They had done it. Part of Warner wanted to weep. But he knew that right now on the objective was his most vulnerable time, being exposed to immediate counter-attack. “Kiralenko deploy your troops on the left. Weiss on the right. Chalker to me.” If there were any enemy nearby they still wouldn’t know how many troopers they had and he wanted to keep it that way.
All in all the assault had taken just over fifteen minutes. They had routed the enemy battery and were in possession of the high ground dominating the radar station now just 400m away. There was still firing coming from within the station building. Warner used his rifle sights to scan the battlefield below. He could just make out flashes from the hill on the far side. It was about 800m from his current position. All open ground with not a tree in sight. It looked like steady large calibre fire was being directed from there onto the south eastern corner of the station. They must have brought up some battlewagons. He needed time to think before he plunged into their second objective. He decided to report in.
“Hermes this is Golf Delta. Objective Secured.”
On board the Hermes in the command centre Rihan was overjoyed to hear his voice. “Roger that…any casualties?”
“One wounded”
Rihan couldn’t believe it. She had seriously thought that she would not be seeing any of them again. Somehow he, they, had pulled it off. The relief washed over her, drowned her. She was lost in her inner gratitude.
“Rihan just the one” prompted Warner.
“Yes, confirmed just one casualty. Well done. All’s well here. Any news on Golf Bravo and Golf Charlie?”
“It looks like they are still engaged inside the station and they are under fire from enemy vehicles. Possibly battlewagons firing from the north east. I have not made contact yet. Will endeavour to do so directly. Can you provide strike in support?”
“Wait one” said Rihan and then to Crystal “missiles available?”
“Two” came back the response. Rihan knew that they should really keep these for the return leg in case of any nasty surprise at Klaster. Not likely but it could happen. But then she noted that Warner had not held back anything so far and so she resolved not to hold back either.
“We have capacity for two strikes only”. Aubrey looked across at her XO and was shaking her head and mouthing ‘No, one only’ with one finger raised.
“I repeat we have two strikes available” reaffirmed Rihan and she stared down Aubrey.
“Roger that. Two Strikes. Will advise targeting data soon.”
“We’re waiting to support” said Rihan.
Chapter 29. Alpha Phi 1930, 25 April.
“Parinya, patch me through to Golf Bravo” asked Warner. So far he had no direct contact with them. He needed to find out what their situation was. He should have contacted Chase on landing but he completely forgot about it. He wasn’t going to give himself a hard time over that as he was otherwise preoccupied at the time.
“You’re through” advised Parinya.
“Golf Bravo this is Golf Delta.”
“This is Golf Bravo. Is that you Sir?”
“Yes it is Chase. We have just taken out the battery to your south west. I can see what looks like battlewagons firing from the ridge to your north east. How can we help? What’s your situation?”
“Boy, am I glad to hear that. We’re pinned down at the south east corner of the station. Golf Charlie tried to outflank and was cut down by those battlewagons. I think there is still one trooper out there but he’s not moving. We have another five maybe six enemy in front. We can deal with them if you can stop those battlewagons firing at us.”
“Switch to Sunray channel now. Do you understand?”
“Yes Sir, switching to sunray channel.” Sunray channel gave access only to the commanders of each call sign.
“Is Chief Sterkze with you?”
“Yes he is. Do you want to speak with him?”
“No. He is Archangel. I confirm he is Archangel.”
The words hit Chase like a sledgehammer. At that moment Pug was about two metres behind him craning to hear every word of the discussion. Chase was in shock staring at him. While Pug could not hear what Warner was saying he could tell by Chase’s expression and the fact that he was now staring at him that the gig was up.
Pug had to turn to bring his rifle to bear and Chase saw him doing so in slow motion. Chase brought his rifle up one handed also in slow motion. It appeared to Chase as though they were firing at the same time. He saw his shots tear the weapon out of Pug’s hand, blood shot out in a stream. But then there was another splash of blood and Chase knew it was his own but he didn’t feel anything yet. Then everything quickened and his chest heaved and shuddered as his suit’s shields were first engaged and then penetrated. The blast threw his head backwards. He was falling now. The roof above was moving away. Thump. Nothing.
