RECCE II (The Union Series Book 5)

by Phillip Richards

  ‘He doesn’t think you can help us find the missiles,’ I admitted with a sigh. ‘He’s only interested in finding our platoon commander and getting out of the warren.’

  Yulia proffered a hand to me and I took it, helping to lift her back to her feet. She looked around the chamber, seeing where she had been held captive for the first time. I doubted she could see much, though, since her civilian respirator didn’t come with the same image enhancing technology that our visors provided. The only light came from the small flickering fires that burned in the command chamber, and the intermittent flashing of FEA torches.

  ‘Your platoon commander is not here,’ she told me.

  I frowned, suspicious of the certainty in her voice. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Bhasin wouldn’t leave him here,’ she said. ‘A Union trooper would be useful to him . . . and an officer would be more useful still. Your platoon commander must have information that could help their cause . . .’

  ‘Handing the missiles over to the Militia,’ I finished.

  ‘To Helstrom,’ she corrected. ‘But that . . .’ She swept her arms across the chamber, as if encompassing the entire battlefield around us ‘. . . this . . . is only part of their plan.’

  I decided to test her knowledge. ‘Well, what’s the next part?’

  ‘We aren’t sure. They must use the missiles to anger the Russians somehow. This is the only way to prevent the pact being formed between the Union and the Alliance, because the Union will never ally with the Alliance if they will upset their greater ally - the Russians.’

  My mouth worked, but no words came out as I struggled to think of what to ask her next. Clearly she knew about the planned annexation of her province, but how? Who was providing her with information? Who had sent her and her men into Cellini to stop Bhasin and his company of rogue Guardsmen? My mind was awash with questions, but I knew that I needed to focus my questioning onto the immediate situation. Our platoon commander was still missing, and the Militia were still threatening to overrun the FEA if they didn’t manage to fix the warren network.

  ‘Did you see what they did to the Guard Commanding Officer?’ I asked, changing the subject.

  The entire Guard headquarters had been in the command chamber, controlling the battle from the heart of the warren. If their commanding officer could be found and communications restored, then perhaps he could take the reins and lead his countrymen once more. More importantly, fixing the network would allow us to communicate with B Company on the surface. As it stood, we were working on a deadline. Their OC had given us only three hours to return to the surface, and that time was swiftly running out.

  Yulia shook her head. ‘I never saw the commanding officer, or any of the original Guard commanders. We were hooded from the beginning and taken straight into this chamber. There was much shouting, and gunfire.’ She nodded toward the bodies. ‘Perhaps he is there . . .’

  I followed her gaze to the sorry heap of human remains. There were many Guard uniforms amongst the murdered hostages. If the intention of the rogue Guardsmen was to break unit cohesion and allow the Militia to re-take Cellini, then killing the commanding officer and his staff would be the simplest way to achieve that effect.

  My eyes hung over the bodies for a moment, and then I breathed an exasperated sigh. ‘This is madness! The Militia are out there, and you lot are all busy fighting yourselves.’

  Yulia stared silently back at me.

  I realised that I had probably touched a nerve, and relented. ‘Sorry,’ I said, quickly.

  ‘You do not need to apologise,’ she replied with a hint of sadness in her voice. ‘You are right. There is a poison within the Guard now. I am angry that that it has taken me so long to see it.’

  The cries of pain intensified suddenly, sending a chill down my spine.

  ‘Jesus Christ . . .’ Myers exclaimed, staring back out into the command chamber. ‘What the hell are the FEA doing to them lot?’

  ‘The traitors are getting what they deserve,’ Yulia told him harshly. ‘They have done more harm to our people than the Loyalists ever could. Do not spare them your pity.’

  ‘You lot are all fucking animals,’ the young trooper uttered under his breath.

  Ignoring his comment, I turned back to Yulia. ‘How do you know Bhasin was here, anyway, if you were hooded all the time?’

  ‘I heard him,’ she answered. ‘I have worked with him before. I would know his voice anywhere.’

  I considered her response. It made sense, since the first time I met her she was indeed working close to Bhasin - presumably under his command. ‘So . . . he survived Dakar.’

