“Shall I leave?” Spooks asked, standing at the entrance to the door. A dark shadow eclipsed half his face due to the low lighting in the large room we stood in. The man with the warm smile behind the table nodded and Spooks gave me a look before leaving us to face whatever this was alone. At least I had Pea Shooter though. Even though I hadn’t known the man for long, I still felt comfortable around him, so there was that at least.
There were many faces staring at both Pea Shooter and I, but only one of those faces talked. And it was the same face that smiled, so I figured that this guy was the top guy, seeing that he was seated in the middle of the table, whilst the others were sat beside him, going down the width of the large holographic table from left to right. On the table, holograms of the battlefield on the planet below shone up. The battlefield had two different colour sectors on it. One was red, whilst the other was white. On quick inspection, I noticed that the white part of the hologram belonged to the areas we’d just cleared. So the red was most likely what we had left to neutralize. And unfortunately for us, there was a whole lot more red than there was white.
“I will address the both of you at the same time,” the man said, clearing his throat and turning the holograms off, as to not distract us I guess, or he just didn’t want us seeing what was in store for us.
Both reasons made sense, but I thought there was a third reason, and that was morale. Nobody wants to realize that all the pain and suffering they’d gone through was just the beginning and there was a lot more in store, which I thought was why he’d been so quick to turn it off. That, or I was already overanalysing this, which was bad. Indecisiveness is seen as weakness in my walk of life. The Marine Core doesn’t tolerate weakness.
“You have done your planet proud. The two of you have shown great bravery, and your squad leader has suggested that he will need the two of you in a more permanent position, a position that will bring with it great responsibility and a nice pay rise,” the man said, staring blankly at us, as if he was reading from a script.
I’d imagine that this wasn’t the first time he’d said these words. But then again, does everybody that gets a promotion visit the brass? I thought that sort of thing was left to the troop leaders to dish out.
“But obviously with great responsibility comes great danger. The two of you will be put front and centre on the battlefield. You’ll be tasked with spearheading your squad into the enemy’s base of operations, so you can imagine that the new-found responsibilities that you have will also incur great penalties if you don’t take them seriously. And the greatest penalty of all is death. I hope the two of you know that your failures on the battlefield could and will result in the death of your men, so please take this as seriously as we do. A promotion isn’t just a nice shiny medal on your chest, nor is it a chance to gloat, it is a by-product of your bravery on the field, and it is a reaction to your efforts in the good fight. So please, gentleman, bask in your new rank for a few minutes, and then focus on your duties, because your career in the Marines can be long or short based on how you conduct yourself.”
I stood there, blinking. It was a little bit of a shock to me. I hadn’t been a day out of boot camp and I’d already got a commendation, but then again, maybe what this guy was saying was true, maybe if I thought about it too much, then I’d risk losing my head and messing this whole thing up. I didn’t want to be the one to go around gloating to my colleagues about how awesome I was, but I had a feeling that Pea Shooter felt differently. Especially since he hadn’t wiped the smile off his face since hearing the news that he was being bumped up.
“Good, that should have been a sufficient amount of time to soak it in. So there you have it gentleman, you’re now officially part of the Elite. Most men don’t make it off the battlefield, so the fact that you have, and managed to be as affective as you’ve been, just shows how much of a fit you are for this job,” the man said, the others around him not saying a single word.
All they did was stare and blink, much like me. But they weren’t staring at me, they were staring through me. I didn’t know if it was a form of intimidation, but I did know that if it was, it was working.
“Any questions?” the man asked.
Without a single second of hesitation, Pea Shooter jumped at the chance of asking a question.
“What’s my rank?” he said, still smiling, which in my opinion made the man look a little gormless, but seeing that we were being addressed by a smiler as well, I didn’t think it would affect his standing too badly.
