Flight

by Jason Cheek

  Earlier that night, Startüm had waved him away with a smile, when he’d offered the younger man a set of their night vision goggles to use for the operation, which wasn’t so remarkable in itself. What had been surprising was that his students had waved away the same offer too. At first, he thought that they were just uncomfortable with using the high tech equipment, but as he watched them go about their business. He realized, they didn’t need night vision gear to operate in the dark. He didn’t know how far their night vision was able to function, but …

  Suddenly, Startüm’s hand flashed above his head, breaking his train of thought as the younger man’s hand signaled, giving the direction and number of enemies he saw. Peering intensely into the darkness, he sliced with his hand towards the right and then held up three fingers. Again his hand flashed, this time towards the left and another three fingers went up. Lastly, his hand flashed straight ahead, aiming for the dark shore directly before them as he held up four fingers. Turning around, Startüm’s yellow eyes scanned the men and women behind him. Making sure everyone had received his message, before looking directly at Ryan for confirmation.

  Ryan gave the younger man the universal hand signal for ‘OK’, and began passing the orders to his men. He saw Startüm look to the Chief next, confirming that the sighting were being passed along to the other boats. They exchanged several more hand signals as Startüm assigned targets groups to each pontoon boat. Receiving confirmation from the Chief, Startüm went back to his look out.

  Heart pounding, Ryan scanned the dark shore for the enemy that Startüm had seen, but still nothing was showing up in the green tinted display of his night vision goggles. Before he had too much time to wonder how far the young man could see in the darkness, he suddenly saw movement up ahead near the tree line. The four grotesque creatures looked even more horrifying than earlier, during the attack on the CTA building. For some reason, seeing the creatures at night in the middle of a swamp just gave him the willies! It was like looking at some imaginary boogiemen come to life! The crossbow in his hands just didn’t fill him with the same confidence as the assault rifle he’d left back at the CTA armory.

  Looking as far as he could right and left, he still didn’t see the targets Startüm had pointed out on either side of their assault group. Hopefully, the men in the other boats could see their targets. Instead of worrying, he focused on his part of the attack. Signaling his men, he divided them up five per target as he waited for Startüm’s signal to fire.

  The creatures seemed to be focused on the sounds of battle coming from the west as Startüm had hoped. When suddenly, the Scourge sentries jerked around as a loud, grinding noise rang out into the silent morning. As the pontoon boat grounded to a stop on the sandy shore, Ryan managed to keep the target in his sites as Startüm gave the signal to fire. The crossbow kicked in his hands as he sent the quarrel flying at his target over forty feet away, fifteen feet further than the range of their weapons effective envelope. There was no way the quarrels would penetrate the creature’s natural armor from this far out!

  Slamming his crossbow to the deck, he used the quick load lever to re-cock the weapon as he noticed the women rushing off the boat. Splitting off into two separate groups, they headed to the right and left. Watching them go, Ryan suddenly realized Startüm was nowhere to be seen.

  Standing up, he slid another quarrel into his weapon as he scanned the sandy beach looking for the large man. He found him a second later already closing into blade range with the Scourge. Unbelievably, all the targets were down, but none the less Startüm’s Katana flashed in the dark as he made sure the enemy was truly dead.

  Ryan realized what must have happened. When he gave the signal to fire, Startüm must have realized the distance was too great for their crossbows, and had somehow managed to leap closer to the sentries to increase the quarrels range. Jumping over the railing of the boat, his men followed close behind him as they silently stormed the beach. Running as fast as possible over the wet sand, they quickly reached the tree line where Startüm now stood scanning the dark.

  The agents of his team knelt down on either side of the large man, forming a tight firing line as they waited for everyone else to disembark from the boats. Listening intently, he heard the rustling sounds of men moving into position, but otherwise, that was it. There were no screeches of alarms calling out into the night.

  Looking back over his shoulder, Ryan saw Ranger Harris and the Leon Rifles quickly forming up into their double rank formation as each SWAT team formed up into two separate groups on either side of them. From this distance, he could easily see the difference in the men’s bearing and training.

