Chapter 1
In the vacuum of space violence of action is deathly quiet.
Lieutenant Shaun Moore raced from his exposed position, where explosions and rifle fire assailed him from all sides, towards the protection of a rocky outcrop looming ahead. He felt a strange sense of disconnection, as if he existed in two separate worlds. Inside his helmet, his senses were overwhelmed: comms chatter bombarded his ears, orders and cries of pain mingling with the relentless warnings of targeting lasers registering on his body armour. His own ragged breath and the thunderous pounding of his heart filled his head as he pushed his body to its limits. But beyond the confines of his helmet, there was only silence. Explosions blossomed in the void, sending shockwaves reverberating through his boots. Tracers streaked through the darkness, painting lethal patterns across the black canvas of space. People were cut down in a symphony of violence, yet there was no sound to accompany the chaos unfolding before his eyes. It was this eerie absence of sound that distorted his perception, amplifying the surreal nature of the battleground.
As he dived to cover the last metre an explosion behind him, propelled him into the rocks harder than he expected, he laid crumpled behind the large rock, his head ringing from the impact, he took a moment to collect himself. Thirty seconds passed as he untangled himself from his position, ensuring his combat suit was intact and his weapon undamaged. Then, with a sense of urgency, he focused on locating his team amidst the chaos. Originally eight members strong, Shaun’s team included two Gunslingers, the Gunslingers or Slingers for short were a new AWS (Autonomous Weapons Systems) designed to accompany troops providing fire, through different fitments of machine guns, missiles, grenade launchers as well as rail guns. Movement around the battlefield was provided by four articulated legs that had wheels on the end, allowing it full mobility over almost any terrain. It could also be used as a shield for the troops as it could swing out large side shields to protect troops from everything except the largest calibre weapons. The combined team had moved forward in formation at a slow pace. But the sudden onslaught of fire and explosions had scattered them, leaving Shaun isolated behind cover, which in space combat was a bad place to be. Surveying his surroundings, Shaun saw evidence of the carnage - frozen blood splashes and scattered body parts - but no sign of his comrades. Tracers whizzed overhead, indicating that some of his team were still engaged in the fight. Frustrated by the lack of communication, Shaun activated his Ident tracker, only to receive scattered returns that revealed his own location but provided no insight into the whereabouts of his team. Next he did a self-test on his comms gear, once that was complete he pushed his mic button “Red bone 1 to any Red bones come in, over” after a pause he tried again.” Red bone 1 to any Red bones come in, over” Finally a weak reply came back “Red Bone 1 this Bone 2 your signal is weak say again, over.” Shaun jammed the button down again a spoke loudly this time ”2 this is 1 I am under cover but out of visual and tracker range with the rest of the team, can you give me a sitrep over”
In between bursts of fire he could hear his 2IC Britney (Tiff) Jones reply “Bone 1, five of us made it to cover with the Slingers and have engaged the enemy to our front, enemy size unknown at this time but there is a huge volume of fire, we lost Evans and Blake in the initial exchange.” That would explain the blood splashes Shaun thought, pushing the images of their faces aside to deal with it later.” I can see your blue force tracker Boss you are 10 metres ahead and to the left of our position. Back bearing 260 mils” Shaun moved his body around being careful to stay behind cover lining up the compass bearing that was displayed in the top right of his Heads Up Display or HUD. Peering through the haze of fine dust kicked up from the explosions to see if he could spot the remainder of his team, but all he could see was muzzle flashes and more dust being kicked up around the probable location. He turned and inched his way round the cover of the rocks to get a better view of what was happening to his front, immediately his visor began to scream warnings, his movement had drawn notice from the opposition. He had just enough time for is sensors to pick out probable locations of enemy, but not enough time for it to discern whether it was combat bots or living enemy. There sure seemed to be a lot of them he thought, too many for his team to hold off for long. He needed to get back to the team but he was going to need help doing it, he changed up to the command net “Rover 1 this is Red Bone 1, Over” after several tries he couldn’t reach his OC, so he went to the Battalion net and tried that. “Dog patch this is Red Bone 1, over” after a brief pause he was answered “Bone 1 this is Dog Patch Actual send traffic over” It was good to hear the CO Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Sloane his calm voice resonated over the circuit. “Actual, Red Bone is pinned down and split we need a suppression mission on sent location to affect a consolidation, over” He looked down at Battle management computer (BMC) strapped to his wrist to make sure the right co-ordinates were sent and received. “Bone 1 understand your last, your team is not the only one, all teams have asked for fire missions. Yours will be fourth in line. you will have cover in two zero minutes, out.” Shaun forwarded the info via message to the rest of his team.
