RECCE (The Union Series Book 4)

by Phillip Richards

  I realised that Yulia was talking about the president’s secretive inner circle, and their plan to spoil our operation and ultimately stop the Alliance from returning. The conspiracy to coerce the Militia had sounded virtually unbelievable - until now.

  The sergeant major scowled at her, ignoring the confused glances of the other troopers.

  ‘How do we know it wasn’t you marking positions for the Militia –?’ he asked.

  ‘Why would I do that?’ Yulia retorted, cutting him short.

  There was a moment of silence whilst we considered her reply. The only sound in the tunnel was that of our heavy breathing and the whir of our respirator motors struggling to keep the fog away from our visors.

  She has a point, I thought as my eyes searched hers, what possible advantage could she gain by siding with the Loyalist Militia of all people?

  The Militia were nothing short of a bloodthirsty mob, exercising their lust for death and misery. If they managed to secure Cellini, then they wouldn’t stop at stealing the hidden STORM missiles. They would use whatever weapons they could find beneath the village to extend their war along the border, and they would undoubtedly punish the villagers on their return. Surely Yulia, the woman who had fought to save countless civilians from the slaughter at Dakar, wouldn’t want that?

  I exchanged glances with the sergeant major, and then regarded her again.

  ‘Is it you who attacked the Loyalists when the FEA were trying to take the village?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes. We are trying to help our people capture Cellini. There are many of us here.’

  My mouth worked as I tried to think of what to ask next. I was still unable to believe that she had been in the village all along. Who was she working with, and under whose command?

  ‘Right,’ the sergeant major said, cutting short the discussion. He looked behind him and motioned for his work party, who had been waiting up the tunnel. ‘O’Neil, Dixon, let’s get her out of here. We’re wasting time down here while we should be up on the surface.’

  The two troopers moved up either side of Yulia, and O’Neil grabbed her by the wrist. With her hands bound together by my zip tie, all he had to do was pull her arms backward in the event of her struggling. The pain and the threat of dislocation would be enough to prevent her from fighting with them.

  The sergeant major glanced at me as Yulia was marched away. ‘Calm down, Corporal Moralee. Don’t go running off again. You’re no use to me dead. Understand?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Good.’ His eyes briefly flicked up the tunnel, into the unknown. None of us had any idea where the tunnels beneath Cellini went, or what dangers lurked within them. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

  The sergeant major led us back out of the tunnel, with his men escorting Yulia. I allowed my section to follow on behind in reverse order of march, with Puppy’s fire team behind the sergeant major and mine at the very back, just in case somebody tried to attack from behind.

  We marched at speed, not wanting to waste time underground, but not wanting to break into a trot and create even more noise that would be carried back down the tunnel. It was already pretty obvious to anybody nearby that we were there, but we didn’t want to advertise the fact any more than necessary. I kept no less than a few metres behind Griffiths, constantly spinning around to check that Myers, now the last man, was following behind me.

  I realised as we marched that I desperately wanted to be closer to Yulia. My mind was racing with questions about what she was doing in Cellini, and who she was working with. Was it the small group of FEA soldiers who had rallied around her when she saved innocent lives at Dakar? Where had they obtained all of their equipment from, the FEA? Perhaps they were aware of the conspiracy to hand the missiles across to Helstrom, and had secretly sent Yulia to stop it from happening.

  Just then a message transmitted over the net, sent by Corporal Stanton from somewhere outside the tunnel. It relayed from trooper to trooper in order to negotiate the rocky confines of the tunnel, causing several of them to swear and curse.

  During the short time we had been underground, an FEA company on the north-eastern edge of the village had come under attack. Rather than stand and face the enemy, however, the company had broken from their defensive position and were in full retreat. The Militia had created a gap in the FEA’s defences, and now there was nothing to stop them from pouring into the village.

  There were still civilians on the square when we emerged from the hidden tunnel, except now they were no longer hurrying from the battle - they were running. It was no wonder, because amongst them was the Guard company that was supposed to be helping the FEA in the village, running in a ragged file toward the tunnel. Several of them were pulling prisoners along with them. Hooded and with their hands bound behind their backs, the prisoners struggled to keep up with their captors, tripping and staggering as they were virtually dragged away toward the hill. Presumably it had been they who were fighting the Militia that materialised within the village, but now they had given in and were running for their lives, taking their prisoners with them.

  We watched the retreating company in dismay, unable to understand where they were going. The village wasn’t lost, not yet. It was still heavily defended by the FEA companies - even if their defensive line had been temporarily broken - and it was still overlooked by the defensive positions on Hill Kilo. There was no need for anyone to run away.

  ‘Your mates could probably use your help, right now!’ Myers shouted at the Guardsmen as they continued to run past, headed toward the tunnel entrance further down the street.

  ‘What do they want with all those prisoners, anyway?’ Griffiths grumbled.

  ‘Well, obviously they still think they’re important,’ I said, watching as the Guard company barged their way through the villagers.

  What was wrong with them, I wondered to myself, why were they running without a thought for fighting back?

