Sheridan popped his head inside his command post. “Miss York, send out the runners. Officers call here in five minutes.”
“How did it go, sir?” asked York.
“Hard to tell,” replied Sheridan. “I think it was only a probe. I shot a scout. I suspect that the enemy was just trying to see if we were still here and if we were alert. I think he’s got his answer.”
“Sir, when I could not raise battalion on the radio, as per your orders, I sent Corporal Garcia to find the mortar gun line. Should I send someone to stop her?”
Sheridan looked at his watch. “No. By the time she finds them, I suspect that the first wave of assault troops will be climbing the hill.”
Master Sergeant Cole and Gunny Jones were the first to arrive. Jindal and Staff Sergeant Parsi were next.
“Mister Ford?” Sheridan asked Parsi about his platoon leader
“He’s dead, sir. Shot through the neck”
Sheridan shook his head. Ford had been a young officer with talent. He would be hard to replace. “How did things go, Sergeant?”
“Sir, we killed at least a dozen of them. It’s hard to give an accurate assessment when you can barely see past your hands in this storm.”
“Losses?”
“Mister Ford was our only KIA. I have two Marines with non-life-threatening injuries. All in all we got off pretty good.”
Sheridan looked over at Jindal.
“Sir, I have two dead and three wounded. Lance-Corporal Kelly was shot through the neck. The corpsman does not expect him to live.”
“And the others?”
“They are all right and are still on the line.”
“Okay then, I’ll make this short,” said Sheridan. “That was only a probe. They must have hit the minefield, realized they were too far to the left, and readjusted their advance. After the bloody nose we just gave them, they know we are here. So expect them to come in the hundreds next time.”
“Sir, how can we hit what we cannot see?” said Jindal.
“Have your men fire within their arcs,” pointed out Cole. “We have plenty of ammo. Just make sure that you tell your Marines to fire off short bursts and aim low.”
“Precisely,” added Sheridan.
“Sir, do you want me to take over One Platoon?” asked York.
Sheridan could see in York’s eyes that she wanted to get into the fight. “No. I need you here. Besides if I die, you’re it. Folks, this is about to get bloody. No one is coming to help us. Every Marine must stay where they are and kill as many Kurgans as they can. God willing, we’ll come out of this alive. Dismissed.”
Jindal and Parsi hurried out of the bunker to get back to their platoons before the enemy struck again.
“I’ll join you in a minute,” said Cole to Gunny Jones. He looked over at Sheridan. “How are you doing, sir?”
“I’m as frustrated as Mister Jindal. I wish we could see them coming.”
“Well, like you said, soon they’ll be coming at us so thick we won’t be able to miss.”
Sheridan nodded. “Master Sergeant, are you sure we have enough ammo?”
“Nope. I only received half of what I asked for. I just didn’t want to say so in front of the platoon leaders. They already have enough to worry about.”
Sheridan looked at York. “Patricia, send our runner to battalion headquarters and tell them what we’re about to face and that we need more ammo.”
“Yes, sir,” replied York.
From the back of the bunker, Tammy growled and then barked as if trying to scare off the Kurgans all by herself.
“Time to earn our pay,” said Sheridan, placing his helmet back on his head. He put his goggles over his eyes and pulled up his scarf before stepping back out into the blinding storm.
“Don’t do anything foolish and keep you head down,” said Cole as he walked past Sheridan.
Sheridan was about to say something when he thought he heard a bugle call carried on the wind. He turned his head and listened. For a moment, he thought it was just his imagination, then he heard it again.
A loud cheer erupted from the base of the hill. Sheridan ran over to the nearest parapet, looked down into the blowing sand, flipped off the safety on his rifle, and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 9
Corporal Isabel Garcia had never felt so alone and lost in her life. It was as if she were the only person left on the dry and unforgiving planet. The winds savagely buffeted her sending her staggering from side to side. In the dark, she could barely see where she was going. Garcia knew that the mortar company was located about a kilometer behind their position. She prayed to herself that in the dark she would not walk right past the mortars. In her head, she counted the paces she had walked from the bottom of the hill, hoping that when she hit one thousand that she would be where she wanted to be.
Garcia knew that she had a heavy left foot and tended to veer that way when she walked. However, in the storm, she could not tell if she was going in a straight line at all. In her left hand was a cross given to her by her younger sister when she joined the Marines. She held it tight and pushed on knowing that her friends were counting on her. Although she could not hear any firing, she did not doubt that the Kurgans had returned and that without her help, they would not be able to stop them.
Something in the back of her mind told her to stop and drop to one knee. Garcia brought her rifle up into her shoulder and looked around. She could not see a thing, yet she was certain that she was not alone. She tried to remember the mission brief they had all received concerning the animals found on Illum Prime. The only one she bothered to pay attention to was a nocturnal predator, a giant spider-like creature that lived underground and pulled its prey into its nest to eat at its leisure. She had always hated spiders. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.
