The wind whistled through the valley, rustling the leaves on the sparse trees and blowing dust into the air. Ahead of us, the ramparts of what seemed to be an ancient fortress, hastily refitted as a military base. Flimsy, half built watchtowers protruded from the walls every few hundred feet. Even at this distance, the roar of engines from a returning armored patrol was clearly audible. Intelligence reports said nearly three thousand Krev and half an armored division had been stationed here, less than a hundred miles from the edge of our small foothold on this world. My team had been dispatched to asses and handle the situation. So we had boarded the T-31 Valkyries and been air dropped in twenty miles away. The high altitude drop had been risky with the air superiority being held by the Krev. One stray radar ping and we would have been reduced to a molten slag meteor. Highly undesirable, in my personal preference, and thankfully had not come to pass. So now we were spread across the valley. Eight men, including myself, dispatched to handle thousands. I looked at the rifle in my hands, then at the outpost roughly a mile away, and back at my rifle. I shook my head and chuckled softly to myself. Command surely was getting desperate to send such a small force. When we first got here, we would have swatted this outpost aside with thousands of men Thinking about it all, I couldn't blame General McMillan. We were fighting a war we couldn't win. We had landed with nearly a hundred thousand men and a quarter had been slaughtered securing the beachhead. We had ravished enemy outposts in the area for weeks with little resistance. It was easy. Too easy. And like all good things, it didn't last. They hit us without warning one night, a horde of rage filled, four armed Krev filling the air with blood-curdling screams and bullets. Hundreds of men died each minute, buying the General time to organize our defense. Once rallied though, we held our ground for hours before the order to retreat was given. Tens of thousands of dead littered the ruins of our stronghold. Krev and Human alike lay strewn across the field, expressions frozen in mixtures of pain and fear. For weeks we fell back under a relentless onslaught. Our path across the continent was marked by corpses. And still we fought on. We had no choice. It was fight and die or die, and I had no intention of giving up my life without a fight. Finally we found a system of caves deep in the mountains. There we made our stand. For two long weeks we fought for our lives. Then one day they just stopped coming to die. We made no effort to pursue them. Instead, we came together and grieved. There was no anger. No desire for revenge, not yet at least. Just an overwhelming depression at the number of men slaughtered in the retreat. We gathered together, eighteen thousand men, and we wept. Wept for the lives lost, the families shattered, and we wept because we all knew our fate would be the same one day. Days passed in silence before the general made his great speech. We were gathered in what we had dubbed the Man Cave, the only cavern big enough to house our remaining armored units. The alarm sounded a quick blast to attention as he stormed in, his face a mask of determination. He strode briskly to the center of the cavern and climbed onto the Indomitable Spirit, one of our few remaining A-66 Hellraiser Battle Tanks. And then he spoke, his voice ringing loudly. "Listen to me now," he pleaded loudly, "for now is the time when our mettle as men and soldiers is tested the most. Fear and instinct control us in battle, dominate our actions. But here, in the aftermath, this is where our minds, our hearts, this is where they are tested. Are we going to lie around and wait for the Krev to finish us off? Or are we going to take the fight to them? Who will stand with me? Who will carry their rifle, head held high and heart pure, into the maw death itself? I for one, will not let the lives lost, the brothers and sisters taken from us, to have died in vain. I will carry on fighting. Not for our home. Not for myself. But for them. They will eventually kill me, but I shall die avenging my brothers and sisters. That is honor beyond medals and praises. So I ask you now, who will fight alongside me? Those who will, we march at 0800. And may God have mercy on those poor creatures. For we will have none." The next morning the general walked out of his command cavern, pistol already drawn, and walked silently towards the mouth of the cave. His gaze didn't sway from his destination. Without a word, every man there shouldered our guns and followed. The mighty battle tanks revved engines outside. A tradition was broken that day. Every scout tank carried a squad, every Gravedigger Battle tank carried two. And each of the remaining Hellraisers carried a entire company. My eight man team sat upon the hull of the Indomitable Spirit itself. And we rode to war. What followed was a week of the most brilliant fighting I have ever witnessed. The Krev died in their thousands as the general swept us through the countryside. The blood of Krevs was inches thick above ground every battlefield we left. Finally, we retook our former stronghold after days of bloody trench warfare. We restablished a smaller base and began operations. All had gone smoothly, until now. Until these Krev had shown up on our doorstep. So the general once again unleashed his troops. Only this time, he sent eight men instead of an army. My reverie was broken by the crackle of Shadow Two's, Stevie, voice in my earpiece, "Shadow Two reporting in. Small breach in west wall, seventy four meters from my position. Four guards around it, playing cards." I smiled