The shuttle decelerated as per schedule while the intel was analysed, course of action selected and plan committed.
“It’s Plan Charlie” hailed Parinya. “No large clearing. We’ll head back, lower you down and wait on the knoll.”
“Roger that” acknowledged Art.
Chapter 20. Whisky 1 at DZ on Zuon 0400, 28 June
“ETA in three minutes” hailed Parinya. “Lock down everyone. Raising turret. Prepare to release the hatch.”
The safety harnesses were released. Akos double checked the repelling ropes. Dai was first in line, followed by Dakota and then Buster. Art came next with Roj and Jacinta making up the first wave. There were only enough ropes for six. Akos, Keto, Jack, the two bots and Ella made up the second wave.
“Decelerating in ten. Hold on” warned Parinya.
Dai turned around with her back against the hatch holding onto Dakota for support, the rope already through the repelling loop on the belt. The shuttle was both descending and braking hard as the reverse thrusters engaged. Akos had one hand on the hatch release while holding tightly with the other on the hand rail on the back bulkhead.
The shuttle came to the hover with a bit of a jerk and a rocking motion as the vertical thrusters took over. As soon as it settled Parinya advised “Cabin decompressing.” Then she ordered “Release hatch”.
“Hatch released” hailed Akos as he hit the release. The sound of the vertical thrusters was very loud even though they were locked in their suits.
Dai took a step back onto the base of the hatch, stuck her bum out into the air, ensuring her pack and weapon cleared the hatch. She took up the slack in the rope, made a last check to ensure the rope was thread through the repelling loop on her belt and then hailed “ready!”
“Currently we are over a very small clearing. We are hovering 60m above the ground” advised Parinya. “Canopy top at 40m. Good luck. Ready, Go!”
Dai kicked off, falling immediately into the night air as her gloved hands let the rope run freely. She gripped the rope to slow her descent as she made out the top of a tree about ten metres away. She glanced up to see Dakota descending fast above her. ‘No time to dilly dally’ said Dai to herself. She eased the pressure and began descending a bit faster. She kicked herself away from a leafy branch that she saw just in time but wacked into another with her pack. Thankfully her gear was on tight and she bounced and lowered herself out of the way.
‘There it is’ she said to herself as she made out the bare patch of earth coming up fast. She brought up her knees together, ready to roll if need be. But she was able to apply enough pressure and landed on both feet. She hit the release on the repelling loop and pulled the rope free. She gave two strong tugs and the rope soon began rising as the automatic drum in the shuttle engaged to retract it.
The first thing she had to do was to get out of the way. She made out a slight rise between two trees about fifteen metres to her front. She moved quickly and went to ground, releasing her pulse rifle from its pouch on the side of her pack. She scanned the area around her but saw nothing other than trees. They were everywhere. Thick buggers too.
“All clear so far” she hailed as Dakota hit the ground. Dakota heaved her way to the tree line on the opposite side to Dai. Her big quanto gun was too heavy so she took off her pack and released it and then put her pack back on. She took up a firing position and began scanning.
Art found Buster some five metres behind Dai. He went to ground a couple of metres from him. By the time Jacinta hit the ground Art reckoned that it had taken them a full eight minutes for the first wave to get down. It was taking them roughly two minutes each to descend but almost a minute to position each trooper at the hatch due to their heavy bulky loads. They had been quicker in the pre op training but Art knew that doing it under stress often ends up taking longer. So he chose not to give anyone a hard time over it.
But Buster wasn’t so tolerant “Come on, hurry it up folks” he chastised over the comms net.
Everyone was glad though when Ella tugged on her rope. Within 30 seconds Whisky 1 glided away to wait on the knoll as arranged. ‘So far’, so good’ thought Art. He was relieved that the bots had handled the long descent and impressed at how silent they moved. He recalled the last op he had been on with the Phantom class of bots and how they proved to be anything but the silent hunters of the forest.
“Ella” hailed Art, “are you right to go?”
“Yes” she replied.
“Dai move out” commanded Art.
Dai stood up, shifting the load on her back. She brought her rifle up to waist height with her right hand on the trigger grip, finger extended on the guard, and her left hand cradling the stock under the barrel. She moved her head till the waypoint icon on her visor was directly ahead. She would follow the pre-set route for two kms. From there on she would keep her eye out for a suitable harbour they could use as a temporary base.
As she started to make way she was appreciative of the lower gravity. Normally with this many demo satchels she would have been straining hard but it felt like an easy walk at the moment anyway.
Dakota too was grateful for the reduction in gravity. She kept just three metres behind Dai. While the thermal vision kit would normally allow her to see quite clearly for a long distance the forest was dense. Undergrowth wasn’t such a problem but there were creepers and vines all over the place looping down between the big trees.
Buster got the hang of ducking as soon as he saw Dakota tilt her head down to the left or right. He was a lot taller and he didn’t want to throttle himself on those vines. Art did likewise and soon they all got into the rhythm of the move.