Warner could hear the shots. That meant they must have come from somewhere very close to Chase. “Damm” he said out loud. “Chase, Chase…” but there was no answer.
Warner switched back channels to the group and hailed Emilio, but Emilio wasn’t answering because Emilio was too focussed. He had heard the shots from behind. As he turned he saw Chase falling backwards and Pug clutching his hand running out through the breach in the back wall, while the battlewagon barrage was going all around him. Emilio couldn’t believe he survived through that barrage.
But Pug did. He was losing blood fast. He managed to move 30m clear of the barrage, hit the ground and grabbed a dressing from his pouch. He ripped the bandage section away from the pad and gripping one end with his teeth tied a tourniquet around his lower hand just above the wrist. He knew the shock would hit him in a minute but he had to get as far away as possible.
Emilio called for covering fire from the rest of the squad and clambered towards Chase. He thought about going after Pug but decided against it. He didn’t fancy his chances of getting through the barrage and Chase moved enough to indicate he was still alive. Emilio called for Dai Shu to get over here.
He was applying pressure to the front of Chase’s chest. It seemed to be slowing the flow of blood. He had tried to rip open his suit but couldn’t do it one handed and he daren’t release the pressure. Dai finally arrived. She had probably sprinted if the truth be known but Emilio was counting time in milliseconds. While Emilio was still applying pressure she pulled out a pair of scissors that cut through the suit like it was nothing. It was not a pretty sight but on closer inspection Dai diagnosed that all was not lost. She shot something from a syringe into Chase’s thigh, then she prepared a dressing and in one seamless motion got Emilio to release his pressure and she applied the dressing with all the assuredness of a professional.
It was only then that Emilio bothered to respond to Warner. “Golf Delta this is Golf Charlie.”
“Emilio?”
“Yes Sir. Hanlon’s down. It looks like Sterkze shot him and done a runner. What the fuck is going on?”
“How is Chase?”
“Chest wound but Dai’s patching him up now.”
“And Sterkze?”
“He was holding his arm but I can’t be sure. Sir what’s going on?”
“Sterkze is a traitor.”
“Do we go after him?”
“Not now. We need to clear the station. Stay put. I’m calling in two strikes on the enemy battlewagons. Better keep your heads down. It’s going to be close.”
“Roger that.”
Chapter 30. Alpha Phi 2010, 25 April.
Warner had turned right at the top of the hill and made his way to the north east face. He was a little down the convex slope. He had Chalker and Kiralenko with him. Cpl Chang was holding the fort back on top of the hill. From this vantage point he could see the flashes of the battlewagons. They were quite spaced out. Dispersal makes them a more difficult, and less tempting, target. There was no way that they could get all three with two missiles.
Warner turned back to them “We can’t take them all out with just t
he two strikes. I’m going to hit the two furthest ones with the strikes. Ivan, you and Chang deal with the closest one.”
Ivan nodded his head. He wasn’t looking forward to the challenge but he knew that someone had to do it and he was Johnny on the spot. “Sir, we’ve only the one rocket.”
“Better make it count” said Warner giving him a slap on the shoulder. “I’ll take Grimshaw and Weiss into the station. That should turn the flank of the enemy there. With a bit of luck they will run out the back like their mates up here. Sue I want you to stay right here and cover us during the assault.”
“Sure.”
“Ivan, go get the others and line them up over there. We’ll all go when the strikes hit. Understood?”
They both acknowledged and Ivan charged back. Warner called in the strike details and asked for two minutes before launch. He then advised Emilio what was happening. He had hardly finished when the first missile lit up the entire area. Warner wouldn’t have wanted to be any closer and he was over a click away. The second one impacted almost straight after.