inwardly. Leaving my team a way into your base was never a good idea, and every mission we were sent on, we had found a way in. Only this time it wasn't to take out a target. It was to take out an army. "Shadows converge on Shadow Two. Grid points are Alpha Three by Epsilon One. Weapons safe. Stay out of sight." I ran at a crouch down the face of the hill I had been atop of, keeping to the tall grass and slowing as I reached the bottom. Three times I had to hit the dirt as Krev patrols passed within mere meters of my position. I held my breath as they passed, preying the moonlight on my rifle wouldn't be noticed by watchful eyes. It took me nearly an hour to cross the hundred and seventy meters between me and Stevie. For forty minutes I listened to my men tease me about getting old and losing my touch. Shadow Three, Brad, went so far as to call me a "relic". Now I didn't think I was that old but I still got all kinda of fired up. He got a nice elbow to the ribs when I finally reached them. I surveyed the breach through the scope of my rifle. Four men. All playing cards. Small road between us and them with sporadic travel. Slowly, my plan came together. I watched for another hour in silence before I gave my orders. "So as you've noticed," I began, "Command has given us a lovely view and told us to give it some fireworks and excitement. So here's what I want. Shadow Eight, the main road. I want delayed arm anti-armor mines every hundred yards for half a mile back the way we came. Take your rifle to the hill I was on and await my orders there. Don't arm the mines until a convoy of reinforcements is inbound. Get going brother." I watched as Jason faded into the blackness around us without a sound. "Shadow Six and Seven, you're on perimeter guard. You are my assurance of a way out of this hell hole once the party kicks off. Shadow Six set up on that ridge three hundred meters back and keep this road clear once we are moving out. Shadow Seven, get us a ride. I'm not telling you to steal it. I just want to borrow it for an extended period of time. I'll radio when we are headed out and you can pick us up." Two acknowledgement lights winked on my wrist as they silently acknowledged my orders over our specialized squad communication bands. I looked to see them go but they had already left. I look around at the four men left beside me and grinned. "Now you boys got the fun part. My interpretation of our orders may be slightly different from the Generals meaning. I was told to cause havoc and get out. Seeing as havoc wasn't explained in detail, I'm taking it as destroying their command room, their fuel supply, a couple of their barracks, their main armory, and rigging their Main Battle Tanks with enough fireworks that these pissheads start singing God Bless the U.S.A. Any objections?" I waited for one man to object. None did. I began again, "Shadow Two and Three are responsible for their fuel supply, the south barrack, and the tanks. Shadow Four I want at least 5 of their barracks rigged to blow. Get some charges on their Radio Tower and Radar dish too. Shadow Five you're responsible for their main armory. Rig that son of a ***** with everything you've got. I will handle the control room myself. We have a two hour timeframe to be out of here. Weapons safe until forced to fire." Without another word I stood and put a silenced round through the chest of the guard nearest the breach. I watched the round punch through his chest, his body thrown backwards by the impact. Seconds later the other three were down as well, well placed shots dropping them instantly. I scrambled out of the shallow dip we had be concealed in, mud clinging to my boots. We hightailed it to the road and dove into cover just as a troop transport pulled onto the road. I laid there as it passed, breathing heavily. "Move up," I whispered into the mic on my earpiece. As one, we rose and sprinted to the breach. I slammed up against the wall next to the small hole and knew instinctually my Shadows were on either side of the breach. "Shadow two get some charges on this breach. I don't want to have to squeeze through on the way out. I want a 6x8 double French door there by the time I'm ready to leave. Got it?" I winked at him. "Ay boss man. Did you want the doors a certain color or just standard white?" The guys chuckled. "I'll take standard white if it'll hurry your ghetto white ass up," I said and ducked through the breach. I covered all vectors with my rifle. It was all clear except for the guard in the tower a hundred meters to my left. As far as I could see, our entrance hadn't been noticed. "All clear, enter facility and move to objectives. Status reports every 15 minutes or assuming dead and going weapons hot." I watched four vague outlines of men slither through the breach and disappear into the old fortress. I moved slowly forwards, sweeping each new area carefully for any enemies. Twice I ducked back into the shadows, narrowly avoiding rowdy Krev, weapons in their two main arms and radios and knives in the secondary arms. I was forced to sling my rifle and draw my M973S pistol. It was a beauty, awarded only to special forces captains with many successful missions under their belts. As I screwed the silencer onto the barrel, hidden in the shadows, a lone Krev stumbled by. I leapt from my hiding spot just as he turned and would have spotted me. I extended the blade in my right gauntlet and plunged it deep into the creature's throat. Warm blood dripped onto my hands, as I pulled the body into the shadows and concealed it as best I could. My heart racing now, I picked up the pace a bit. As I neared the center of the base, where my instincts told me the Krev had established