EDEN (The Union Series)

by Richards, Phillip

  Why do you have no family? Did you have them executed too?

  ‘My family died during the war,’ Yulia continued sadly. ‘They were killed during the Union bombardment of Edo.’

  I found it difficult to feel any sympathy for the Guard captain. She was part of a murderous organization that ruled over its people by fear and intimidation, and whatever her past, it changed nothing.

  You lost your family, Yulia? Aww, my heart breaks for you!

  ‘You are busy,’ she said after a few moments silence, detecting my hostility. ‘Make sure that I am woken when it is time to go.’

  She stood, returning her daysack to her back. ‘Not everyone in the Guard is as bad as you think.’

  ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ I answered gruffly.

  I would have to watch her like a hawk, I told myself as she disappeared back into the undergrowth. There was no telling what she might do when we suddenly changed our plan and charged toward the city. Would she order another gang of guardsmen to kill us, or would she attempt to do it herself? The platoon commander made a huge understatement when he said that the operation had turned ‘messy’ - it was far beyond that. The enemy weren’t just in Dakar; one of them was now within my own section.

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  The Burrows

  We emerged out of the mist like spectres, slowly wading out of the cold water and onto dry land. Careful not to make any noise, I moved in amongst the trees and lay down in a fire position, ready to repel an attack from any Loyalists unfortunate enough to stumble upon us. One by one the section followed, taking up their positions until we formed a semi-circle formation up against the bank. Yulia copied us, taking up a position within the formation. I glanced left and right of me, seeing the other sections slip out of the swamp to do the same.

  Puppy approached from the shadows, leaning right over me to whisper, ‘All in.’

  I nodded in acknowledgement, and he moved back into the darkness.

  Nobody moved. We lay there on the edge of the swamp in total silence, accompanied only by the sound of a cold breeze moving the trees around us. We listened out for any sign of enemy activity, just in case they had noticed us moving through the water. According to previous recces, and Yulia’s spies, the marsh was poorly defended, but we weren’t going to take any chances. The Loyalist defensive layout could change, and none of us trusted Yulia further than we could throw her.

  The wind seemed to penetrate through the fabric of my soaking wet combats, ripping the heat out of my body. I shivered in the cold, watching the seconds on my visor display slowly tick away.

  Five minutes passed before the Mr Barkley gave the signal to prepare to move. Normally he might allow time for the platoon to change into dry kit, but we had a deadline to meet, and we would soon forget about our wet combats when the fighting started.

  I checked the map on my datapad, studying the route that had been given to me during the platoon commander’s orders. We were exactly where we wanted to be, with the first predicted enemy position four hundred metres to my northeast.

  Myers closed in to me, having activated his scanner.

  ‘Ready?’ I asked him quietly, and he nodded. ‘Good. Let’s get going.’

  We stalked through the undergrowth, following the route laid out by the previous recce in order to avoid the enemy defences. Keeping the butt of my rifle pressed firmly into my shoulder, I swept my arcs with my finger resting over the power up button. I didn’t like moving with all of my equipment switched off, but it was necessary in order to get close to the first position. The Loyalists wouldn’t be expecting an attack behind their front line, but they weren’t idiots - they would be listening out for us.

  Myers patrolled just ahead of me, slowly creeping through the ferns without making a sound. Every step he took was slow and deliberate, gently applying pressure with each boot as he checked for any fallen twigs or other vegetation that could snap noisily. I allowed for him to take his time. The scanner he carried in his daysack was our only defence against Loyalist sensors, and there were bound to be some somewhere. Smaller pieces of equipment like sensors were far more difficult to detect, even with our advanced scanner. It wouldn’t work if we rushed.

  Visibility reduced even more as the mist thickened, forcing us to decrease the distance between each other to little more than five metres. With our platoon and section net deactivated, it would be difficult to link back up if somebody became separated. I turned around to check that Skelton was still behind me, seeing his ghostly figure following close behind in the gloomy mist.

  Suddenly Myers froze. His hand quickly raised above his head, motioning for us to stop.

