Year 2718, April 26th
Neutral sector, twenty-six lightyears from Duross space
Neutral system, Hellrain surface, Operation Mistwalk
Dwayne marched through the snow filled valley in his white winter gear armor. The silver visor was protecting his face from the falling snow. He held a Holstein O3 Battle-rifle-assault rifle class-in his arms. His heavy breathing could be heard from outside his helmet. At least by himself. He currently thought of Katie. He wished he could go back soon and hold her again. It hadn’t been that long sense he left New England but it felt like an eternity. Good god, he missed her badly. Her beautiful voice, soft skin, cute and sweet laugher and even her horrible cooking.
He chuckled to himself.
Behind him walked his four team members. A far shorter-then himself-feminine frame came up on his right. She was holding a Holstein O3 Battle-rifle as well. She looked up towards the sky and noted that the snow storm was getting worse. The snow was falling quicker and faster by the minute. Lieutenant Rachel Holt looked over at Dwayne.
“Congratulations by the way, Commander,” she suddenly said.
Dwayne turned his head to her.
“Holt?”
“The kid,” she replied. “You’re soon to be born child.”
“Oh, right. Thanks Rachel.”
“I just realized I didn’t congratulate you earlier and this felt as good a time as any,” she finished with a shrug.
Dwayne smirked under his helmet.
“Always appreciated, Rachel.”
“Could always arrange a playdate with my kitties,” she said. “You know. In a few years when yours is actually born and old enough.”
“Didn’t actually need to explain that part,” Dwayne said, letting out a snicker. “Sounds like a fair idea. Sure Katie’s gonna love meeting ya.”
“Yeah,” she said in a cocky voice. “Doesn’t everybody?”
“Oh Christ,” a male voice mumbled from the back.
It came from Gunnery Sergeant Kaiden Hendricks. He shook his helmet covered head.
“Here we go again.”
1st Sergeant Pedro Milligan laughed. He was the teams marksman.
“Nah. Leave it, Kaiden,” he suggested. “Don’t piss her off. Especially sense she’s a better fighter when you.” He looked over at Rachel and Dwayne. “That’s a policy I like. Always go by it and tend to get out without starting a fight I can’t win.”
“Use that tactic with your boyfriend?” Dwayne asked. “Heard he was, like a mountain or something.”
Pedro laughed.
“You kiddin’, Dwayne? Jonathan’s a computer geek. Work for the Intelligence agency back on Earth.” He shook his head. “Thinkin’ of settlin’ down at some point, ya know right? Back on Earth. Probably close to his parents. They’re not doin’ so hot so we figure’d we’d be close at hand until they go in the ground.”
“Sorry man,” Kaiden said sympathetically. “What’s wrong with them? Old age kicking in?”
Pedro nodded.
“Nah, Nebulosus fever. Jonathan’s handling it great, but he’s sister ain’t. Poor Tabitha. She’s just sixteen ya know. Shouldn’t lose ya parents when ya sixteen.”
Dwayne shook his head. Nebulosus fever. Something that had no cure yet. It would-as far as scientist’s thought-take years to manufacture one.
Trying to get the mood up, Kaiden turned to the fifth team member. Corporal Keith Pyke. He was their Vanguard and carried a heavy machinegun in his armored arms.
“Hey, Keith. You had it good on leave?”
Pyke nodded.
“Sure.”
“What you do?” Kaiden continued, keeping the conversation going.
“My sister’s birthdays. Celebrated with whole goddamn family. Uncles, aunts and cousins and all. Including grandparents and grandkids,” Keith explained in a Greek accent.
“What are the odds of your sisters having the same birthday anyway?” Kaiden asked amused.
Keith smirked.
“Pretty damn small I think. I mean, first Annie is born on April the 10th. Two years later I’m born on December the 28th. Another two years after that Anita’s born on April the 10th. Odds are pretty fucking small of that happening within the same family.”
“Gotta make celebrations easier,” Dwayne theorized. “One less birthday to arrange, I mean.”
“Pretty much. Our parents still laugh it up. It’s a bit of a running joke back home, right.”
As they started reaching the top of the hill, Dwayne waved Pedro forward.
“You’re up next Pedro.”
Pedro jogged up to him and Rachel.
Reaching the top Pedro used his sniper rifle to get a closer look into what was beyond the hill in the valley. It was hard with the snow storm close to max, but he could see structured covered in snow one-hundred meters away. It was almost impossible to see anything of them, and barely the buildings themselves.
“At least four buildings,” Pedro counted. “Probably more. Too much damn snow. Id’ say one-hundred meters straight ahead.”
“Anyone home?” Rachel asked.
Pedro shook his head.
“Too hard to tell.”
“Let’s move out. We’ll sneak closer in cover of the storm,” Dwayne said.
“No way they’ll see us,” Rachel said confidently. “I barely see us.”
They made their way down the hillside towards the buildings, through the storm. Slowly but surely they made way through the thirty centimeter deep and cold snow. Given it was nighttime, it did not make it any better. The wind was cold as ice and would have chilled them if they hadn’t their winter armor on. Their weapons were a color mix of grey and white, a part of their camouflage and winter gear.
As they got closer they saw a guard tower with a light looking around. But with the storm it was pretty much impossible. Dwayne could see the frame of two figures at the top of the tower. Fifteen meters ahead walked a lone figure. He or she was holding a rifle in hand. Five white snow and ice covered buildings stood around the tower. Three of them were smaller whilst one was twenty meters.
Dwayne gestured for Pedro to take up a sniping position and cover them. He nodded and readied himself. He made sure to have both figures in the tower in sight.
