by Aidan Colyer
“There is a squad out there. It isn’t ours though as far as I can tell. Do you want to engage them?”
“No, we need to make it to the high ground without being detected if we can.”
Roland agreed, and they moved forward. They stopped every so often to check the squad. They hadn’t moved from their camp. Something good, for them anyway, Roland thought. They carried on until Watts stopped them again.
“Something else seems off. I can’t tell what though. I’m thinking we make camp and keep an eye out. We don’t want to walk into an ambush considering our lack of backup.”
Roland raised his rifle to check the enemy squad again. As he tracked their movements, there was a flash. Then there were smaller flashes from the muzzles of weapons. Roland dropped to a knee but kept watching. As he did the squad that had been camping out scattered as someone picked them off one at a time. He searched for the source of the shots. As he focused on the sounds, he could hear them as tiny indistinct cracks on the night air. The blackness of the night meant he couldn’t identify anyone but then there was another shot and muzzle flash. Roland centred his scope on it. He was already at full zoom but the distance was longer than the scopes maximum zoom range. The muzzle flash illuminated a tree much like the ones they had stopped by. He aimed at it trying to identify the shooter but they were completely shrouded. If they were there, they had some serious stealth technology. Roland remembered back to the unit list that Webb told him about. The only one on that list that even had access to that level was still on the coast. Or at least they should be.
“Watts. Use the comm to contact the lieutenant. Ask him if the Special Forces unit has moved up from the coast?”
She fiddled with the comms device dangling from her helmet and spoke in hushed tones. She stopped and replied again as Roland watched the last of the enemy squad collapse into the dust of the desert floor.
“They are still on the coast,” Watts said, “why do you ask?”
“Someone has taken out the squad we detected earlier. I followed the shots and whoever was shooting at them had stealth tech way higher level than we have. They doubtless have their stealth skill raised to a ridiculous level too to take advantage of their suits.”
“None of our units are over there and if they aren’t that means there is a third party involved.”
Roland didn’t like the conclusion but the only logical explanation included a rebel unit running around. He checked all of the trees near them making sure their gnarled branches held no nasty surprises. The trees remained devoid of life and odd absences of anything that might signal a stealthed soldier.
“We can’t stop now, in that case, let’s keep moving. We don’t want to find out if that was an attack by a rogue unit on our side or enemy infighting or worse. No matter what the answer is, we don’t want to meet them. Especially with our level of equipment.”
“I’m with you there” Watts replied standing and resetting her cloak.
Roland mirrored her actions, and they made ready to head out. This time they moved at a slow jog. Roland checked his stamina bar, and it was holding steady for now. With the heat gone it seemed they would be spared the reduction in stamina.
They jogged and checked the area as they ran. Roland could feel the tightness in his shoulders as they approached the base of the mesas slope. The number of trees increased but with a wider spacing as soon as the angle of the slope rose from the floor of the desert. As they hit the base of the incline Roland realised it was the same as the last one they had encountered. Loose scree rattled around them, and they had to slow to a crawl to scale it. Roland gritted his teeth flinching every time they dislodged a cascade of rocks.
They climbed for what seemed like another hour but was in reality only a few minutes. As soon as Roland reached the edge of the slope, he lay down and looked out across the top of the plateau. Large sandstone boulders littered the top of the mesa. The tops showed signs of wear from what little rain the region seemed to get. Dust sat in drifts against the stones and spiky shrubs clung to their flanks. He couldn’t see any movement so gradually rose and made his way to the closest of the stone piles. The rocks loomed in front of him as he checked around it and saw that a small cave-like opening had formed as the rocks had tumbled into each other. The cave was exactly what he was after so he gestured inside and Watts nodded crawling through the opening.
“We stay here tonight and then move to a position over the village at first light,” Roland whispered.