  She nodded. ‘He was in charge of the company you directed artillery onto, but he did not die with his men.’

  My jaw tightened. It wasn’t that surprising that Bhasin had survived the bombardment I had called in at Dakar. I had called the fire mission onto the Guard’s frontline soldiers, with the railgun shells landing only a few hundred metres from our own position. Bhasin wasn’t keen on getting too close to the fighting, he liked to command from the rear, like a puppet master pulling strings whilst hiding in the shadows.

  ‘Is he in charge of these rogue Guardsmen, or is there somebody above him giving the orders?’

  Yulia shrugged. ‘I think that he is in command. I only heard his voice for a few seconds, but he was speaking like he was controlling the others. Somebody called him “Colonel”.’

  ‘Colonel?’ I repeated disbelievingly.

  ‘He has been promoted.’

  ‘For what?’ I blurted. I could think of nobody less deserving of a promotion. I had only ever spoken to Bhasin briefly, but I had learnt to hate him more than I had hated anybody in my life. He embodied everything that was wrong with the people in power across the Bosque, a cold-blooded fascist who cared nothing for the people that suffered at his hands.

  ‘The president must have promoted him for Dakar,’ Yulia said, almost ashamedly.

  I shook my head, disgusted. Bhasin was a murderer who had waited with his army of zombies until Dakar had been captured, before turning them against his own people. What kind of man could reward somebody for killing innocent civilians?

  Another long, shrill wail echoed through the warren, cutting through my soul like a knife, and causing me to judder. Even though the rogue Guardsmen were twisted, monstrous people, the sound of their torment was almost too much to bear.

  Yulia looked through the chamber entrance, toward the source of the screaming. ‘What are the FEA trying to do?’

  I explained how the seizure of the underground headquarters had successfully caused chaos amongst the two battalions of FEA and single Guard battalion defending Hill Kilo, and how the FEA were trying to restore the communication network so that they could fight back against the Militia.

  ‘Bhasin and Helstrom are using the Militia as a veil to distract you,’ Yulia said. ‘They are hiding the extraction of the missiles. It is unlikely the Militia will attempt to capture the warren itself.’

  ‘They tried . . .’ I said. Several of our troopers had been injured attempting to stop the Militia from taking control of Hill Kilo, and my section had fought a bitter battle to push them out of the upper warren tunnels.

  ‘Only to stop the FEA regrouping,’ she argued. ‘They have drawn all our eyes away from the tunnels at the bottom of the warren, which is where Bhasin and his men are escaping, along with your friends.’

  I raised an eyebrow. ‘There’s a way out from the bottom of the warren?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Come on,’ I said, placing a hand on her shoulder to guide her through the dark. ‘We need to talk to the sergeant major, before it’s too late . . .’

  We found the sergeant major and his signaller waiting outside the storage chamber where the prisoners were being tortured, like relatives waiting outside some hellish operating theatre from the dark ages. He didn’t even flinch as desperate voices pleaded and begged for mercy somewhere behind him, but as I shared
Yulia’s information, his face contorted into a cynical scowl.

  ‘So what exactly do you propose we do, Corporal Moralee?’ he asked scornfully. ‘Shall we take the platoon right to the bottom of the warren, with no comms or support, all on the hunch of some woman we barely know?’ He nodded toward Yulia, who I had left with Myers in the middle of the command chamber. ‘We have no idea who she works for, or what she’s capable of.’

  ‘If she’s right, we don’t have long before Bhasin gets away,’ I warned.

  ‘If she’s wrong,’ he countered, ‘we’ll risk the lives of all our men for nothing. Are you willing to put these troopers’ lives on the table?’

  I swept my arm across the chamber, taking in the troopers scattered amongst the wrecked computer equipment. ‘Don’t you think they would want to know you would come for them if they were captured?’

  His eyes blazed. ‘I will, so long as I don’t end up condemning the rest of the platoon in the process. I’m not happy trusting this woman until–’

  I cut in. ‘I wouldn’t be either, if I was the one who’d condemned her to death . . .’