“Oh, I do apologize! I almost forgot to tell you your new assigned ranks. So I’ll start with you, Mr….” the guy looked down at the table and read something off a tablet and looked back up, smiling at Pea Shooter. “Mr. Peters,” he said, nodding. “Well, Mr. Peters, I see that you were a rescue pilot before, but your courage in the face of adversity has shown us that you would be best suited for a role in the infantry division of our Core. So we are bumping you up to First Battalion Infantry Man. Your basic training will cover you for now, but once you’re on leave, I suggest you take a refresher to get you to the standards that we expect,” the guy said.
Pea Shooter nodded. But his face was no longer sporting his usual goofy smile. His skin had gone pale, as if the realization that he’d be on the field with us had just hit him. I guess he liked being away from the frontline, but now, now he had no choice but to embrace the absolute carnage that was fighting aliens from outer space!
“As for you Jensen, you’re being placed in the Scout Division, meaning that you’ll be on RECON. Your current fighting skills were paramount in deciding where to put you and I trust that you are confident with a rifle?” the guy asked.
I nodded, refraining from being too talkative. I wanted to come across as reserved and thoughtful, not excitable and chatty like my fellow compadre next to me.
“Good. I thank the both of you for turning up to this meeting, I know a lot of your squad were drinking last night. And I hope that you aren’t too hung-over today. We’ll be shipping out soon, and you’re going to need your wits about you. The next mission will differ greatly from your previous mission. This mission will see you fighting in an urban area, one that’s quite densely built, so there will most likely be opportunities to engage the enemy in close quarters combat. I hope that the two of you are prepared for such an occasion,” the man said.
I nodded, and so did Pea Shooter, the colour slowly coming back to his cheeks.
“Good. Dismissed,” the man said, the others nodding at us.
We both turned around and made our way to the door, a faceless guard opening it for us. Without looking back, we both walked out of the room. Somebody was waiting for us on the other side. It was a woman operative. She was dressed in combat gear and was holding something in her hands. Without even saying as much as a hello, she grabbed my arm and pinned a service medal onto my shoulder. She did the same to Pea Shooter and walked off. I watched as she disappeared down the corridor, finally turning to Pea Shooter once the door behind us was firmly shut.
“That was strange,” I said, looking at my shoulder and then at his.
“Yeah, you’re telling me! Now I’m stuck with you Jar Heads forever,” he said, brushing the smallest speck of dust off his new shiny medal.
“Well, forever is a bit of a stretch. Who’s to say that the both of us don’t get creamed out there today? You never know,” I said, smiling at him.
“Creamed? Wow, thanks for that Jensen. You sure know how to suck the wind out of a promotion,” he said, his face going white again. I started to laugh and punched him on the shoulder, the one that didn’t have a medal on.
“Relax, I’m just kidding. Besides, with me scouting these reptiles out from afar, who knows if they’ll even have a chance to fight back? I’m quite handy with a rifle,” I said.
He snorted at me.
“Modest, I see. Good to know someone so level-headed has my back,” he said, cracking a smile.
Before I could punch him on the
arm again, Spooks was tapping me on the shoulder. It made me jump, which in turn, made Pea Shooter laugh.
“God, you scared me, Sir!” I said, wiping a morsel of sweat off my brow. It was mighty hot in the corridor. That, or I was still feeling the pressure from standing in that room and being stared at by a bunch of people.
“Congrats on the medals and promotion. But we haven’t got time to celebrate, I’m afraid. Command just informed me that we’re heading back in ten. So if I was you two, I’d get my asses in gear and get changed. You wouldn’t want to be left behind now, would you?” Spooks said.
“If it means not dying, then why not?” Pea Shooter said, smiling.
I rolled my eyes.
“Nice to see that you’re confident in your new role, Pea Shooter,” I said.
“As confident as you can be,” he replied.
Spooks nodded.
“Good. Let’s get a move on then. I’ve put your new rifle beside your bunk, Jensen. It will technically be your secondary, so remember to bring your railgun as well. As for you Peters, your gun will be given to you before we land.”
We both blinked.
