“Just arrived in?” a tall broad shouldered sergeant sat on a crate smoking a cigarette, taking long drawn out drags and blowing them into the almost noxious air.
“Yes sir.” replied Reinhart a fresh recruit just out of basic.
“Recommend you either die quick or hunker down for the ride.” replied the sergeant.
“Will do, thank you sir.”
“Don’t fucking thank me.” said the sergeant laughing hoarsely and waving his free hand back and forth.
“Names Gerhardt pleasure to meet you.” Gerhardt extended his hand as Reinhart grabbed it giving him a firm shake.
“I’ll introduce you to the stables, the switchers aren’t around long enough to get knowing, plus they usually die faster…you are a stable right?”
“Yes sir.”
“You can cut the sir stuff, you get disrespectful and I’ll just give you a slap.” Gerhardt smiled as he said this but seemed completely willing to do so.
Gerhardt stood up revealing his full height. He must have been six three at least. He had short blonde hair that he combed over to the side and looked a bit out of place in this outlandish world Reinhart found himself in. Behind him a ways down the shoulder high trench sat three men on crates spread about.
“The new stable.” said Gerhardt as he approached the men.
The nearest man to Gerhardt was also tall and broad shouldered. He had long blonde hair and a thick beard to match.
“This is Jorgen.” said Gerhardt.
The older man nodded at Reinhart who nodded back. The next man was a shorter skinnier man with black hair and a cigarette between his teeth.
“This is Pierre.” said Gerhardt.
“Name?” asked Pierre
“Reinhart.” Pierre nodded losing interest.
“And here is Robert.” another man about Reinhart’s size with dark hair smiled and waved at Reinhart.
“Sit down kid.”
“I’ll leave you with them.” said Gerhardt taking his leave.
Reinhart took a crate and moved it over by the three.
“Any questions?” asked Jorgen.
“Not yet.” replied Reinhart.
“Surely you have some questions.” said Pierre “I sure as hell did.”
Reinhart shook his head.
“No questions about the Mollun?” asked Robert.
“What the fuck is a Mollun?” asked Pierre leaning over to Jorgen.
“The mole people.” replied Jorgen.
Pierre nodded satisfied.
“No, I learned a lot about them back in training.” replied Reinhart
“Ever kill one?” asked Robert.
“No, at least not outside of the simulator.”
Robert smiled “It’s pretty easy.”
“That’s good to know.” replied Reinhart.
Robert stared at Reinhart who stared up at the gaseous sky above them.
“I still can’t believe this planet isn’t poisonous.” said Reinhart
“I’m sure it is.” replied Jorgen
“You think?” asked Reinhart
“The fucking Mollun wear gas masks.” said Robert laughing.
“They do?” asked Reinhart surprised and alarmed.
“Yeah we, or I should say Gerhardt asked command about it.” said Robert
“What did they say?” asked Reinhart.
“Fuck you.” said Robert laughing “I’m paraphrasing of course”.
Reinhart smiled.
“What do you think of this war?” asked Pierre
“I don’t.” replied Reinhart.
Pierre smiled nodding “Good answer.”
“Just point and shoot.” said Jorgen
“As long as they pay me.” replied Reinhart.
Pierre laughed standing up and walking over to the edge of the trench grabbing binoculars on his way over. He stared through them looking over the side of the trench.
“You all seemed to be pretty laid back to be in a war zone.” said Reinhart.
Jorgen shrugged “This isn’t a war like you think kid. I’ve been in war, real war, and this isn’t it.”
“What is it?” asked Reinhart
“Not sure.” replied Jorgen
“Let me elaborate.” said Robert cutting in “What Jorgen means is that truth be told the Mollun are less of a threat to us than most wild animals. With the exception of the haphazard bombing raids which they only manage to conjure up once a month or so. And even then their planes are so damn clunky they get shot down every time, usually before they can do any real damage.”
“They bomb our trench and the second trench plenty, you don’t count us as ‘real damage’?” asked Jorgen
“Yeah AA doesn’t reach out here.” said Robert
“God knows why.” said Pierre still staring over the side of the trench through the binoculars.
“Anyways these Mollun are not very intelligent or aggressive. Honestly this planets been mined out of the resources the Imperium wanted and now I think we are fighting the Mollun as more of a “fuck you” than anything.” continued Robert.
“Well I’m glad to help.” replied Reinhart.
Robert cracked a smile and Jorgen shook his head.
“Anyways you could be stationed much worse, like in a real war like Jorgen was.” said Robert
“Against a real enemy.” added in Pierre.
“Where did you fight?” asked Reinhart
“Against the Krakkens.”
“Wow.” said Reinhart shaking his head
“Yup, was same as you are now except on my first drop half of us were chopped to pieces. But that was a long time ago.” said Jorgen taking a long swig from a bottle he kept on his hip.
“Anyways point is…” started Robert.
“Hey.” shouted Pierre cutting off Robert “Reinhart come here.”
Reinhart stood up and walked over to Pierre.
“Want to see the bastards?” asked Pierre stepping back from the glass of the binoculars “Here” Pierre handed the binoculars to Reinhart “The trench looking thing at the bottom of the hill straight in front of us.”
Reinhart looked through the binoculars and after a few moments of searching spotted the Mollun. They seemed short, shorter than Reinhart had expected and had on a metallic armor of some type with metallic gasmasks to match, each and every one of them.
“Son of a bitch, they are all wearing gas masks.” said Reinhart.
“And they’re the natives.” replied Pierre.
