Post by Ivory on Jan 24, 2015 11:58:45 GMT -5
Hey everyone! I'm new to the forums but would be really appreciative if you could take some time to read an excerpt from a little project I'm working on at the moment?
Anyways thanks for your time and enjoy!
Chapter One
Operation Shaping Tomorrow
24 Dec. 988 m.41
“You’ll be riding in with the 12th Light Infantry, their cleaning up after the cavalry raised half the city.”
The truck jolted to a halt and the rear hatch dropped, Sergeant Burke followed Captain Assai out into the dusty courtyard. Behind him Lance Corporal Tyrell and Specialist Adams clambered down off the vehicle.
Domes had been evacuated prior to the invasion and only paramilitaries and a handful of trained soldiers had stayed behind. The wind flicked up clouds of sand and it irritated Burke’s eyes, he winced and tried scraping it out with his padded glove hand.
“Burke this is Lieutenant Ulrich he’ll be your guide.”
The Lieutenant was a chubby, robust man. He had a thick bristly beard and his pudgy face was crammed into his ballistic goggles. Ulrich extended his hand and Burke shook it vigorously.
“Don’t worry about the dust, there’s a sandstorm kicking up two clicks west of here, should be settling soon.”
“It’ll blow over.” Burke replied coolly, he’d always seen the light brigades as dim witted, they were coarse, heavy set soldiers drafted from the rural provinces back home and frankly, their job was the most dangerous in FOXCOM.
“2nd Platoons already cleared this district.” Ulrich cleared his throat by spitting a thick mucoid blob into the sand and taking a swig from his battered canteen. “Follow the road straight for about half a mile, when you liaison with my platoon ask for Staff Sergeant Bryant, he’ll show you where the fornicateers are.”
Burke nodded and signalled to his fire team, they were going in.
It was their first deployment, after completing basic training they’d done a three month intensive in Byron Bay and received their Operator badges.
The three men moved steadily up the narrow road, it was littered with clothing and luggage that had been abandoned during the evacuation. A scrawny mongrel dragged itself across the street a few yards in front, its skeletal body outlined by the dying rays of sunset ahead.
As they got deeper into the city they started hearing gunfire, the walls were riddled with bullet holes and impact marks from grenades. Bodies of combatants had been dragged out onto the street and they lay blistering in the roasting heat.
A news agency had been raided and leaflets covered the ground, Burke turned and tapped Tyrell on the shoulder “Safeties off.” He whispered and disengaged the metal pin, smiling faintly as he heard the small click.
The fire team approached a wire fence and as Adams began snipping at them with his clippers Burke could hear faint, indistinguishable voices on the wind.
As they crouched through the hole and walked across an old play area the voices gained definition.
“I need a Corpsman! Get me a Corpsman! For fornicates sake!”
Burke stopped and leant against the wall, pressing his ear to it as he slowly peaked around the corner. He could see two men slouching over a limp body next to some rusty swings and a pile of bloody bandages scattered across the floor by the cool breeze.
“Hey, need a hand?” Burke called out as they closed in on the group. One of the troopers looked up, slightly startled.
“Sergeant Steve didn’t say we were expecting Lancers.” The trooper was visibly shaken as the adrenaline began wearing off. “Got Gauss?” He asked frantically checking his webbing.
“Yeah Adams” Burke turned to the specialist who dug out a thick wod and passed it to him.
“I’m looking for Staff Sergeant Bryant have you seen him?” Burke leant in closer to the trooper who spoke between grinding teeth as he applied pressure to his colleagues abdomen.
“Bryant’s dead. Yeah, sniper took him out bout half hour ago. You’ll wanna see Sergeant Benning sir; he’s in the command vehicle down Beaumont Avenue.”
“Right” Burke stood and gestured to his team as they jogged deeper into the city.
“Watch out for snipers, they’ve been picking us off all day.” The trooper called after them.
Beaumont Avenue was wider than most of the streets so far, the buildings on either side of it had been hit pretty hard by the cavalry to loosen up the insurgents. The sounds of gunfire and muffled voices were louder now and Burke realised just how heavy the engagement had been when he noticed lines of dead infantrymen on display by the roadside.