  He exploded, causing his signaller to jump as he swung his rifle to his side and stepped toward me with fists clenched. ‘Who the hell do you think you are, you little shit?’

  ‘Who am I?’ I pointed at Yulia. ‘I’m the only one here with a solution to finding the boss, and the missiles! You may not trust her, but I do!’

  ‘What part of you trusts her? Your head, or your pipe?’ the sergeant major spat. ‘You dare gob off at me again, Moralee, and I will burst your fucking bubble - do you understand me?’

  The commotion of the chamber seemed to freeze for a moment as everyone stopped to witness our standoff. Even the screaming of the tortured Guardsmen seemed to subside for a moment. The sergeant major’s eyes burned into mine with furious intensity.

  ‘Listen, Moralee,’ he said suddenly, his voice lowering. ‘I want to find our boss as much as you do. If the FEA manage to get the comms network going, and we can use it to speak with B Company on the surface, then I will consider all options, but I will not take this platoon deeper underground until I have comms. That’s final. Now get out of my face. Go chat with this woman and see what else she knows.’

  I seethed as I spun on my heel and made my way back to Yulia. Whether I liked it or not, the sergeant major was in charge and his response to the situation was entirely logical - even though I believed it to be wrong. I had no doubt that our captured comrades were already on their way out of the warren, and our delaying would almost certainly seal their fate. My inability to help them infuriated me, like a man with his arms tied behind his back, but I knew that I had no choice but to obey the sergeant major’s instructions. Now wasn’t the time for another lone attempt at taking on Bhasin and his men. My own men still needed me.

  ‘So that’s a no, then?’ Myers asked as I neared him.

  Before I opened my mouth to speak, Puppy signalled to me with a wave of his arm from the far side of the command chamber. I changed direction toward my second in command, and as I approached I saw that an injured man lay at his feet, being tended to by Wildgoose and Leaman. They must have found him whilst searching the chambers for the boss.

  ‘We found this guy amongst a load of bodies,’ Puppy said. ‘It looks as though the rogue Guardsmen were going through their prisoners one by one, trying to get information.’

  I crouched next to the man, studying him whilst Wildgoose swept a torch over his body. He was dressed in a civilian jumpsuit similar to that which Yulia wore. He was covered in blood, and by the twisted expression on his face I could see he was clearly in a lot of pain. His chest rose and fell in small, rapid gasps, as if he couldn’t take a full lung of air. Wildgoose had opened his jumpsuit to expose his chest and stomach, and was busy inspecting the dark bruises that covered him.

  ‘How is he?’ I asked.

  Wildgoose sat back on his haunches. ‘He's seen better days,’ he replied with dark sarcasm. ‘They must have beaten seven bells out of him. He's probably broken a couple of ribs, and by the colour of his abdomen I would say he’s suffering from some major internal bleeding.’

  ‘Can you help him?’

  The sniper puffed his cheeks as he tried to contemplate a way of saving the man, then shook his head. ‘Even if I had the time - which I presume I don’t - no. Gunshot wounds and stab wounds are one thing, but this is something else. A trooper’s combats have sensors that give me casualty info through their datapads, but with this guy I wouldn’t even know where to start. There are no fancy scanners out here. He probably needs opening up in an operating theatre.’

  I stared down at the man for a moment. He was in a sorry state, eyelids flickering and chest almost in spasm as he tried to breathe. ‘All for information . . .’ I said thoughtfully. ‘What was it that Bhasin wanted to know so badly?’

  As if on cue, Yulia appeared, causing me to look up in surprise as she knelt next to the man’s head. My eyes flicked to Myers, who had apparently allowed her to follow me without bothering to check if it was OK first. The young trooper simply shrugged.

  ‘His name was Ramos,’ Yulia told us. ‘He was one of my men.’

  ‘He’s not dead yet . . .’ Wildgoose pointed out testily. Like the sergeant major, he clearly didn’t trust her either. I doubted he was the only one.

  ‘He will be dead soon. You know this.’ Yulia’s eyes remained fixed onto Ramos as she spoke. ‘He knew the route we took into the warren, as well as where our men are located. This is what Bhasin wanted to know, and this is why Ramos was tortured. Bhasin was never worried about finding the missiles, he knew where they were. He was worried about getting them out.’

