by Gavin Smith
‘Mass, you’re going to back us straight back to the land, this is about speed not finesse, but stay hull-down,’ she told the button man. He nodded. ‘Nyukuti, I want you on the GMG, Raff you’re on the HMG, everyone shoots, we destroy one move onto the other. Nyukuti, signal the others.’
Nyukuti stood up to signal the other Wader.
Miska knew Hemi’s Wader had one less shooter than them.
‘What about rear security?’ Raff asked.
‘What’re you, Delta Force? Just do as you’re fucking told,’ Mass told him. ‘I’ll watch our backs.’
‘Mass sees anything,’ Miska added, ‘Raff switches back to the SAWs.’
Another whistle. Miska glanced up and Hogg let them know how much closer the Triple S Waders were, their change in position. Kaneda would be doing the same for Hemi’s Wader.
‘We go now,’ she told them. They would be able to keep the tree between themselves and the third Wader at least for a time, or until the enemy Wader changed position.
Both the Waders made a slow motion sprint through the water towards the muddy bank and the fungal forest. They were taking fire almost immediately. The water exploded all around them as the Triple S Wader’s GMGs opened up. Miska’s wired reflexes slowed everything down. She saw the tracers bursting through the slow motion explosions of water. The dimples in the ballistic shield from the enemy’s HMGs. She pumped the trigger again and again. The 20mm cannon made the whole Wader shake. She heard the rhythmic thump of Nyukuti firing his GMG. In what was left of her periphery she was aware of the flickering muzzle flash of Raff’s HMG. There was so much water in the air she had no idea if she was hitting or not. Cannon round and bullets shot past them. She felt them, slowed down by the water resistance, hitting the armour. As soon as she saw movement through the water and the incoming fire she rapidly adjusted the cannon and fired again and again until she lost the target. Raff and Nyukuti both slowed their rate of fire, searching more carefully for targets.
Then they really started taking hits as the third Wader manoeuvred itself into position. She heard Raff swear as incoming HMG rounds dimpled his weapon’s ballistic shield. He changed target and started firing longer bursts, trying to suppress the third Triple S Wader.
‘Nyukuti, suppress this one!’ Miska shouted, meaning the second Wader, the one they were already engaged with. She heard the rate of fire from the GMG pick up again as the stand-over man fired as many 30mm HEAP grenades as he could in the general direction of the second Triple S Wader. Miska switched target and started pumping rounds towards the third Triple S Wader. Their Wader lurched to the side as an incoming grenade exploded right next to them. Almost tipping over, one side went under the water. Mass, somehow, managed to wrestle the machine upright. They were sitting in water up to their waists now.
‘Reloading!’ Nyukuti shouted. It was the last thing they needed to hear. She switched target. A 20mm round punctured the Wader’s armour. She heard Raff curse. Nobody seemed to be hurt but the third Wader had their range now. Miska ducked as HMG fire ate away at the cannon’s ballistic shield. The third Triple S Wader’s cannon went silent when it should have been killing them. The tree that Kaneda had hidden in started exploding as grenade after grenade from the third Wader’s GMG hit it. Miska guessed Kaneda had shot the cannon operator. It would have been a great time to attack the third Triple S Wader with her own cannon but while Nyukuti was reloading the GMG she couldn’t risk letting up on the second Wader.
She felt the bump as the Wader hit land. The ‘mech’ lurched forward as its rear legs clawed their way up onto the bank. Miska knew they were sitting ducks on dry land. She wanted their firepower but she knew they would get torn apart trying to get deep enough into the fungal forest to conceal themselves. Already grenades, cannon rounds and bullets were tearing into the forest, cutting down tree-sized mushrooms, sending clouds of spores into the wet air. Sparks flew as a cannon round flew through the front armour of the Wader, destroyed Nyukuti’s seat, and continued through the rear armour. Another near miss from a grenade rocked them and covered them in the greyish swamp water.
‘Everyone out!’ Miska shouted. ‘Fall back into the woods, find cover!’
Raff was straight out the back of the Wader, sprinting for the fungal trees, Mass close behind him. Nyukuti was waiting for her. ‘Go!’ she shouted. More cannon rounds were penetrating the primitive mech’s armour. Nyukuti leapt over the back of the Wader, his boots landing in the mud. Miska was out of her seat grabbing her AK-47/flamer combo when the grenade hit. The Wader’s armour saved her but the mech tumbled over, sending her sprawling into the mud, her gun going flying.