“Got movement thirty meters north” Adams muttered into his comm. bead.
“Hostile?” Burke replied raising his rifle.
“Negative friendly, possibly unstable”
The trooper was in shambles, he’d discarded or lost his weapon and his uniform was splattered with mud, blood and sand. His webbing had come undone and was tangled up under his arm.
“fornicate this place! I’m outta here!” The trooper grabbed Tyrell’s armour and shook him, the Lance Corporal pushed him gently but firmly off him.
“fornicate this place!”
“We’re looking for Sergeant Benning, where is he?” Burke asked but his voice fell on deaf ears as the shell shocked man stared wide eyed into nothingness.
“He’s lost the fornicateing plot” Adams murmured.
“Move on” Burke was growing impatient; they didn’t have time for this.
Further on they began seeing flashing lights and black shapes running around an armoured transport. Tyrell stared down the scope of his rifle and muttered into his comm. bead “Friendlies”
Sure enough they’d found Sergeant Benning, he was squatted down in the hatchway of his armoured personnel carrier barking orders down a portable radio piece. Four of his troopers ducked down around him, mopping their brows and glugging water. The fire team moved in on them and they all crouched down behind the hull as best they could.
“Snipers got half my platoon pinned down! What do you mean it’s too risky?! Well you get up and tell Major Tanis that unless the Air Cav does another run there won’t be a fornicateing war!”
Benning had a stained plaster stretched over a gash on the bridge of his nose; his ballistic vest had a deep dent in it and he cursed loudly as the communicator rejected his appeal.
“A bloody coward that’s what they are! Why is it so difficult to provide god damn close air support? My men are getting ripped to shreds out here!”
“Sergeant Benning, Sergeant Burke I’m with the 3rd Lancers, we’re looking for Roseville Plaza, rebel troops have got an AA gun and it’s downed one of our birds. Lieutenant Ulrich told me you’d help us find a way in.”
“And where is the frigging Lieutenant?! Why can’t he do it? I’ve lost twelve men already, that’s almost a third of my platoon.” The Sergeant sighed in despair.
“Roseville’s eight blocks east of here but we can’t push through, rebels have locked this block down with snipers and we need a tank.”
“C Squadron are clearing a minefield so we can start setting some artillery up. We’re all you’ve got.”
“Fine then listen closely, there’s a shopping mall behind the bus shelter two blocks down the road. It links directly with Roseville Square. We’ll hit them with everything we’ve got but we’ve been trying to punch through all day, I can’t guarantee you nuts.”
“Then that’s the best news we’ve had all week.”
“Right, listen up everyone” Benning barked down the radio, “Got some Lancers they’re gonna take out that AA gun free up some airspace for our birds. We’re gonna get them into that shopping centre, I want heavy suppressive fire on that chapel, don’t stop until its gone, when its gone we go through fornicate going around.”
“Ready?” Benning looked up, drawing his carbine “On me! Triggers down!”
2nd Platoon were pinned, bloodied and exhausted but they put the work in, the barrage was substantial and Burke almost tripped as he glanced over his shoulder at the raw firepower behind him.
They flung themselves in through the mall’s entrance and were relieved to find it empty. Most of the shops had been ransacked and the escalators were dysfunctional.
Above them through the large roof windows they could see the last rays of sunset.
Tyrell took point and stepped slowly over a teddy bear as he glanced down a corridor.
“Clear” He whispered.
They weren’t far now, Burke’s wrist mounted GPS was flashing and he turned it off. Just a little bit closer.
They crouched as they entered a convenience store, the back wall had been demolished by ordnance and it gave out onto Roseville Square.
Slowly the three Lancers peered out over the rubble and down into the Square. Sure enough the AA gun was there, it’s ugly tripod sprawled out, there were seven crewmen, loading the emplacement’s missile launcher.
At this range they could down two or three of them but Burke didn’t want to risk it, he wanted to get a bit closer first.
“Tyrell wait here until I give the signal” He ordered and the Corporal nodded, retracting a small compact rocket launcher from his rucksack.