  Puppy cocked his head inquisitively. ‘Well . . . how did you get into the warren, then?’

  She looked up from her battered comrade. ‘The sewers.’

  We all exchanged glances, and I frowned at her. ‘Sewers?’

  ‘Drainage that leads out of the warren,’ she explained. ‘It connects to an underground reservoir used by the air factory. There is a pipeline connected to that, which leads out of the village and back into the Bosque.’

  ‘Told you, didn’t I?’ Myers blurted, holding him arms out triumphantly. ‘You could get straight in using the pipeline all along!’

  ‘It isn’t an easy way to enter the warren,’ Yulia cautioned. ‘You would need certain equipment.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Floatation devices. Waterproofing. The water is very, very cold.’

  Myers shrugged. ‘Well. Still . . . I said it was a good idea.’

  ‘Could Bhasin use your route to escape from the warren?’ I asked Yulia.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied instantly.

  ‘Well let’s go, then!’ Wildgoose said.

  I shook my head. ‘We can’t do anything until the FEA get the comms network up and running. If they don’t, then we’ll be on our way back to the surface . . .’

  ‘And leave the boss to die . . .?’ Puppy asked.

  ‘Yeah. I tried to argue with the sergeant major, but . . .’

  He gave a thin smile. ‘We heard.’

  ‘Well, we’ll know one way or another in a few minutes,’ Wildgoose said. ‘Can you hear that?’

  We all stopped to listen.

  ‘Hear what?’ I asked. I couldn’t hear anything except Ramos’s last, laboured breaths.

  ‘Exactly. The screaming has stopped.’

  Captain Mori and his men might have been prepared to die for their cause, but they obviously hadn’t been prepared to suffer the pain that the FEA had inflicted upon them. By the time I returned to the storage chamber where the sergeant major had waited, Rusakov emerged to announce that the brutal torture of their prisoners had been successful.

  As he made his announcement, two FEA soldiers dragged a Guardsman out after him, quickly hurrying him away into another darkened tunnel nearby. His resolve shattered, the Guardsman sobbed in self-pity as he disappeared into the gloom.r />
  ‘Most of the command equipment has been destroyed,’ Rusakov said, pointing toward the destroyed computer hardware scattered across the command chamber to prove the point. ‘The network has not been damaged, though. It is controlled from a separate chamber. None of the optical cables have been touched, it has only been turned off. We must now turn it back on.’

  In response, the sergeant major glanced at me. ‘Close in the commanders.’

  I nodded and quickly relayed the message by hand signal to the other troopers in the command chamber, tapping two fingers on my upper arm and then tapping my helmet. Commanders. On me.

  The message quickly spread across the chamber.

  ‘Do your men have the expertise to reverse whatever was done to the network?’ the sergeant major asked Rusakov, with a hint of doubt in his voice. ‘I assume that turning the network back on is a little more complex than flicking a switch?’

  Rusakov smiled. It was the same cruel smile he had flashed me earlier, before the torture began. ‘Our new friends will show us how.’

  The sergeant major shrugged indifferently. ‘Good enough for me. What about our platoon commander?’

  Rusakov let out a sigh as he prepared himself to deliver bad news. ‘They tell me that your comrades were taken away by Colonel Bhasin and a platoon of his men.’

  ‘Where were they taking them?’

  ‘Out of the warren,’ Rusakov answered. ‘They say there is a way out using tunnels that run water into an underground lake.’

  The sergeant major’s eyes flicked to me for a second. The information provided by the tortured Guardsmen matched Yulia’s story. I knew that it changed nothing. He wasn’t going to lead the platoon underground until he had comms with the surface, even if that meant losing our comrades and failing our mission to deny the missiles from our shady enemy.

  He looked back at Rusakov. ‘What else did you find out?’

  ‘They think that the commanding officer and his staff were the traitors, not themselves.’ Rusakov said. ‘They think that they needed to capture the headquarters and cut it off until reinforcements arrive.’