  The Leon Rifles movements were drilled to precision, and in less than a minute they were formed up with crossbows ready to ward off any attack. All together they were only sixteen men, four men less than each of the SWAT teams’ formations to either side of them, but they moved with a disciplined purpose that set them apart. The SWAT teams, on the other hand, took several minutes to form up as they struggled to hold any type of formation. Slowly their jostling settled down into two loose double lines of ten as they stood uncomfortably on the open stretch of beach looking about nervously.

  Mentally, Ryan had understood the importance in the tactics Ranger Harris and Startüm had been discussing, but it was hard to truly appreciate the difference, until you saw it in action. The modern warfare part of his brain laughed at how easy it would be to mow the men down as they stood shoulder to shoulder out in the open in their double rank formations, while the other side of his brain could see how powerful the formation would be with these slower firing weapons.

  Luckily, his agents didn’t have to worry about trying to copy the formation fighting like the SWAT teams did. Startüm had made it clear that he wanted the agents in the center of the formation to act as a reserve unit. He wanted them to be prepared to go hand-to-hand with any Scourge that penetrated the lines, or to provide heavy fire support as needed. Seeing the SWAT teams struggling to maintain their linear formations, he was glad his men were off the hook for that. Honestly, he doubted that his men would have done much better at keeping their lines together.

  The entire assault had a surreal feel to it. Men and women conducting a beach landing wearing modern combat armor and night vision goggles, but armed with crossbows and using archaic battle tactics. There was a part of him that wondered if this wouldn’t be the future of modern warfare.

  Ryan saw Susan and Detective Kurwoski heading back, each from the direction of one of the Scourge groups of three. As they got close enough, he saw them both give the ‘OK’ hand signal, before falling in behind the Leon Rifles’ formation.

  Some of the men had privately complained about having women along on a combat mission, but when Startüm’s had heard their complaints, he only laughed. His only comment, after wiping the tears from his eyes, was that they were welcomed to discuss their concerns directly with Susan or Detective Kurwoski. That silenced the complaints immediately, since they’d all heard about both women’s skills during the last battle. Ryan had still heard a couple angry whispers afterwards between some of the men, but nothing more than that, since everyone else considered the issue closed after hearing Startüm’s dismissal.

  Startüm gave a signal for the men to start moving up as he dropped back, putting his arm around Ryan’s shoulder. Whispering quietly, he explained what he wanted.

  “Agent Moss, I need four of your best point men?”

  “Sure, where do you want them?”

  “Have them spread them out in front of the formations, but tell them to stay behind me.”

  “Yes Sir. Where do you want the rest of us?”

  “Go ahead and take up the reserve position behind the Leon Rifles like we initially planned, but just make sure those point men fall back with the main group, once we come in sight of Trapper Nelson’s.”

  “Just give me a moment to get them into position, Sir.”

  “Good man. I’ll move out once I s
ee them in place.”

  Quickly, Ryan picked out four of his best scouts. Calling the men to him, he quietly gave them their orders in a huddle. He sent them off just as the Leon Rifles marched up in quickstep, shoulder to shoulder, with Ranger Harris at their lead.

  Ryan was just trying to determine how best to fall in behind them, without getting in the way of their formation, when Ranger Harris gave a quick flick with his marching baton. With a practiced ease, the Leon Rifles’ formation immediately spread-out to double spaced intervals. The men easily passed by the CTA agents without slowing down or breaking their formation. As soon as they were past, Ranger Harris gave another flick with his baton, and his men closed ranks smoothly, once again marching shoulder to shoulder.

  Quickly, he fell in beside Sergeant O’Reilly and the Chief, trotting in quick step, behind the Leon Rifles as they began making their way across the dark island. The SWAT Sergeant rolled his eyes, smirking in the direction of the Leon Rifles as he spoke in a loud whisper.

  “They sure move pretty, but let’s see how they hold up once the shit hits the fan!”