He and Adams ducked down and exited the store, running silently down the escalator to ground floor. They stopped at the mall’s exit and lay belly down in the sandy ground.
They began crawling up behind a row of bushes in the street, the rebels were a dozen meters in front of them and Burke could hear them barking orders at each other in their barbaric language.
“Marauder 1, this is Raider 2 permission to engage.” Burke whispered into his bead.
“Permission granted Raider 2, hit em where it hurts over.”
Burke nodded slowly at Adams and took a deep breath as he felt his heart racing. He switched the comm. channel over to his fire team “Tango permission to engage”
“Roger that.” Tyrell replied and a fizz followed by a loud bang resonated across the square as the missile detonated the AA gun’s ordnance and tore the crew to shreds.
Adams and Burke stood up and opened fire at the wounded rebels, three were already dead but the remaining four desperately tried to reach for their weapons, their senses violated by the explosion.
The two Lancers finished them off and Burke personally slew the officer who was gurgling heavily as the blood filled his lungs.
They’d done it.
“Marauder 1 this is Raider 2, Kilo Six Nine is clear over.”
“Copy that Raider 2, good job.”
It didn’t take long after that, Air Cav expunged the remaining pockets of resistance and by midnight the south bank was in FOXCOM’s control.”
The survivors were relieved by task force delta and they erected an F.O.B in the old chapel. Burke slouched against the chapel’s cool wall and cracked open his can of beer, it had been a tough day but they’d made it. Nearby the remnants of the 12th Light Infantry’s 2nd Platoon were holding tribute for their fallen.
The chaplain read the register and one by one the soldiers replied, a long heavy silence fell when the ecclesiarch read the name of a casualty.
“Sergeant Benning, Sergeant Duncan Benning.” He called out over the silent assembly.
“Staff Sergeant Bryant. Staff Sergeant Tylor Bryant.”
Burke felt his heart sink when he heard Benning’s name, for what little time they’d interacted he respected the man’s competency under pressure. He was a good soldier who’d risen to the challenge of assuming command over his platoon after the death of his CO and he’d paid for it with his life.
The Sergeant muttered a tribute under his breath and took a deep swig of his cold beer knowing they’d be only more bloodshed in the coming days.
Anyways thanks for your time and enjoy!
Chapter One
Operation Shaping Tomorrow
24 Dec. 988 m.41
“You’ll be riding in with the 12th Light Infantry, their cleaning up after the cavalry raised half the city.”
The truck jolted to a halt and the rear hatch dropped, Sergeant Burke followed Captain Assai out into the dusty courtyard. Behind him Lance Corporal Tyrell and Specialist Adams clambered down off the vehicle.
Domes had been evacuated prior to the invasion and only paramilitaries and a handful of trained soldiers had stayed behind. The wind flicked up clouds of sand and it irritated Burke’s eyes, he winced and tried scraping it out with his padded glove hand.
“Burke this is Lieutenant Ulrich he’ll be your guide.”
The Lieutenant was a chubby, robust man. He had a thick bristly beard and his pudgy face was crammed into his ballistic goggles. Ulrich extended his hand and Burke shook it vigorously.
“Don’t worry about the dust, there’s a sandstorm kicking up two clicks west of here, should be settling soon.”
“It’ll blow over.” Burke replied coolly, he’d always seen the light brigades as dim witted, they were coarse, heavy set soldiers drafted from the rural provinces back home and frankly, their job was the most dangerous in FOXCOM.
“2nd Platoons already cleared this district.” Ulrich cleared his throat by spitting a thick mucoid blob into the sand and taking a swig from his battered canteen. “Follow the road straight for about half a mile, when you liaison with my platoon ask for Staff Sergeant Bryant, he’ll show you where the fornicateers are.”
Burke nodded and signalled to his fire team, they were going in.
It was their first deployment, after completing basic training they’d done a three month intensive in Byron Bay and received their Operator badges.
The three men moved steadily up the narrow road, it was littered with clothing and luggage that had been abandoned during the evacuation. A scrawny mongrel dragged itself across the street a few yards in front, its skeletal body outlined by the dying rays of sunset ahead.