“Well, don’t just stand there!” Spooks said, pushing the two of us.
We picked up the pace and headed toward the dorm. Before I knew it, I was back in my combat gear. I strapped my new rifle to my back, grabbed some ammo from the ammo crate that was located just outside the room, and loaded my weapon. As I did so, I saw hundreds of Marines run past me in the corridor, making their way toward the troop carrier.
Minutes later, both me and Pea Shooter were on board the carrier waiting to disembark the station and get back into the action. All I could think about was how fast things were moving. One minute I’d been a recruit, and now I was a specialist. Who knew what lay ahead of me?
But I wasn’t about to get my hopes up. I’d gotten lucky so far. And luck was a commodity that was as rare as gold dust. I couldn’t be lucky forever. Soon, my luck would run out, but the question was when…
Chapter Ten
The red zone
The troop carrier rattled and shook as we landed back on the Tribeca planet. The landing was a little hard and felt as if the ship was tilted slightly to the left as it touched the ground. I got up cautiously, my railgun in my hands, the sniper rifle holstered on a strap on my back. Next to me, Pea Shooter struggled for air. His breathing was sharp and shallow. I turned to him, the doors in front of me opening, light pouring in and smiled.
“It will be alright mate. We’ll get through this one just as easy,” I said, trying to reassure him before I walked through the door, setting foot on the foreign ground beneath me.
“Yeah, as easy as last time,” I heard him mumble, catching up to me. The others on board the ship followed us for a few yards before we reached a squad leader and his crew. After a few seconds, the lot of us were reunited and watched as the ship shot off into the sky.
I gave my surroundings a quick once over and was surprised to see just how dense the buildings were in this city. The buildings looked a lot different than the ones on Earth but I could still see some similarities to our own. We were standing in some sort of square. The ground beneath us was concrete, mixed with a few soft pieces of land where trees stood tall and firm, even in the slight breeze that was beating against us. Next to the square, around it, forming a perimeter, were multiple high-rise buildings.
They seemed to stretch on for miles. Some of the tallest buildings I’d ever seen, that was for sure. But buildings this high meant that they were a great spot for snipers to reign down some hellfire on us. I found myself looking up at the perimeter that cocooned us like a concrete prison and sighed.
“This isn’t the best of places to land and drop off troops,” I said, looking at the other men around me.
We were still mixed in with the other squad, but they weren’t paying much attention to us. They seemed to be looking at battle-maps on their PDA’s. I stared at their squad leader and got lost in the movement of the guy’s mouth as he gave his orders to his men. Suddenly, the sound of Spooks snapped me out of my daze.
“Welcome back to the party everybody. I hope that you are all well-rested, and feeling rejuvenated, because this little mission here is going to suck worse than the last. Might as well be honest with you gents, this isn’t going to be a walk in the park I’m afraid. These pirate bastards have infiltrated the natives stronghold, their city, and are attempting to pillage all the buildings in the financial district. Our job is to make sure they don’t get off this planet, and return the monetary goods back to our chums. So no Freddy Five Fingers around here, got it?”
We all said Yes sir in unison. Spooks grunted and then continued.
“I’m expecting big things from you guys. But just know this; I wouldn’t ask anything of you guys if I wouldn’t be willing to do the same,” Spooks said.
Pea Shooter immediately put his hand up, as if he was at school. Spooks rolled his eyes and nodded.
“Yeah Peters?” he asked.
“Sir, was just wondering if you’d be willing to jump on a grenade for us, that’s all. I see it in movies all the time, where the Sargent or platoon leader saves all his men from certain death. If you ask me, I think it’s quite romantic…well, you know…”
“Well, I wasn’t asking you, Peters, so wipe that smug look off your face, fall in line and get ready to move out on my command. As for jumping on grenades, I don’t think that would help anybody,” he said, half-smiling.
