"Nice day for a walk in the snow," Tex noted and shouldered his LMG. He wasn't wrong, the sun blinded them with reflected glare and the wind was non-existent. The platoon of thirteen marines - two five man squads, the lieutenant, Gunny and the company Corpsman - had marched five hours since dawn, following the shallow valley of a long frozen-over stream inland. O'Brien had briefed them before leaving but as far as the men concerned the mission was walk here and walk back, a fifty click round trip hump to check the crash site of three Intruders. The small valley was in the middle of a wider flood plain which extended a half mile or so in either direction before meeting higher climbs of rock. Up north around Pyrrhus, where rocks were at the mercy of the sand and wind, it was all round edges and multi-coloured sediments. Down there, where glaciers caused most of the erosion, the rocks were harsh, black and provided nothing but contrast against the snow.
"The one day we need the goddamn snow and fog," Jeff muttered and looked behind them, "Is the one day we leave thirteen trails of breadcrumbs."
"Start walking in my footprints," Victor laughed, "The Higs won't know you're coming!"
Every hour or so the lieutenant would halt and caused Gunny to half raise a fist and drop to one knee. In turn, the squad leaders would do the same and all twelve would get damp knees as the LT checked his map. "Christ," Vanderburg muttered, "He's checking we're still in the valley. In case we crossed some mountains without realising." After five minutes of checking the 'funny pages' and his compass the platoon would start moving again with a collective groan from the men, to which Gunny would respond with, "Suck it up ladies!"
Footstep after weary footstep took them closer to the crash site, a long abandoned petrusite mining facility that the marines had mapped out and performed recon on when the base was set up. "Don't like this," Walker mused, "Sending a platoon out this far with no ass?"
"Check it out fellas," Tex nudged Walker in the shoulder, "Walker gets himself another chevron and suddenly thinks we want to hear his tactical input. Besides, LT said we have arty if we need it." The thought of the three guns kept camouflaged away from the base didn't inspire much confidence. They hadn't fired a shot in anger since stationed there and the effects of the plummeting temparatures on the mechanisms had yet to make themselves known.
"You trust the gun bunnies?" Victor almost giggled, let his rifle hang from its harness and stretched his arms, "They haven't had anything to do because of the weather. We don't even know for sure that they even are artillery men. People show up down here all the time pretending to be from the rear with the gear." The men kept on silence for the most part but every so often a rumble of discontent would its way around.
"Sergeant," Jeff sounded like he was coming to his mother with a grazed knee, "It's cold."
"Thanks for the update on the atmospheric conditions," Vanderburg said, complete deadpan, "I'll start worrying when you stop bitching. Probably means you'll have been shot."
Gunny was suddenly amongst them, he had stopped marching, manoeuvred himself in behind Jeff and made the corporal jump, "Malick can't get shot. He doesn't have my permission to get shot. Boy, you are property of the ISA. Get shot and you will be in a world of shit. You read me son?"
"Y-y-yes Gunny."
"Secure this scuttlebutt sergeant."
"Sir."
Two clicks out from the objective, the lieutenant brought the men together and laid out their approach. "Each squad will take a flank alongside this valley," he started, "Scope the place out and note any good overwatch positions for your gunners." Tex nodded and placed one of his cigarettes to his lips, Jeff was ready with a lighter and made sure it was returned.
"Gunny and I will go with first squad," O'Brien continued, "Doc, you're with Vanderburg and second squad." The corpsman winked at the Boer. Corpsman Jim 'Doc' Hasford was an old-school, career marine who hated being called a 'medic' and once drunkenly broke an officer's nose for making the mistake. He had a dusty covering of grey hair at thirty-two but nobody mentioned it. Like Gunny and Sergeant Vanderburg, he was a veteran of the invasion of Vekta and had earned his right to be an asshole. It was a relief to have him on board though, the men looked up to him and he was as efficient in killing people as he was saving them.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry at being stuck with you babes in the wood," Doc held their gaze as he walked over to them.