As they got deeper into the city they started hearing gunfire, the walls were riddled with bullet holes and impact marks from grenades. Bodies of combatants had been dragged out onto the street and they lay blistering in the roasting heat.
A news agency had been raided and leaflets covered the ground, Burke turned and tapped Tyrell on the shoulder “Safeties off.” He whispered and disengaged the metal pin, smiling faintly as he heard the small click.
The fire team approached a wire fence and as Adams began snipping at them with his clippers Burke could hear faint, indistinguishable voices on the wind.
As they crouched through the hole and walked across an old play area the voices gained definition.
“I need a Corpsman! Get me a Corpsman! For fornicates sake!”
Burke stopped and leant against the wall, pressing his ear to it as he slowly peaked around the corner. He could see two men slouching over a limp body next to some rusty swings and a pile of bloody bandages scattered across the floor by the cool breeze.
“Hey, need a hand?” Burke called out as they closed in on the group. One of the troopers looked up, slightly startled.
“Sergeant Steve didn’t say we were expecting Lancers.” The trooper was visibly shaken as the adrenaline began wearing off. “Got Gauss?” He asked frantically checking his webbing.
“Yeah Adams” Burke turned to the specialist who dug out a thick wod and passed it to him.
“I’m looking for Staff Sergeant Bryant have you seen him?” Burke leant in closer to the trooper who spoke between grinding teeth as he applied pressure to his colleagues abdomen.
“Bryant’s dead. Yeah, sniper took him out bout half hour ago. You’ll wanna see Sergeant Benning sir; he’s in the command vehicle down Beaumont Avenue.”
“Right” Burke stood and gestured to his team as they jogged deeper into the city.
“Watch out for snipers, they’ve been picking us off all day.” The trooper called after them.
Beaumont Avenue was wider than most of the streets so far, the buildings on either side of it had been hit pretty hard by the cavalry to loosen up the insurgents. The sounds of gunfire and muffled voices were louder now and Burke realised just how heavy the engagement had been when he noticed lines of dead infantrymen on display by the roadside.
“Got movement thirty meters north” Adams muttered into his comm. bead.
“Hostile?” Burke replied raising his rifle.
“Negative friendly, possibly unstable”
The trooper was in shambles, he’d discarded or lost his weapon and his uniform was splattered with mud, blood and sand. His webbing had come undone and was tangled up under his arm.
“fornicate this place! I’m outta here!” The trooper grabbed Tyrell’s armour and shook him, the Lance Corporal pushed him gently but firmly off him.
“fornicate this place!”
“We’re looking for Sergeant Benning, where is he?” Burke asked but his voice fell on deaf ears as the shell shocked man stared wide eyed into nothingness.
“He’s lost the fornicateing plot” Adams murmured.
“Move on” Burke was growing impatient; they didn’t have time for this.
Further on they began seeing flashing lights and black shapes running around an armoured transport. Tyrell stared down the scope of his rifle and muttered into his comm. bead “Friendlies”
Sure enough they’d found Sergeant Benning, he was squatted down in the hatchway of his armoured personnel carrier barking orders down a portable radio piece. Four of his troopers ducked down around him, mopping their brows and glugging water. The fire team moved in on them and they all crouched down behind the hull as best they could.
“Snipers got half my platoon pinned down! What do you mean it’s too risky?! Well you get up and tell Major Tanis that unless the Air Cav does another run there won’t be a fornicateing war!”
Benning had a stained plaster stretched over a gash on the bridge of his nose; his ballistic vest had a deep dent in it and he cursed loudly as the communicator rejected his appeal.
“A bloody coward that’s what they are! Why is it so difficult to provide god damn close air support? My men are getting ripped to shreds out here!”
“Sergeant Benning, Sergeant Burke I’m with the 3rd Lancers, we’re looking for Roseville Plaza, rebel troops have got an AA gun and it’s downed one of our birds. Lieutenant Ulrich told me you’d help us find a way in.”
“And where is the frigging Lieutenant?! Why can’t he do it? I’ve lost twelve men already, that’s almost a third of my platoon.” The Sergeant sighed in despair.
“Roseville’s eight blocks east of here but we can’t push through, rebels have locked this block down with snipers and we need a tank.”