Chapter 21. Zuon 0500, 28 June
“This should do” advised Dai. “It’s just off to the left about 20 metres. I’ll wait here to guide you in.” Here was about two clicks from the sleth base.
Art was relieved they had finally found a spot to harbour in. “Roger that” he said. He followed Buster until Buster turned left at Dai’s direction.
“Mind your head Sir” warned Dai, pointing to the mass of creepers and vines that hung down just above chest height.
Art had to crouch and slide to shimmy below them. When he righted his posture he could see that Dai had chosen well. It was a low lying area about 50m diameter. The raised edges were formed by the huge root systems of three very large trees. The creepers were so thick they formed a canopy about 2m above the ground.
Dakota had already deployed at the far end. The bipod legs of her quanto rested on one of the huge roots. Buster offloaded his pack and directed each trooper to their assigned spot as they came in.
Ella found Art and sat beside him. Her visor was a little fogged up and she was breathing heavily. ‘I’ve got to get in better nick’ she said to herself.
Buster joined them soon after. He sucked on his water tube. He was quite thirsty. But he knew he had to be disciplined. His supply had to last him another 38 hours.
Art positioned his mobile console in front of him. Ella and Buster did likewise. He brought up the map display, zoomed in so that their team’s icon and the icon for the enemy facility were both in view.
“According to this we’re 2 clicks away from the southern edge of the enemy base” said Art.
“Excuse me Sir” interrupted Akos “sensors deployed.”
“Good man” said Art and Akos shuffled over to his spot. “So let’s have a look at what the recon scan came up with. The data had been automatically uploaded into their consoles once the plan had been selected. So they all had access to the full intel.
Buster was skimming though the visual imaging. “These bloody trees make it hard to see anything other than that central structure” he said.
“It’s definitely the shuttle pad” said Ella “and a big one too.”
Buster switched the console display to the infrared view “Ah…there a lot more buildings under the canopy here, look.” He placed a bookmark on the edge of the buildings in the south. The others accept
ed the invite to view and their screens synced to Buster’s view.
“Yes you’re right” said Art. “They look like they are made out of prefabbed sections just plugged together.”
“And linked in a spider web” said Ella “emanating from this big building in the centre.”
“Could be that these” said Buster pointing to the outer buildings “are the accommodation blocks leaving the space in the big central building for workshops or vehicles and the like.”
“Most probably” said Art. “The real question is where is the cell block.”
“Depends” said Buster “on a ship it is usually away from any accommodation area. But I doubt they’d have it in their main building.”
“We need to setup sensors around the perimeter and see if we can detect her” said Art. “We need three so we can triangulate results. It’s going to be light in less than two hours, so we need to be quick.”
“Three teams then” said Buster.
“Yeah” acknowledged Art. “I’ll take Keto and Roj to the six o’clock position here. Keto and Roj can provide support if we get into any trouble. I will move forward a little and set up the sensor here.”
“You Buster, take Jacinta and set up the 10 o’clock position here” directed Art.
“No worries” confirmed Buster.
“And you want me to take the 2 o’clock position” asked Ella.
“No” answered Art “I want you back here and ready to bring forward the cavalry if we need it. Just make sure those bots don’t shoot us by mistake.”
“They can’t Sir” explained Ella “their protocols won’t allow it.”
“Right” said an unconvinced Art. “Anyway we’ll use Akos and Dai for the 2 o’clock position. That will leave you with Dakota, Jack and the bots. You OK with that Ella?”
“Yes Sir” said Ella “I’m good.”
“OK Buster let’s get ‘em moving” said Art.
Chapter 22. Zuon 0520, 28 June
Art led them out. Time was his enemy. Dawn was imminent. Being on the edge of the temperate zone closest to the equator meant only a short dawn period. They had to be not only setup but have withdrawn by sunup. It wasn’t so much for detection but because of the intense heat generated by the Zuon sun. Art knew that being suited up in the high 40s was not good for one’s health.
So he set off at a good pace only slowing down to duck under the next vine or creeper. The others followed in a single column snaking back through the darkness.
Around twenty minutes later the display built into Art’s visor indicated he was now at the 1km mark from the edge of the facility. Art was surprised that he couldn’t hear anything – no generators humming, no movement, nothing. But then the vegetation was very thick. Still he didn’t like it. Yet he knew he had to press on regardless.
He turned and signalled for Roj to keep coming. “Over there Roj” he hailed. “You and Seto deploy and be ready to provide fire support if needed.”
He directed Buster around to the left and Dai to the right. They each would arc around to their respective positions. He waited a good 5 minutes before moving off to setup his sensor. Now that the area was clear of other friendly moving bodies he could better detect any enemy moving about.
He wasn’t exactly sure how far into the forest anyone from the facility could see. It was pretty thick. He set a marker on his mobile console on his left arm for a point about 300m from the facility edge. His visor now displayed the marker up ahead. As he walked toward it, the marker on his visor got closer to the centre. With normal vision it was drawn as a transparency so he could see through it, especially when his focus was directed further out. With thermals it was a purple coloured circle so it would stand out against the green imaging.