Nyukuti was lying face-down in the mud as well. She saw sparks from the Wader as cannon round after cannon round tore into it. More fire. Tracers flying through the air from the west, through the fungal forest. She saw Mass go down. There were people waiting for them on land. They were caught in an L-shaped crossfire between the concealed enemy on land and the Waders behind them, a classic ambush. Miska knew she was about to die.
Doesn’t matter, you fight. It was her dad’s voice she heard in her head. She scrambled for her weapon. It was covered in mud. It didn’t matter. It was an AK-47. She glanced back at Mass. He was on his feet, being helped into the treeline by Raff. She looked at Nyukuti. He was still moving.
‘Nye! Get on your fucking feet, lay down some fire!’ she screamed at him and he was pushing himself onto one knee. Bringing his SAW up. Firing at their ambushers.
Miska was aware of Hemi, Corenbloom and Kasmeyer jumping from their Wader and running. Moments later the Wader blew. The force of the explosion knocked all three of them off their feet. It bounced Miska into the slimy bottom of her capsized Wader and sent Nyukuti sprawling as well.
‘Fuck’s sake!’ Miska spat. In the fungal wood Mass and Raff were trying to return fire but they were horribly outgunned. Miska was sure that there was at least a squad of the Triple S ambushers.
Hemi was on one knee firing at the ambushers as Corenbloom and Kasmeyer half ran, half crawled towards the fungal trees even as the huge mushroom-like growths were being torn apart by incoming ordnance.
‘Nye! Unless you are fucking dead, move!’ Miska shouted, as much because she didn’t want Nyukuti to be dead. Where did that come from? Nyukuti was moving again. Up on one knee firing into the ambushers. Miska turned her attention to the three incoming Triple S Waders. She had no idea why she hadn’t been torn apart by their cannon fire yet. Her best idea was to use her grenade launcher as a mortar. Try and drop a grenade into their open cupola.
One of the trees breathed fire all over the first Triple S Wader. Miska heard screaming and watched burning figures jump off the Wader. She could see the glow of the still-burning Triple S contractors as they sank into the water. Then the Wader exploded. It took a moment for Miska to realise that the tree they had been passing was the one that Kaneda had been hiding in.
Miska turned her attention to the second Triple S Wader. She saw something fall into its cupola. As the driver stood up a crossbow bolt sprouted from his face. Moments later his head exploded. There was frantic movement inside the Wader and then the grenade exploded. Bodies tumbled into the water. They were passing the tree that Hogg had been hiding in.
Miska looked around for the third Wader but couldn’t see it, and it didn’t seem to be attacking them. She could hear the sound of a vicious firefight behind her. Bullets sparking off their Wader. Nyukuti returning fire.
She started to turn as something hit her hard in the back. Then again, and again, forcing the air from her diaphragm. Her ceramic backplate split with the third shot, her inertial armour undersuit hardening. But something made its way through, lodging in her subcutaneous armour close to her spine. She was slammed into the slimy underside of the Wader again. She went down on her knees and started to turn. Nyukuti was moving. He put himself between her and the incoming rounds. She saw his body shake as he got hit again. He fell backwards. His face had been replaced by a
red cavity. Miska brought her AK-47 up. She saw Kasmeyer turning away from her and towards Hemi. Hemi was charging the Sneaky Bastard, an empty M19 carbine in one hand, his māripi in the other. Kasmeyer tried to bring his SAW up but Hemi hit him like a truck. The māripi bit into Kasmeyer’s arm. He bounced off the huge fungus he had been hiding behind and Hemi ripped the māripi down his arm. Kasmeyer dropped the SAW, but it still hung from its sling. Kasmeyer tried to bring his left arm up defensively. Hemi hit it repeatedly with the toothed weapon until that was useless as well. Then he swung the māripi at Kasmeyer’s neck.
‘No!’ Miska shouted but the māripi’s teeth bit into Kasmeyer’s neck. Hemi looked her way. ‘Alive!’ she shouted. Kasmeyer sank to his knees, blood spurting from the wound. Hemi pushed the māripi back into a loop on his load-carrying plate. He grabbed Kasmeyer’s neck wound, trying to stem the bleeding. It put them another gun down.