“C Squadron are clearing a minefield so we can start setting some artillery up. We’re all you’ve got.”
“Fine then listen closely, there’s a shopping mall behind the bus shelter two blocks down the road. It links directly with Roseville Square. We’ll hit them with everything we’ve got but we’ve been trying to punch through all day, I can’t guarantee you nuts.”
“Then that’s the best news we’ve had all week.”
“Right, listen up everyone” Benning barked down the radio, “Got some Lancers they’re gonna take out that AA gun free up some airspace for our birds. We’re gonna get them into that shopping centre, I want heavy suppressive fire on that chapel, don’t stop until its gone, when its gone we go through fornicate going around.”
“Ready?” Benning looked up, drawing his carbine “On me! Triggers down!”
2nd Platoon were pinned, bloodied and exhausted but they put the work in, the barrage was substantial and Burke almost tripped as he glanced over his shoulder at the raw firepower behind him.
They flung themselves in through the mall’s entrance and were relieved to find it empty. Most of the shops had been ransacked and the escalators were dysfunctional.
Above them through the large roof windows they could see the last rays of sunset.
Tyrell took point and stepped slowly over a teddy bear as he glanced down a corridor.
“Clear” He whispered.
They weren’t far now, Burke’s wrist mounted GPS was flashing and he turned it off. Just a little bit closer.
They crouched as they entered a convenience store, the back wall had been demolished by ordnance and it gave out onto Roseville Square.
Slowly the three Lancers peered out over the rubble and down into the Square. Sure enough the AA gun was there, it’s ugly tripod sprawled out, there were seven crewmen, loading the emplacement’s missile launcher.
At this range they could down two or three of them but Burke didn’t want to risk it, he wanted to get a bit closer first.
“Tyrell wait here until I give the signal” He ordered and the Corporal nodded, retracting a small compact rocket launcher from his rucksack.
He and Adams ducked down and exited the store, running silently down the escalator to ground floor. They stopped at the mall’s exit and lay belly down in the sandy ground.
They began crawling up behind a row of bushes in the street, the rebels were a dozen meters in front of them and Burke could hear them barking orders at each other in their barbaric language.
“Marauder 1, this is Raider 2 permission to engage.” Burke whispered into his bead.
“Permission granted Raider 2, hit em where it hurts over.”
Burke nodded slowly at Adams and took a deep breath as he felt his heart racing. He switched the comm. channel over to his fire team “Tango permission to engage”
“Roger that.” Tyrell replied and a fizz followed by a loud bang resonated across the square as the missile detonated the AA gun’s ordnance and tore the crew to shreds.
Adams and Burke stood up and opened fire at the wounded rebels, three were already dead but the remaining four desperately tried to reach for their weapons, their senses violated by the explosion.
The two Lancers finished them off and Burke personally slew the officer who was gurgling heavily as the blood filled his lungs.
They’d done it.
“Marauder 1 this is Raider 2, Kilo Six Nine is clear over.”
“Copy that Raider 2, good job.”
It didn’t take long after that, Air Cav expunged the remaining pockets of resistance and by midnight the south bank was in FOXCOM’s control.”
The survivors were relieved by task force delta and they erected an F.O.B in the old chapel. Burke slouched against the chapel’s cool wall and cracked open his can of beer, it had been a tough day but they’d made it. Nearby the remnants of the 12th Light Infantry’s 2nd Platoon were holding tribute for their fallen.
The chaplain read the register and one by one the soldiers replied, a long heavy silence fell when the ecclesiarch read the name of a casualty.
“Sergeant Benning, Sergeant Duncan Benning.” He called out over the silent assembly.
“Staff Sergeant Bryant. Staff Sergeant Tylor Bryant.”
Burke felt his heart sink when he heard Benning’s name, for what little time they’d interacted he respected the man’s competency under pressure. He was a good soldier who’d risen to the challenge of assuming command over his platoon after the death of his CO and he’d paid for it with his life.
The Sergeant muttered a tribute under his breath and took a deep swig of his cold beer knowing they’d be only more bloodshed in the coming days.