"We love you too Doc," Walker punched him the shoulder.
The platoon bisected itself out of the valley and clambered up the snowy slopes. The men of second squad spread out and headed toward the ruins of demolished concrete and snow-covered rubble that could just be made out in the distance at the base of the northern mountains. Smaller mounds and rock formations enclosed the mine and had mostly saved it from the harsh elements. O'Brien's voice came over their comms, "Two-two this two-one. Observe everything, admire nothing." Vanderburg rolled his eyes, muttered to himself and made sure the other men didn't hear him. They doubletimed in a staggered formation through the snow and kept their eyes about them, heads on a swivel.
"Hey sarge," Victor broke the silence, "Did you serve on Vekta with Gunny?" Jeff, Tex and Walker all paid attention and exchanged glances.
"That I did," was the reply, "Marines were a slightly different breed back then though."
Tex rolled his eyes, "It was two years ago."
"The two of us joined five years ago," Vanderburg turned his head and gave him a wink, "And a lot can change when there's an interplanetary invasion in that time eh?"
"Get invaded and suddenly every young man wants to be a marine," Doc had a little joke to himself, "Widens the net and makes the recruitment officer's job a whole lot easier. In times of peace the marines only get the rejects. People like Gunny and the boer here, real scumbags." They waited for the sergeant's reaction to this but he kept up his usual cheeriness.
"Real scumbags indeed," Vanderburg thought for a moment, then went and said it anyway, "Even double veterans like 'Old Man' Doc."
"You mean he fought in both invasions? Vekta and Helghan?" Walker was confused and the other men laughed at his naivety but not at the revelation.
"Forget it Walker," Tex said earnestly and put a hand on the lance corporal's shoulder, "You don't wanna know."
"That was never proved Van and you know it. Besides," the Doc had a glint in his eye, "That happened after I joined up. Before that I was just a criminal like you, you fucking moffie."
Vanderburg opened his mouth to reply but broke down in laughter at the Doc's attempt to use his slang and after he regained his composure, "I can't blame you Doc. Can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing either." This exchange had caused an uneasy silence amongst second squad; Walker was left confused and angry at nobody explaining, Tex and Jeff were simply dumbstruck at what they had heard. Only Doc and the sergeant carried on like nothing had happened, having already known the difference between the two generations of marine. Listening to your breathing and footsteps had become the main order of business and the attempt to get a good rhythm on both. The valley widened out for a stretch, sending them in a north-western direction to follow its edge. Walker started to lag behind, Doc noticed and hung back.
"I'm okay Doc, just a bit exhausted with all this on top of my hump yesterday. What was all that about before?"
"You sure?" Doc was uncharacteristically earnest but didn't answer the question, "We're almost there, just another click or so. Dig deep, kid." With this encouragement, Walker caught up with the others as they trudged through the ankle deep snow. Their route curved off to the left, took them further over from the mining complex and the going became harder. More rocks jutted out from the ground and Jeff lost his foot down a hidden pothole. They came to a crest of rock overlooking their objective and Vanderburg took out his monocular.
"Five hundred and... sixty metres," he thought out loud, "And there's one of the Intruders, one o'clock, about seven hundred out. Others can't be too far." He spotted one of the crashed vehicles at the bottom of half-demolished structure that made up one side of a central square in the complex. The other five all squinted but could make out anything amongst the white outlined debris. The crest of rock - created by a glacier moving from a bed of soft rock onto something more resilient - gently sloped down toward the mine, speckled with odd-shaped boulders and fissures in the rock that contrasted against the snow.
"Two-one, this is two-two."
"Two-two, send traffic."
"We're at an observation point six hundred metres from the site, spotted the wreckage of one Intruder a further hundred away in the central square."
"Roger that two-two, we have eyes on the square from this side too. No sign of the other wrecks."
"Two-one be advised, we're heading into the site and will leave a sniper team in overwatch on the slope."