“Didn’t believe us?” asked Robert.
Reinhart zoomed the binoculars in a bit more studying the Mollun. Each of the Mollun bore an ancient looking carbine. Fat and blocky the guns looked nearly as big as the Mollun wielding them and twice as clunky.
“How tall are they?” asked Reinhart.
“No more than four feet.” replied Pierre “Want to shoot one?”
“Shoot one?”
“Yeah, we’re supposed to keep them back anyways. Technically it’s some switcher job but fuck em you’re with us.” Pierre walked a few steps over and lifted a long range rifle from the cloth it was stored in.
“Know how to use one of these?” asked Pierre switching the rifle for the binoculars.
“Of course.” replied Reinhart.
“Well make good use of it.”
Reinhart raised the rifle to his shoulder and looked through the scope down at the ambling Mollun below.
“Take the front the others will scatter.” said Pierre.
Reinhart lined up the shot with the front Mollun and squeezed the trigger. The rifle recoiled and the red blast shot towards the Mollun smashing through its chest leaving a smoking cavity. The Mollun dropped its ancient box like carbine and fell to the ground. The others behind it immediately scattered in retreat.
“Dear God, it’s almost sad.” said Reinhart.
“Hey now, that’s the enemy. They may be weak but they are still the enemy.” said Jorgen.
“Yeah after one of their bombing runs your feelings will change real quick.” said Robert.
“Guess so.” replied Reinhart.
“Good shot though.” said Pierre inspecting the scene from his binoculars.
Reinhart handed the rifle back to Pierre who put it back in its cloth and returned to scanning the landscape.
Reinhart returned to his seat by Robert.
“First kill?” asked Robert as Reinhart sat down.
“Can’t say I feel much of anything.” replied Reinhart.
“Yeah it’s pretty much like shooting an animal and at long distance to boot.” replied Robert.
“What’s Gerhardt like as a sergeant?” asked Reinhart.
“Watch it.” said Jorgen icily.
“I’m sure he’s doing fine.” replied Robert.
“I meant…never mind.” said Reinhart.
“I know what you meant. He may seem like he’s all bark but he is a hell of a warrior.” said Robert.
“That’s an understatement he won’t talk about this but he got a fair share of medals in the Krakken wars.” said Jorgen “And not those bullshit political medals but the real ones.”
Reinhart nodded reaching into his pocket and pulling out a can of dip.
“Well I’ll be damned I was starting to think I was the only one.” said Robert.
Reinhart smiled as he packed his can and placed a wad in then pointed to a large hill that rose in front of the trench.
“What’s that hill?”
“Mole Hill.” replied Robert.
“Is that their headquarters or something?” asked Reinhart.
“More like a bunker. It’s actually quite a structure. Keeps us from just bombing the shit out of them.” said Robert.
Reinhart nodded spitting.
“Keep in mind we have to sleep around here.” said Jorgen.
“Sorry.” replied Reinhart.
“Here.” said Robert handing Reinhart an old bottle “Just dump it over the back of the trench.”
Reinhart looked up at the gassy sky above “What is this planet made of?” asked Reinhart.
“Shit.” replied the three simultaneously.
“But honestly we have no idea, something not good no doubt.” said Robert.
Gerhardt came walking down towards them.
“What’s the word sir?” asked Jorgen.
“Command’s sending more incentives. Newest message is whoever plants our flag on top Mole Hill gets a day and night in Valhalla.” replied Gerhardt
Jorgen laughed.
“Valhalla?” asked Reinhart.
“Yeah, you never heard of it?” asked Robert.
Reinhart shook his head.
“Well damn. It’s a brothel of sorts.” started Robert
“Of sorts?” asked Jorgen laughing.
“Alright it’s a brothel, but it’s a classy deal. You see it’s where they take all the most beautiful women in the galaxy and keep them there. They have to pass all these tests and stuff to stay but apparently the pay is incredible.” said Robert.
“Tests?” asked Reinhart.
“Yeah they all have to stay within certain measurements as well as “performance” tests to make sure they’re up to snuff.” replied Jorgen
“Oh.” said Reinhart.
“Yeah, oh.” said Jorgen smiling.
“Anyways do something big for command and you get twenty four hours of all you can handle. Surprised they didn’t cover that in basic.” finished Robert.
Reinhart sat back smiling “Sounds like one hell of an incentive.”
Gerhardt smiled and chuckled. “Beats the hell out of a night in the trench. Anyways regardless of all of that command is going to want a show of some sort. Expect a raid within the week, I’ll update you as we collect more data.”
“Thank you sir.” said Jorgen as Gerhardt walked further down the trench.
“Take care Jorgen.” replied Gerhardt.
“What do you spend most of your time doing here?” asked Reinhart.
“Taking up space.” replied Jorgen.
“Essentially.” said Robert.
Reinhart laughed.
“More movement.” said Pierre
“Want me to take another crack at em?” asked Reinhart.
“Nah, let one of the switcher’s waste their ammo. I might as well get some sleep.” said Pierre turning around and sliding down the side of the trench to the ground.
“Sleep?” asked Reinhart.
“Yeah, I’m tired.” replied Pierre.
“Isn’t it still day?” asked Reinhart looking up into the cloudy bright orange and green sky.
The three laughed.
“Surprised they didn’t tell you this but this is it. There’s no day and night cycle here or at least not one that makes a difference in the light.” said Robert.
“Sleep when you’re tired, wake when you’re not, that’s essentially it.” said Pierre.
“Damn.” said Reinhart.