Watts nodded and then her eyes glazed slightly. Roland realised what she was doing and accessed the menu system searching for the alarm system. He managed to find a log of sunrises and sunset times too so set it for the exact time of sunrise. Once the timer was set Roland closed his screens, pulled his cloak over his face and equipment, and tried to relax into sleep.
Roland heard a buzzing in his ear and jumped. He cracked his helmet off of a rock sending a shock through his neck and making his teeth crack. His panic subsided as he saw the sunlight creeping into their hiding place through a series of cracks. He could already feel the warmth of the sun in those shafts of light as he turned off the alarm and checked to see if Watts was awake too. She was having set her alarm for the same time. They drank sips of water in silence and then crawled from their hiding place. Roland checked the top of the mesa to see if the daylight had revealed anything new. It hadn’t thankfully. The piles of weather-worn rock were still there dotting the entire area. The small spiked plants pushed their way up from the stony ground and across the sides of the rock formations. There were several low wide trees that threw long shadows from the rising sun.
They made their way to the edge of the mesa and looked down over the village below.
They could see the road coming in on the far side. The village was surrounded by a series of sandbagged outposts and camouflaged netted artillery pieces. There were several prefab buildings across the village. The houses showed signs of fortification with sandbags on their flat roofs and the windows being covered by a corrugated plastisteel sheet. Liberal amounts of yellow paint had been daubed on anything not already the dull ochre of the ground that spread out as far as the eye could see.
“This looks like as good a place as any for a position,” Watts said kneeling down under a tree. She flipped down her bipod and lay down. Roland joined her and they took their first look at the village through their scopes.
Chapter 6.
The soldiers in the village had drifted out from their barracks and started the usual barracks routine. Their ochre uniforms matched the surrounding area helping them to blend in. Even their equipment had been painted with the dusty ochre colour. He watched as they took up positions on rooftops and at the fire steps of the sandbag bunkers. The artillery crews ambled towards their pieces. They were stripping their jackets and throwing them aside as they started their daily inspections. Roland flicked from group to group looking for insignia of rank. He couldn’t discern any. They were clearly not stupid. His own rank insignia were hidden under his cloak and when not their colours blended them into the camouflage of his uniform.
He tracked the movements looking for any patterns. He took his time and was able to identify several distinct groups of enemy soldiers.
They were only infantry squads and artillery troops though. He picked out and tagged a few officers after watching their actions. None were the higher level officers on their target list though. Roland gave up and lifted his face away from his scope. He wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to Watts.
“Anything you can make out?” he asked.
“I think I might have found a platoon command or two but nothing on the company level or higher.”
“Perhaps we should check each building individually. One of them has to be the command post.”
“How exactly are we going to do that?” Watts said as she raised herself up on her elbows and fished around in her pack for more water.
“I’ll take the ones from the right you take them f
rom the left. We go until we hit every building. There should be one that has runners coming out of it or something.”
“That’s not a bad idea. It is worth a shot I suppose,” Watts replied swigging from her canteen and then cringing at the warm water. She screwed the cap back on and settled herself back down. Roland did the same and started to check the buildings. All of the ones on the outside seemed to be rudimentary barracks although most of the buildings had been upgraded to form a ring of defences. Roland took more time over the buildings in the centre. None of them stood out as far as size was concerned. He spotted one that had a group of soldiers milling around outside. Checking them over, he marked the position before continuing across the village. Nothing else different stood out to him on the other side of the camp so he moved back to that one building. The soldiers outside had moved off. They were dispersing. Roland smiled.
“I think I have it.”
“Which one?” Watts asked not lifting from her rifle.
“If you go to the centre of the village do you see that row of buildings that have small domes on the roof?”
“Yeah. Now two houses down from there towards the main body of the artillery.”
Roland waited for a few seconds.
“Yup got it.”
“There were runners coming from the building. That has to be at least some sort of command building. Problem is all of the windows are boarded up.”
“What do we do then?”
“We wait and watch. Hopefully, the officers will show their face at some point.”