"Roger that, we'll do the same and rendezvous with you down there. Two-one out," O'Brien's voice disappeared into the static.
Vanderburg turned to the five of them and scratched at the back of his head, "Tex, Jeff, you're going to be my eyes up here."
"Sarge," Tex took a final draw on his second cigarette, "What you thinking?"
"I'm thinking, " he turned back and pointed toward the site, "That the second we get within pissing distance of that thing a Hig is going to crawl out my ass."
Doc agreed, "Ambusher's wet dream."
Jeff jumped in and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to his rifle, "Sarge, you want me popping some grapes from up here?"
"Only if it turns into a clusterfuck, then you can provide some precision hits and Tex can cover our retreat with his LMG."
Walker agitatedly kicked some snow, still sore from being left out, "Vic, Doc and me with you then sarge?"
"That's the plan boys. If it all goes south we get back here, spread out along this crest and hold them in the site," the mood turned tense and Vanderburg watched Tex chew on the butt of his spent cigarette, "Cheer up bokkies! That's worst-case, there might not even be a single red-eyed bastard done there." And so they quick-footed down the slope and left the two men to find themselves a vantage point on the Intruder within the rock formations. Walker bumped fists with Tex, hurried to catch up with the others and entered the outskirts of the complex.
The damage to the area was relatively recent and suggested the place had been taken out during the invasion. The burnt remains of structures hung on their steel skeletons and steel rebar reached out from the strewn concrete beams like broken fingers from shattered arms. Blast craters dotted the ground and there was even the shell of a dropship, it's insignia scarred by flame and half-hidden by snow. The marines moved slowly and crunched the snow carefully under foot. Each covered a sector of view around them and they would stop at even the slightest perception of movement. Every charred window, every hole blasted in a wall was a possible place from which a Helghast would pop up and put in a hole in one of their skulls. They spoke in hushed whispers.
"No arc towers here," Doc muttered, "The fleet rained Hell down on this shit hole."
"Check it out," Victor uncovered a Helghast helmet with his foot, "They haven't cleaned the place up since then. Fucking Higs, marines never leave a man behind." He stomped the glass out of the lenses. The silence was uneasy, one thing that the men had come to count on when out of the base was the wind to fill your ears. But then and there, each man had nothing but his own steady breathing and the thoughts and fears in his head.
"This place gives me the creeps," Walker said, nobody replied - agreement enveloped in silence - and a sudden burst of static on the comms made them all stop dead in their tracks.
"Two-two-actual, this is two-two-bravo. In position."
"Thanks for that, Jeff," Vanderburg replied, hiding the shock caused by their broadcast. They reached the outskirts of the central square, a multi-story building ran along each side and were in varying states of their inevitable collapse, and entered the southern structure through a hole blasted in the back wall of the ground floor. Finally off of the snow, their footsteps echoed off the remaining walls as they spread out across the concrete expanse of flooring and checked corners along with any vantage points. Part of the second floor had given way and made for a treacherous route upstairs and Doc had to grab Victor's combat vest to stop him falling backward. The roof was all but gone and left the second floor open to the elements. They pushed out over the snow again and took up positions along the half-destroyed wall overlooking the square.
All three wrecks could now be spotted and the Intruders had carved great, deep gashes in the paving slabs of the square before they had come to a halt. The first, the vehicle spotted by the sergeant from the crest of rock, had ended up with its nose in the bottom floor of the western-most building and had brought down some of the two floors above that. Another had taken out the statue in the middle of the quadrangle, left a bare plinth with a misleading plaque and smashed through its surrounding, chest-high wall. The vehicle itself lay on its side just outside the northern building, having dragged some of the wall with it. The third was below them and appeared to have pinballed its way into the square of the east and then south building before it came to a rest along the wall underneath them. There was no sign of survivors and the wrecks were as sprinkled with snow as the structures.
"How long ago did they crash?" Walker asked.
"Yesterday according to intel," Doc answered and adjusted his gloves.
"Bullshit, these things have been here longer. Days at least," Victor coughed.
