They probably didn’t know that we were in front of them, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
I sent a warning to the boss over the platoon net, not taking my eyes away from the approaching formation. There were four of them, enough to carry an entire platoon of Loyalist soldiers, and they were closing fast.
‘Engage air,’ Myers told his launcher as he threw it onto his shoulder. The launcher beeped back at him, letting him know that it understood the task and was ready to fire.
I held up a hand. ‘Wait for it!’
If the dropships were going to pass directly above me, then I had the perfect opportunity to shoot them down before they even knew that I was there, but I needed them to be close. We didn’t have enough smart missiles to engage all four at once, and every dropship was armed with a Vulcan cannon specifically designed to shoot them down. The closer we were, the less chance they would have to defend themselves. Once the missiles were gone, it would take critical seconds to reload, and by then the game would be up.
I watched the four dropships approach, zigzagging as they began their ‘run in’. They were still a few kilometres away, but they were headed directly for us.
Myers blinked at me anxiously, poised to fire. ‘Now?’
‘Wait for it!’ I hissed.
Even Yulia was becoming nervous. ‘We need to fire now, Andy! We must destroy them!’
‘No!’
It wasn’t until the dropships had nearly passed the edge of the forest on the far bank when I finally gave the order. ‘Launchers - enemy dropships - left and right … FIRE!’
The response was instant. The two troopers stood, water splashing around them, and turned to face to the left and right of the dropship squadron as they fired. ‘Firing!’ they yelled simultaneously.
The missiles leapt from their launchers with a bang, and were propelled several metres before the main rocket ignited and they shot away from us. The missiles screamed away at an angle to the dropships, leaving behind a trail of smoke as they went.
The enemy formation broke as the dropships saw the missiles, their Vulcan blazing as they tried to shoot at them with a hail of darts. By firing the missiles either side of the dropships though, I had already created confusion. Smart as they were, the missiles approached from both directions, leaving trails of vapour across the river as they arced toward their quarry, carrying out their own evasive manoeuvres to avoid the spray of Vulcan.
‘Get down! Reload!’ I shouted, and with a sweep of my arm I directed the saucers back to attack the dropships.
I never took the opportunity to check on the smaller force hiding just across the river from us, so focused as I was upon the dropship charge. They had no doubt spotted us now, as we fired our volley of missiles, but they had no chance to react. There was a shrill whistle, just before the railgun shells detonated above them in a devastating shower of flaming liquid.
Two of the Loyalist dropships had been destroyed, though I didn’t have the time to see whether they had been struck by the missiles or by the attacking saucers. I was far more concerned about the remaining two.
They continued their charge, their shape now clearly visible as they hurtled toward us, Vulcan cannon blazing as they tried to fend off the saucers and a single remaining missile.
Myers and Thapa were frantically reloading their launchers with fresh missiles, but the dropships were almost upon us. I knew they wouldn’t have time to complete the action before the dropships arrived.
‘Get down!’ I screamed.
As one we fell into the mud, just as the dropship railguns opened fire. The ground thumped behind me as the first rounds overshot the stream.
I switched my under-slung launcher to high explosive grenades, hollering over the din, ‘Prepare for dismounts! As soon as those things slow down to drop their troops, we’ll hit them with everything!’
As I looked up I realised that Myers was still crouched in the grass, fiddling with his launcher.
For a second my jaw hung open at the spectacle. Was the kid mad?
‘Get down, you tit!’ I yelled.
A railgun shell struck the ground a few metres ahead of Myers, miraculously imbedding itself into the wet soil. Undeterred, he hefted the launcher onto his shoulder just as the two dropships passed over the river.
‘Get the fuck down!’
He didn’t listen. ‘Firing!’ he yelled.
As soon as the missile launched Myers threw himself to the ground, just as another two railgun shells hacked the ground either side of him, splattering him with mud.