They settled into silence and watched. Roland checked around the village every so often to see if anything had changed. Nothing had. The soldiers were all at ease in their stations. The artillery crews were now sat under ramshackle shades next to their pieces. They waited for two hours as the sun rose in the sky shifting the shade form the tree away from them. Roland tried to remain still as sweat ran down his forehead and towards his eyes. He wiped it away every time he felt it running through his eyebrows. He pulled one of the bandages from his pockets and tied it around his forehead, which alleviated the issue somewhat.
The enemy shifted and moved to their proper defensive positions. Roland lifted his aim and looked at the road. Plumes of dust rose from the desert marking the armoured troops advancing towards their objective. They spread into a line as they approached the village. This was it. Roland thought as he shifted his aim back to the command building. Two more squads emerged from the building and separated running to various positions. He didn’t follow them but kept his aim steady on the area in front of the door they had used to exit. His patience payed off as another soldier exited the building. The soldier walked out away from the building and raised a pair of binoculars. Roland sighted on them and fired. As he had done in the range, he missed with the first shot. He cursed as the soldier scurried into cover. He used the first shot to find the range, adjusting his scope a fraction, and waited. The sound of the engines from the armoured troop now filled the air. The artillery crews fired their first barrage. Roland felt the vibrations as all of the pieces fired as one. His vision was clouded as dust floated from the building he kept in his scope. The officer hadn’t reappeared. Tanks from their attacking force returned fire knocking down walls and tearing apart the hessian sandbags. He continued watching the building as more explosions rocked the village. The artillery fired again. This time not as one but in a continuous barrage. He heard the deep sound of heavy machine guns open up and stretched his fingers. As his hand was outstretched, another soldier came into view. He curled his hand back around the grip and trigger as quickly as he could and followed them. He fired and hit them square in the back. They staggered forward but didn’t fall. He fired again, but they were moving faster and he missed sending up a puff of sand and dust as the bullet hit the ground behind their feet. Trying to remain calm he tracked them firing a shot that tore a chunk of flesh from their leg. When they were down, he checked the soldier over again.
“Shit.”
He switched his aim back to the building and caught the officer disappearing back inside.
“I hit a runner.”
“Good for you. We are supposed to be shooting officers though,” Watts said.
“At least I’m shooting,” Roland replied cursing his stupidity.
“I haven’t had a good angle yet,” she replied.
Roland took advantage of the lull and scanned the rest of the village. The tanks had stopped rolling forward and were now bombarding the edge of the village. He watched as the soldiers hid behind their sandbags. When he got to the artillery, his blood ran cold. Two of the pieces had been turned to face the mesa. He flicked his scope to look at the crews as they loaded fresh shells the brass glinting in the bright sun.
“Watts. The artillery; we need to go now,” Roland shouted.
“Wait for it.”
Roland didn’t wait. He didn’t run either. Taking his time he lined up on the loader of the closest piece and fired. The shot tore through their unprotected torso sending ribbons of flesh across the pile of shells. Roland paid it no heed as he moved his aim to the next member of the team firing again. He increased his rate of fire hoping to make them put their heads down. As he shifted his aim to the second piece, he saw the gunner fire. The shell flew over their heads with a high-pitched screech and hit one of the rock formations. It exploded into sandstone shrapnel forcing Roland to stick his head down. Watts hadn’t moved, even as the fragments of stone pattered across her cloak. Roland lifted his head and sighted on the artillery crew. He fired indiscriminately laying three of the crew low before both guns got off another shot. The shells crept closer blasting the rubble that first had made into tiny fragments covering them both in a fine layer of dust.
“We need to go now, Watts. Make the shot or move.”
“Damn it all.” She said pushing herself up to her knees.