“We are always sure to keep at least two of us awake at any time.” said Robert.
“One of the two will be you for some time.” said Jorgen.
Reinhart nodded accepting his sentence.
“Yeah, if you need sleep get it now.” said Robert.
Reinhart nodded and walked over to the side of the trench rolling up in one of the sleeping rolls and quickly drifted off to sleep. He woke up a few hours later. Jorgen and Robert were playing cards.
Robert noticed Reinhart stirring over Jorgen’s shoulder and looked up.
“Morning.” said Robert.
“Morning.” replied Reinhart.
“You play blackjack?” asked Jorgen.
“Yeah.” replied Reinhart standing up and making his way over to crates.
Reinhart sat in Pierre’s old seat and scooted in closer to the table. Robert was shuffling and then looked up suddenly.
“Hear that?” asked Robert resuming his shuffling.
“Yeah.” replied Jorgen.
Reinhart listened hard and thought he heard a far off buzzing.
“What is it?” asked Reinhart.
“One of their bombers coming in for a run.” replied Robert.
“Fuck!” shouted Reinhart bolting up and diving to the side of the trench.
Jorgen and Robert began laughing hysterically.
“What the fuck are you laughing at get over here.” replied Reinhart.
“Reinhart look.” said Robert trying to speak through his fits of laughter “One of two things is going to happen, alright? The bombs the Mollun use are essentially dropping large rectangular rocks on us with minimal explosive power. We are in a five foot trench so we either get a direct hit and die or don’t and live. Crouching down there won’t do you any good.” said Robert.
“Except you won’t get to enjoy your last moments on this God forsaken planet.” said Jorgen.
Reinhart looked around carefully and then slowly made his way over to the crate.
“There she is.” said Robert pointing.
Reinhart looked off in the distance as a black speck grew larger and larger. An ancient looking bomber made its way toward the trench sputtering and smoking.
“That thing is huge.” said Reinhart.
“Yup.” replied Robert.
The plane came in closer driving in for a run far to the right of their location.
“Looks like we live another day.” said Jorgen as the plane loomed closer and flew over dropping its payload across the trench.
A few explosions could be heard in the distance and then a few more a minute or two later as it dropped its second load in trench two, and then a few moments after that another loud boom of the AA guns dropping the plane.
“Every time.” replied Jorgen.
“Why don’t they move the AA guns up here?” asked Reinhart.
“Don’t know, guess were cheaper to replace than they are.” said Robert.
Reinhart nodded grimly.
“Don’t take it personally kid.” said Jorgen.
“I don’t.” replied Reinhart.
Pierre had woken from his sleep and looked around.
“Bombing run.” said Jorgen.
“We lived.” added in Robert.
Pierre smiled giving a thumbs up and crashed back down falling back to sleep. Reinhart shook his head.
“Stay ready Reinhart if they need one of us going over there, it is going to be you.” said Jorgen.
Sure enough a few minutes later a soldier came running up.
“Two.” said the soldier as he ran by.
“Dammit.” said Robert.
“Come on Reinhart.” said Robert standing up grabbing his gun “We’re damage control.”
Reinhart grabbed his gun and followed Robert down the trench. The trench ahead of them was destroyed with some sort of make shift satellite installation hit.
“That thing’s a curse.” said one of the soldiers standing by it.
“Causalities?” asked Robert approaching
“Nah.” replied the soldier “Just some burns.” the soldier held up his hand.
“Looks painful.” replied Robert.
Reinhart looked at the charred hand of the soldier.
“Sure is.” replied the soldier smiling as the two passed.
A mechanic stood close by the man pumping something into his veins. Gerhardt rummaged through the machinery thrown all around.
“What’d we lose?” asked Robert.
Gerhardt threw up his hands “Something to do with measuring the atmosphere or…something.”
“Anything we can do?” asked Robert.
Gerhardt shook his head “Go back, I need engineers.”
“Right away.” said Robert spinning on his heels and turning away.
Robert began laughing again as they made their way back.
“What are you laughing at.” asked Reinhart.
“You hunkering down in the trench, as if it was going to do something.” Robert laughed again shaking his head.
The two reached Jorgen who was still on his crate drinking from his bottle.
“What’s the damage?” asked Jorgen.
Robert shook his head “Nothing to get worked up about. Hit some atmosphere monitor or something.”
“Atmosphere monitor?” Jorgen looked up at the sky “Here’s your atmosphere monitor it’s noxious and will probably give us all wonderful sicknesses when or if we get out of here.”
“Sounds about right.” replied Robert sitting down on his crate “Now let’s play some blackjack.”
“Got it?” asked Gerhardt.
Reinhart nodded.
This was the first time Reinhart had heard such sternness in Gerhardt’s voice.
“Alright, now if we do this well and like I planned we should be causality free. There is no reason for anyone to not make it through this. Of course we all know…”
“Shit happens.” replied Jorgen, Pierre, and Robert.
“Exactly and I need my stables to be prepared for that understand?”
“Yes sir.” they echoed including Reinhart.
“Alright, now I don’t really give a shit who plants that damn flag there. The point is we clear these bastards out and we may get out of this hellhole.”
The four stood attentively listening.
“The switchers have already been briefed. You all will be escorting me down there to the entrance and through the following operation. Your mission, your job is to make damn sure I get out alive as well as providing cover for the switchers as well as any other tasks that may come up.” Gerhardt took a deep breath “Understood?”
“Yes sir.”
