Lions in Blue and Silver

The story of survival, and hating on Michael Saracino.

Ahern gazed around the swampy muck in disgust. "This is just goddamned wonderful." He grimaced as the film-badge on his belt beeped apologetically, indicating their radiation exposure was still rising.

Behind him, Rachel and Kahlee were spreading out the tent-pak Kahlee had lugged along, while Chu was doing his best to stitch up the wounds in Leng's leg. Anderson was laid out on a narrow strip of rock thrust up from the swamp, grimacing in pain, while Richards was putting pressure on his shoulder with a pad of gauze.

Saracino, in the branches of a gnarled, dark-looking oak that had miraculously managed to cling to life, swung his scope around. "Ah, cheer up. We're alive, the EAGL are dead, and we got off some truly devastating puns." He paused. "I'd go so far as to say it was absolutely pun-ishing."

Kai looked at the man, and then glanced over to the bulk of Pellham, sitting by his side. "…It occurs to me, Pel, that as much as I hate you, I may hate Mr. Saracino more."

Kyle muttered darkly. "Welcome to the club." He adjusted his helmet, and then returned to placing sealant tape around the joints of his armor. "What is our plan now?"

Anderson gritted his teeth. "I'm down for the count. Richards is too. None of us is fully effective, and we can't move fast. For now, I think our best bet is what was suggested earlier – patch ourselves up as well as we can, eat, and march overland – at least out of the swamp."

Florez sourly nodded. "Or light off the flares for medical assistance. They did say they scrubbed the exercise."

Ahern shook his head. "Maybe so, but I don't see the fucking smart side of lighting off a giant fuck-ass flare which will draw every EAGL fucker from here to the gulf, not to mention the wildlife. If the report was right, they're going to be low on shuttles anyway, and I want to be dug the fuck in somewhere before we light that bitch."

Kahlee finished setting up the tent. "First, let's move the wounded in here one at a time and see what we can do with our limited supplies."

Ahern shared watches with Pellham as everyone was rotated through the tent, Chu and Sanders doing their best. Limited to surgical thread, alcohol, disinfectant, and a booster of anti-rad and antibiotic drugs, it took a good hour and a half to finish up.

Kai Leng was still walking a touch gingerly, but was mobile. Richards was still in bad shape, but could hold and fire his minigun. Anderson had snagged one of the old EAGL rifles to replace his missing Lancer, and the rest of them were still armed. They gathered around a sullen fire Kyle had managed to get going, the wispy black smoke rising into the darkening skies.

Ahern's tablet was busted, but he'd brought along a laminated paper map and spread it out over a half-rotted log. "Best I can figure, we're around here – mid northern edge of the Okefenokee. Once we get past old highway 441, the ground firms up all the way into the ruins of Valdosta State University."

He glanced around. "Valdosta may or may not be overrun with EAGL fanatics. But if it is, that also means they might have shuttles, or at least ground vehicles. There's also the chance we can blow their communications or their leadership – saving the lives of the rest of the Marines in this clusterfuck."

Anderson nodded. "We cannot forget we are still Alliance soldiers, and our duty is to protect."

Kai Leng snorted. "This approach reeks of a heroic death – something that does not appeal to me. We are poorly suited for combat against entrenched opponents."

Ahern shook his head. "If they had visible fortifications they would have been taken out already. And they've got to have most of their people out in this swamp, murdering our goddamned brother and sister Marines." His jaw tightened. "Are you some kind of fucking weak-ass too scared to die?"

The Asian man's own eyes narrowed. "Hardly. But there is a vast difference in fighting to achieve a goal, and blindly throwing away one's life. You are saying we should march – while wounded – through eighty-plus kilometers of the worst environment on the planet, thick with hostile wildlife and radiation. And then, assault a fixed position when our heavy weapons specialist is heavily wounded and we have no siege or explosive weapons – in hope of breaking leadership and comms when we don't even know if EAGL command and control is there or not."

Kahlee touched Kai's arm, and he grimaced before exhaling, glancing at her before back at Ahern. "Some of us have things to lose more valuable than our careers, Captain."

Saracino coughed. "Far be it from me to point this out, loverboy, but you ain't in that boat alone. Kyle here has a hot wifey and a two-year-old, Ahern is hitched with the daughter of Big Adkins, and Chu's a fancy-ass bong or dong or whatever you call it, even if he is illegitimate."

Anderson grimaced. "Enough. Captain, I do agree with your analysis. But for the sake of argument… are there other alternatives?"

Ahern sighed, tapping the map and then gestured to the north. "There's also the ruin of a small town called Waycross. That's only sixteen kilometers away, while Valdosta is, as Leng said, eighty, half of that swamp. If we could make it there, lighting a flare might be more workable – assuming that anyone is looking. Even if they aren't, there's a local Alliance Ecological Studies Service facility a few klicks north of the ruins. There's likely a radio or something there where we can signal for pick-up."