  Ryan saw Detective Kurwoski roll her eyes at the Sergeant’s words as he hid his own smile, shaking his head from side to side at the Sergeant’s cock sure attitude. He didn’t agree with the Sergeant’s opinion. Being a history buff, he had read a number of strategy books that discussed the fortitude needed by the men using these types of combat tactics. Not to mention, from the conversation he’d overhead on the boat ride over, most of those men were highly trained soldiers that had served in Desert Storm and the Afghanistan War with the Army Rangers. Given what the battle plan called for tonight, he’d place his bets on the Leon Rifles.

  Startüm’s eyes swept back and forth as they ran in the dark through the spindly trees. Hopefully, those were the only sentries the enemy had positioned on this side of the island. Luckily, the undergrowth had been burned out from last year’s forest fires, and they had pretty much a clear path across the back side of the island.

  RRRAAAAAAOOOOOORRRRRRRR

  The thunderous noise blasted out from somewhere up ahead of them, deafening in its intensity. Like everyone else, Ryan fell to his knees clutching his ears with both hands, until the pain subsided enough for him to look up once again. A strange tingling sensation ran through his body as a golden glow briefly surrounded him. As the excruciating pain in his head suddenly disappeared, he stood up amazed to see his ears weren’t bleeding. That had to have been worse than the heavy artillery bombardment he’d endured during his last mission in Iraq, and it had taken over two weeks for his blown eardrums to heal!

  Coming back to his senses, he looked around as the rest of Alpha Team struggled back to their feet. Recovering his crossbow from where he’d dropped it, he gave the stunned Detective Kurwoski a helping hand to her feet. Scooping up her bow, he handed it back to her, when he saw her face suddenly freeze in shock. Following her gaze, he saw Startüm’s eyes as he felt the blood suddenly drain from his face.

  The soft golden glow surrounding the young man was fading away quickly, but looking into his glowing yellow eyes, Ryan suddenly understood. There was something terrible waiting for them up ahead. Something that Startüm just now recognized, and that knowledge filled him with dread. The intensity of the young man’s feelings flooding into him stole his breath away, but as just as fast as the door had been swung open, it slammed shut. Once again, the young man stood before him radiating confidence and strength, but Ryan could still taste the underlining sadness, loneliness and even acceptance that filled the young man soul as if some deeper connection had been made between them during that vulnerable second. Looking back at Detective Kurwoski, he could see she’d had a similar experience.

  Suddenly, a large hand grabbed his shoulder gently. Turning around, he saw Startüm with an arm around him and Detective Kurwoski. The young man whispered quietly enough, so that only the two of them could hear his next words.

  “If things go bad, get everyone back to the boats.”

  Before he could respond to the odd request, the Chief’s gruff whisper behind them broke the moment.

  “What’s going on Son?”

  Looking around, Agent Moss saw Ranger Harris and Sergeant O’Reilly walking up with Agent Foster close behind. Startüm stepped back to address everyone.

  “The situation has changed, gentlemen. Beta Team is in trouble, and we have run out of time!”

  The Chief put his hand to his throat mike, making sure it was still working.

  “I haven’t received any reports of trouble.”

  Unperturbed, Startüm continued.

  “None the less, it is true.” Looking into each of their faces, with a look that brooked no argument, the young man continued.

  “Agent Moss, pull your scouts back. We will proceed at double time to the target. Once we engage the enemy, you will only attack the Scourge, while I take on the demon.”

  Sergeant O’Reilly laughed snidely.

  “And what happens if the demon”, he pronounced it as deeemmmonnn, “takes you out instead, Mr. Samurai?”

  “Then you’d better pray to whatever God you believe in for the survival of your World.”

  Sergeant O’Reilly started choking in laughter at the young man’s audacious words, but froze when he realized that no one else was laughing.

  “Let’s go!”

  Without looking back, Startüm took off at a quick run as Sergeant O’Reilly looked at the rest of them in shock. “He’s joking, right?”