  His scanner had detected something. We waited, frozen like statues, watching him nervously as he studied information only he could see on his visor display.

  I crept up to him, just as he slowly lowered to one knee. I knelt beside him, leaning right over to his headset earpiece.

  ‘What?’ I whispered.

  ‘Reading,’ he breathed, pointing off to our left. ‘One there, one to our right, and one in front.’

  ‘Sensors?’

  He was quiet for a moment. ‘I think the two either side are … they’re very small readings.’

  I nodded slowly, scanning the mist for any sign of enemy presence, but there was nothing to suggest that there was a Loyalist position in front of us.

  Thank God for the scanner, I thought. Without it, we would have walked to our deaths. Not that we would have been alive for the operation on Dakar anyway - our scanner had already kept us alive once.

  Sensors were good bits of kit for defensive positions, covering arcs that a single pair of human eyes couldn’t, but they could be double-edged weapons when used against modern electronic warfare equipment. Fortunately for us, the scanner Myers carried was state-of-the-art - so new that only a few units in the Union army carried one. Instead of providing early warning of a hapless patrol, the sensors placed out by the Loyalists merely told us where they were.

  I nodded forward. ‘What about the reading to our front?’

  Myers didn’t respond straight away. He waved his arm about, pointing his finger and drawing lines in the air as he navigated the menu on his visor. ‘It’s bigger. Possibly a weapon.’

  ‘Automated gun?’

  He shrugged. ‘Not sure. It looks like a weapon, but I couldn’t tell you what.’

  I looked back and beckoned to Yulia, who crouched just beside Myers. ‘Let’s see what our ally thinks.’

  Myers blinked. ‘You think we can trust her?’

  I watched her as she silently negotiated through the undergrowth toward us. ‘I don’t know. It’s hard to trust anybody you don’t know these days.’

  Yulia joined us as Myers resumed waving his arms, trying to decipher the information provided by his scanner.

  ‘You have found them?’

  I ignored her question, and asked instead, ‘Do they have automated guns here?’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Robotic weapons, auto-turrets …’

  Yulia shook her head. ‘Not here. They have them placed in the middle of their main defence screen, and in re-entrants to the east where their own positions can’t guard.’

  ‘You’re sure?’

  She frowned. ‘Yes, I am sure. Our spies have watched them for days, we know their positions and they have not changed.’

  I studied her for a second, and then finally nodded. ‘OK. So we have one slightly larger reading directly ahead of us …’

  ‘It is one of their bunkers,’ she interrupted. ‘There are three of them on this side, twenty metres apart. Two men are in each one. The sensors and automated guns are connected to them by optical cable.’

  ‘Myers?’

  The young trooper paused to think, and then said, ‘That would make sense from what I can see. The reading could be two weapons, powered down, maybe a few computer screens …’

  ‘How are they constructed?’ I asked Yulia
.

  ‘They are dug in and fortified with sandbags,’ Yulia replied. ‘They have overhead cover, but they have large openings to fire their weapons through.’

  I considered my options, thinking about how best to deal with the situation. Ideally I would want to get eyes onto the position, and maybe find a way of sneaking right up to it, but with the enemy sensors threatening us with discovery, it would be risky and would cost us dearly in time – and time was something we did not had in short supply. H-hour was a few minutes away, and not long after that the first wave of FEA dropships would sweep into the area.

  I looked back to Skelton again and patted my arm with a single finger - 2ic. I then patted my helmet - on me.

  He nodded his understanding, and passed the hand signal back. Seconds later Puppy’s unmistakable shadow emerged out of the mist; he had been expecting my call.

  I pointed my thumb downwards and indicated the direction of the enemy, and he nodded as he joined the growing party at the front of the section.

  ‘What’s the plan?’ he whispered. ‘We haven’t got much time …’

  ‘No shit,’ I replied irritably. ‘We’re on the edge of their position. We’ve got sensors either side of us – what - twenty metres away?’

  ‘About that,’ Myers agreed. ‘Thirty to the bunker ...’