“Great, load up I’ll come back when it’s time.” Gerhardt jogged back toward his side of the trench.
“About to get your first action Reinhart.” said Jorgen.
Reinhart nodded.
“Stick with us, don’t be a jackass, and you’ll come out alive.” said Robert
“Gerhardt didn’t seem to be expecting causalities.” replied Reinhart as the three laughed
“There will be causalities Reinhart, always some fucker switcher that screws up and gets killed.” said Robert.
“Problem is when that gets one of us killed.” replied Jorgen.
“You see those bastards down the line are essentially low paid mercenaries. They only have half the training.” started Robert
“But only do a quarter of the time.” said Pierre.
“Anyways like I said not necessarily a problem…unless it is. Got it?” asked Pierre.
“Yeah.” responded Reinhart.
A loud alarm sounded down the trench as switchers surged out towards Mole Hill.
“Guess that’s the signal, real subtle.” said Robert.
“Where’s Gerhardt?” asked Pierre
“He’ll be here.” replied Jorgen.
A few moments later Gerhardt emerged from the side “Alright move out.” said Gerhardt sporting his paltry battle armor and rifle.
“He’s gets armor?” asked Reinhart as they followed Gerhardt out of the trench.
“Happily trade with you.” replied Gerhardt.
“No sir, I didn’t mean it like that.” started Reinhart.
“That armor doesn’t do a damn thing other than signify he’s high ranking, it’s for our own soldiers.” said Jorgen.
“As so the Mollun know who to shoot first.” said Gerhardt.
Blue and red lights erupted from down below them.
“Son of a bitch they’re actually prepared for us.” said Gerhardt starting to sprint down the hill toward the battle. The switchers had already cleared the first line of resistance and were making their way on to the second by the time Gerhardt reached them. Smoking Mollun bodies lay all around.
“Sure are a lot of em.” said Reinhart.
“Numbers is about all they have.” replied Gerhardt.
“Sir.” a switcher soldier raced over to Gerhardt saluting.
“Drop it, what’s happening?”
“Wasn’t expecting them to be down this far. We got lit up with the first volley but after that we beat em back pretty bad.”
“Causalities?”
“A few but much more on their side.”
Gerhardt sighed “Keep the men together remember the Mollun are not to be underestimated.”
“Yes sir.” the soldier kept pace with Gerhardt as he made his way to the front of the line now assaulting the mouth of Mole Hill. Blue lasers lit up the space in front of Gerhardt and the soldiers.
“Not the best shots sir.” said a soldier standing next to Gerhardt.
“Keep down, keep dropping them, don’t be dumb and we can take this without any more causalities.” replied Gerhardt.
The soldiers kept up a steady stream of volleys into the Mollun’s basic fortifications making short work of their dwindling numbers. After a few more moments of firing Gerhardt ordered a few grenades in the mouth. The soldiers complied as the mouth lit up with bluish fire.
“To the mouth, stay on your toes.” ordered Gerhardt making his way up.
Gerhardt was first in the mouth of the hill. Around them were the charred bodies of Mollun soldiers.
“Keep your eyes peeled we haven’t been able to scout inside of the hill, God only knows what we may run in to.” said Gerhardt.
“Fuck!” shouted a soldier as blue lasers shot out from the darkness deeper within the hill.
“Dammit.” shouted Gerhardt dropping to the ground hard as a few soldiers beside him got caught up in the blasts.
“Return fire dammit.” screamed Gerhardt emptying his rifle into the darkness.
The soldiers kept up their assault for some time only stopping when the blue lasers of the Mollun stopped responding. The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and started forward only to met by a new volley from the Mollun.
“Get grenades ready but stay down.” ordered Gerhardt.
A few soldiers stood up to throw the grenades but were cut down by the enemy fire.
“Fucking stay down.” yelled Gerhardt turning around to his men behind him “Reinhart how many grenades do you have?”
“Two sir.” replied Reinhart.
“Give me one.” said Gerhardt.
Reinhart obeyed handing Gerhardt one of his grenades. He threw the grenade as far as he could into the darkness. A loud blue explosion erupted illuminating the darkness and sending chunks of Mollun and Mollun armor raining down on the soldiers.
“Fuck that’s a lot of them.” gasped one of the soldiers.
A few more grenades were lobbed in, illuminating the room and finishing off the rest of the Mollun ahead of them. The space in front of the soldiers was quiet, Gerhardt waited patiently for any sign of movement.
“A few more.” ordered Gerhardt.
A few more grenades were lobbed in, illuminating the now lifeless room.
“Up. Stay close and stay down.” yelled Gerhardt starting forward.
The soldiers crept forward through the complex. As they descended deeper into the hill the rooms became lighter and lighter illuminated by Mollun lighting. They continued further into the hill not meeting any resistance. The soldiers made their way into a central room where the path split off in two directions both descending downwards.
Gerhardt paused in the room. “Alright we clear the two tunnels ahead of us then we turn back. This has been more than enough for today. Jorgen take squads F-I take the left tunnel the rest with me.” Jorgen nodded starting toward his tunnel.
Gerhardt looked down the tunnel in front of them “Take point Robert.”
Robert nodded walking to the front. Gerhardt closed in right behind him as they advanced down the tunnel.
“Movement ahead.” whispered Robert as they descended further into the tunnel “Can’t tell what.”
“Can’t be friendly…fuck it, grenade it.” replied Gerhardt.
Robert loosed a grenade from around his belt and tossed it down the tunnel. A loud explosion flashed sending bits of Mollun flying out.