I watched through the grass as the missile sped toward the approaching dropships. Already slowing down to dismount their troops, and with their Vulcan pre-occupied by the two saucers, the dropships had no chance to defend themselves. The smart missile struck the left hand dropship with a thump and a puff of smoke, and it fell powerless toward the ground in front of us. It just managed to clear the river, striking the bank in a spray of mud and water.
At the same time the second dropship, having realised that the main threat was not from the saucers, but from the section it was trying to attack, turned its Vulcan to face us as it came in to land alongside its stricken partner.
My eyes widened in horror as I saw the cannon rotate to find its new target. The railgun shells the dropships had been firing were designed to destroy vehicles and structures, but were no good for engaging troops. The Vulcan cannon, however, was an automatic weapon capable of firing thousands of darts, creating a wall of steel designed to defend against missiles, aircraft and infantry. A single burst would churn us into mush.
‘Get down!’ I screamed, falling into the water in my effort to get out of the cannon’s line of sight.
Yulia knelt up as though she was about to fire her rifle, but I instinctively gripped the fabric of her armour, yanking her down with me.
‘Get down, you idiot!’ I yelled as she landed in the water with a splash.
Ignoring the curses of the Guard captain, I snatched up my rifle, aiming it at an angle and letting loose a volley of grenades.
My rifle jolted against my shoulder as I pumped grenades over the bank, each one suddenly darting toward its identified target. Ammunition conservation was no longer a high priority; it would hardly matter how much we had left after the dropship’s Vulcan cut us to ribbons.
‘Use your grenades!’ I hollered, but it was too late. The Vulcan opened fire.
A Vulcan cannon fires so fast that it becomes impossible to hear the individual rounds. Instead the sound becomes more like the roar of some unearthly beast as the sky fills with its steel darts. I had been on the wrong end of many weapons, but the Vulcan cannon was something else. I clutched at the wet earth as the hail of darts cracked and hissed through the air above my head and hacked at the muddy bank. They punched through the earth with ease, striking the water behind us.
I heard a series of explosions, and the burst of Vulcan stopped. I lifted my head to see that our grenades had found their target, detonating around the dropship in clouds of hot smoke and burning phosphor.
I didn’t know if the cannon was destroyed, or simply blinded, but I wasn’t taking the chance.
‘Puppy! Fire a missile! Finish it off!’
‘Roger!’ he replied.
Thank God, I thought, at least my 2ic was alive.
Thapa too sprang from the stream to my left, his launcher already over his shoulder. ‘Firing!’ he yelled.
The missile exploded out of the launcher, and was in the air for no more than a few seconds before it struck the nose of the hovering dropship, detonating as it did so in a puff of smoke.
Such a small amount of smoke belied the full extent of the damage that the smart missile would have done when it detonated inside the dropships armoured hull. It fell the last metre to the ground with a crash.
I lifted my head over the bank. Both dropships were down, but there were no dismounts to be seen.
‘Watch and shoot!’ I ordered, and the section emerged back
from the water.
Yulia managed to stand up in the river once more, brushing mud away from her armour. She glared at me angrily. ‘Don’t touch me again, Andy!’
‘I won’t,’ I growled. ‘Next time I’ll let you get yourself killed! Where’s your bodyguard?’
Yulia glanced around her quickly, spotting Makito curled up into a ball beside Puppy’s fire team. Her jaw clenched. The boy might have been good at terrorising the villages along the Paraiso border during the guerrilla campaign, but he had no experience of front line combat.
‘Are you sure you still want him here?’ I asked her, my lips curling into a malicious grin.
‘Yes, he must remain here with me.’
I held up my hands. ‘Fine. It’s his funeral.’
We watched the two smoking craft for several seconds, whilst railgun shells continued to detonate across the river, bathing us in an orange glow.
We couldn’t wait any longer, I decided. We had to take advantage of the situation and ensure that the dropship dismounts were dead.
‘Puppy, give cover!’ I shouted. ‘I’m pushing forward!’