  ‘Which is directly ahead of us,’ I finished. ‘We’re going to launch. Straight in.’

  Puppy frowned in puzzlement. ‘You want me to move round into fire support?’

  I shook my head. ‘No, we haven’t got the time, and you’ll risk being detected. We’ll rush them.’

  ‘OK. I’ll hold my fire team here until you call for me.’

  ‘No dramas, give me a thumbs-up once you’ve briefed your lads.’ I glanced at my visor clock. ‘You’ve got three minutes.’

  Puppy nodded and made his way back to his fire team, while I waved Skelton in so that I could share my plan with him.

  Yulia was staring at me. ‘You’re just going to charge?’

  ‘I’m banking on surprise,’ I explained. ‘You need to stay with Delta fire team until I’ve cleared the position.’

  ‘It would be better if I come with you,’ she argued. ‘I am here to fight, not to watch.’

  I considered the proposal. Yulia was as well-armed as any of us, and even if she couldn’t access our section net, she would be a useful addition to our fighting power. If she wanted to shoot me in the back, then she could have done so at any time during our patrol. At least for now, she was on our side.

  ‘OK,’ I decided, my eyes flicking across to Skelton. ‘You will work as a pair.’

  Skelton nodded gravely, knowing that he would need to keep a close eye on Yulia. We didn’t know if or when she might turn on us.

  I explained my plan as the fire team and its new attachment huddled around me. On H-Hour we would charge the last thirty metres onto the enemy bunker, with Yulia and Skelton giving cover as Myers and I made the assault. It was simple as hell, but it would be so quick that the Loyalists wouldn’t know what had hit them, and by the time they worked out what had happened, the first bunker would already be taken.

  We quietly moved into position, forming a four-man extended line no more than ten metres across. I didn’t want for us to spread out, too much movement would equal compromise, especially at such close quarters.

  I looked behind me, and exchanged a thumbs-up with Puppy. We were good to go, and with less than a minute to spare. On H-Hour, at the exact timing given to us by Mr Barkley during his orders, both multiples would strike at once along a broad frontage, destroying several of the positions located by our recces. Following that, the multiples would continue their assault, maintaining surprise as they bounded forward to attack the burrows in which the anti-aircraft weapons were buried.

  It always amazes me how slowly the seconds pass whenever I am waiting for H-Hour, it was as though time slowed down for me to contemplate my fate. Was I right to use such a simple plan? It was barely really a plan at all, and Puppy certainly didn’t sound too happy with it. But did he have any better ideas?

  I shook my head as the last few seconds passed. There was no time to change what I was doing, even if there was anything wrong with it. When time was short you had to make your plan, and stick with it.

  My rifle butt was pressed firmly into my shoulder, and my fingers flexed around the pistol grip of my rifle to give me the perfect grip. Muscles tensed, my heart pumped, and my eyes narrowed; I was ready for battle.

  I held up five fingers so that everyone could see, and then counted the last seconds to H-Hour.

  Five, four, three, two, one … GO! I reactivated the section net.

  Nobody said a single word. We didn’t need to. Instead the four of us launched forward as if we had been set free from a spell. Four sets of magnets powered up as we crashed through the undergrowth, like a pack of wolves breaking cover in their final dash for the kill.

  The Loyalist soldiers in the bunker had no time to react. Within five seconds of our charge, we had already identified their position, and Skelton dropped to one knee to fire a burst of darts straight into the weapon slits.

  As he fired, Myers and I continued our charge, sliding the last few metres through the mud.

  ‘Stay down!’ I hissed at him, drawing a grenade from my pouches and setting it to only one second - I didn’t want the enemy inside the bunker to throw it back.

  I could hear the confused shouts of the Loyalists inside the bunker, just as I tossed the grenade inside and rolled away.

  No sooner had my headset beeped in warning then the grenade exploded, the blast rattling my bones. Smoke poured out of the bunker, and I knew without a doubt that the two men inside it had died.

  Nevertheless, I stuck my barrel into the bunker, identifying two lifeless corpses in the dark. I fired a couple of darts into each to confirm that they were dead.