“Good hit.” replied Gerhardt.
A few Mollun began rushing up the tunnel in a panic in an effort to escape any more grenades.
“Take em.” said Gerhardt raising his rifle and firing. The Mollun were caught off guard and cut down.
“Advance.” said Gerhardt breaking out from behind Robert and walking down to the end of the tunnel that dropped slightly into a large room below “Grenade em again.” said Gerhardt as volley of grenades rained down into the room below.
The tunnel shook as the explosion rocked the open room.
“Take it.” yelled Gerhardt rushing forward. The soldier surged into the room finishing off the few Mollun still remaining. The room did not lead anywhere else. Gerhardt looked around the room studying it.
“Looks like leeping quarters.” said Robert.
“Not anymore.” said Pierre.
Gerhardt nodded satisfied “Back up, be prepared to help team two if needed.”
The soldiers stomped back up the tunnel and into the large room they had split up in.
“Take the left tunnel, make noise.” said Gerhardt.
The first soldier headed down the tunnel and shouted in surprise as he collided with another charging back up.
“What happened?” asked Gerhardt.
The soldier shook his head “Ambushed again.”
“Jorgen!” yelled Gerhardt.
“Here.” called back a voice from the bottom of the tunnel.
“With me stables.” said Gerhardt making his way down to Jorgen.
Jorgen’s large form bobbed above the rest of the men who were busy tossing grenades behind them.
“What happened?” asked Gerhardt as he neared Jorgen.
“Ambush, must have been a hundred of them. Crawled right out of the damn walls. They must have tunneled through.” said Jorgen.
“Casualties?” asked Gerhardt
“Yes, a few switchers.” replied Jorgen.
Gerhardt spun around toward the Mollun making their way up the tunnel and began firing taking one down with each shot.
“Get back in line men.” yelled Gerhardt trying to stop the retreat.
Gerhardt’s men filed down the tunnel taking up positions and were reluctantly followed by Jorgen’s men.
“They’re pouring through.” said a soldier staring at the mass making their ways towards them below.
“Listen obey every word I say and we can get out of here with our heads intact, understood?” Gerhardt eyed the enemy below him forming up “Grenades now!” yelled Gerhardt.
The soldiers started lobbing grenades down the tunnel into the amassing Mollun. Large blue explosions decimated the close enemy.
“Now open fire and don’t fucking stop until your guns melt.” ordered Gerhardt.
The entire tunnel erupted in a wall of red light flashing down at the oncoming Mollun. The Mollun began firing back but in haphazard spells missing.
“They can’t get a read on us yet.” said Gerhardt as he watched the Mollun.
“How the hell not? The whole damned tunnel is lit up.” replied Jorgen.
Gerhardt shrugged “I don’t know and right know I don’t really care, just keep it up.”
The Mollun bodies began filing the tunnel below restricting the remaining enemy forces.
“Son of a bitch they don’t give up.” said Gerhardt shaking his head watching lone Mollun wading through the dead bodies pop off a few shots at the soldiers only to be cut down moments later.
“They’re like ants.” said Jorgen
Gerhardt nodded “Well then as long as our guns stay functional we will be fine.”
The mass below was being melted in one large body from the heat of the lasers and the amount of body armor the Mollun wore.
“Cease fire.” yelled Gerhardt.
But the soldiers continued firing.
“Cease fire!” yelled Gerhardt again.
The wall of lasers quieted down as the soldiers surveyed the enemy below.
“Gave em one hell of a whipping.” said one soldier smirking.
Gerhardt held up his hand “Stables front and center on me, switchers keep eyes on below.” the switchers nodded as Gerhardt made his towards the mass below. The smell was growing worse as they made their way towards the bodies. Gerhardt stopped at the edge of the melting mass and shook his head “These bodies are still red hot we won’t be making our way past here anytime soon…and that is fine with me. We can go home and tell command we did what we could.”
“Well, no Valhalla.” said Jorgen shaking his head.
“Damn shame.” replied Pierre back to his binoculars.
“Yup.” said Robert.
Gerhardt sat with the stables smoking a cigarette “Yeah well we don’t have to go back there for some time, seems like reward enough for me.”
“By the time the next assault rolls around all those switchers will be serving in some distant star system and we’ll have all new recruits.” said Jorgen.
Gerhardt shook his head “Hell of a system.”
“Well we might get lucky and get out before we’re sent back or before we get a bomb dropped on our heads.” said Robert “Or at least us four, sorry Reinhart you got a ways to go.”
Reinhart nodded.
“On the plus side it’ll be awhile before you see more action, got it out of the way early.” said Pierre.
Reinhart nodded lying back against his crate tired.
“Well I have to head back.” groaned Gerhardt standing up and throwing down his cigarette and extinguishing it with his boot.
“Take care sir.” said Jorgen.
Gerhardt nodded mumbling to himself as he walked off.
“How do you keep track of time around here?” asked Reinhart reaching for his dip.
“We don’t really. Gerhardt has a clock that keeps standard time but other than that who cares.” said Robert.
Reinhart nodded putting in a pinch.
“Might want to save a bit of that, it will be some time before you will be able to get more.” said Jorgen
“Shit, didn’t think about that.” replied Reinhart.
“Yeah dear God don’t waste any ways to entertain yourself out here.” said Robert.
Reinhart nodded leaning back against his crate and looking up at the sky above.
“Shit, we got some action.” said Pierre excited.
Reinhart stood up and walked over to Pierre who handed him the binoculars “They’re shooting something.” said Pierre.