Their ambushers were up. They had split into three four-man fire teams and were conducting fire and manoeuvre. Two fire teams would provide withering covering fire while the third moved. The most northern fire team was trying to get into position to flank them. Catch them in another L-shaped crossfire. Miska slung the AK-47/flamer combination across her back. She hit the quick-release on Nyukuti’s SAW and lifted it up. With the underslung grenade launcher it had a real heft to it. The collapsible stock nestled in her shoulder and she started laying down fire. This brought her attention, and withering return fire caused her to take cover behind the capsized Wader. Among the fungus trees she could see Mass, Raff and Corenbloom taking the occasional opportunistic shots but then having to take cover due to the sheer volume of return fire. The air was full of spores from the bullet-punctured fungi. Miska peeked out and fired a long burst from the SAW and then ducked back around the Wader.
Then the Triple S ambushers were taking fire from their flank. There was the pop of grenade launchers. Explosions followed by screams as shrapnel from 30mm grenades tore the contractors apart. The fire was coming from the water. Miska moved quickly to the water’s edge, using the capsized Wader as cover. Her remaining eye went wide as she saw the swamp creatures rising from the water firing slugthrowers. Absurdly, Miska thought they had chimneys for a moment. It was only because one of the swamp creatures was so fat that Miska realised what they were, or rather who they were. Grig, Gunhir, Bean and Kaczmar, the Nightmare Squad. Their sodden ghillie suits were thrown over their backs, their faces covered in waterproof camo-paint. The ‘chimneys’ were simple printed snorkels and periscopes that had allowed them to remain hidden. Now the Bastards had the Triple S mercenaries in a crossfire.
‘Mass!’ Miska practically screamed. The Mafia button man didn’t hear her. He was using the distraction of the Nightmare Squad to lay some fire down himself. ‘Mass!’ Raff tapped Mass on the shoulder and pointed at Miska. ‘Reload your 19! Sling it! Get Kasmeyer’s SAW, reload it! We all move when I say!’ Mass nodded, reloaded his M19 and, keeping low, he ran to where a clearly frustrated Hemi was trying to keep Kasmeyer alive. Miska risked a few short bursts with Nyukuti’s SAW but it was the Nightmare Squad doing all the work. The fungal forest was full of tracers tearing up the undergrowth. Tree-sized mushrooms fell to the earth. Of course they couldn’t keep up such sustained fire forever. Miska glanced around the corner as Grig, Gunhir and Bean, as one, fired grenades from their M19’s under-barrel launchers and then, along with Kaczmar, took cover behind the thickest fungal tree they could find and knelt down to reload their weapons.
‘Now!’ Miska shouted at Mass as the remaining Triple S contractors concentrated their fire on the Nightmare Squad. Miska came around the Wader. She moved quickly towards their ambushers. She fired the SAW’s grenade launcher first. Sent four HEAP grenades flying towards the contractors. She switched to the SAW, marching forward firing long burst after long burst at any movement, suppressing fire. On her right Mass was doing the same. Corenbloom and Raff were moving forward firing their M19s as well. Miska kept firing until the SAW ran dry. She tossed it. A tracer opened up her cheek. She barely felt the phosphorous burn. The Nightmare Squad were firing and moving forward again. It didn’t matter who you were, what your combat experience was, sticking your head up in this kind of firestorm was pretty much a death sentence. Miska swung her AK-47 up and started firing three-round bursts at the ambushers, the weapon twitching and firing anytime she saw movement in her limited periphery, cursing the primitive optical sight. She sent a HEAP grenade towards any really persistent return fire. The AK-47 ran dry. Miska took shelter behind a tree. She was breathing heavily. She could feel the spores as she inhaled them. Return fire ate away at her soft fungal cover. Someone charged her. She had no idea why they didn’t have a gun. They looked wild-eyed. Miska triggered the flamer still bolted to the side of the AK-47. But she hadn’t lit the pilot light. The flamer squirted liquid fuel all over the crazed contractor. He kept coming. Miska let the AK-47/flamer drop on its sling and fast drew her Glock, shooting him as he was almost on her. The muzzle flash ignited the fuel. She kicked him away from her and put two more bursts into his face. He fell to the ground and burned.