  Guardsmen had very low moral standards when it came to protecting their population, but they certainly weren’t cowards. I remembered Yulia once chastising me for having withdrawn from an artillery bombardment - just because she thought I was running away from the enemy themselves.

  Whatever the purpose of the Guard company’s withdrawal, it wasn’t simply an act of self-preservation. It was a calculated move, where the needs of the FEA and the people of Cellini had been considered, and then put to one side. What had made them choose to abandon the village?

  I suddenly realised that the sergeant major and his team had moved across to the file of Guardsmen, and were handing Yulia over to one of them.

  ‘Wait!’ I shouted, running toward them just as one of the Guardsmen grasped her by her wrists.

  Yulia struggled against the Guardsman, but to no avail. He simply raised her cuffed arms up behind her back, causing her to gasp in pain, and then drove her forward.

  ‘Andy!’ she cried out, as she was sped away by the retreating company of Guardsmen.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I demanded furiously, as I reached the Sergeant Major.

  The sergeant major regarded me irritably. ‘What does it look like? I’m handing over a prisoner. In case you hadn’t noticed, this entire operation is falling apart! We don’t have the time or the resources to deal with her too. Think about your men, not your pipe!’

  I shook with rage at the suggestion that I was merely trying to protect Yulia for the sake of lust or romance.

  ‘She might have information we can use!’ I countered.

  ‘We don’t have the time to interrogate prisoners –’

  ‘They’ll kill her!’ I interrupted.

  ‘Do you think I don’t know that?’ he snapped. ‘Wake up to the real world, Corporal Moralee! People get slotted all over this godforsaken planet every day - you know that as well as I do! Our priority rests with our men. This mission is already in serious danger of going wrong and we’re all out of options! Now, get back to your section and do your fucking job!’
>
  I seethed as I took one last look at Yulia being marched away.

  ‘Don’t trust the Guard, Andy!’ she shouted after me, just before she left the square. ‘They’ll get you all killed! I know where to find what you’re looking for! There’s –’

  She never finished her sentence. The Guardsman who was escorting her jabbed her in the back, silencing her just before they disappeared into the western street.

  ‘Sir!’ one of the sergeant major’s troopers shouted, pointing up toward Hill Kilo. ‘There are a load of dropships landing on the southern end of the hill!’

  We all looked up. Sure enough, several Guard dropships were swooping in to the hill, disappearing as they came to land somewhere on the summit. There were at least ten of them - enough to lift an entire company.

  ‘All call signs, this is One-Two-Charlie!’ Abs spoke with alarm from his vantage point on the hill. ‘Be aware, the Guard support company appear to be preparing to extract!’

  ‘My God …’ I breathed, as the sergeant major looked to the sky in exasperation.

  ‘One-Zero-Alpha, roger …’ Mr Barkley responded to Corporal Abdi’s message. There was a short pause before he spoke again. ‘All call signs, be aware, in the event of a Guard withdrawal then I assess the threat of a Militia offensive being launched onto the hill as severe. I have therefore called for immediate emergency support from brigade. In the meantime, One-Zero-Bravo, I want you to pull your half of the platoon out of the village. Acknowledge.’

  ‘Shit …’ the sergeant major breathed. ‘Prepare to move!’

  19

  Escape to the Tunnels

  Back to the contents page

  The villager’s reaction to the dropships landing on the hill was virtually instantaneous. They knew what was happening - the force that had rescued them only the day before was now preparing to make their retreat, leaving them at the mercy of a vengeful militia. There was only one place for them to run to - the warren.

  As we ran along the street toward the warren entrance, the FEA finally became overwhelmed by the screaming crowd of civilians, and were forced to step aside as they poured into the building and the tunnel beneath it.

  ‘Shit!’ the sergeant major cursed as we approached the entrance, knowing as we did that the tunnel would be rendered virtually impassable until either the FEA took control of the situation, or the refugees made their escape. The latter was more likely, since the FEA soldiers were making no attempt to stop the crowd from pouring into the tunnel.

  We slowed to a walk once we drew close to the desperate scene, knowing that our withdrawal had been delayed.

  ‘It’ll be chaos in that warren with all them lot running around,’ Puppy warned.

  ‘Hopefully the FEA will get a grip of them,’ I replied. ‘There’s plenty of space for them in the tunnels.’

  ‘One-Zero-Alpha, this is One-Zero-Bravo,’ the sergeant major spoke over the net, ‘the extraction route to your location has been temporarily blocked by refugees. I estimate a delay of fifteen minutes.’

  The reply was instant: ‘One-Zero-Alpha, roger, that’s fine. I don’t want you to attempt to extract over-ground unless absolutely necessary. As you are aware, our Guard support company are extracting - why, I don’t know, but we are taking increasing enemy fire up here in response. I suspect you could take significant casualties if you attempted to climb the hill at this moment in time.’

  I agreed with the platoon commander. I could hear gunfire in all directions now, as if the entire forest surrounding the village was teeming with Militia … it probably was, and the last thing we wanted to do was attempt to climb the steep, rocky eastern slope in clear view of everyone. Fifteen minutes would be enough time to allow the crowd of civilians to subside, enabling us to withdraw through our mapped extraction route through the tunnels. We were at a critical moment where we needed to remain calm. If we lost our nerve then we would quickly succumb to the madness that already reigned across the village.

