy slope.
‘I’m climbing up now,’ I announced over the net to Konny, ‘Give me rapid in ten seconds!’
‘Roger,’ Konny replied, and I could just about hear him shouti
ng the order to his fire team.
‘Leaman,’ I pointed along the riverbed, ‘Face out along there, cover our flank!’
He nodded. If a group of rebels came the opposite way and cut us off, we’d be as good as dead.
I looked at O’Leary, ‘Good to go?’
‘Yeah!’
I looked back up the steep slope and spoke on the net once again, ‘Rapid fire in five, four, three, two, one, rapid fire now!’
I didn’t wait for Konny to acknowledge, and neither did I need to, the sudden roar from the increased rate of fire told me that he had understood. A grenade launched across the gully, the last one that could be fired before we were too close to the position.
We scrambled up the slope, our feet slipping out from under us as the wet mud gave way. I clawed at tufts of grass, using all of my remaining strength to pull my body upward in desperate heaves. Konny couldn’t maintain rapid fire for long. The weapons could take it, they could fire at that rate all day long. It was our ammunition supply that I was worried about.
The slope became less steep as we neared the top, and we both began to crawl on our hands and knees until we could just see the edge of the sandbag wall ten metres away. I saw a rifle raise over the wall and fire blindly in the direction of our platoon. It was wildly inaccurate, and the rifle quickly disappeared just before the wall was hacked at by a spray of darts.
‘O’Leary,’ I hissed, ‘I’ll move first! you ready?’
‘Yeah!’
‘Go!’
O’Leary knelt up and took aim over the lip of the wall, just as I bounded forward.
As I charged the rifle appeared again over the wall, and this time it was pointing almost directly at me.
‘Shit!’ O’Leary exclaimed from behind me, ‘Stoppage!’
My eyes widened. O’Leary wasn’t going to shoot at the arms that held the rifle aloft?! I threw myself to the ground, just before the hidden rebel fired another burst that nearly clipped my helmet.
I took aim and fired at the rifle. The supersonic dart struck the rebel on his forearm, and the sheer force knocked the rifle behind the wall instantly. The rebel let out a bloodcurdling scream.
O’Leary was still trying to work out what was wrong with his rifle. I didn’t have the time to wait for him, for now the rebels knew that we were there. I grasped a grenade, set the timer to two seconds and threw.
Our headsets bleeped in warning as the grenade arced through the air and landed directly behind the wall. I hugged the ground, waiting for it to detonate.
The ground shook with an almighty thump as the grenade exploded, sending a plume of dirt and smoke high into the sky.
I leapt into action, storming over the wall with my rifle raised to fire.
The rebel who had hidden behind the wall, was nothing but a gory mess. Further along it were four more of them, two of whom had been injured and another two who had been shocked by the blast and now frantically tried to bring their weapons to bear.
I emptied at least ten rounds into the mass of rebels, firing indiscriminately until not one of them moved. The tactical situation didn’t allow for mercy.
I quickly ducked back behind the sandbags, seeing a fresh wave of enemy just in time. The forest thickened again in front of me and they were using the foliage as cover from view. Darts thumped into the wall, but it was several layers thick and it protected me from their fire.
O’Leary was still halfway down the slope. In the chaos of the battle he had ignored his rifle’s warning to reload. It was bad drills, on my part as well as his. I should have made him check before we assaulted.
He quickly slotted the magazine back into its housing, just as I announced over the net that the position was clear.
The gully erupted with gunfire and I heard a yelp of pain. O’Leary spun around to look back down into it.
‘Man down!’ He screamed as he pulled the trigger and fired a series of rounds into an unseen target.
I crawled to the edge of the slope and looked down, just in time to see O’Leary and the boss catch the last of a section of rebels in their crossfire. They hadn’t been quick enough, though. Leaman had been shot several times. He lay motionless on the ground, and my datapad bleeped that it was serious.
‘Leaman!’ O’Leary wailed, and I checked him.
‘O’Leary, get up on that wall and suppress!’
The trooper hesitated, torn between my order and his loyalty for his mate.
The boss had already sent Two section along the gully to continue the assault, and they charged past Leaman, splashing water over his bleeding body. We couldn’t stop, but not because we didn’t care if we took casualties, but because our enemy didn’t.
‘O’Leary, get up here!’
The trooper looked at me, ‘I’ve gotta help my mate!’
I looked on in total dismay as he dropped back into the gully.
‘You fucking idiot!’ I bolted back up onto the wall, ‘Konny, get the boys up here!’