The rest of us concurred with our own smiles and Spooks got us in position to move out. The square we were standing in was still giving me the willies. I kept finding myself staring up at the high-rises around me as if they were concealing a deadly ambush. Spooks spotted me staring and approached while the others made sure they had everything they needed to get this thing going.
“What seems to be the problem, Scout Jensen?” he said, smiling.
I’d seemed to hit it off with the man, which was great and all, but I was still far too green to be able to shoot the breeze on the battlefield. It was something I’d seen other men do whilst on tour. They’d be able to crack jokes and have a good time, me on the other hand, I was still shitting myself every other second.
“Nothings a matter sir, just admiring the scenery,” I said.
Spooks nodded.
“Good. Don’t let these stern faces fool you, son, we’re all bricking it. It’s only natural. Things can get mighty tough out here, and the last thing you want to be is over-confident, so don’t get yourself down about feeling the pressure. We all feel it. On occasion it comes down hard, while other times, it creeps up on you like an ex-girlfriend at a party, but believe me, it’s always there. You’ll get used to it,” he said, patting me on the shoulder and turning back around.
“Alright ladies, let’s hustle,” he said.
“Thanks, I guess,” I muttered, watching the men in my platoon put their serious faces on.
There was no more joking around. This was it, I could feel it. And it didn’t help that the platoon beside us, the one that had ignored us until now was looking worried. Either this was their first time or something bad was on the horizon. Their squad leader hadn’t gotten off his Sat Phone since we’d landed and I was beginning to think that there was bad news on the other end.
“My first tour holding a gun,” Pea Shooter said, walking up to me and making mock gunfire sounds with his mouth while mimicking the act of spraying us all down around him with his arms, shaking them whilst he held the deadly weapon.
“Yeah, don’t go blowing your load too fast Peters, we don’t want a premature bullet projector on our hands,” Spooks said.
“No, Sir, we don’t,” Pea Shooter replied, giving me a weird look. When Spooks was out of earshot, Pea Shooter frowned.
“Bullet projector?” he sniffed.
“I think he was trying to be funny. Projector, ejaculator, you get it,” I said.
But he didn’t get it. He just stood there for a
while, confusion drowning out the expression on his face.
“Oh well, one thing I am sure of though is that I’m going to kick some major reptile ass!” Pea Shooter said, the confusion on his mug being replaced with child-like excitement.
“Let’s hope, or you won’t be much use out here,” I said.
I was just about to ask why we weren’t moving when I spotted Spooks talking to the other platoon leader beside us. The guy was finally off his phone and seemed to be relaying some information to Spooks.
“Shit, doesn’t look good! You seen their faces, they look more frightened than a deer in some bright-ass headlights,” Pea Shooter said.
I nodded, gripping my railgun tightly. I looked back up at the high-rises around us, and then at the lonesome pathway in front of us, a pathway that was paved with cracked stones, a pathway that I thought we’d be walking down by now. We’d been briefed that we’d be taking that pathway toward the city centre, which was only a few miles away. In essence, all the fighting was taking place there, so we were likely to encounter low resistance on the way. But if my gut was right, I had a feeling that the plan had changed, and now something worse was in store for us. I guess on the battlefield it always does a soldier well to be prepared for the worst. I know that I expect nothing less.
“Shit, here he comes,” Pea Shooter said when he noticed that Spooks had stopped talking to the other officer and was now walking back toward the group, who were all on a knife's edge waiting to hear what the news was.
“Okay guys, a change of plans,” Spooks said.
“I knew it,” Pea Shooter whispered.
“There’s been a defensive breach on the west side of the city limits, meaning that we have company coming our way. Apparently, one of our men had forgotten to rig the city walls up with explosives, and some of the pirates were able to blast their way through our defences, and escape. Unfortunately, they are heading this way. Command thinks that there’s an incoming pirate ship about to land on our position to take whatever loot they’ve caught. So now our mission is to set up an ambush, take them out, wait for the airship and blast it out of orbit. Then we can be on our way,” Spooks said.
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