"Don't get your broekies in a twist," Vanderburg calmly mocked before he added, "Knickers, panties, whatever."
A crackle from the comms, "Two-two, this is two-one, come back."
"Two-one, send it."
"Be advised, we are in the eastern building, ground floor. Have visual?"
Vanderburg looked right to see O'Brien waving from the rubble diagonally opposite, "Have eyes on, you see what we're seeing sir?"
"They didn't crash yesterday."
"Aye sir."
"First squad will push out and check the wreckage, keep your eyes open."
The echoes of Gunny's orders reached their ears and five marines appeared from the debris of the eastern building and rushed out into the open. "Walker, west building. Doc, north-west corner. Vic, north building," Vanderburg was met with three replies of 'sarge' and he watched the gap between the north and eastern buildings. One of the men from first squad ran south and Walker peered over the edge of the shattered concrete to watch him clamber over the Intruder and check the cockpit.
"Walker, watch your bloody sector," the sergeant was tense, his usual chirpiness put to one side and this worried Walker more than anything else about the situation.
"Two-two-actual, this is two-bravo," Jeff came over the net, his voice cracked with nerves, "I don't know what you guys are doing in there but be advised, movement to your north-west. A company sized force moving into the area from the rock formations one a half clicks out." A pause, "Two, I say again, two companies. Forty plus foot-mobiles moving in on you."
"Copy that Jeff. Keep us posted," Vanderburg replied before he shouted, "Doc! Walker!"
"Nothing yet sarge!"
"Two-one be advised, overwatch has spotted forty-plus foot-mobiles to the north-west."
"Copy that."
"First squad! On the CO!" Gunny yelled, "Lock and load, marines!" The men on the ground rejoined the lieutenant in the centre of the square and set up around the destroyed statue behind the partly demolished, chest-high wall.
"You heard the man," Vanderburg relayed to his squad, each man checked his weapon and chambered a round.
"Movement!" Doc yelled, "My eleven! Six... a dozen Higs entering the north building! Vic!"
"I tally," Vic replied "Half on the ground, half on the first floor!"
"A dozen more into the west building!"
Walker had them, "I see them! Spreading themselves along the walls!"
"Two-one be advised, a company has split itself between buildings to your nine and your twelve," Vanderburg warned O'Brien.
"Roger that sergeant."
"Two-two-bravo, gimme a sitrep Jeff."
"One company has entered the square, sarge. The other is hanging back. Request permiss-"
"Not yet corporal," Vanderburg interrupted, "Only fire on any bastard who tries to get into our building."
"Copy that sarge."
The marines were outnumbered almost three to one and only half were in a dependable firing position. Walker couldn't help but take his eyes off the Helghast movements to check on O'Brien who managed to hold his composure for now. Must've planned for this, Walker thought, we've been in worse situations before. O'Brien looked up, met Walker's gaze, pointed two fingers at his own eyes and then to the west building. Walker shook his head, went back to scanning his sector and spoke to himself, "Just do your own job Walker, let the CO worry about his."
"Two-two, this is two-one," O'Brien remained calm on the comms, "Sergeant we're in the killzone here. First squad will begin a phased withdrawal to the floor below you. Suppressing fire on my order. General suppression of targets until then at your discretion. How copy?"
"Solid copy, sir."
I know I promised action in this chapter, but it just didn't feel right. I needed a detailed set-up and it wouldn't have done it justice to rush into the shooting and death. Better to have a nice little cliff-hanger right on the edge of mayhem and then drop you right in it in the next chapter - which is currently half finished. So rest easy. Let me know what you guys think of the military jargon and slang. I think it adds a lot of authenticity to the proceedings and the way these men would probably talk and act. I'm using wikipedia lists of both US Marine Corps and South-African slang for reference. And my knowledge of the radio chatter I am not ashamed to say is lifted almost entirely from the TV show 'Generation Kill' and several military books I have read. Anyway, let me know what you think.