‘We’re coming!’
I pulled myself up onto the wall, picked out a target and pulled the trigger.
I fought like a demon, ignoring the hail of darts that struck against the sandbags. Eventually Okonkwo and Jackson emerged from the slope and joined in the fight alongside me. I breathed out a sigh of relief as our rate of fire increased, pushing the rebels back into cover.
‘I’ve got Leaman!’ Konny shouted over the net, ‘O’Leary’s patched him up! We’re gonna get him back to Johnno!’
‘Roger,’ I acknowledged gruffly, though I was glad that he had survived. Luckily O’Leary’s moment of madness hadn’t cost any more lives.
‘Get him out somewhere in cover where I can see him,’ Johnno ordered, hearing the message, ‘Mark him and leave him!’
Konny acknowledged there wasn’t anywhere for Johnno to take our casualties, I realised. They were being treated and left where they were. Eventually, when the battalion arrived, they would be collected.
There was an explosion in front of us, and Two section began their assault into the trees, rendering my section redundant.
I knew that my section would be dropping back into reserve, and that I was to wait until either called for on the net or collected by Johnno. It was a quick chance for us to recuperate, deal with casualties and redistribute ammunition, not that we had much left anyway. I glanced at my section ammo state on my datapad. Fifty percent.
Westy poked his head up from behind the slope I had used to assault, looking concerned, ‘You alright?’
I realised that I had been so pumped up with adrenaline that I hadn’t given my own body much consideration. I glanced down at myself, looking for any sign of injury.
‘I’m okay,’ I said, ‘Did you see what happened? O’Leary just sacked the battle!’
‘Yeah, I saw.’
Okonkwo turned to look at me angrily, ‘You can’t blame him for that, he was just helping his mate.’
I stared back at the senior trooper, shocked by his scathing outburst.
Okonkwo’s glare softened and he shook his head, ‘We don’t care about New Earth, Andy, we just care about each other.’
Westy caught my eye and shrugged. There was nothing that I could really say in response to Okonkwo’s rebuke, because in a way he was right. Loyalty was a powerful thing, and it drove troopers to do crazy things in order to help their friends, even if that meant breaking orders. I remembered my mad dash into the Chinese tunnels during the invasion, ignoring a wall of enemy darts. I hadn’t done so because of a desire to complete my mission, I had done so because I wanted to protect my friends. Who was I to tell O’Leary to leave his friend to die?
The battle raged on for another ten minutes before the first dropship passed overhead. By then our ammunition was depleted to critical levels and the platoon had taken several more casualties. Johnno and his work party had been run ragged as they desperately tried to organise the injured troopers and rebels left in our wake, and his ammunition reserve was quickly distributed
and expended by the assaulting sections. Our attack was rapidly running out of steam, and the arrival of the battalion wasn’t a minute too soon.
The platoon cheered as the rebels broke and ran at the sight of the first four dropships soaring low through the valley, ready to unleash fresh troopers onto the ground. Salvos of missiles shrieked over our heads and vulcan cannon roared as they unleashed a devastating barrage into the forest.
‘Well done, two platoon!’ Mr Moore congratulated us all over the net as the dropships settled a few hundred metres in front of us, ‘Consider yourselves relieved!’
‘Right lads,’ Johnno spoke up, pulling us back to reality, ‘Keep switched on! We need to push back and collect together our casualties!’
The platoon were no longer required, I realised. They had done their work, and now the battalion could sweep up the mess.
I glanced up to see another two platoons unloading from their dropships onto the high ground, disgorging their trooper cargo into the fray. It was an awesome sight to behold, an entire company of dropship infantry attacking in the same place at once. I knew that there would be another two companies, waiting for their turn.
Now it was time for the platoon to go back to help their friends, and hope that those who hadn’t died outright had survived long enough for the company medics to get to them.
I realised that Westy was staring at me intently, and I knew what he was thinking; it was time to find our own friend.
Konny had returned from moving our casualty, and he saw the look on our faces. He too knew what we were silently considering.
‘Go,’ he said.
I looked at my section 2ic, the man whom I had once hated. Maybe he wasn’t a good section commander, but he wasn’t a bad man. The section regarded me from their fire positions amongst the trees, and a few of them nodded their agreement. After our battle through the forest any shred of doubt about our loyalty had faded, they wanted us to find our old comrade.
‘Go,’ Konny urged, ‘Go get your mate! I’ll look after the lads.’
I turned back to Westy, and he nodded.
LANCEJACK (The Union Series) Page 28