  Ryan gave the crass Sergeant an exasperated look, before moving out with Ranger Harris and the Chief as they ignored his question. He heard Detective Kurwoski tired sigh as she laid into him.

  “Why do you think the Chief has let Startüm take the lead this whole time? What did you think this was all about?”

  Shaking her head in disgust, she took off ignoring the Sergeant’s stunned expression as the enormity of the situation came crashing down on him for the first time.

  Ryan saw the Sergeant’s sudden epiphany as he hurried after them a second later.

  Chapter 20

  Location Earth / Florida present day:

  Stopping at the head of the Leon Rifles’ formation, Ranger Harris raised the signal baton over his head as his men recovered their double ranked formation. Once their lines were straight, he gave the signal for ‘double time march’. Signaling ‘forward march’, he dropped the baton quickly heading after Mr. Ironwolf’s disappearing armored back. Moving out at a fast jog, the Leon Rifles followed their Commander as one unit, while the nearest ranger to each SWAT team quietly passed on their Commander’s orders

  The rest of the men and women followed in the wake of the Leon Rifles. Slowly, they started catching up once again to Startüm as he ranged ahead. Even at this demanding pace, the Leon Rifles somehow managed to keep their lines dressed and their formation together, while, to either side of them, the SWAT teams’ formations quickly fell apart into a packed mass of running men. At the back of the formation, Agent Moss put a hand to the mike at his throat whispering.

  “All forward scouts, fall back and regroup.”

  Oddly enough, he didn’t hear any answering reply back from his people. Triggering the mike again at his throat, he tried contacting the men once more.

  “All forward scouts, fall back and regroup.”

  Receiving no response, he leaned over to Agent Wilcox.

  “My radio is malfunctioning. I need you to order the forward scouts to fall back and regroup.”

  Agent Wilcox nodded affirmative as he began broadcasting Agent Moss’s orders to the men, while Ryan fiddled with his radio. After several tries, he heard the Agent give up after receiving no response.

  “Sir, I can’t raise the scouts. My radio doesn’t seem to be functioning either. I don’t know what happened. I tested the unit just before we left the HQ on the choppers.”

  A cold sinking feeling hit Ryan’s stomach hearing his subordinate’s words.

  “Just like mine.
Pass the word through the Leon Rifles to have the scouts fall back and regroup.”

  “Sir, yes Sir!”

  Falling a step back to run next to the Chief, Ryan leaned in close to the heavy puffing older man.

  “Sir, can you perform a radio check with Central?”

  Frowning, the Chief activated the radio at his neck, triggering the unit to send mode.

  “Alpha Team to COM”

  Waiting for a long moment, the Chief tried again.

  “Alpha Team to COM”

  “Do you copy COM? Please come in.”

  Releasing the trigger, there was only static as the Chief returned his anxious look. They both knew what that meant. Somehow, the aliens were able to block their radio communications.

  Without saying a word, Ryan caught back up with his men, passing along the word that the radios were out. The men accepted the message stolidly, just as he knew they would. They were all highly trained professionals, and were used to dealing with changing combat conditions. It was something that all professional soldiers learned early on in their career, “no plan survives contact with the enemy”. Arguably Helmuth von Moltke the Elder’s most famous quote that was even now taught in every military training academy around the world. Battle plans, even the most straightforward ones, were always subject to change once you engaged the enemy.

  Watching Startüm’s armored back cutting through the woods. Ryan suddenly realized the young man understood the essence of that old saying, and was even now doing everything he possibly could do to deal with the changing situation. Now that they were committed, it wasn’t like they had much in the way of options at this time. He had no doubt that these aliens would wipe out Earth if they believed humans were defenseless against them.

  Suddenly, he saw Startüm come to a stop at the forest’s edge as he signaled the men behind him to slow down. The sounds of combat coming from the west were somehow different from earlier, but still loud enough to drown out their approach as he saw a group of twelve Scourge milling about as they tried to watch the action to the west. Ryan saw Startüm whisper something into Ranger Harris’s ear, before turning once again to face the enemy.