their command center, the number of patrols decreased. The Krev were expecting an attack from outside, not the deadly shadows moving throughout their midst. The first of the status reports came in just as the command center came into view. Shadow Two was reporting three Krev killed silently, and two hundred meters to fuel supply, while Shadow Three was reporting no kills at all and twenty-five meters to the tanks. Shadow Four was reporting the Radar dish rigged to blow and the radio tower being rigged now. Shadow Five surprised me with eleven dead Krev, and already rigging the main armory. Shadows Six, Seven, and Eight reported that all was calm on the outside. "Shadow Six and Shadow Eight, the guards in the towers closest to the breach, how fast can you two drop them all when the **** hits the fan?" A moments pause, "Four, maybe five seconds at the most for all three of them." I nodded to myself but said nothing as I watched the guards circle the building once again. They were obviously bored and not watching very closely for a threat, relying on the perimeter defenses to warn them of any threats. Their lack of vigilance cost them their lives that night. I unslung my rifle as they rounded the far corner again, and sighted in about head level for Krev where they would reappear in moments. Then I waited. Our whole plan could be ruined if this shot didn't work as planned. As they rounded the corner and entered my sights, both their heads were in directly line with my rifle for a split second. I squeezed off my shot and watched the round punch through the head of the first and lodge in the second Krev's head. Before their bodies hit the ground I was up and running for the entrance to the building. I slung my rifle just before I bashed open the doors. Drawing my pistol, I tossed a charge just to the side of the doors and moved deeper into the building. Moving through the dimly lit, narrow corridors I checked each room for occupants and proceeded to put rounds into every occupant. As I left each room I put a half block of C17 Plastic Titanone Explosive in it and wierd it to respond to my detonation signal. The next fifteen minute reports came in, all clear. Charges were being set all around the outpost. Mines had been rigged outside the doors of the barracks and buildings we didn't have enough C17 to blow. Old fashioned claymores lay hidden everywhere we had been. The new Krev outpost was fixing to become a living hell for them. Finally I reached my true destination, the control room. This was the room that controlled Krev movement in the region. I peeked inside briefly before ducking back out of sight. Nearly 60 Krev stood inside at their stations, weapons at hand. No way I was going to breach and clear this room. Desperation drove me back down the corridor a bit to think. I considered selling my life in a blaze of glory and taking down the control center as the bright part of my death. I considered saying **** it and calling it all off. But I couldn't do that. Instead a plan hatched. "Shadows finish rigging and move to the extract point. Switch all detonators to my control and get to the breach. Rig the main path with every firework you got left and get ready for the fight of your lives. Shadow One out." Acknowledgement lights winked across my wrist HUD. As I contemplated what I was about to try, I pulled out the picture of the girl I loved, so many light years away now. I kissed the picture and mouthed I love you. I felt a warm tear trickle down my face. "I'm coming home," I whispered, knowing she couldn't hear me, "I'm coming home to you." Tucking the picture back inside my belt pouch, I armed all the C17 left in my pack and took my pack off. I took the silencer off my pistol, no longer desiring stealth. Barely opening the door, I tossed the pack in, landing it under a computer console with strange glyphs on the screen. I blindly emptied a clip into the room and was rewarded with multiple bellows of agony. Sprinting away, I reloaded my pistol and headed for the main doors. As I burst through them, the sirens started wailing to inform the Krev they were under attack. I could hear roars of astonishment from all across the base as I powered through the narrow alleys towards the breach. I turned a corner and ran smack into a giant group of Krev returning from patrol. I tossed a grenade and emptied my mag into them. I ejected the spent clip and rammed a new one home. Racking the slide, I watched the grenade explode in the midst, reducing the terrifying creatures into piles of crispy flesh. I broke into a sprint again, hearing gunfire up ahead. I charged down the Main Street of the base now, as Krev stumbled into view, shocked at the assault on the outpost. I could see my men now, firing in their typical highly disciplined manner, putting down any Krev that appeared on the same street as me. As I ran I watched bullets take limbs off of creatures that could disembowel a man in an instant. As the Krev died around me I sprinted towards my men. They were about 50 meters short of the breach. "Stevie blow the breach dammit!" I yelled. I watched as he pressed a button on his gauntlet and suddenly a wave of heat washed over me, followed by a roar of sound and a shockwave that felt like a punch. The breach was nearly doubled in size now. "Fall back! Fall back!" I yelled, "Shadow Seven get us a ride now!" We ran for it, reaching the breach just as Shadow Eight voiced in," Boss man, got an armored convoy and transports coming in fast. Arm the mines?" I thought it over as I ran, deciding quickly. "Wait until they're halfway on then arm from farthest from contact to closest. Let's take out as many as possible. Shadow Six shift fire and