They all could see the blue flash of lasers down by the Mollun’s newly built trenches in front of Mole Hill. Reinhart looked through the binoculars at what was happening. The Mollun were back out in force the mouth heavily guarded and the trenches refilled. To Reinhart’s right mechanized armor was moving in but not firing.
“There’s armor down there.” said Reinhart.
“What the hell were they waiting for?” said Robert still sitting on his crate.
Pierre studied the fight below “Why aren’t they returning fire?” asked Pierre to no one in particular.
“Armor weapons are expensive probably waiting for a closer shot.” said Jorgen still at his crate.
“Well shit how much closer can they get?” replied Pierre.
Suddenly the trenches below were lit up with bright yellow flashes.
“There we go”. said Pierre “Would have been a lot better a when were there though.”
“Yeah, what the hell.” said Reinhart.
“Probably had a higher priority mission before. Done with that and had some extra fuel and were ordered to see if any of us are still alive and assist us if so.” said Jorgen.
“Well not sure how much good they’re going to do, the trenches and mouth were just as full as if we hadn’t done anything.” said Pierre.
“Damn.” replied Robert.
More flashes lit up the other trenches of the Mollun and then the mouth of Mole Hill.
“Well whatever was there isn’t anymore.” said Pierre shaking his head.
“Looks like they’re deploying smaller mechs now.” said Reinhart.
“Probably battle suits, clear out further inside the hill.” said Robert “Lucky bastards.”
“For clearing the hill?” asked Reinhart surprised.
“For having the suits dumbass.” replied Robert shaking his head.
Reinhart nodded embarrassed.
“The second they place that flag I’m running my ass down there.” said Pierre.
Robert laughed.
“That’s if they do.” said Jorgen.
“Why wouldn’t they?” asked Pierre.
“Could be hundreds of reasons Pierre, number one being underestimating the Mollun and trusting in those suits too damn much.”
Pierre furrowed his brows thinking then shook his head unsatisfied “I don’t know Jorgen they’re pretty damn impressive.”
“I know Pierre. I’ve seen them in action. Still the soldiers inside learn to rely on the machine and not on the soldiering and that leads to problems.”
“Well you would know.” replied Pierre reaching for the binoculars from Reinhart.
Reinhart handed them to Pierre who watched the battle suits emit their yellow lasers tearing into the Mollun forces trying desperately to mount a defensive of some sort.
“They look so pathetic from here, the Mollun.” said Reinhart.
“Yeah well things are a little different when you’re face to face with them.” replied Pierre.
“I found that out.” said Reinhart.
“You’re learning, that’s good. Many never get the chance.” said Jorgen.
Reinhart walked back over to his crate and sat down lying back against it “Has it been a day yet?” asked Reinhart.
The other laughed.
“Never ask that.” said Robert “Never.”
“It’ll blend together real quick.” said Jorgen.
Reinhart nodded.
“Looks like we got some company.” said Robert pointing back toward friendly lines.
A low flying aircraft shot past the trench heading past Mole Hill.
“Something’s happening.” said Jorgen.
“Something is always happening.” replied Robert.
“Yeah, something big though.” replied Jorgen.
“Maybe they decided they wanted to wrap this up.” said Robert.
“Let’s hope.” said Jorgen.
Reinhart stood up and walked over to Pierre who was looking through the binoculars.
“Take a look.” said Pierre.
Reinhart took the binoculars and looked down at the mouth of the hill. Bright flashes emanated from within.
“Seems they hit some stiff resistance.” said Pierre.
A bright blinding flash followed by a deafening boom emanated from some miles behind Mole Hill. Their eyes and ears taking a few seconds to recover.
“Must have found something juicy to let that drop.” said Pierre.
Reinhart blinked his eyes, shaking his head “What the hell was that.”
“Bomb of some sort.” replied Pierre.
Reinhart chuckled lightly “No shit.”
“Up.” Reinhart and Pierre turned around hearing Gerhardt’s voice.
“Stables with me, they want us up.” said Gerhardt.
“When we moving out?” asked Jorgen.
“Now.” replied Gerhardt starting over the trench edge.
“What’s happening?” asked Reinhart.
“Don’t know but they want us up there with the armor.” said Gerhardt.
“What about the switchers?” asked Jorgen
“They don’t want them Jorgen.” replied Gerhardt annoyed, whether it was at Jorgen, the switchers, or the situation Reinhart couldn’t tell.
Jorgen shook his head muttering something.
“Fuckers can’t handle their own problems, what the hell good are five infantry soldiers going to do that an armor division can’t.” said Pierre.
“Shut the fuck up Pierre and fall in.” replied Gerhardt.
Pierre nodded respecting Gerhardt’s orders.
“Look something’s happening alright, get your shit together because they wouldn’t call us in if it wasn’t serious.”
“Yes sir.” replied the men.
By the time they arrived the shooting near the entrance had died down. Outside tank personal waited by the vehicles.
“What’s happening?” asked Gerhardt.
“You Gerhardt?” asked one of the men walking over toward to them.
“Yes.” replied Gerhardt.
“They want someone who has been in there before with them.” replied the tank engineer “You can go on and head up there’s nothing alive behind em.”
Gerhardt nodded and moved the men out “Stay alert just because they swept through doesn’t mean we won’t run into anything.” cautioned Gerhardt.
The sounds of blasts echoed down the tunnel from the battle taking place further in. Gerhardt picked up the pace as they began jogging. They reached the room with the two tunnels the sounds of fighting echoing from the left.