There was movement behind her. She swung around and fired. Missed. Adjusted for her one eye. She took a hit to the chest, staggering back. She fired wild, using the Glock to suppress on full automatic. It wasn’t ideal. The contractor went down. She had no idea if she’d shot him or not. The slide was back on the empty Glock. She stuffed it back into the drop holster and drew the cut-down Winchester from its back sheath. She saw one of the contractors ahead of her. She fired the shotgun, knocking the woman into one of the fungal trees. She fired again and again, emptying the shotgun’s box magazine, then its tubular magazine as she closed. The rounds battered the woman’s armour. Miska transferred the empty shotgun to her left hand and drew her knife. She rammed it upwards into the woman’s throat. It was only then Miska realised that she was the one doing the screaming.
It was as though she’d just come to. Miska pulled her knife out of the contractor’s head and let her slide down into the mud. She still felt a little dazed as she looked around. Kaczmar was finishing off one of the contractors with a hatchet. Bean was scalping another before starting to saw off an ear. Miska stared at them for a moment. She knew she should establish order here. Then she remembered Nyukuti. Nyukuti was dead. Kasmeyer had tried to kill her. He had killed Nyukuti.
Miska turned and ran back through the spore-filled forest air towards where Hemi knelt over Kasmeyer’s fallen form. Miska skidded into the mud next to him.
‘I’m s-s-sorry,’ Kasmeyer managed, blood bubbling out of his mouth, ‘they knew about my family.’
‘Who!’ Miska screamed but of course he had gone. Hemi took his red hands away from Kasmeyer’s neck.
‘Sorry boss.’
Miska just stared at Kasmeyer’s corpse.
Chapter 19
Miska stared at Kasmeyer’s body.
It had stopped raining.
‘Boss?’ Mass asked. ‘Miska!’ Her head shot around to look at the button man. He looked angry. ‘You all right with this?’ Deeper in the fungal woods she could hear Kaczmar and Bean butchering the dead and dying. Taking their trophies. She looked at Mass, trying to make sense of his words through the fury that threatened to engulf her. She glanced back at Nyukuti’s body.
‘Wrap him in his poncho,’ she told him, ‘we’ll come back for it later.’
She could read the challenge in Mass’s eyes but instead he nodded curtly and turned to make his way towards the riverside where Nyukuti’s body lay next to their capsized Wader.
Hogg and Kaneda were neck-deep in the water as they waded towards dry land. She could see the third Triple S Wader now. It was on its side bobbing up and down in the water. It looked like its legs had been blown off. There were no signs of the Wader’s crew but Miska could make out bloodstains.
‘You need to let me look at that,’ Hemi said. She had almost forgotten he was there. His hands were still stained with Kasmeyer�
�s blood. It took a moment for Miska to work out what he was talking about. As she did she became aware of just how much pain she was in. One of Kasmeyer’s rounds had caught her in the back and lodged in her subcutaneous armour much closer to her spine than she was happy with.
‘Gel it and attach a medpak to drive it,’ she told him as she winced, unstrapping her hard ceramic armour plates. The back plate was useless now anyway. She actually cried out as she shrugged out of her inertial armour top. Hemi had gloved up and knelt down behind her. She winced again as she felt the cold medgel against the wound. Driven by the medpak the gel would slowly suck the bullet out, repairing the damage behind itself, but while that was going on Miska knew that she only needed to take one good blow to that part of her back and the bullet would bisect her spine.
‘Jesus Christ!’ she heard Mass shout from the riverside. Hemi had dropped the medpak and was reaching for his M19 carbine. Miska was reaching for her Glock. Then she remembered that it was empty.
Sloppy, she thought as she rapidly reloaded the pistol.
Mass had drawn his sidearm and was covering the Ultra as he rose out of the water. Hemi lowered his weapon but Miska didn’t think he entirely relaxed. The Ultra was blessedly dressed. He wore inertial armour in jungle pattern camouflage. His face was painted with waterproof camo-paint that made him look inhuman. Only then did Miska realise that it had been the Ultra’s painted face she had seen in the water. She guessed that he had been what had happened to the third Triple S Wader as well.
‘Goddamned freak,’ Mass muttered as the Ultra walked by. Miska watched him approach as Hemi knelt down behind her again to adhere the medpak and wire it to the medgel.
‘You just used us for bait didn’t you?’ she asked the Ultra as he reached them. She felt Hemi pause for a moment as he attended to her wound.