  ‘Position clear!’ I shouted, picking myself up and taking up a fire position behind the bunker, using its sandbag walls for protection. A spray of darts struck the far side of the bunker, and I ducked out of the way as chunks of concrete flew overhead.

  ‘Contact front!’ Skelton hollered, just as he and Yulia opened fire onto a position beyond us.

  There was another burst of gunfire to my right, and as I looked I saw Corporal Abdi’s section attacking a bunker a few hundred metres away, the flash of their weapons flickering in the dark. The Loyalists were up and alert now, but they were already on the back foot, under attack from all directions.

  Myers crashed against the bunker beside me, his breathing ragged as he scanned for the next target.

  ‘Shit the bed! That was mental!’ he exclaimed, blinking furiously.

  I ignored him. Lifting my head I quickly spotted a dark, square shadow in the mist another thirty metres away, its weapon slits flickering with light as the occupants returned fire. It was another bunker, of course - there was always a depth position. After all, depth was a principle of defence, the idea being to soak up our momentum until our attack came to a halt. We needed to make sure that didn’t happen, or our small platoon could quickly become overwhelmed.

  I quickly dropped a crosshair on the position.

  ‘Charlie!’ I hollered. ‘Reference my mark! Rapid … FIRE!’

  Like a well-oiled machine, the weapons of the fire team switched in an instant, striking the bunker in a hail of gunfire and suppressing the occupants inside.

  ‘Puppy!’ I called on the net. ‘Launch on the right flank, and be aware of Corporal Abdi on your right! Stand by for grenades!’

  ‘Roger!’

  I fired a single smoke grenade at the bunker, watching as the guided weapon veered through the trees to detonate on top of the crosshair. The instant cloud of hot smoke it produced added extra shock for the occupants of the bunker, whilst at the same time obscuring it as Puppy moved around the flank.

  I didn’t need to wait long before I saw his fire team bounding through the ferns and bushes, hoo
king around to the right of the bunker. Normally I would have switched with him and taken the assault myself, but I trusted Puppy, knowing that he could do as good a job as me. Switching commanders around merely slowed down the assault.

  Puppy dropped off two of his men as he made his final approach to the bunker, and they dropped down to the ground to give him cover against counterattack. Within seconds they opened fire, identifying more positions deeper in amongst the trees.

  My own fire team had become redundant, with Puppy ahead of us, and Corporal Abdi conducting his own attack to my right. I didn’t want to close-up right away, though, wary of bunching up onto a position that hadn’t yet been taken.

  ‘Watch the left,’ I ordered Myers, and then turned to where Skelton and Yulia lay in a dip in the ground. ‘As soon as Puppy takes his bunker, we bound forward!’

  ‘OK!’ Skelton replied, and Yulia nodded.

  I hoped that Skelton was managing to keep watch on Yulia – I still found her presence in the section unsettling.

  Puppy crawled up to the bunker unopposed, pausing for less than a second to draw his grenade, before tossing it into the bunker. I heard the warning beep as they dived out of the way and the bunker slits lit with a flash of orange.

  ‘Position clear!’ Puppy shouted, firing wildly into the bunker as he did so.

  ‘Skelton, we’ll move first!’ I called out, quickly checking that my pouches were closed and ducking into cover. Myers did the same.

  ‘Roger!’ Skelton acknowledged.

  ‘Myers, move!’ We burst out from behind the bunker, bounding toward where Puppy and his fire team engaged more targets deeper into the forest.

  We ran no further than ten metres, taking up fire positions and waiting for Skelton and Yulia to move up alongside us. The process continued, allowing for us to close with Puppy without sacrificing our ability to defend ourselves.

  Just as we drew up to the left side of Puppy’s fire team, the forest flashed as a large missile launched from the Loyalist burrows ahead of us, breaking through the canopy and screaming into the sky. Several more missiles launched from across the forest, illuminating the mist with an orange glow. I wondered what they were firing at, since none of the FEA dropships would move until we gave the word that the anti-aircraft batteries had been destroyed. I put it down to desperation.