Garcia’s pulse began to race. She slowly got to her feet and turned about so she could see behind her. Her mouth became dry with fear when she saw a dark shape hunched down on the sand right behind her. Before she could pull the trigger, the creature leaped up into the air and landed on Garcia, knocking her to the ground. She screamed and let go of her rifle. Garcia panicked as she tried to bring up her hands to grab a hold of whatever it was that had attacked her. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was looking up into the face of a gigantic spider. Its four forward eyes were fixed on her as if it were studying her, trying to decide what to do next. She struggled to get out from underneath the repulsive insect. It was no use; it weighed far more than she did.
A second later, with its mind made up, the spider shot its two fangs down into Garcia. The fangs were as sharp as knives and easily cut through her tactical vest and uniform. However, the instant they reached her liquid body armor, the gel hardened, preventing them from penetrating any deeper.
Garcia moaned in pain. It felt as if someone had just hit her in the chest with a baseball bat. She saw the spider pull its fangs from her chest. It looked confused. It had struck, yet it had not incapacitated its prey. Garcia knew that it would not stop. Not now. It would keep attacking until it could find a weak spot in her armor or struck her face. She hit the spider as hard as she could with her left hand while she reached for her pistol with her right.
The spider got up on its back legs and prepared to strike.
Garcia screamed at her attacker as she pulled her pistol from its holster and fired it point blank into the spider’s abdomen. She did not stop until she had emptied the entire magazine into it.
The spider scurried back a couple of meters and stopped.
Garcia could not believe that the creature was still alive. She hurried to change magazines. Garcia could see the giant arachnid standing there. She brought up her pistol to fire. A second later, the spider staggered to one side and collapsed to the ground. Garcia hurried up to her feet. She was not going to see if the creature was dead. She turned, grabbed her rifle and sprinted off into storm.
Driven by fear, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her
. She was not sure if she was running toward the mortar line or back at the hill. She did not care; she just wanted to get away.
All of a sudden, she felt herself falling through the air. A second later, she hit the ground hard, knocking the air from her lungs. She moaned and rolled over. A shape moved in front of her. She brought up her pistol. If she was going to die, she was going to take as many of those horrid creatures as she could with her.
“Whoa, easy does it,” said a voice with a strong Swedish accent.
“Who are you?” demanded Garcia. Her eyes quickly focused on a man standing over her.
“Corporal Palmfelt,” replied the man.
“There’s a friggin great big spider out there that tried to eat me,” said Garcia.
“Not a surprise. We’ve killed a couple ourselves tonight.” Palmfelt helped Garcia to her feet. She looked around and saw that she was in a large circular hole dug into the ground.
“What were you doing out there all by yourself?” asked Palmfelt.
“That’s not important right now,” replied Garcia. “Who are you guys with?”
“We’re the regimental mortar company.”
Garcia could have jumped for joy. She had found them. She grabbed Palmfelt and pulled him close. “Take me to your company CP.”
“Why?”
“There’s no time to discuss this. Take me there now!”
Chapter 10
Sheridan hurriedly ejected his empty magazine and replaced it. He slapped the magazine home and turned to face down the trench system. Above him, lightning ripped through the storm lighting up everything below it. The scene was right out of hell. There were hundreds of dead and dying Chosen warriors strewn in front of Sheridan’s company. Only a handful had made it inside the trenches, and those that did were quickly dispatched. Sheridan’s throat was parched. He reached behind him and pulled out his canteen. He lowered his scarf a little bit and took a long swig of the lukewarm water. It tasted awful. Someone must have not adequately purified the water before dispatching it to the front lines.
A figure emerged out of the storm. Sheridan recognized the man as Sergeant Brady, one of Jindal’s squad leaders.
“What’s up, Sergeant?” asked Sheridan.
“Sir, Mister Jindal wanted me to pass on that we’ve expended half of our ammunition and suffered two more wounded in the last attack.”
“Are the wounds serious?”
“Yes, sir. Both are head wounds.”
“Make sure to keep them in a safe location until the fight is over.”
“Right, sir. What about the ammo?”
“I’ll see what I can get for you. For now pass on from me that you are to only engage targets you can see. No spec fire!”
“Right, sir,” replied Brady. He turned and jogged back to his platoon.
Sheridan knew that their ammunition would not last the night if the Kurgans kept on pressing their attacks. They had already gone through their last resupply. He walked back to the command post and stuck his head inside. “Corporal Roberts, leave Tammy here and make your way down the line to battalion headquarters and see if they can spare some more small arms ammunition. Let them know that without it, we won’t be able to hold the Kurgans back for much longer.”
Roberts patted Tammy on the head before throwing on his helmet. He made his way outside and began to walk down the line. He was soon lost from sight.
“Sir, is it that bad out there?” asked York.
Sheridan nodded. “One more good push by the Kurgs and we’ll be using our bayonets to keep them away.”
The sound of bugles in the dark heralded another attack was about to begin. Sheridan was about to leave when he looked over at the three Marines sitting in the CP waiting to act as runners. “You three are with me,” said Sheridan firmly.
Outside, the men moved over to Sheridan.
“Okay, listen up, we’re going to move a bit down the line so we’re roughly halfway down the line. Be prepared to find and then lead Master Sergeant Cole back to your platoon locations.”
