(…only five more snippets after this until Release Day!)
CHAPTER FOUR
Just Need to Knock a Little Rust Off . . .
HONEN DISTRICT, SAGETNAM, ANAT SYSTEM
“Gooood morning, Sagetnam!” the loadmaster screamed into 4th Squad’s comms the moment the nose of the bird flared. Tavi was jerked in his seat as the Rhino’s momentum changed abruptly. The ship shuddered as power roared through the fuselage. The rear loading ramp dropped onto the ground mere moments after the rear wheels touched down. The howling of the engines was quickly dampened out by Tavi’s helmet as it adjusted to the sudden noise increase. “Welcome to the lovely jungles of the Honen District, Sagetnam! Where the air is wet and the water tastes like recycled piss! 4th Squad! Get the hell off my bird! Move! Move!”
“Team Two! Get your civvies and unass!” Sergeant Ord commanded as the other two teams hurried out of the Rhino and formed a small security perimeter. Nearby, another set of engines could faintly be heard as 5th Squad dropped nearby to establish a larger perimeter. Like their final destination, Sagetnam had an abundance of wildlife in the native jungles, some of which could potentially injure and kill their civilians. The security of the civilians was paramount to their mission parameters—weighted bags though they may be at this particular moment.
Tavi slapped his quick-release harness and stood as soon as the straps had fallen aside, then grabbed his weapon off the rack next to him. It took him less than a second to reach the seat where he’d parked his “civvie” and unstrap the weighted bag. Before he could pick it up, though, someone grabbed his shoulder. Turning, he recognized the loadmaster.
“Make sure I get these back in good condition!” the sergeant shouted over the howl of the engines, shoving a pair of gloves into Tavi’s hands.
“Don’t thank me, thank HeyHey. Now get off my bird!”
Tavi had no idea who or what a HeyHey was but slid the gloves on gratefully nonetheless. He secured the wrist straps before flexing his fingers to test them out. They were comfortable and padded, though they had clearly seen some use, but they fit well. He didn’t care. Not shredding his hands on some native fauna was going to be a nice change of pace. The abrasions he’d suffered during ACS had left small but noticeable scars across the backs of both hands.
“Thanks again, Sergeant!” he called out.
“Why the fuck are you still on my bird, cherry? Do you want to be a Crow or something? Move your scrawny ass!”
Even though it felt like forever, the entire extraction of 4th Squad from the bird had taken less than a minute. Tavi, the last off, barely had his feet on the ground before the rear load ramp was closing and the engines of the Rhino ramped back up to full power. All of 4th moved outside of the danger area of the Rhino’s powerful thrusters. Within seconds the dropship was climbing and quickly disappeared from view, leaving them alone in the vast wilderness with their clueless “civilians.”
Ordo wasted no time. “Claw, move north one hundred yards and establish a perimeter. Three, we’re headed south, doing the same. Two, grab your civvies and prepare to move them. Points of interest are marked on your HUD maps . . . now. By the way, your civvies have weak bladders, and flying disagrees with them. Pigeon, keep your team in position until told otherwise. Copy?”
“Pigeon copies. Hold here while our civilians potty,” Pigeon stated as Fire Team One moved north and Team Three headed south after confirming their orders. His next words came in the team channel, for their ears only. “I swear, Vixen, if this is because of you . . .”
“Maybe he’s just in a bad mood? I’m sure this has nothing to do with Morty,” Vixen suggested. Tavi shifted his bag on his shoulder and looked around, curious.
He’d never seen such dense foliage before. Even at ACS, the forest floor had been open and easily traversable. Here on Sagetnam, the jungle floor was filled with small bushes threatening to choke out everything, and various types of flora littered the ground. With the exception of a few easily identified game trails, it looked impossible to make it through.
“All right, first point on the map is two-two,” Pigeon told them. “Jabber, take point. Krawdaddy, rear guard. Wait . . . damn. Belay that. Gotta protect the whiny civvies. Damn it. Stick together in one group. Claw, Pigeon. Moving to marked point two-two, copy?”
“Tollejo civvies, making things harder,” Jabber muttered as the team began to painstakingly work its way through the dense underbrush. “I don’t see why it has to be us, ke? What we do wrong? Okay, my bunk is messy, but this is bullshit. Team One scored lower than us on readiness reports. They should have to hump these bags through this jungle. Nope, Ordo hates us, and makes us his bitch every single time. You think he hates the number two? I think he hates it. Hates me. Hates Pigeon. Likes Krawdaddy, but you kiss his ass. Don’t know about Tavi yet. Too new. I know he hates Vixen. Diseased motherfu—”
“Come on, Jabber. Give it a rest,” Vixen snapped, which caused the others to laugh. “Sulfatum chloride cures all.”
“Pigeon knows I’m speaking truth.”
“I ain’t getting involved in your lover’s bitchfest. Keep moving.”
Missed the previous snippets? No worries, I got you covered.
Jason Córdova 