This was not a training simulation this was the real deal. Blood would be poured from the soldiers who would die this day and their burning flesh would pile up in the final count. It was raining, most definitely the right mood for the occasion. Alas overwhelming fear, anxiety, and wonder filled the souls of a thousand men.
But one of them was clear and confident. He would not let fear put a price tag on the grace of God!
"Ok! You know the drill: stay low and stay quite!" Sayne barked.
"Yes, sir!" Kurt replied respectively. "And what do we do when we reach the base of the ridge."
"We stay the hell low!" Sayne replied. "Now Rook will lead green group, Knight will lead blue, and Bishop will lead red. My team will…we'll do what we always do."
A few muffled laughs escaped the score of soldiers. They knew very well the captain and his crew were fit perfectly for any mission of any sort. Though his posture did not change the expression on his face did. He smiled happily behind his helmet. He did not want his men to die with frowns.
His team was made up of Bren(Jade), Spade, Nagi, Ripper, and Shadow. All of them were the best in their class and were well know for having the most experience in combat. Sayne looked at his troop his friends, and loving family members. They all looked back unshaken, they would not fail their leader.
"…Let's roll!"
Sayne felt like a father as he watched his children working together so perfectly that they were already half way up the ridge and were still undetected. His team took the point, while 500 of his men crept slowly behind him. Less than one click along the ridge, Bishop and his team off 100 marines shoved forth up a smaller slope. Bishop was possibly the most laid back in whole 26th Andross Regiment. He was fun to be around and full of jokes, laughs, and immense youth. Sayne was now 17, but Danny, Bishop, was 15. Many people doubted his abilities by his age and short stature, but he was by far one of the most qualified Lieutenants in the whole corps.
Centered right in between the two slopes was Rook. Rook was Kyle's older brother an age of 19. He was well toned and had the second best shot in the regiment. His team of 20 would scale the side of the ridge until the top was reached. When they arrived at the top they would be active in hot insertion. They would need to evade scattered bunkers, and disable missile turrets so that aerial support would be in fly by. His Cousin, Kaleb (Knight), would ascend five minutes behind his squad. Kaleb was massively built and could easily kill without a gun, but e mounted a Kunta VII assault rifle, and a standard shotgun. His team would help green team if they need it, but its main priority was to engage the main enemy base in sniper fire. This diversion would hopefully allow the two main strike teams to flank then infiltrate the command posts and capture their science facility, the reason why they came.
Several things crossed Sayne's mind as his assault team reached the top of the plateau. Sayne peered at his surroundings, about a kilometer away a large command post stood in the center of a mineral circle. It was a wealthy area for sure, but Sayne had not come for riches. It was recently reported that a science facility on Hara Ro had captured Zerg specimens and were attempting to mutate them into a stronger creature, but of course they strived for a serum in order to control the fowl beasts. This in the mind of the Andross Regiment was unacceptable. It was instant suicide it was impossible to contain the Zerg.
Sayne sent Shadow, the scout, ahead to scout the area. Shadow was an expert in the art of stealth. Bren took a liking to him despite his lack of social recognition. He was a ghost, a highly trained scout used for stealth, sniping, or targeting nuclear strikes. Bren too had been trained in the art of ghost combat she was extremely skilled and by far the fasted marine in the batch. The two ghost wore Cloak armor which enabled them to hold the illusion of invisibility, although they were actually only blending in with their surroundings. If you were to look close enough you could see the ripples on their outlines, but any soldier would not be alert enough to see through the illusion. At least no one thought so.
Shadow's crusade came to a violent stop when a pulsing bullet penetrated his armor. His illusion broke and he lay motionless on flat terrain. The shot was perfect. It did not kill Shadow because it was not meant to. It was just meant to get some ones attention and it did. Sayne knew who fired the shot and despite all emotions he would kill him.