"SC 533, what's our status on the west side?" SC 530's voice would've startled me had it not been for the soft beep before every incoming comlink communication. We'd been watching a rebel base's activity for the past three days now, our objective being to report any strange activity.
I activated my comlink. "Truckload of scavenged weapons and a few rations, three recruits and the usual patrol switch."
"Okay. Remain at point RS-3 until dawn, then deploy tents at RS-7."
"Yes, sir."
The comlink died and I looked through my scope again at the scummy rebel marksmen standing atop the western guard tower. Poor fools, ignorant to our presence. The plan was to blow up the base if no strange activity were to take place within seven days. Their position was hindering the Empire's gathering of resources on Venzeiia 2 Prime, and we, squad SC 53, were given the honor of taking care of it.
A thick piece of foliage suddenly fell in front of my vision. I reached for my pistol and checked my surroundings, making sure no one was in my vicinity. I looked over my shoulder before slowly creeping behind the tree to my right.
"What was that?" SC 534 whispered into the comlink.
"Either it decided to give way or something caused it to break."
"Second option seems most likely."
"In that case it was just an animal. Nothing to worry about."
"Then why did you back out from your position."
"They might send someone to check. And I would have to make a whole lot of noise to regain vision on the tower."
"Do we have vision on the tower?" SC 530's voice intervened.
I waited two seconds. Maybe one of my squad members had vision. Nothing. "Negative, sir."
"533, get a good position. 536, can you maintain vision until 533 regains it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. 533, double time."
"Yes, sir."
I had analyzed the area upon our arrival and had listed possible positions. Our surveillance had limited my list down to 2 options, one of which had just been demolished. My other option was situated 38 meters left from my current position. In order for me to get there I would need to sneak back, rush through the dense forest and then get to the position unnoticed.
I control my breathing before crouching down, coordinating my path and taking my first steps. The amount of noise I made was very little thanks to the spongy ground and the little amount of small plants. The vision of the rebels was poor thanks to the thick trees, but I still tried to hide myself as much as possible. The forest was far away and dense enough for me to do a short sprint. I then got flat on my stomach and slowly started crawling towards my position.
I got halfway before I encountered a random patrolling rebel. I had seen a few before in seemingly random patterns across the perimeter of the base, but to have the misfortune of being this close to one was, to say the least, not ideal. I kept breathing at a steady pace and drew my pistol from its holster. Things could get ugly quickly.
The scum approached slowly, making incredible amounts of noise for the trained ear and his seeking skills were that of an infant. Nonetheless, I was lying down on spongy ground that did not blend in well with my armor. All this guy had to do was look longer than three seconds and I would be in a very bad situation.
I ran some possible scenarios through my head: I fire my pistol, risking the chance of missing which would be a death sentence for my whole squad. And even if I did hit, the blast sound would alert anything within a fifty-meter radius. And if by some miracle the sound would go unnoticed, his absence wouldn't; I could kill him and try and impersonate him, but without enough information on his personality and not enough training in that department, I quickly ruled that possibility out. The only beneficial option was to find a better hiding spot and wait.
I looked left. Foliage. Too noisy. Right was a tree. Perfect. I got on all fours and quickly took cover behind the trunk. I brushed against a big plant at the exact moment he wasn't making any noise, drawing his attention to my position.
"SC 533, if he gets within a meter of you without seeing you, I will fire." SC 534 said in the comlink.
"If that's the case, prepare to disband and rendezvous at RS-D." SC 530 replied.
"Affirmative," all seven members said in unison.
An idea suddenly crossed my mind. I grabbed one of the small branches that had fallen and threw it five meters to my right. The rebel's attention was immediately directed at the new origin of sound. I maintained vision. After a few intense seconds he appeared satisfied that the cause was nothing of concern.
"Anything interesting?" I had to push down every reactive action in my body to stay still. There was a second rebel who was as well trained at the art of scouting as the other one.
"Probably just an animal."
"Then why are we stopping? We need to make sure the perimeter is secure before dawn."
"Yeah, yeah."
The two rebels moved on, making a huge amount of racket. When I couldn't hear them anymore I got back onto my stomach and continued to my new position.
"Well done," SC 534 said.
"Thanks. Good spotting by the way," I said, referring to how he had kept an eye out for me, indirectly disobeying SC 530's orders.
"Enough with the compliments. SC 533 get into position." SC 530 ordered.
"Yes, sir."
I got into position without any unpleasant moments. "In position."
"Good. SC 536, attention back to the south-western tower.
"Yes, sir."
"Sir. I overheard the two rebels say that they needed to secure the perimeter before dawn. It's not usual for them to do that."
"Hm," SC 530 mused. "You have a point. Any suggestions?"
"It might be the arrival of valuable resources," SC 538 offered.
"But why?"
"The rebel forces may see this as a potential safe house."
"If that is the case then we need to get inside that base to see if there are things the Empire could use. Any other suggestions?"
"The arrival of someone important," SC 536 suggested.
"Who would come to a planet on the outer rim without the intention of gathering resources?"
"There may be more bases. This planet could serve as an armory."
"Seems less likely, considering how this planet is a few dozen light years away from any frontline I'm aware of. But it is a possibility. Anything else?"
"If I may, SC 530," SC 532 started.
"By all means."
"We won't know how to act until we know what is going on. We have no idea as to who or what might be smuggled in or out. We think this base is being used as a storage for resources, but we don't know that for certain as we have only seen two trucks enter with rusty weapons and rations enough for two times the amount of men we see. I say we wait one or two more days before we decide to act."
SC 530 remained silent for a while. "Very well. We wait two more days and based on what we've seen, we act."
"Yes, sir." We all say in unison.
"Sir."
"Yes, SC 537."
"Do you think this place might be a training center? Rations for twice the amount of men we've counted, rusty weapons. To me it seems like a very realistic option."
"Or," SC 531 interjected, "this could be a hostage center."
The comlink went silent as we let the suggestions sink in.
"If the base is a training facility, then we need to call in reinforcements if we want to destroy it. If it is a hostage center, then that would explain the deserted village we spotted two days ago. Also it would mean that we need to organize a rescue operation," SC 530 summarized.
"Indeed," SC 531 established.
"Sir," SC 532 said, "I strongly suggest we wait at least till morning to decide on our actions."
"Agreed," SC 531 said.
"Very well, we wait till morning before making any decisions. So for now, we continue observing these scum."
"Yes, sir," we replied.
If this was a training facility, then we were in for quite a challenge. But if this was a hostage center, then we were going to make these scum pay.