Fifteen minutes passed and he estimated he had another 150m to go. He had slowed down to ensure he didn’t make any noise. He had just raised his right leg high enough to clear a root when he heard something moving ahead. Art gently withdrew his right leg, placing it quietly on the ground. He bought up his rifle and looked through the sight of his rifle, setting the zoom to x4. He scanned to where he thought the sound was coming from. But he couldn’t make out anything.
He ratcheted the zoom out to x8 and scanned again from left to right. There it was – the source of heat. It had stopped now. The indicator on the sight said 160m. There was no way he could get much closer. ‘Here will do then’ he said to himself. He pulled out the sensor pack from the pouch on his belt. He slowly took the orb out of the pack, careful to not make any noise. He pondered whether to mount it on the small tripod in the pack or to affix it to the tree to his right. He opted for the tree.
He took out the backing plate, guided the recesses on the back side of the orb into the grooves on the plate and then extended the belt from the right side of the plate around the nearby branch, bringing it back to the left side of the plate and fastening it via the loop. He hit the activate button on his console and confirmed that it had indeed been activated when the signal strength bar came to life on the display.
He was tempted to wait for the scan to complete a full pass but knew that now was not the time to hang around. He backed out one step at a time for ten paces and then turned and headed back quietly to where Keto and Roj were waiting.
“Keto, Roj I’m coming back now” he hailed quietly.
“Understood” replied Keto.
Art was very glad to be back amongst friends. He sat back against the trunk of a tree, took a swig of water from his drink tube and then a swig of glucose from his food tube. First light would be in less than 30 minutes.
Another fifteen minutes passed. Art checked the time. “Buster, Dai ETA.”
“Ten minutes” said Buster.
Art waited for Dai to respond. After a full minute he asked again “Dai ETA”
“This is Akos. Dai is holed up. Enemy moving nearby.”
‘Blast’ thought Art. He checked his console saw that there were now three sensors activated. So she had obviously completed the deployment.
“Akos, you need to wait till you can extricate safely” said Art “but we need to pull out in ten. Make your way back to the harbour. Confirm.”
“Roger that…RV at harbour” confirmed Akos.
Buster came in earlier than his estimate with Jacinta in tow.
“You lead us back Buster” commanded Art.
Buster nodded and kept moving. The others followed. Art was glad to get out of there. They had only gone a few metres when they all heard the sound of pulse shot whacking into wood. Art turned but couldn’t see anything through the trees. He propped. The others followed suit taking up their allotted arcs to form a defensive position.
“Dai SITREP” demanded Art.
“Enemy contact” reported Dai. Her physical exertion came through clearly in the tone of her voice. “No cas. Must be at least three, maybe four. Patrol most likely. We’re heading due east now. Will circle south once we lose them.
“Dai, don’t come back to the harbour” instructed Art. “Lose them, hide and lie up. Stay in touch.”
“Wilco” said Dai.
“Alright Buster let’s make tracks” commanded Art. “Ella ETA in 20.”
“ETA in 20 Sir. We’ll be waiting” replied Ella.
They followed Buster as he ducked and weaved past the creepers and vines and clambered over root systems. ‘Blast’ thought Art ‘we’ve lost the element of surprise and those bastards will be doing a full scale sweep very soon if they know what they are doing.’
Chapter 23. Zuon 0710, 28 June
Art had only just sat back down inside their harbour. The sun was already blazing. Somehow its rays penetrated through the top canopy and the closer dense mat of creepers and vines. It was like nothing he had seen before. Their lair was like a dark cave into which someone had thrust a series of bright thin blades of light through the roof. They dissected the darkness such that Ella, who was sitting next to him, appeared to be dressed in some weird camouflage pattern.
As soon as the AI had created an entity, it substituted a 3D icon for the spots. So far the only icons displayed were for sleth. Art resisted his rising disappointment. He knew that much of the facility structures would be shielded. So the absence of an immediate human detection did not rule out the possibility that she could be here.
“So we wait, Sir?” asked Ella.
“We wait” confirmed Art.
“Shouldn’t we advise Hermes?” asked Ella. “The relay is up.”
“No. There’s nothing they can do about it short of aborting the mission and we don’t want that do we?”
Ella could see the intent in his eyes as they fiercely bore into her own. She could see that he was determined to proceed. There was a noticeable silence as she assessed whether to challenge him on this.
The tension was broken when Dai hailed “Positive ID on Chalker.”
Art raised his right index finger to Ella, suspending her response. “Where?” is all he asked.
“Second floor of a two storey structure east of the main building” replied Dai. “Registering spot now.”
Art consulted his console and could see the detection recorded. “Are you sure? How did you detect her?”
“We took to the trees to get away from the sleth patrol. You should see our registered position now.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Well we’re about 30m up and Akos found a spot up here where he can eyeball the base. It’s about 1500m away. With his sniper sights he could make her out through a window on the second floor of that building. She was looking straight out. It’s her alright.”
Redemption: Book 2 of Warner's World Page 9