Rachel sneaked towards the figure walking alone. She grabbed her knife and waited for the figure-turning out upon a closer look to be a male-to get out of view of the tower. When he finally did, she moved up and cut his throat quickly. He whimpered and flayed his arms for a moment. She gently laid his down. He wore a thick winter military issue coat. It was a standard issue winter coat used by the Terran Earth Protectorate, although it had been slightly modified. The man had a white helmet with wool inside and a pair of glasses covering his eyes. He wore a scarf around his neck. He was clearly human.
“One down,” Rachel said in her comm.
“Copy,” Dwayne said. “Pedro. You’re up.”
Pedro squeezed the trigger and put a bullet through the head of the first man. He turned and fired another slug through the skull and helmet of the second in the tower.
“Two down,” he confirmed after five seconds in total.
“Kaiden with me,” Dwayne ordered.
As the two moved into the camp, Rachel and Keith sneaked in from another direction. Rachel quickly opened the door and Keith rushed in with his heavy machinegun aimed to shoot. The building was empty. Only supply boxes were inside.
“First clear,” he said in his comm.
“Copy, continue search,” Dwayne replied. “Checking second. Move on to third.”
“Copy,” Keith affirmed.
Pedro moved in towards the camp to join the others.
“Clear.” It was Rachel he heard, affirming that they checked the third building.
“Found a staircase in second building,” Dwayne said.
“Guess we’re going underground next commander,” Rachel said.
“Indeed. Check the last house and join us. Pedro, moving out?”
“Entering camp, commander.”
As he made his way inside the building he breathed out and reached to remove his helmet.
“Keep it on,” Dwayne ordered. “Not till missions complete. Until then, keep the gear on.”
Pedro nodded and added a sigh.
He noted that Kaiden had dragged the body of the man Rachel killed inside. The bloody man lied on the floor. Pedro looked down and kneeled beside the body. He started removing the helmet and covering glasses. The man had tanned skin. His neck and coat around the neck was completely covered in blood.
“Think this guy’s Marauder?” Pedro asked.
“Who else would be on Hellrain?” Dwayne asked.
“Good point.” Pedro shrugged and stood up.
Rachel and Keith stepped inside.
“Area secured, commander,” Rachel said.
Dwayne nodded and gestured towards the door to the staircase. Kaiden was standing there, aiming downward in the lighted staircase.
“Rachel you’re up front with me. I’m on point,” Dwayne decided. “Keith, cover the rear.”
Keith nodded in confirmation over the order. The team moved down the staircase in unison.
“Hey Rachel,” Pedro said in a low voice. “How old’s Lisa now anyways?”
“Two.”
He cracked a smile under his helmet.
“How’d the barbeque you talked so much about go?”
“Great actually. Lisa tried bacon for the first time. She absolutely loved it. Verner got a chance to show his grilling skills, he always talks about. But after he burnt the first batch of burgers and sausages, I took over.”
Kaiden snickered.
“Verner’s great and all but he’s a shitty cook.”
“Katie and he would get along great,” Dwayne joined the conversation.
“Least she’s not burning stuff, right?” Rachel asked.
“No. When she cooks, it’s mostly uneatable. Wouldn’t even let a Drakken try it.”
The group chuckled lightly and very, very quietly.
“Hey, where’s Davis, he in yet?” A male voice asked in a room up ahead.
Dwayne stopped the others and listened.
“Up in the tower, I’d imagine, Rufus,” someone else replied. “Why? You wanna chance shifts?”
God no, Spector,” the first replied with a mix between a snort and a laugh.
Spector, Dwayne thought. A Marauder rank. A quite important officer actually. He gestured for Rachel and Pedro to move up with him. Pedro had switched to a submachinegun and hung the marksman rifle over his back.
With a nod, Rachel skipped around the corner, aiming her Holstein O3 Battle-rifle. Around the corner stood a man with no shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. He-Rufus-looked half awake. He was roughing up his sand colored hair when Rachel came into sight. His eyes widened and he gasped. With a slug and a silencer, his body collapsed into a pile of dead meat.
Rachel quickly moved past him towards the open door a few meters away. Kaiden was right behind with the rest coming up after him.
“Screw you!” A female voice snapped.
A couple of men laughed. It was suddenly cut short.
“Whoa, whoa! Hey!” The Spector cried out. “Put the meat axe down Jane, for fucksake!”
“Fuck off, Vaughn!” The female yelled.
“Put it down or, we’ll put you down!” The Spector exclaimed.
Rachel looked back at Dwayne who just shrugged.
“Hey, you can’t kill me,” the woman replied cockily. “I’m too important, remember? Ultimate Spector Ivanovsky would skin you alive, you know that right?”
“Won’t kill ya. But if you don’t put that axe down the boys and I’ll use you as entertainment,” the Spector said threateningly.
Dwayne turned the corner and pulled the trigger. Splashing the Spector’s brains on the floor as he collapsed. The second man, an Asian with black thick hair pulled a handgun in his pants but Rachel and Kaiden unloaded on him. He dropped down dead.
The woman standing wielding an axe stared at them.
“Drop it,” Dwayne demanded. “Get one warning, Marauder.”
She narrowed her eyes on him, raised the axe and charged one step. Dwayne blew her brains out with a slug through her skull.
Pedro looked at the dead woman.
“Crazy bitch,” he murmured. “Why you gotta force our hand?” he shook his head disapprovingly.
“She’s Marauder,” Keith reminded, nodding to the dead woman’s body. “They all crazy fucks.”
Pedro couldn’t argue with that.
“This is it?” Rachel asked. She turned to Dwayne. “Only five people here?”
“Looks like it. A supply or research outpost maybe. Could been looking for something,” Dwayne mused. “Keith, get me contact with HQ.”
ns 15.158.61.8da2