Kyle nodded. "Yes, and medical supplies, anti-rad drugs – if it's actually manned, maybe medical help."

Ahern nodded. "The problem is, we'd be completely exposed with no cover most of the way and it heads towards the Atlanta Exclusion Zone, so it's stiff with old ABC robots still doing clean up. Most of them won't recognize us and they didn't give us command codes. The station was destroyed by accident once before by the things, and if we run into a big batch of them…"

Florez shuddered. "Fuck that. I'd rather take my chances with the fucking swamp." She sighed. "Why not just force-march to Jacksonville?"

Pellham shook his head. "We'd have to go the length of the swamp, sister. Right into the really, really nasty parts – the places where you go in and don't come the fuck back out. And they dumped most of the contaminated earth from Jacksonville and the outlying areas in a berm to keep the swamp wildlife out, so we'd hit theta bands of rads. Not to mention it's almost a hundred and eighty-five kilometers."

Kahlee shook her head. "We don't have the rations or medical supplies for that anyway. Or the stamina. Blood loss and rad dosing is going to kill us even if dehydration doesn't. Our heatsinks are already gummed and eventually we'll be overwhelmed."

She folded her arms. "Waycross is closer, but the entire town is ruins, and we'd have to skirt around those because I don't think they did any enviro work on it. Could be EAGL there, too."

Florez drank from her water bottle. "Chu, any chance you could get a drone up to scout?"

He gestured to the flap of canvas he was seated in front of. "I don't have my usual tools. Trying to cobble together something from the two drones I had… but I don't know how well that will—"

He cut off at the sound of accelerator fire, and explosions from the north and east. Saracino swiveled his sniper in that direction and cursed. "Shit."

Ahern got to his feet. "Report."

"Several broken squads – six or seven, maybe more – running combat with a group of ABCs and EAGL in a skirmish line." He lowered the sniper. "Tradius, there's at least fifteen ABCs."

Kai swung his head to the west. "We must move. And swiftly."

Kyle frowned. "What about the Marines they're in combat with? We're doing nothing?"

Ahern met the eyes of Anderson, who looked away after a moment. "Strike the tent. Chu, pack your shit. Kyle, support Richards. Sanders, help Leng. I'll help Anderson. Florez, help with Pellham. Saracino, hot overwatch. We move in five, towards Valdosta."

Anderson merely nodded, while Kai looked frustrated and worried. "Are we going all the way in, or swinging north after we clear the area?"

Ahern knelt, packing up his meager gear into his travel bag. "Dunno yet. We need to find a place to hole up and let your scouting group do some scouting. If these fuckers are already north of us, then we have no choice but to head west."

It took a bit more than five minutes to get moving, the sounds of the firefight not getting closer or further away. Saracino had a grimace of disgust on his features as he slung his sniper and climbed down. "It's a goddamned massacre. More EAGL coming from the north. Most of the Marines are down."

Kai Leng, moving with a limp and Kahlee steadying him, led, eyes picking over the terrain. "Follow me. Precisely. We cannot afford to leave a trail, or fall into a bog hole." His sword gleamed with condensation, even as the last light in the sky began fading into bruised scarlets and eldritch purples.

Hooting, echoing cries sounded, along with a disgusting gurgling sound every now and again. In single file they crept along, weapons clutched so tight that knuckles were sore. Wounds throbbed and trickles of blood fell onto the soupy surfaces of the swamp, only for Saracino, in the back, to splash water on any droplets that didn't fall into water.

A roaring, booming snarl and the scream of humans in the distance startled them, only for the scream to be cut off in a meaty, thudding sound followed by splashing. Ahern slowly exhaled and motioned Leng to continue.

What felt like an eternity was still no doubt hours, marching in pitch blackness pierced only by the slender beam of Leng's flashlight, with a red lens cover to avoid ruining their night vision. Vast clouds of insects, disturbed by their passage, settled on them, scuttling and searching for a way past their armor, attracted to the bullet holes in the suits hastily sealed with saran wrap and medical glue.

The ground began to slope faintly upwards, as they broke through a tangle of rotted branches into a wide clearing. Kai immediately held a hand up in a stop-break-cover signal, and the two squads crouched, moving into a spread line as quietly as they could.

The clearing was wrecked, a single shuttle shot down in its midst. The broken bodies of Marines lay around it, most shot to pieces, along with the hulking shape of an ABC war robot slumped on the ground.

Nine shallow graves topped with tiny American flags made Ahern sneer. He glanced around the clearing again. "Saracino, cover. Kyle, on me. Florez, be ready for a cover back one-two move."

She nodded, and he took a breath and stepped forward, the ground muck firming up slightly under his boots. He crouch-walked to the shuttle, eyes scanning the darkness and the fell, almost primal mass of the swamp tree line, seeking movement.

The Marines had been badly injured by the crash, from the signs of the fight, and had put up a good account – there were only seven of them and they'd taken out nine of the enemy, plus an ABC War Robot.