  ‘I am presently co-located with the Guard headquarters inside the warren,’ Mr Barkley explained. ‘It appears the commanding officer doesn’t understand why part of his battalion are withdrawing, but I think we can assume that the Support Company commander has some connection to this unfolding conspiracy. Either way, the commanding officer’s frankly unsuitable location within the depths of the warren have led to him becoming detached from his battalion, therefore he is unable to do anything to prevent the unscheduled withdrawal.

  ‘There is a great deal of confusion amongst the remaining three rifle companies. One Company, who were in the village, have retreated into the warren, whilst the other two companies are repeatedly asking whether they should be extracting by dropship, having just seen Support Company do so. In summary, the Guard battalion have completely lost all cohesion, so you can all imagine the panic that now reigns across the two FEA battalions, one of which are already embattled across the village.

  ‘I am working with the Guard commanding officer in an attempt to restore some form of grip on the situation, but I am also discreetly in communication with brigade to arrange our own potential withdrawal. We will do as much as we can to help whilst we are here, but I am unwilling to sacrifice our entire platoon for the sake of this operation.’

  ‘This is bad …’ Puppy uttered from the rear of the section.

  The sergeant major stopped as he reached the ruined building that housed the warren entrance.

  ‘Spread your men out into all round defence!’ he said. ‘Corporal Stanton - have your men cover in the direction of the hill. Corporal Moralee - back toward the air factory! Make sure each trooper’s arcs are interlocked!’

  We obeyed, quickly assembling our two sections into a circle that surrounded the building and the press of frightened civilians within it. I had my section spread out, using the rubble and the remaining sandbag walls for cover. We needed to keep the tunnel secure until the civilians had cleared - which hopefully wouldn’t be long.

  The FEA watched us take up our positions around them, evidently relieved that somebody else was present to help them defend the entrance. It was a key objective, and so the attacking Militia would inevitably come to attack it once they broke into the village.

  Once we were finished, Corporal Stanton and I closed in to the sergeant major - who had sited his team within the building, as close to the tunnel entrance as he could manage. The civilians were still pouring into the tunnel, pushing and shoving against each other in their haste to escape the village - but thankfully the flow was already slowing.

  The sergeant major was busy speaking to an FEA NCO who appeared to be in charge of the entrance, and he gestured for us to wait for him to finish.

  I gave Corporal Stanton a small nod as we crouched together amongst the rubble. ‘You OK?’

  The section commander regarded me icily for a moment, but then quickly relented. He had been through too much to bear any more animosity toward me.

  ‘Just about,’ he said woodenly. His eyes barely hid his torment. He still had no idea what had happened to the second missing trooper in his section, Private Butcher, and he had the pained look of a father waiting for bad news in a hospital waiting room. ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’m OK,’ I lied.

  I was deeply troubled too, but not just by the execution of Sanneh and the attack by the Militia. I was worried about Yulia, now held somewhere within the warren as a prisoner of the Guard. My mind raced as I wondered what they might do to her, and my blood boiled at the thought that it would be the fault of the sergeant major. He was only doing his job - I knew that - but why couldn’t he have thought outside the box just for once?

  ‘I’ve just spoken to the FEA soldiers tasked with holding this entrance,’ the sergeant major explained, as he knelt between us, ignoring my accusing stare. ‘They say their comrades within the warren are trying to clear the tunnel by directing the refugees into storage chambers within its depths, therefore it shouldn’t take long before our extraction route become
s passable. There’s no point in us using the tunnel too soon, we’ll only get stuck, and there’s a danger that we might get crushed if the civilians panic.’

  We both nodded, understanding the threat posed by a stampede of terrified refugees in the confines of the warren. Anybody who fell to the ground would surely be trampled to death.

  ‘The other two tunnel entrances are also being held by the FEA,’ he went on, ‘and all three have been rigged with explosives since the warren was captured, so that the FEA can deny access to them if required. Control of those explosives rests solely with the FEA platoons defending the entrances, so nobody else can detonate them remotely. As long as we stay with these guys, then our route out is guaranteed. At least somebody within this gang of incompetents can do something right. If we do come under attack, then we will withdraw into the warren along with the FEA, blow the tunnel, and then make our way to the top of Hill Kilo as planned.’

  We nodded again. There was no real alternative. If we came under attack and tried to make our escape through the village, then we almost certainly wouldn’t survive. Surrender wasn’t even an option.

  ‘Where are the saucers?’ I asked. ‘Surely they should be here by now?’

  ‘You’d think so,’ he replied, making no effort to hide his bitterness. ‘We should be dropping bombs all around this place by now … but of course we won’t … too much politics involved.’

  The sense of isolation was unnerving. It was as though EJOC - even brigade - had simply given up on us. Were they washing their hands of us? Were they really prepared to sacrifice us just to keep their noses clean?

  The sergeant major sensed our unease, and eyed us both sternly. ‘We still have B Company if it all goes wrong. I know their company sergeant major well, and their OC is a good man. He’s the same bloke who commanded B Company when they fought on New Earth.’