“I command tank platoons, but now I must do it from here. Would I rather be in a comfy commander’s seat than slumming it our here with you? Damn right I would.”
“And yet here you are.”
“Don’t rub it in.”
“Here they come!” Berlin shouted.
They grabbed their rifles and took up positions. Kelly raised his rifle to use the scope to look ahead for the enemy. They could see nothing beyond the thick tree line. It was their greatest asset in almost every situation. But now he could feel his heart pounding as he waited for the enemy to come into view. He told himself they knew what was coming because they had observed it for days, but he also knew there was plenty of room for variables they did not understand. He tried with all his will to slow his breathing and calm his heart rate.
The first vehicle finally rolled into view. It was a six-wheeled vehicle that was fully enclosed. It looked of heavyweight construction but without substantial ammo to its payload.
‘What do you think they’re carrying?” Becker asked.
“Who knows? Looks like your average transport, maybe some kind of fuel or ammunition. But they seem to move everything by air. The only land vehicles we see are heavy tanks and the like.”
“What are you saying?”
“That I don’t like this.”
“What do you mean, we’re seconds away from hitting these fuckers?”
“Think about it, Captain. We barely ever see a land vehicle, and then we start seeing them on a set schedule and route within twenty klicks of where we have been hitting them?”
“Why are you questioning this now when we’re just about to hit them?”
“But I’m not sure. I’m not sure this is safe.”
“Too late, Kelly. We came here to waste these sons of bitches, and we’re gonna do it. We’re seconds away from sending them to hell!”
Becker raised his rifle and took aim at the lead vehicle. He knew he probably couldn’t damage the armour, but it was the signal for his tank crews to engage the enemy.
“Becker, no, you could kill us all!” Kelly pleaded.
It was too late. Becker squeezed the trigger, and two shots glanced off the lead vehicle.
Oh, God! Kelly thought.
A moment later they heard the thunder of two of the tanks opening fire, and the lead enemy truck ignited into a ball of flames. It veered off the road and crashed into an embankment.
“Yeah!” Becker shouted.
They watched in horror as a dozen Mechs spilled out of the burning wreck and came out shooting. Becker ducked back down for cover as pulses smashed into their position.
“I told you not to do this!”
“This was your mission, Kelly!”
Kelly couldn’t think of any words to say as he ducked back in the trench for cover. Finally, he decided he had no choice now but to get up and join in the battle. He put his rifle on the edge of the trench and took aim at the nearest Mech. He fired two shots that met their target, but ducked down as pulses smashed into the top of the trench where he had been moments before.
As the fire settled down, he looked back over the trench. Their tanks continued to fire and strike the vehicles in the column, but he could see more than thirty Mechs advancing up the hill to their position.
“We can’t stay here!”
“We have to complete the mission!”
“No, Captain, we have to survive to fight another day!”
They heard an explosion and looked over the embankment. One of their tanks was engulfed in flames, and they all knew the crew could not have survived. A moment later, three pulses struck their position from a fighter strafing them, and Kelly saw at least a few of their people be engulfed in their fire.
“Goddamn it!” Becker swore and slumped back down into the trench, throwing down is rifle, ‘This is fucked!”
“Yes it is!” Kelly replied, “It is, and remember out strategy. We are compromised, so let’s get the hell out of here!”
As he said it, a fighter strafed their position, and they ducked down for cover. Pulses smashed into their position, and Kelly felt the burn of fragments from one of them embed in his shoulder. He cried out in pain but told himself it wasn’t there. He knew whatever injury he had must wait.
Kelly climbed up to the edge of the trench and could see another of their tanks was burning now, and more than fifty Mechs were approaching up the hill.
“If we stay here, we die!”
“I won’t leave my people!” Becker screamed.
Kelly smacked him across the jaw, which hurt him as much as Becker.
“They die whether we go or not,” he added, cradling his shoulder and wincing in pain.
Becker didn’t know how to respond. He looked to Berlin who was the only soldier he seemed to trust.
“We have to go, Sir. We fight at a place and time of our choosing. This is their ambush, their time. We stay here and we lose.”
Becker shook his head. “Our greatest fucking victory is actually our greatest fucking embarrassment. Go!”
Berlin grabbed Kelly and hauled him out of the trench while Becker relayed the command across the comms. Breaking radio silence was a last resort, and Kelly at least appreciated that Becker was now taking the situation seriously. They rushed out of the trench and back down the other side of the hill giving them cover from the advancing enemy. Fifty metres of running, and they reached the line of vehicles they had positioned for their return journey. They never expected them to be needed so soon. Kelly climbed into the driving seat of his truck.
“You think you can drive with that shoulder?” Berlin asked.
“I can drive a lot better than I can I can hold a rifle, right now.”
She understood and climbed into the back of the vehicle. He fired up the engine as Becker leapt aboard, and he put his foot to the floor. The wheels spun as the vehicle roared forward, and those behind them quickly followed suit.
They tore through the forest road at a rapid rate, and it wasn’t long before they saw enemy vessels overhead tracking their position. They fired randomly through the canopy of the forest but could not accurately pinpoint the location of the vehicles.
“Get on that gun!” Kelly hollered.
Berlin was quick to respond and climbed into the seat of the anti-aircraft gun that had been reinstalled on his vehicle.
‘It’s fucked,” Becker said, “It’s all fucked.”
Berlin ignored him and squeezed the trigger on the guns. Their roar was deafening as shots pierced the canopy and riddled the enemy vessels with fire. The first blew and scattered into flaming pieces as the others broke off their pursuit. She finally took her finger of the trigger and looked back to Becker. He was a mess.
“Kelly, stop the truck!” he yelled, “Stop the truck!”
Kelly hit the brakes, and the vehicle slid to a halt. The others in the convoy were forced to do the same. He got out and stood beside the bed. He saw that Becker couldn’t even move through the shock.
“We have to go back. Those are my people,” he cried.
“Remember what I told you, Captain. The individual counts for nothing. They must make their own way home now, or not at all.”
Becker shook his head. “And if those were your people out there? What about you? What if it was you we left out there?”
“Then I’d expect you to put a bullet in my head before you left, to ensure I told the enemy nothing.”
Becker nodded in agreement. He knew it was the case, but it was still painful to accept.
“They saw our every move here, Kelly,” he finally said.
“Yes they did, and all that means is we have to be smarter. We have to predict their next move.”