There was no time to inspect the damage. Ivan was running at a crouch. Chang was behind him with the man portable launcher. She was a strong tall athletic woman. Her long dark hair was pinned up. She had high cheek bones and a broad round face. She used to smile a lot but years of fighting in a male dominated service had hardened her somewhat. Her strong legs were pumping now as they hugged the contour around to the north and east. They needed to get within 300m to be effective against the battlewagon’s armour.
Warner had Grimshaw on his right and Weiss on his left again. They moved at steady pace. They got about 200m before a shot rang out from a rifle. Again it was way too high. Sue opened up on the firer from their left. Warner kept moving but he knew that they would cross Sue’s line of fire soon and then they would be on their own.
Another shot rang out. This time it was much closer. For the first time since the other assault Warner felt fear again. He went to ground, crawled and fired a burst. Weiss was beside him also firing. He was certainly getting the hang of it now thought Warner. Warner directed Grimshaw to provide covering fire, which he did. He and Weiss leap-frogged each other in their own little fire and move dance. They were only 20m away now.
Warner hadn’t heard a shot in reply for some time now. So he got to his feet and started to move forward at the crouch. Weiss copied his commander. A shot rang out from behind and to the left. Warner heard the air part near him and then heard the impact and the scream that ensued. Sue had just taken out an enemy not more than five metres away. ‘Shit’ that was close thought Warner. He knew he had not seen him. He would have been dead in the next step. He could feel that pattern of analysis borne of fear starting to take over. The task wasn’t finished. There was no time for this. He was now repeating the mantra subconsciously over and over again. He started to calm down. His eyes were searching ahead looking and dreading. He turned to Weiss and he too was deep breathing, frozen in place.
“Come on” said Warner. He and Weiss covered the distance to the station wall. They moved along to the entrance and called Grimshaw forward.
“Golf Bravo we’re coming in the west wall. There will be grenades.”
“Roger that. Welcome to the party” said Emilio.
Warner lobbed in a grenade. Womp. He and Weiss went in after it, Weiss left and Warner right. No response. There was a lot of dust from the bombardment and it got up Dave’s nose as he was breathing. He wiped his nose with the sleeve of his left arm.
“Grimshaw” called out Warner and in he went. Warner pointed to the next door down a corridor. “Weiss, grenade”. Weiss moved up to the door and lobbed in another grenade. This time he was lucky not to lose his arm as the wall on this side of the door was impacted with a burst of fire. The grenade went off and the room was filled with dust and debris that played havoc with their thermals. But Weiss was round and into the next room like a flash. Grimshaw broke to the other side and gave a burst down the corridor ahead.
Someone poked their rifle around the wall and let off a wild burst. It was not aimed but it doesn’t matter whether you get killed with an aimed shot or not. Weiss and Grimshaw both hit the deck. Then a grenade was thrown towards them. Weiss dived back through the door but Grimshaw with the heavier quanto wasn’t fast enough. He was hit in his back and legs as he tried to reach the door. He let out a loud yell.
Warner charged back into the corridor firing along the length of wall towards the door. “Weiss get back in here” he yelled. Weiss who was just picking himself off the floor in the other room scurried back in, half tripping over Grimshaw who was obviously in a lot of pain from all the shrapnel. He managed to get past him and hit the floor close to the right hand wall. Warner pulled out another grenade. He only had one more after this. He fired a burst at the door where the enemy had been, lobbed the grenade in and dived for the floor. The sound was deafening. Weiss had leapt to his feet, well before Warner. He charged into the room firing. But then he stopped when he saw the face staring back at him, dead.
A series of grenades went off nearby. Warner guessed that the corridor must lead to the large area where Bravo team was holed up. He had to be careful now lest they get hit with friendly fire.
“Emilio, I think we’re next door.”
“Yeh we hear you. The last guy here just bolted out the back. Are you coming through?”
“Yes we’ll come through. Hold your fire.”
“Roger that, Hold fire.”