Roland grabbed his rifle and jumped up. The sand and dust cascaded from his cloak. A few of the squads supporting the artillery sent a lacklustre fusillade in their general direction. Their aim was hopelessly off and Roland ignored their rounds as they tore into the scree slope far to the right of their position. Roland and Watts moved back into one of the shell holes but didn’t stop there. Sand shifted under them as they moved to the left of their previous position searching for a new spot. Roland looked down to the village but could only make out the far side this far back from the edge of the slope. The infantry of the armoured column were advancing towards the village in small numbers preparing for a larger attack. Their squads performed textbook leapfrog manoeuvres as they advanced through the shell holes. A tank exploded form a direct hit sending shrapnel bouncing off of the others to its sides. A plume of black smoke rose from the vehicle as flames licked up around the twisted remains of the turret. The others revved their engines and pulled forward to support the infantry‘s advance. He heard the chatter of their pintle mounts as they sprayed the edge of the village with rounds. The buildings Roland could see as he ran were being torn apart by the weight of fire sending up clouds of dust obscuring everyone’s vision. The return fire was cutting into the squads no matter how they tried to hide in the shell holes or use the clouds of dust as a smoke screen.
Watts was heading towards a large stone pile near the edge of the mesa. The artillery that had been firing at them was busy destroying the tree they had used for shelter. Watts skidded to a stop next to the large pile of boulders and raised her rifle. She didn’t fire but searched the village. Roland stopped next to her and dropped to his knees.
“Good position?” he panted.
“No,” Watts replied once again rising to her feet and moving. Roland followed as they ran to the far end of the mesa.
“We don’t have much further before we have to...” Roland was cut off as a series of shots tore through his cloak and clattered off of the boulders nearby. He threw himself flat almost colliding with Watts.
“Where the hell did that come from?” she hissed.
Roland turned to look behind him at the stone. He followed a line from the stone through his cloak and forwards. He pointed and then raised his rifle. His blood ran cold for a second time. There was a full platoon of the enemy advancing up the gentle slope on the edge of the mesa. They were headed straight towards them.
Roland didn’t wait. He found the heavy weapons troopers and started firing. The troopers fell as they advanced. They split into fire teams and spreading out to take up better firing positions. Watts had joined him taking out as many as she could before the return fire made them crawl backwards.
“Where to now?” Roland said trying not to let panic creep into his voice.
“Back up to where we were. We get down the slope and assault a weak spot on the side of the village. It’s our only chance. Hopefully, they will be too distracted.” She grabbed Roland’s helmet and slammed his face down as she hit the deck too. A grenade exploded right next to them and Roland felt the tell-tale sting of shrapnel in his side. He grunted with the pain as something trickled down his nose. Blinking he pulled his makeshift headband down and wiped his face seeing blood on the bandage. He rose to his knees and saw the back of Watts’ hand had been torn open. Despite the incoming fire he grabbed her as she stared at the shrapnel and pulled her with him as he ran back the way they had come. After a few steps, she began to move under her own steam and then ran full pelt along the mesa towards the far edge. Shots started to ring out, but they had been dodging through the piles of stones using the cover to avoid the worst of the fire. Roland glanced at his stamina bar and saw it flashing. They had to stop or they wouldn’t be able to do anything. As they reached the next pile of rocks, he dived behind it. Watts followed suit obviously noticing the same issue.
Roland stood and rested his rifle on top of one of the boulders. He didn’t have to wait long for one of the enemies to come into view. Roland fired felling them. The next one appeared, and he fired again. It wasn’t a single soldier next but a whole squad of the ochre-clad troops. Watts fired with him and they tore into them. The next squad didn’t make the same mistake. They took up positions behind the stones and returned fire. Roland fired until his gun was empty and ducked down. Watts lasted longer as Roland fumbled a new magazine into his rifle. Watts dropped as he heard her rifle click. Roland spun up again taking aim. Before he had the chance to fire, a series of tight bursts hit the unit in front of him. They fell in quick succession as they panicked. Roland ducked back down again. Watts was about to stand but he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him giving him a questioning look.
