by J.R. Martin
Chapter 6
Sgt. Gallagher still got butterflies in his stomach before a jump. With all his years of experience, he thought his anxiety was silly. He had made more jumps than he could remember. Still the butterflies wouldn't go away until he was in free fall.
“Thirty Seconds to Drop Zone!!”
One of the drop ship’s two side hatches opened to the clear night air. The door gunner took his place behind his weapon and aimed it into the night.
“Ten Seconds to Drop Zone!!”
The team was lined up at the hatch ready to jump. The door gunner gave them all the thumbs up. Cpl. Harris was in front, then Sgt. Davis, Doc, and Sgt. Gallagher in the rear.
The light flashed green beside the hatch.
“GO!! GO!! GO!!” Sgt. Gallagher yelled.
The team jumped out quickly, one by one, and the drop ship disappeared into the night.
They did not talk during their descent. The landing zone was marked with a beacon in their HVD. They could all see it clearly and made their way in that direction. Being inserted from such a high altitude was to their advantage. They would be landing very close to second squad’s last known location.
Sgt. Gallagher gave the order to deploy chutes. The Nano-Chutes were the same charcoal gray color as their armor. The team was almost invisible in its final descent. They all landed silently within the landing zone. Immediately they detached their chutes by depressing the chest release. Upon release their harnesses and chutes dropped to the ground to be consumed by nanobots, leaving nothing behind.
So far so good Sgt. Gallagher thought. He unslung his weapon, the standard issue over-under laser bolt rifle/grenade launcher. Then he enabled silencer mode as did the rest of the team. Silencer mode would limit their weapons firing range; but since they were behind enemy lines, stealth was a necessity. The team stood near him, weapons at the ready, awaiting his orders.
“We've got four hours to locate second squad and get back here for extraction. Let's Move!!” Sgt. Gallagher ordered. They hurriedly moved out with Sgt. Gallagher bringing up the rear of their small column formation.
AG-253-B was once a nice farming planet that provided food to the outer colony worlds. That was before the enemy came. The enemy wanted this planet’s resources to feed its massive army. As a result, the planet population had been killed or enslaved. Enemy military units were scattered all over the planet. Any of the planet population that resisted the enemy occupiers were killed on site. These facts made it an extremely dangerous mission for second squad to undertake. Sgt. Gallagher knew that wouldn't deter Tom Cook. He thrived on dangerous missions like these. Where are you ,Tom? Are you still alive? Sgt. Gallagher thought. He didn't know, but they would soon find out.
Second squad’s last known location was among one of the many warehouse districts on this planet, warehouses where food would sit until it was shipped off planet. The team approached the outer reaches of the warehouse district just as the sun was rising. Sgt. Gallagher ordered the team to take refuge in a small drainage ditch. He peered over the edge, increasing the magnification in his HVD to survey the warehouses.
“Second squad’s last known location is approximately four kilometers in that direction,” Sgt. Gallagher said. He motioned toward the nearest row of warehouses.
“I am detecting a large amount of enemy activity in that region also. Let's head in that direction and stay out of site. Cpl. Harris, you've got point. Let's go,” Sgt. Gallagher ordered.
They encountered the first enemy patrol minutes later. Cpl. Harris signaled for the team to stop. He was crouching down behind an abandoned vehicle on the side of the street. The rest of the team hid in the shadows against a nearby warehouse.
“What do you got, Corporal?” Sgt. Gallagher asked.
“Enemy troops in our path, looks like some kind of checkpoint.”
“How many?” Sgt. Gallagher asked.
“I count five, each with a rifle.”
“Alright people we don't have time to go around. We move in fast and take them out quietly. Understood?” Sgt. Gallagher said.
“Understood,” the team replied in unison.
“Standby to move. Engage active cloak!! Move!!”
The team disappeared from sight and moved rapidly toward the enemy checkpoint.
Phsst! Phsst! Phsst! Phsst! Phsst! Phsst!
The silenced report of the rescue team’s weapons was all that could be heard as the enemy soldiers dropped to the ground. The team reappeared one by one, standing over the enemy dead.
“Let's get these bodies out of the street,” Sgt. Gallagher ordered.
They helped one another and quickly placed the bodies out of sight in the nearby warehouse.
“Let's get moving,” Sgt. Gallagher ordered as Cpl. Harris exited the warehouse.
Cpl. Harris checked his weapon and resumed the point position of their small team. He led them cautiously up the edge of the street like nothing had happened. They had moved some distance when he called the team to a stop again.
“This could be a problem,” Cpl. Harris said.
“How many, Corporal?” Sgt. Gallagher asked.
“Looks to be at least ten enemy soldiers, or more, with a vehicle. They're exiting the next warehouse; my guess is a search party. They’re looking for something, probably second squad.”
“I agree. We're getting close and so are they. Do you think we can slip past them?” Sgt. Gallagher asked.
“Yes, but we'll have to double time it. There's a lot of open space behind them. I think we can stay cloaked long enough to reach cover, but its going to be tight.”
From the shadows, Sgt. Gallagher gave the order to cloak. The team disappeared from view and sprinted in the direction of the enemy troops. Sgt. Gallagher was watching the cloak timer in his HVD as the team passed the enemy. Cpl. Harris had been right. It was going to be tight. They were almost in the shadows on the opposite side of the street when the first of them reappeared. Luckily, the enemy soldiers were climbing aboard their vehicle and didn't notice them. They reappeared in the shadows behind them undetected.
“Good job, people,” Sgt. Gallagher said as he tried to catch his breath.
After a few moments of recuperation, the team was on its way again. They walked about another ten minutes when Cpl. Harris once again brought them to a stop.
“Okay, this is it,” Cpl. Harris said as he pointed with his weapon at the warehouse door in front of them. “This is the last known location of second squad.”
“Take a look inside, Corporal,” Sgt. Gallagher ordered.
He stepped to the door, cracked it open slightly and peered inside. He stepped back and said, “Appears to be clear just inside the door, not reading any explosives.”
“Good, stack up and prepare to enter,” Sgt. Gallagher ordered.
The team lined up behind Cpl. Harris, weapons at the ready.
“Engage Active Cloak!! GO!! GO!! GO!!”
The team entered the warehouse and spread out just inside the door.
“Clear!! Clear!! Clear!!” Sgt. Gallagher heard the team members report.
“Disengage Active Cloak”
One by one the team members reappeared, scanning the immediate area.
“Second squad, are you here?” Sgt. Gallagher asked over his short range communication system.
There was silence for a moment, then came a cautious reply, “Who's there?”
“Sgt. Gallagher, third squad.”
“Cpl. Diaz, second squad here!”
“Are you alright?” Sgt. Gallagher asked. “Where are you?”
“Toward the rear of the warehouse. I'll activate my tracking beacon. We've got wounded.”