“Hurry.” said Gerhardt sprinting down the tunnel.
The Mollun had cleared away all of the bodies from earlier leaving the tunnel without a trance of the battle before. Reaching the bottom of the tunnel the men gasped. The room in front of them rose hundreds of feet above their heads with a complex of holes all the way up every side. Mollun bodies littered the floor and a thick fog obscured their vision.
“Keep moving” said Gerhardt.
An explosion echoed from ahead of them as they entered the floor of the large room “We must be getting close.” said Gerhardt.
“Shit.” the mechanized voice of a soldier called out from below.
“Friendlies.” shouted Gerhardt as they made their way forward. They could make out the flashes of lasers and the explosions of heavier weapons ahead.
Out of the fog appeared a battle suit soldier turned around and raising his weapons at Gerhardt.
“Friendly, I’m human dammit.” yelled Gerhardt.
The soldier paused lowering his weapon. “Sorry sir.”
“What’s going on here?” asked Gerhardt.
“We don’t know it’s almost like they have their own little world in here.” said the soldier.
“You said you needed troops that have been down here, we never made it this far.” said Gerhardt.
“Well your here now, point your guns in that direction and start firing.” replied the soldier.
“Who is your commander?” asked Gerhardt
“Not really sure now.” replied the soldier between blasts of his cannon.
“What do you mean?” asked Gerhardt.
“Well it was Micks but he’s dead and then it was Teague but he’s dead.” an explosion across the wall behind them rocked the men to their knees “For all I know it could be me, were getting tore up here pretty bad.”
“The entrance back up is right there, retreat.”
“Can’t do that sir.”
“Why not?”
“Battery power. Our best bet is to stay here and fight it out until we’ve killed enough of them so that they retreat and we can leave the suits”.
“It takes more battery power to walk than fight?” asked Gerhardt.
“Different sources, one’s a hell of a lot higher than the other at least for this mission.”
Gerhardt nodded “Fine, what’s ahead.”
“The enemy.”
“Anything else?” asked Gerhardt.
“Not sure sir, appreciate it if you could start putting those guns of yours to use though.”
Gerhardt nodded ordering the men to take up positions.
“How many of them are there?” asked Gerhardt.
“Really hard to tell, all we know is they just keep coming, we hit a mother lode of some sorts here. I’ve never seen so many in all my service.”
Gerhardt nodded “If we would have brought the switchers we could have given you enough support to retreat.”
“Look our comms aren’t very good in here, alright. I relayed a message to the tank crew and they relayed it out. That was before we got in this mess.”
“Have you sent for more soldiers?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if it’s getting through.”
“We’ll we’d be better off going back to the tank crew and getting more soldiers down here to help you out.” said Gerhardt.
“No, you stay right here it’ll get through.” replied the soldier.
Gerhardt threw up his hands “Alright, it’s your ass and men on the line not mine.”
“I don’t care just help us out.”
Gerhardt ordered his men closer “What’s up ahead?” asked Gerhardt.
Pierre looked back from his scope. “Really hard to see between the explosions, the fog, and the vegetation.”
“The vegetation?”
“Yes sir.”
“What there’s a jungle over there?” asked Gerhardt.
“Essentially.” replied Pierre.
“How many you see over there?” asked Gerhardt.
“Dead or alive?” asked Pierre.
“Alive dammit.”
“None so far, they keep cannoning piles of dead bodies.” said Pierre.
Gerhardt shook his head.
“Oh wait, see one.” said Pierre lining up a shot.
Pierre fired “Alright none.”
“This is ridiculous I’m telling these sons of bitches to get out of here before a real force shows up.” said Gerhardt.
“Yes sir.” replied Pierre.
The soldier in the suit was firing rapidly into the fog before him as Gerhardt approached.
“You wasting your ammo on dead bodies soldier.” said Gerhardt “Listen you have an opportunity to get out of here right now, take these machines and get as far as you can from here and then get out and we’ll make it the rest of the way.”
“You sure about that, we got readings there are hundreds over there.” replied the soldier.
“Readings from what?” asked Gerhardt.
“Our equipment.” said the soldier tapping a metallic finger to his helm.
Gerhardt sighed “Is it reliable?”
“Always.” said the soldier
“Always?”
“That’s what I said.”
Gerhardt looked back toward the enemy’s side. “My sniper isn’t seeing anything over there.”
“No kidding too much fog.”
Gerhardt began to shake his head when he was rocked off his feet as explosions erupted all around him.
“Son of a bitch.” yelled Gerhardt.
“Shit.” yelled the soldier bringing his battle suit all the way up and unleashing a volley of rockets from his back.
Gerhardt clambered to his feet seeing what he was shooting at. A wall of blue lights flashed ahead of him as Mollun poured over the dead bodies of their comrades surging forward. Gerhardt slammed back to the floor. The soldier in the battle suit crouched as blue lasers flashed over his head.
“We should have left.” said Gerhardt.
The soldier peeked up releasing a few shots towards the enemy.
“We’re fucked.” said the soldier.
Gerhardt glanced around the rock he was behind at the oncoming wave. He slammed his head back around as Pierre nearly knocked him over coming around the corner.
“Shit we’ve got to get out of here.” said Pierre.
“Where is everyone else?” asked Gerhardt.
Pierre looked behind him dumbfounded “Fuck.”
“Stay.” said Gerhardt peeking back around the rock.
Jorgen and Reinhart were pinned down about fifteen feet away.