Ivan and Sherri Chang were very close now. Well close enough. He had heard the fire fight going on in the station. The enemy battlewagon that was his target went quiet after the first two strikes, obviously trying to avoid the same fate. Through his thermals he could make out the commander of the vehicle peering through his own sights towards the radar station. The commander was probably getting very nervous now. What would have seemed a strong position had just become weak.
All of a sudden the vehicle revved up and started to reverse back out over the hill. Ivan knew that they probably would not get a better chance to take him out. They couldn’t afford to let him go. Chang already had the launcher at her shoulder. She was just waiting for the go ahead. Ivan calmly tapped her shoulder. She jumped up, and got her bearing on the vehicle as it was moving. Its commander spotted her but he had no chance. The rocket roared and covered the 200m in a second. At this range even against the frontal armour it was good night battlewagon.
Ivan popped up to have a look. Thick grey and black smoke was pouring out. It felt good. He whacked Chang on the back, quite hard. She nearly fell over and they both laughed. “Come on” he said and they started back towards where Sue Chalker was. On the way he hailed his boss. “Sir, scratch one battlewagon courtesy of Chang”. Sherri Chang looked across at Ivan and felt really proud of herself. She also thought that this Kiralenko was a very nice gentleman. He could have so easily claimed the credit himself. She felt so good about it that she gave him a great whack across his big tall frame. He nearly fell over. They both laughed again. When Ivan reached Chalker, she commented “Nice shooting you guys.” Ivan and Sherri smiled, then laughed again. It was good to laugh the victors’ laugh.
Bringing them back to earth Chalker asked “What are we going to do about Phillips?”
“Oh shit” said Ivan. He knew that he couldn’t walk. “Sir we’re going to need a lift for Phillips.”
“Roger that I’ll be there in five.”
Warner turned to Emilio. The others were coming over. The area was clear. Warner saw the familiar faces of the Bravo team but Brian Riley was not there. “Where’s Riley?”
Emilio’s smiling demeanour changed. He looked at Warner and shook his head “didn’t make it”.
Warner looked to Dakota Bridgewater. She was still carrying her quanto. The adrenalin was draining fast and as her eyes met Warner’s she started shaking her head and biting her lip. Warner moved to her and embraced her and then the tears flowed.
This was what War
ner hated the most. He could deal with his own loss of a soldier, a buddy, even a loved one but how do you comfort someone else who has lost a loved one? He eventually prized her away into Emilio’s arms.
Weiss was carrying out Grimshaw. Grimshaw was in pain but he was smiling nonetheless. “We got the bastards, Sir.”
Warner nodded, “Yeh, we got ‘em all right.”
He was about to turn and head back up the hill when Trooper Sonia Sulley came in through the breached wall. She was in a state of shock, dragging her rifle, no pack. There was blood all over her suit. It wasn’t hers. Buster Williams came over and put his arm around her. He took her rifle and sat her down on a fallen over cabinet. She looked up at Buster in a dazed state “Golf Charlie reporting”.
Warner took off up the hill. On the way he called Parinya and told her to get here asap. Soon the sound of the approaching warthog could be heard.
“Sir we have incoming enemy column from the north. ETA fifteen minutes” Parinya reported.
“OK hurry up” directed Warner. He did so himself, driving his tired legs to move faster. He got to Chalker’s position as the warthog was overhead. Alain’s cannon blared out onto the ground on the far hill, where the battlewagons had been.
“What is it?” demanded Warner.
“Alain reckons he saw movement on the hill.”
As Warner turned to face the hill he could see a man on top of the hill running for the far side.
“It’s Sterkze” cried Sue. She was looking through her sniper sites. She fired but missed. It was a long way across to the other hill. She lurched up into a standing position and lifting her rifle into the port position across her chest she started to jog as best she could. She was never going to catch him before he disappeared down the other side and with an enemy column headed their way Warner grabbed her. “I’ve seen enough killing today. Haven’t you?”
The Awakening: Book 1 of Warner's World Page 16