He ducked into the shuttle itself, frowning. Unlike theirs, the power was still on, the cockpit still illuminated. Three more Marines hung in their harnesses inside, faceplates blood spattered and limbs or spines at impossible to survive angles. He shook his head again and moved past them to the cockpit.

"VI, craft status. Ahern, serial 49292."

The computer made a sound. "VI online. Shuttle nominal. Flight control systems: damaged, but functional. Mass effect core: damaged, but functional. Fuel systems: online. Navigation controls: compromised. Environmental systems: compromised. Communications systems: compromised."

He tapped a few keys. "Damage to communications systems?"

"Physical damage to antenna. Must be replaced. Software and communications equipment otherwise undamaged. "

He nodded. "Can the shuttle be flown?"

"Automatic flight systems are offline. Manual control possible, but FCS is damaged, as well as mass core. Range of safe operation is very small."

He smiled. "Define 'very small.' "

"No definition possible. Safety regulations prevent unsafe operation beyond core threshold limits. Current threshold identified at roughly forty-five percent of operational capacity. Current capacity is sixty-seven percent."

He nodded to himself again, and then stepped back out, making an 'all-clear huddle up' sign with his right hand.

He waited until the group gathered round. "VI's working and the shuttle will fly, but the autonav is down. Can any of you fly?"

Both Pel and Kai nodded, and Ahern smiled. "Thing is, it's damaged. Said something about the core threshold limits or some shit. Comms are down too. Still, if we fly nap-of-the-earth…"

Kai's eyes narrowed. "Then we need to define our target. The north may be unsafe, but so is Valdosta, no doubt. Procuring communications would seem to be our highest priority."

Anderson nodded, as did Kyle and Chu, but Florez shook her head. "Is it? Look, I don't wanna sound… well, paranoid like Chu – but if these EAGL fucks have that many ABCs and are picking apart Marine teams… is it possible someone in Command is a traitor?"

Leng's eyes narrowed, and Pel sighed. Chu looked up, thoughtfully. Saracino gave a low whistle. "Damn, Rachel. You hopped on the conspiracy Chu-Chu too? Am I all alone in sanity?"

Leng's voice held a pleading note. "Captain, permission to stab Chief Saracino."

Ahern snorted. "Denied. Saving that pleasure for myself." He looked at Florez. "Your point?"

She exhaled. "Maybe we wanna be careful in where we go. Fixing the communications hardware should be easy if we find another shuttle."

Anderson frowned. "Did you check the sensors? Maybe we can get a fix on a remote shuttle – link up with other Marines."

Ahern sighed. "Enough. Kyle. You and… Kahlee get the dead out of that shuttle. I'll bury 'em while Chu and Anderson go through the shuttle VI and get it set to fly. Scavenge weapons and supplies from the dead – they won't need them – especially any explosives or supply kits."

Chu glanced at the nearest corpse, still holding its Lancer rifle, and frowned. "…Why didn't the EAGL guys loot them, I wonder? Surely they would need more advanced weapons."

Leng's eyes narrowed further. "Do not touch the corpses. Stand back." As the group backed away, he gingerly approached one, lifting the edge of one arm with his blade, then hissed. "A mine is under the body. The rest are also no doubt booby-trapped."

Ahern sighed. "Disarm them?"

Leng shook his head. "Very risky… but they have turned the bodies all onto their backs. If we want to access their packs, we'll have to. I'll need tools."

Chu nodded, pulling out his toolpak. "I got most of what you'd need, though no electro-gels."

The other Asian man nodded, murmuring something in Mandarin. Chu laughed and said something back, and Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Confucius?"

Leng nodded, moving to the corpse furthest away and instructing them to stand back. "It is better to be grateful for what you have than to complain about what you do not." He took a deep breath. "I would recommend standing further back."

Kahlee clenched her fists. "We can manage—"

Pel's hand came down on her shoulder. "Kae, you know goddamned better. You really think Kai would do this shit and risk his pretty boy ass if we didn't really have to?" He glanced back at Leng. "You think they booby-trapped the shuttle too?"

Leng shook his head. "If they had, the Captain would be in pieces. Now be silent, oaf. I need to concentrate."

Pel scoffed. "Whatever, slant-eye."

Kahlee slugged him. "Stop calling him that!"

Ahern shook his head, and Saracino climbed on top of the shuttle to perform lookout duty. "Really? All you got is 'slant-eye'? I give Chu much worse shit than that."

Pel looked up at him. "Can your token chink kill a man with a knife at eighteen meters?"

Saracino mused on this. "No." He paused, firing at something suddenly, and the bulk of some kind of heavily mutated dog collapsed in the distance. "Can yours rig up a drone to give you a wedgie at four AM from a hundred sixty kilometers away?"

Pel looked at Chu, then at the rest of the group, and then at Kahlee Sanders. "And you say we're fucked in the head?"

Author's Notes:

Touched up some mistakes and problems in the first chapter.