The Commander turned and whispered a few words to the President, shook his hand, and leapt from the podium. Taylor and Chandra were awaiting him with Jones rapidly approaching. The Commander pointed for them to follow as he rushed past them.
“What’s going on, Sir?” insisted Chandra.
“I don’t have much yet. All I know is there is a situation which your team is being requested for.”
“Sounds ominous,” she replied.
“If it wasn’t, they’d not be calling for you.”
“Always we land in the shit,” muttered Taylor.
“You said it, Major. In the shit situations is where you have proven to excel, so get used to them.”
Taylor laughed at the notion.
Phillips quickly scanned the information as Taylor and Chandra stood calmly before him. He shook his head as he read further and finally looked up with a sigh.
“Time is not on our side here, so I’m going to be brief. Not like I have a wealth of information to pass on anyway. There is an ongoing incident here, in Dijon.”
He pointed to the city that they could see was around three hundred kilometres southeast of Paris. Yet more ground they were utterly unfamiliar with.
“Police who were returning to the area found one of their precincts occupied by remaining enemy forces. Along with members of the Gendarmerie, they have surrounded the complex and initiated a siege.”
“Then why do they need us?” asked Chandra.
“This is more than they can handle, Major. After the terror attacks fifty years ago, many such buildings were reinforced as protection from bombs and high explosive projectile launchers.”
“And I’m guessing they didn’t stay to defend these fortresses during the war?” snapped Taylor.
“That’s just the thing.”
“Ah, great,” whispered Chandra.
“When the mass hysteria set in, and the roads turned to shit, many key members of the local authorities took shelter in a bunker built beneath the city, along with anyone too frail to make it the distance. As far as we know, they’re still down there. We can’t bomb this building, as we simply have no idea what it’d be willing to withstand.”
The door to the HQ room burst open. They quickly turned to see Captain Jones in full combat attire with the two Majors’ equipment hanging from each arm.
“We’re ready to move,” he stated.
Chandra grasped her gear from Jones. The immense weight that included the exo suit hulked to the ground with a resounded crash. She turned back to Phillips as she began to gear up.
“Anything else? Enemy strength? Casualties?”
“Sorry. The emergency distress call was cut off in what is reminiscent of the jamming we saw during the war. Local forces say they have surrounded the facility but had sustained casualties and were unable to make progress.”
“Great, we’re going in almost blind,” she replied.
“You should be used to it by now,” said Taylor.
Chandra nodded as she gritted her teeth. It wasn’t a helpful comment, but it didn’t make it any less true. She turned to Jones and quickly snapped out her orders.
“Be ready for lift off the second we reach you.”
Charlie nodded and quickly rushed out of the room to make final preparations. She looked back to Taylor and could see that he was equally as unimpressed with their intelligence and going into yet another blind operation.
“Commander, we may punch above our weight, but what happens if we come across enemy resistance beyond the stragglers we have seen so far? With no intelligence and restrictions in our air support, we could be left to die.”
“I won’t let that happen, Major.” He paced a few steps but turned back.
“The truth is this country is a God damn mess. They’re too few troops and workers to get everything done. Now that the war’s over, few are interested, and many are stuck trying to rebuild their own countries. The only reason you and me are here is because the UK remained relatively untouched by the whole affair.”
“We’re not the only team like this, are we?” asked Taylor.
Chandra watched in astonishment as the Commander shook his head in response.
“No, but you are the most successful. Enemy resistance is being found all over in the lands which were the fighting grounds of this war.”
“That’s half the bloody world,” she said.
Phillips nodded.
“Taskforces have been set up all over to try and deal with them. There are two other units like you in France alone. Some have had it a lot worse.”
“How much worse?” Taylor asked.
“Enough to cause some of those units to be withdrawn from service and have to be replaced. The war may be over, but we are still burning through troops.”
Taylor moaned. “You’d think it was time the French Army took over the job in its own country,” he spat.
“That may well be so, but there are too few of them left as it is. This country needs our help just as much as ever. After all, what was the point in fighting, if we were just going to leave them to the wolves at the very end?”
“I thought we were fighting for our survival, not for France.”
“That’s enough!” shouted Chandra.
Phillips could not bring himself to discipline Taylor for his outrageous behaviour. Not only did he support Mitch’s opinion, but also fully appreciated the fact that they were the ones having to do the fighting.
“We know everything there is to know. Every second we waste here now puts further lives in danger. With your permission, Sir, we’re moving out.”
“Good luck, Major, to both of you and all of the Company.”
Taylor nodded as a thank you. He had calmed once it became apparent there was nowhere left to vent his anger.
“Let’s move,” said Chandra.
The two officers pulled on their helmets and rushed out of the room to find the copters loaded and ready to go, just as Chandra had requested. Jones stood on the entry ramp to one, beckoning for her to join him.
“I’ll see you on the ground!” shouted Taylor.
He split off and rushed for one of the other copters where he could see Parker waiting for him. Even before his foot was through the door, the engines were roaring to life. He leapt into the craft and slumped in a seat that had been left for him. Parker rested down beside him as the thrusters lifted them off the ground.
“Guess this is the same as last time?” she asked.
“Pretty much.”
He looked to the rest of his platoon who barely seemed to care for further information, but he was going to tell them anyway.
“Listen up. We’re going in hot, hotter than our previous mission. As to be expected, we’ve got barely any intelligence for the area and little understanding of what faces us. All we do know is that civilian and local forces are on the ground and having a hard time. Air support is unfeasible due to friendlies held up beneath the enemy positions.”
“Beneath them?” asked Clark.
“Some kind of bunker, and that’s all we know.”
“Great. So we can’t flatten it, we have multiple civilians involved, and a dug in enemy?” replied Lam.
“You got it,” replied Taylor with a smile.
It was a short journey to Dijon when they were in the air, but it was yet another tedious trip in a post-war environment that seemed more miserable and desperate than the hardships that preceded it.
“Landing in five!” called Rains over the intercom.
Taylor opened his mouth to speak but was instantly silenced as their copter took a heavy impact, jerking them harshly.
“Incoming, incoming!” Rains shouted.
Their copter took quick evasive action and banked heavily as the engines roared to full power. Taylor felt his heart stop at the realisation that this was already not going to be half as simple as he’d hoped.
“We’ve got pulses incoming. I can’t shake ‘em!” Eddie called out.
A second later, the ship rocked again even harder, and a hole ripped through the fuselage. They were fortunately at a low enough altitude that they stayed in their seats.