‘Roger!’
‘Follow me!’ I ordered to Myers and Skelton, then pointed at Yulia. ‘You stay here!’
My fire team bounded forward toward the dropships with our weapons held up into the aim. I moved around the right side of the stricken craft, ensuring that Puppy’s fire team could fire to the left side if needed. My finger hovered over the trigger.
A noise came from the left hand dropship, and suddenly Puppy’s fire team opened fire.
‘Two enemy down!’ Puppy warned me quietly over the net. ‘They’re dismounting to the left!’
‘Roger,’ I whispered as I crept around the side of the right hand dropship.
Strange whining noises came from its hull, presumably the last dying sounds of its engines. I ignored them as I approached its rear end, beckoning for Myers to draw up beside me.
I squeezed his shoulder with a gloved hand, letting him know that I was ready to move with him, and as one we rounded the corner.
Three Loyalists were crouched behind the left hand dropship, looking as though they were discussing some kind of plan. They jumped into action as soon as they saw us, but we were two quick for them, the two of us firing several times into the pack of bodies, our darts snatching them to the ground like dolls.
I pointed toward their dropship. ‘Skelton, cover them!’
‘Yep!’ Skelton took a knee in the grass, watching for any more soldiers to emerge from the lowered ramp. If they did then his mammoth would make short work of them.
Knowing that the left hand dropship was covered, I turned to the ramp of the dropship closest to us. It was still closed.
‘Think anyone’s alive in there?’ Myers asked, peering at the ramp as though trying to see through it.
I shook my head. ‘I doubt it. The missile detonated inside it.’
I studied the rear ramp, finding an emergency handle hidden beneath a metal panel. As soon as I touched it, though, my hand darted away. I swore.
Myers looked alarmed. ‘What?’
‘It’s hot …’ I replied.
‘So they’re dead, then?’
‘Either that or they’ve lost a few kilos,’ Skelton joked.
There was nothing more to do, I decided. Normally I might have attempted to search the bodies for equipment, rations or useful intelligence, but under the circumstances I didn’t want to wait around. The Loyalists wouldn’t just send four dropships, more would be coming.
I turned to look at where the railgun shells continued to scorch the far bank, much of which was now ablaze. There were no more red crosshairs there, the small pocket of Loyalists had either retreated, or most likely died a horrible death. I quickly used my wizard kit to cancel the fire mission.
‘Let’s get back,’ I said, and we sprinted back toward the stream.
We slid down the bank, our boots splashing in the muddy water. Yulia and I exchanged a knowing glance for a second, my eyes telling her all that she needed to know. The Loyalists within the dropships were dead.
I turned to Myers and Skelton and beckoned for them to follow after me. I then ran back along the stream, away from the Ghandi.
‘Follow on!’ I told Puppy as I passed him.
I was anxious to extract, having given our position away. Our only defence from further attack was the overwhelming firepower we had demonstrated, suggesting that we were a much larger force and deterring any further attack. If the Loyalists believed that we were that large a target, though, then they would almost certainly task any remaining artillery they had onto us.
'Where are you going?' Yulia demanded, but I ignored her as I charged along the stream, careful not to make myself visible to anybody across the river.
'Stay low!' I ordered the section.
'You are cowards,' Yulia sneered from behind me. I wasn't interested, though. I had just saved her life, and she should damned well be grateful.
The soft mud and silt of the stream bed rapidly sapped the strength from my legs, but I resisted the urge to get out of the water, knowing that an artillery barrage could be imminent.
We were no more than a few hundred metres away when the enemy shells detonated behind us, with a blast that nearly knocked me over into the mud. There was a splash, and somebody swore behind me.
I turned around. Silhouetted against a great wall of flame that engulfed the downed dropships, the section were all dotted along the stream, crouched against the banks with their bodies half-submerged.
Myers had fallen over, thrown off balance by the blast. He lifted his respirator away from his face to allow the brown water to pour out of it.