take out convoy drivers as they show." We burst through the breach to see Shadow Seven waiting in the drivers seat of an old Sabercat Intercept Truck. Diving into the vehicle, he began pulling out. I looked back at the outpost to see thousands of Krev pouring into the open and racing towards us. Grinning, I selected the detonate icon on my gauntlet and just watched. For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly the whole base disappeared in a halo of light follow by a thunderous roar and gouts of flame. The shockwave knocked the surviving Krev to the ground and nearly flipped the Sabercat. Walls of flame towered above the areas we had blown to hell, huge pillars of smoke announcing the base had been ransacked. Secondary explosions continued rocking the compound as we sped off. Shadow Six leapt in as we drove past, landing nimbly in the bed of the truck. "Mines armed Sir," came the voice of Shadow Eight. "Prep for extract. Coming in hot," I said just as the first tank hit a mine. One moment there had been a tank there, easily able to destroy us. The next, there was a burning, empty shell. All down the convoy line, the results seemed to be the same. The arming had been times perfectly to arm just as 90% of the convoy had been in the minefield. For the second time that night, the darkness was torn asunder by balls of intense flame. The silence was shattered by the screams of burning men. The smell of burning flesh and gunpowder filled my nostrils as we slowed to let Shadow Eight climb on. Shadow Seven put the pedal to the metal, and we flew down the bumpy road, our suspension hating every second of it. "Hawk, this is Shadow Command. Report, mission success. Outpost crippled, hundreds dead and more wounded. Enemy armor no longer much threat. En route back to base. ETA one and a half hours. Shadow One out," I sent to General McMillan. We hauled ass in that Sabercat, pushing the aging engine to the very limit. I checked my mission time, seeing less than twenty minutes left to reach the waiting Valkyrie. As I looked back up I heard the whoosh of jet engines and the first tracer rounds began tearing night sky apart. Jamie began swerving to avoid being hit, throwing us from side to side in the troop bay. Moments later I heard Shadow Six open fire on the M74 Autocannon mounted in the bed. The entire truck shook as the fury of the M74 fought back against the rage of the Krev pilots. I couldn't see how many were out there, but repeated explosions told me it was more than one, and Shadow Six was taking a toll. Three miles left to rally point, and still the battle raged throughout the skies. The tracer rounds were more accurate now, punching holes in the hull of the truck. One round punch through Stevie's foot, eliciting a grunt of pain from the now slightly irritated man. Bullets flew the the truck constantly now. We didn't try to avoid them as it would make us more likely to get hit. "Shadow One, this is Shadow Six," came the strained voice, "Ammunition running low. I count four enemy birds still up. Orders?" Sensing the pain in his voice, I knew he was hurt badly. "Six, how bad is it?" "Manageable Sir. Enough ammunition to bring down two more and hopefully reach evac site in time." I sighed,"Six, the wounds. How bad are they?" Silence reigned on the radio for a few seconds before he spoke, "Not going to make it One. I'll do what I can before they get me. Tell my family I died fighting. Six out." The link went dead, and I knew he had turned off his radio. The M74 opened up again, the fury of it's bark drowning out the whine of the tracer rounds. One mile left to go. Four birds. Eight men. Bad odds. Then the tides turned suddenly as a new voice appeared in my ear. "Shadow Team, this is Eagle Wing Two. We are converging on your position, ETA thirty four seconds. Strap in. Things are going to get rough. Multiple Krev fighter squadrons inbound. Eagle Wing One is moving to intercept a few miles out. We are going to get you boys out of here." "Acknowledged," was all I could say. I counted down the seconds. The thunderous explosions behind us were the first sign the Eagle Wing had arrived. The tracer fire stop suddenly and Jamie slowly brought the Sabercat to a stop. Moments later the downdraft of jet engines told us the Valkyrie that Eagle Wing Two had been escorting was landing. We piled out of the Sabercat, all except Daniel, Shadow Six. His body was nowhere to be found. The only trace of him was a solitary scorched dogtag left hanging off the barrel of the M74. I slipped it into belt pouch beside the picture of my girl back home and limped to the Valkyrie. We strapped in and collapsed back against the cold metal of the hull. I could hear the hum of the engines as we lifted off. Looking through the viewport, I could see explosions filling the Sky as Eagle Wing One engaged the Krevs. "Eagle Wing Two, this is Shadow One. We should be good now. I think your mission is still complete if you send two Eagles with us and take the rest to support your brothers." The gratitude in his voice was heartfelt, "Thank you Captain. I won't forget this. Eagles twenty and twenty three stay with Valkyrie One. Everyone else, move to support engaged Eagles." I thought deeply as I nodded off to sleep, knowing our mission had been accomplished, and the Eagles would easily handle the Krev pilots. I glanced at my surviving men and laughed. They were sound asleep after sixteen hours of front line combat deployment. "Lazy asses," I muttered as I drifted off to sleep as well.
This is just a short story i wrote. Just looking for feedback. Your ideas. What you want to see more of? Should there be part two? Any interesting ideas for part two? Let me know