A second later, lightning lit up the sky above them. Sheridan edged forward to the lip of the trench and looked out. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that the hill seemed to be moving. It took him a moment to realize that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. The hill was covered with Chosen warriors climbing over the mounds of their dead comrades. He brought up his rifle and fired off a long burst into a Kurgan officer. He did not see him fall as the lightning ceased and the world turned dark once more.
“On me!” yelled Sheridan.
The three Marines ran to his side.
“Short, controlled bursts. Don’t get fancy, just aim for the middle of your target and pull the trigger,” said Sheridan.
With a blood-curdling scream, a Chosen warrior ran out of the storm holding a Kurgan banner above his head. Sheridan dropped the man. Within seconds, the whole line erupted in gunfire as Chosen soldiers rushed forward trying to overwhelm the defenders. Sheridan could not believe what he was seeing. Most of the Chosen did not even try to fire, they just kept running forward until brought down by a Marine.
A man standing next to Sheridan ran out of ammo and went to change his magazine. In the brief couple of seconds that he was not firing, a Chosen warrior jumped down into the trench. The warrior did not have a weapon in his hands. Instead, he had explosives strapped to his chest. With a cry to god on his lips, the warrior pressed a switch in his hand. In the blink of an eye, he blew himself to pieces. Small fragments of metal flew straight into the two nearest Marines, killing them. Sheridan was knocked off his feet by the blast. The only person still standing was the third Marine, who had been far enough away to survive the explosion.
Sheridan’s head felt as if it has been kicked by an angry mule. He was sure that he was now deaf in his right ear. His vision blurred for a moment. Sheridan fought to not pass out. Beside him, the young Marine shot a warrior as he jumped down into the trench. Sheridan reached for his rifle but could not see it anywhere. He drew his pistol and tried to stand.
“Sir, are you all right?” asked the Marine, helping Sheridan to his feet.
Sheridan nodded. “Find Master Sergeant Cole and tell him that the center of the position has been compromised. He is to come at once.”
The man hesitated, not wanting to leave Sheridan by himself.
“Now, Marine!”
The Marine turned and ran for help. Sheridan placed his back against the wall and brought up his pistol. Out of the dark ran a warrior. Sheridan fired twice, sending the dead Chosen tumbling to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another shape run out of the storm. Sheridan turned to fire.
“No, wait. It’s me!” hollered York.
“I told you to look after the command post.”
York said, “Sir, the radios don’t work and there are Chosen all over the place. I can die out here just as well as I can in there.”
Sheridan had to admire her spirit. “Okay then, I guess it’s time to sell our lives.”
They stood side by side and aimed down the trench line. Both were determined to kill as many Kurgans as they could before they fell in battle.
Master Sergeant Cole had just about expended his patience. There was a fight to the death going on barely fifty meters away, and he had been told to keep out of it. He clenched his rifle tight in his gloved hands. He had never disobeyed an order in his life, but now he was willing to risk a court-martial.
“Master Sergeant,” called out a Marine.
Cole turned and walked over to the man. “Master Sergeant, Captain Sheridan wants you to come at once. The center has broken.”
Cole reached over and grabbed Gunny Jones by the arm. He pulled him in close. “Gunny, we’ve been ordered forward. I’ll take the first two squads with me and push to the left. You take the last two and push to the right. Don’t stop until you’ve thrown those Chosen sons of bitches out of our position.”
“Got it,” replied Jones.
Cole pushed his way to the front of the Marines waiting to get into the fight. He quickly found the two squad leaders. “Let’s go!”
“Corporal Garcia, I can’t fire the mortars in these conditions,” protested Captain Logo, the company commander.
“Sir, Alpha Company will be overrun by Kurgan soldiers if you don’t help them,” pleaded Garcia.
“Corporal, please understand that without a qualified forward observer to adjust the mortar fire, we could accidently drop short and land our bombs inside your company position.”
“Sir, I’m certain that if Captain Sheridan was here, he’d tell you to fire anyway.”
“Corporal, I’m telling you that it can’t be done.”
Garcia ground her teeth in frustration.
“I’m sorry, Corporal, you’ll just have to head back and explain to your officer that his request is unreasonable.”
“Unreasonable!” blurted out Garcia. “Sir, you’re the one who is being unreasonable. My friends are dying up there.”
“Watch your tone, Marine. You’re speaking to a superior officer.”
“A superior ass more like it!”
“Sergeant, have this Marine arrested and escorted back to the MPs.”
“Yes, sir,” said a broad-shouldered sergeant as he reached over and grabbed hold of Garcia by the arm.
The door to the mortar CP opened. A dust-covered Sergeant Major Roca stepped inside. He looked at Garcia and then over at the captain. “Sir, Major Niru demands that you provide fire support to his battalion.” He handed Captain Logo a note. “Sir, this order was signed by both my commanding officer and the regimental commander.”
“But, Sergeant Major, this is an unrealistic expectation.”
Colossus (The Kurgan War Book 2) Page 5