Hell's Horizon by Richard Fox & Jonathan Brazee

Author:Richard Fox & Jonathan Brazee [Fox, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triplane Press
Published: 2020-10-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Marines

“Keep it moving!” Lieutenant Colonel Khan shouted from the turret of the Avenger, the lone surviving Badger.

“Easier said than done,” Teo muttered as he ran behind the tank, but he couldn’t fault the CO. It had been too long since the general had been shot down.

Brigadier General Mullens was alive, at least according to the last message. Hurt, but alive. Two of his staff had been killed in the crash, but the others and the helo crew had made it to an abandoned building next to the crash site. The Task Force had deployed the reaction team to recover the general, but it was still forty minutes out, and the crabs weren’t going to let this opportunity pass them by. Kilo Company had to reach the general first, then hold steady until the Marines could be evacuated.

If not, well, the general was too valuable an asset to let fall into enemy hands. The CG might just give the order to eliminate that possibility with an air-strike. Cold, but necessary, as the CO had confided in him just before they left the camp.

The CO had taken over the rescue mission, and Teo had bristled at first, but no matter what he thought of Colonel Khan, he had to give the man grudging respect at how he’d taken command. Within ten minutes, he had a workable plan in place, and the entire company, minus Weapons, was on the move. Part of Teo had hoped that the CO would prove to be incompetent from a tactical standpoint and he’d have to take over, and that made him feel more than a little guilty, but the man had proven himself.

Not that there was much time nor opportunity for subterfuge—this was an all-out race, and they were less than a klick out. Ten more minutes.

He hoped they were in time. There hadn’t been any comms coming from the survivors for seven minutes and counting.

“Get your ass back up there, Cyril,” the gunny yelled. “Suck it up!”

With First Platoon leading the movement, Private Cyril had fallen back, unable to keep up the frenetic pace. He wasn’t the only one. Marines were straggling, victims of the lack of good PT training in a war zone. Teo shook his head and pushed on. They’d get there with whoever they had and just deal with it.

A muffled explosion sounded from ahead, and immediately, PFC Louis Tentbottom’s avatar grayed out. Almost immediately, Sergeant Harris, First Platoon’s Third Squad leader, shouted “Bennies” over the net.

“If you don’t have a Bennie-band, fall back!” Teo passed on the company net. “If you have one, push forward. We need to know what’s going on.”

Not an elegant order, but it would have to do.

The CO turned to look at Teo from atop the tank, but he didn’t cut in.

Teo looked around and shouted, “Those of you here without Bennie-bands, fall in trace of the Badger.”

It wasn’t foolproof. A Bennie might not be activated by the tank, and then home in on a grunt behind it, but it was all he had.

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