1440 Hours, December 15, 2520 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Erandi System, Reach Military Complex, planet Reach
Carris charged through the rutted and puddle filled clearing and dived into the trench as the stun rounds peppered the undergrowth behind her. She edged forward and kept her head down as she moved through the muck towards her squad mates. She couldn't help but grimace as flecks of mud splattered up her face as she pulled herself along on her elbows. It had raining for the past three days and despite numerous landslides in forests above the training camp Mendez was insistent that they continued on with their war games. While she couldn't fault his reasoning and she knew that when it came down to it there would have to fight rain or shine, she still couldn't help but feel begrudging towards him.
Moving through the bog like trench she found one half of Yellow Team knee deep in the mud propped up against the high sided and slippery dirt walls. Joseph -122 was sat frantically trying to get the radio that Sergeant Hughes had given them with the rest of their kit to work. He cursed as he switched it on and heard nothing but static before he popped the set's side panel and began to tinker with the circuitry once more. Jorge and Maximilian -090 were heatedly discussing a plan of action and exchanging strong words with one another as they tried to work out what to do. Soren -066 had removed his helmet and had it perched atop a thick branch, he lifted it cautiously and as soon as it cleared the trench there was a crack of gunfire that left the it spinning, reaffirming what they already knew, they were pinned.
"Bad news" Carris said as she moved into their midst and sat herself up against the trench wall "They got Joanna"
"Dammit" Soren spat as he placed his now stun round smattered helmet back on his head
"Was it worth the run?" Jorge asked, cautiously running his hand along his training rifle
"Not really" Carris said "Green Team are well entrenched up on the bluff and have a sniper somewhere in the treeline, I think its Linda, she's the only one who could hit Joanna at that distance while she's going at full pelt"
"Then I agree with Soren, dammit" Jorge scowled "Any sign of Walter and Albert?"
Carris shook her head glumly.
"Then his ambush must have failed" Jorge said gritting his teeth "We are on our own"
"Aha!" Joseph exclaimed triumphantly as he flicked a switch on the radio "We are back online"
Carris was impressed; Joseph seemed to be able to fix anything. He had even managed to get Chief Mendez's warthog running again even after all the mechanics on the base had said the thing was shot. Granted he wasn't supposed to have snuck into the garage to have a look at it, but it garnered him both a verbal chiding and extra ration tokens.
"Nice one" Soren grinned "We best try to raise Walter"
"You don't have to tell me twice" Joseph said as he picked up the mouth piece "Hey Walter, do you read me?"
There was a tense moment as they all awaited a voice to cut through the static. Carris wouldn't believe Walter had got himself eliminated, he was always so careful and even with Linda's eyes on Red's side, they would have a hard time spotting Walter when he didn't want to be seen.
"Joseph?" Walter's voice crackled back "You guys are still in this!"
"That's right, but we lost Joanna" Joseph spoke into the set.
"Dammit. Well if everyone else is still up we still have a chance"
"We are pinned down at the bottom of the hillside and are coming under automatic and sniper fire from up top"
"Me and Albert can see their positions and they are pretty well dug in, they have managed to capture a machine gun bunker as well but they haven't been firing it, guess they don't want you to know they have it"
"There's not a lot we can do down here Walter, unless you and Albert want to take on their whole team I think Green has got this one in the bag"
"No I can think something, give me time"
"Well you better think fast man, over and out"
Joseph set the handset back into the pack and slumped back in the mud despondently. All the team felt pretty grim, they hadn't won a combat exercise in nearly a month, and now as they sat here in the muck with stun rounds popping around them and enemies in a superior position it looked like they were facing another loss to tot up on their résumé. There had to be a way out of this, there just had to be.
An hour of torment passed as they sat in the dugout, occasionally chancing checks and scouting missions to look for alternate roots of exit, but to no avail. Another hour passed during which Walter radioed in with the news that Albert was down, the pair had passed through some nettles and Albert couldn't stop fidgeting as he was stung. That was enough for Linda and quickly she noticed him and knocked him down for the count with a single stun round from her high calibre rifle. Walter felt he had got very lucky.
Another half hour or so passed, but then Jorge finally spoke up.
"There is a way we can get out of this, it won't guarantee our victory but it means you guys can get out of this dammed trench" He said grimly
"What do you have in mind?" Carris said
"About four hundred metres east down the trench there is a small opening into the scrub, you can probably only crawl through it one by one. I didn't mention it before since while one or two of us may get through, it won't take long for their snipers to spot us, but I think I know what we have to do"
"What do you mean?" Said Soren.
"The opening is small enough and at such an angle that I should be able to cover the exit for you guys"
"You're going to sacrifice yourself?" Carris exclaimed "No way, we win and lose together; I'm not going to let you do that"
"Carrie it's the only way" Jorge said, his demeanour heavy "So what about my K/D? We need this win"
"If you're sure, we will do it" Maximilian nodded
"No" Carris cut across him "Jorge you don't have to, I will provide cover"
"Carrie it can only be me" Jorge said "I'm the biggest target"
Carris knew he wasn't wrong, the slightly wimpy and weedy boy who she had met those years ago was long gone. Jorge, like the rest of them, was only ten years old but he was almost 6ft already and was a mass of muscle. While the others were also big and very strong for their age none of them in their squad, and even out of the rest of the Spartans save for Samuel -034, were as big and strong as Jorge.
"I got this" Jorge smiled "Come on, lets move"
Reluctantly Carris followed with Maximilian, Soren and Joseph in tow. They edged along keeping themselves flat to the ground as to give any reason for Green Team to think they were moving. Carefully they came to a slight dip in the near side of the fence that led away from the battlefield and into the dense undergrowth. Jorge poked his head over the far side of the trench to check if the coast was clear and then silently signalled for Carris to begin the slippery ascent.
She dug her boots in the mud and crawled on her belly up the small incline and into the undergrowth, she tried to move as quickly and as fluidly as possible but as soon as she pulled her boot clear into the undergrowth there was the crack of a sniper rifle and a stun round slammed into where she had been moments before.
"Go!" Jorge bellowed and Joseph, Maximilian Soren scampered up the incline as quickly as they could.
Jorge hauled himself out of the trench and began to fire shots into Green Team's position. His hulking form did exactly what he said it would and provided cover for the other young Spartans to escape into the brush. Carris watched through the undergrowth as there was another crack from a sniper file, she watched as Jorge buckled and dropped to one knee but she was astonished when he did not fall. Instead he hauled himself back to his feet and continued to fire, albeit a lot of clumsily then he had been before as he stood trying to keep his balance, swaying as if drunk. Carris helped Joseph, then Maximilian and then Soren through the opening and they were clear.
"Jorge, come on!" She shouted but there was another crack from the rifle and with this one he fell, tumbling end over end into the trench and landing face down in the mud.
The four remaining members of Yellow team moved swiftly and silently through the brush and away from the trench, while they had escaped there was still a lot to do.