‘Brilliant,’ he said sarcastically.
Everyone was alright, even Makito, who looked like a drunk as he staggered through the muddy water, overwhelmed by the battle around him.
‘Come on, let’s go!’ I urged, turning to run again. As I did so I caught Yulia’s eye, but she quickly looked away. If I had listened to her then we would have all died needlessly, and she knew it.
As we splashed and fought our way along the stream the bombardment continued, rocking the earth beneath our boots. I spoke to the platoon commander over the net, informing him of our compromise and forced withdrawal.
‘Roger,’ Mr Barkley replied. ‘Any idea of their intent?’
Naturally he would be trying to piece together the information he was receiving from both my section and the FEA, in an attempt to make an educated guess as to what the enemy were doing and why.
‘I think it’s a feint,’ I replied, trying to avoid panting over the net as I ran. ‘I think the Loyalists want to try to turn the FEA’s attention.’
Seeing that we were a good few hundred metres from the railgun bombardment, I held up a hand to stop the section, and we all turned to observe the marsh.
The ground we had used to engage the dropships had become a smoking inferno, and as we watched more railgun shells burst over the marshland, scattering flaming liquid over the area.
‘Jesus …’ Skelton exclaimed at the spectacle. It was like a vision of hell. Red glowing ashes drifted across the stream, carried away by the wind.
‘I thought you were destroying the enemy artillery,’ Yulia asked, her stern expression exaggerated by the orange glow from the incendiaries.
I shook my head. ‘We can’t destroy all of it.’
‘Why not?’
‘They’re dug in close to Dakar.’
‘What difference does that make?’
I jerked a thumb upwards. ‘Your best mates are somewhere up there watching, and if they see Union artillery or saucers hitting an old Alliance town, it could start a war across the entire planet.’
‘Is that the reason why?’ Yulia’s eyes narrowed accusingly. ‘Or is it because you want the Loyalists to keep their artillery? Maybe this is just a trick - maybe you don’t want us to win at all!’
‘Oh yeah, that’s right,’ my v
oice dripped with sarcasm, ‘because I’m more than happy to be on the receiving end of that!’
Yulia didn’t reply, instead she suddenly turned her head, spotting something in the distance.
‘Look!’ she pointed, just as a cluster of red crosshairs appeared on my target display, another five hundred metres beyond the flames.
More dropships had crossed the river, at least another ten of them that I could see, disgorging their cargoes into the grass. Undeterred by the addition of Union saucers and artillery, it looked as though an entire company of Loyalists had made the crossing, quickly spreading out in anticipation of another railgun barrage. At least a platoon of them were running toward the relative safety of the forest, while another appeared to spread out into the marsh, presumably to protect their comrades from the force that had already destroyed four of their dropships. I spotted several powered suits amongst their number.
I cursed, ducking as low as I could into the grass.
'This is the attack you feared?'
I spared Yulia a glance. 'I don’t think so. I think this is part of their feint.’
‘There are many of them,’ she observed warily.
I noticed that several members of the section were also lifting their heads to see the advancing enemy force through the smoke.
‘Get your fucking heads down,’ I snapped, pointing my finger at them like a gun. ‘You should damn well know better!’
The section ducked quickly, remembering themselves.
That’s the problem with recce sometimes - too many heroes.
I switched to the platoon net. ‘Blackjack-One-Zero, this is One-One-Charlie, sighting …’
I dropped a crosshair onto the assembling force so that the platoon commander could see their location from wherever he was.
‘Send.’
I described what I could see: ‘I have one enemy dropship company dismounting, with one half moving into the forest.’
Whilst I described what was happening, I raised my head just a fraction above the grass, using my wizard kit to draw a blue line with an outstretched finger that separated the ground between us and the Loyalists. Happy that the line was a good hundred metres away from my section, I lowered my head again, taking cover in the mud.
EDEN (The Union Series) Page 14