“Robert?” yelled Gerhardt but was drowned out by the sound of gun fire.
The soldier beside Gerhardt poked up again releasing a rocket into the line of Mollun.
“They’ve stopped advancing.” said the soldier.
“Why?” asked Gerhardt.
“Don’t know.” The soldier stuck out his helm above the rock “Took some causalities.” said the soldier bounding over the rock and towards the reassembling Mollun forces.
Gerhardt watched the soldier advance firing a few more shots as he went providing cover for Jorgen and Reinhart to race to the rock.
“Where’s Robert?” asked Gerhardt.
“Few rocks back.” said Jorgen.
“Let’s get him over here.” Gerhardt watched as Robert emerged into view from the fog crashing by the rock Jorgen and Reinhart had just ran from.
Gerhardt looked over at Robert “Ro…” a burst of blue light lit up Gerhardt’s line of sight as he smashed back against the rock.
“He might be wounded.” said Gerhardt.
Jorgen peeked his head around the side of the rock.
“Next chance we get, we bring him over here.” said Gerhardt.
A soldier raced by Gerhardt taking up a position by a rock behind them. Gerhardt peeked back over as soldiers were retreating. He rose up higher and pointed at Robert to a soldier running by. The soldier turned its helm picked up Robert in one of its hands and then raced past them.
“Looks like their retreating.” said Pierre.
Gerhardt looked up again as a soldier bounded over the rock they was hiding behind.
“Up, let’s go.” said Gerhardt turning and running back towards the entrance.
The men followed behind Gerhardt as they made their way back. “Get back to the entrance and don’t stop, we will be there to support the soldiers when their suits run out of battery, until then we’re going to get left behind if we don’t hurry, understand.”
Jorgen nodded followed by the others. Gerhardt pounded through the entrance a few soldiers racing past him back up towards the surface.
“Where is Robert?” asked Reinhart.
“Soldier picked him up.” replied Gerhardt.
At the top of the tunnel soldiers grouped together firing into the room in front of them.
“What’s happening?” asked Gerhardt as he approached.
“Seems they set up an ambush for us, they’re splitting us up. About a hundred up ahead. Give us a few minutes we’re working our way out” said the soldier.
Gerhardt nodded and looked back down towards the entrance where more soldiers came through.
“Up now.” screamed a soldier towards the front.
Gerhardt got caught up in the rush around him and ran forward.
Gerhardt collapsed onto the crate breathing out heavily.
“That was close” said Robert shaking his head lying against the side of the trench his foot in a gel like cast with a clear hard plastic casing. Robert reached forward and felt the cast. Gerhardt looked around at Jorgen and Pierre who were both sound asleep. Reinhart sat nervously against the side of the trench shaking and coughing.
“You alright Reinhart?” asked Gerhardt.
Reinhart nodded.
“Feel free to get some sleep, I’ll be up for a while.”
Gerhardt lit a cigarette and tried relaxing but couldn’t.
“They’ll need an army to take that hill.” said Jorgen.
“Not this army.” replied Gerhardt
“No, I won’t be going back there.” said Jorgen shaking his head.
Gerhardt looked over at his radio he kept by his cot, a voice broking through “Sergeant Gerhardt come in.” said the voice.
Gerhardt sighed looking at the radio.
“Gerhardt come in.” said the voice again.
Gerhardt got up and grabbed the radio “Gerhardt here.”
“Warning they have another bird in the air, be on the lookout.” said the voice
“Sure thing.” replied Gerhardt.
Gerhardt set the radio down as the voice continued talking, telling Gerhardt proper action to avoid being killed by the bombs.
“Another plane coming in.” said Gerhardt.
Jorgen muttered something closing his eyes.
Gerhardt sighed sitting back against the side of the trench watching the horizon towards Mole Hill. Gerhardt’s eyes grew heavy as he watched the sky turn from a green to orange and back before closing them.
Gerhardt looked around with a start. He was on the floor of the trench or at least what used to be the trench. He tried rising to his feet but collapsed back down. He looked to his right where a wide crater had decimated where their section of the trench had been. He felt pain wrack through his body every time he tried to move. There was no sign of the others. Hearing a gurgled cry coming from above him Gerhardt strove to his feet but blacked out from the pain.
Gerhardt opened his eyes as a bright light swinging back and forth above him blinded him. He groaned his throat dry.
“Good morning sir.” a friendly voice surprised Gerhardt.
Gerhardt turned to his side to see a man in a white coat sitting down checking on a monitor of some sorts his brows furrowed.
“Get him some water.” said the man standing up.
“Where is everyone?” asked Gerhardt.
“Quiet now sergeant.” said the man “I’m Doctor Mendel, Sergeant your section of the trench was bombed by one of the Mollun planes.”
A man came walking in bringing a container with water which he promptly put to Gerhardt’s lips. Gerhardt drank from it deep and began coughing. After he stopped he turned to Dr. Mendel.
“Where is everyone?”
The Doctor sighed “Most of your soldiers are already back out in the trench, however there was one causality…” the doctor flipped through a sheet that was lying on the monitor “a private…private Reinhart.”
“Reinhart damn.” said Gerhardt.
“Sorry for your loss sergeant, I’ll be back in a few.” said the doctor turning around and leaving the room.
Gerhardt sat on his crate smoking a cigarette as a young man raced towards him leaping into the trench rolling then regaining himself in a crouch at Gerhardt’s feet.
“Relax.” said Gerhardt taking a long drag from his cigarette as he blew it into the air sighing “Just arrived in?”