The Trevakian marine smiled, nodding as he stepped back, a fist slamming against his right chest plate, ‘I will inform Morasat command sir...commence the move to your new position and be ready to fire, the attack will commence in the next few hours...your signal to fire will be green surface flares over Zangara Outpost.’
Zaxon B Reserve Battalion Outpost, East of Morasat
Lieutenant Malikkas sat shaking on the metal rack floor of the transport, his dark lined and puffed eyes staring blankly through the rear loading bay, dust blowing across his view as he watched silhouettes unload ammunition and supply cases, his eyes welling with tears as his chest shuddered.
He looked up in stunned silence as a helmeted figure dropped to a crouch next to him, obscuring his view, the grey and red striped flyers helmet moving from side to side as a bright light was shone abruptly into one of his eyes. His head lolled backwards in an attempt to avoid the glare, a rough gloved hand grasping his neck as the torch jerked to the other eye, the voice before him gruff and edged with nervousness, ‘Stay still…we need to get going soon…we are vulnerable on the ground!’
Boots clanked on the metal walkways as additional ration boxes were heaved upwards from a stack further along the loading bay, muffled shouts from outside as Malikkas noticed armed marines either side of the main door, their assault rifles raised nervously. His head lolled sideways with exhaustion as the shadowed figure before him drew a deep breath, ‘You are very weak…another couple of days and you would be in the afterlife…’ The co-pilot grinned mischievously, ‘Perhaps your time was not now, eh?’ The figure rose, shouting into the front cabin as he prepared an energy and anaesthetic injection, twisting the base of the slim all in one kit and adjusting the levels required, ‘Get the cargo ensign back from the outpost…I want this officer in a padded medical suit before we take off…that will sedate him and supplement his energy levels further. We need to get him back to the medical bay at Morasat and quickly…’ The co-pilot pulled the ragged, dirt laden uniform back from Malikkas’s wrist, holding the booster above the darkened skin briefly before thrusting it downwards, the exhausted Herrakian hardly responding as needles swept through his rough skin and nerve endings.
As Malikkas’s head drooped forward once more, he vaguely heard the crunches of boots outside, the dusty wind whistling across the open doors in the distance as his mind descended into darkness, a restless unconsciousness plagued by nightmares.
The co-pilot smiled down on his patient and lone passenger for the return flight, hearing further boxes being unloaded behind, the rapid clank of boots across the metal rack floor, his head turning briefly as the cargo ensign appeared breathlessly in the opening, the younger Trevakian’s voice rising in excitement as he outstretched a padded arm to point, ‘We need to go…the new Fahimian pulse sensors show a suspected small enemy patrol. It’s in the distance, but moving this way…the unit commander want’s us out of sight…the snipers will take them out.’
Red Leopard defensive positions, west of Morasat
The mechanical motors of hover tanks whirred, the sound overpowered by the roar of engines of the tracked more robust steel monsters beside the main track leading northwards. Electrical motors whined as the turrets moved from side to side, the hover tanks rising from the barren earth as dust and debris billowed along their armoured side skirts. Vehicle commanders sat in their turrets, inspecting their weapons and listening to the chatter of their crews below, a couple of camouflaged hover jeeps and carriers slipping past along the track, carrying engineers and new fixed laser guns, the calibre larger than they had experienced before.
General Gristin emerged from his rear command post, the circular resin pre-fabricated and camouflaged building set south of a copse of petrified trees, several other low military buildings situated around the main briefing room. Officers emerged into the dull early morning light behind their commander, a couple shivering in the low temperature, condensed exhaled clouds forming in the thin air around them. All were dressed in combat uniforms, the red outlined bubbled resin shoulder armour complimented with additional protection on thighs, shins and across the arms, with padding on elbows and knees.
Forming into a semi-circle around their commander, the General looked up into the dull clouded grey sky, straining his eyes as if in attempt to see the space station in orbit above, a younger adjutant stiffening next him, ‘General…we have moved our marines up to the edge of the woods during darkness…once the tanks have passed, they will be supported by quad carriers…’
The general nodded in rising enthusiasm, ‘Good…once we break through I want the majority of tanks with infantry support to reach the ravine to the north as soon as possible, cut off the Morgons in the valley and at the mine. As we discussed, our reserve company will dig in there, supported by heavy artillery in Contax base and the engineer units with their technically superior fixed pieces and drones. The tanks will then advance to the west, covered by the Morasat guns and defensive units dug in to the far north of the capital along the enemy’s flank.’ The general grinned in rising relish, ‘Ensure the mobile reserve is able to support at all times in case we are delayed…at no time should we stop, the enemy must not be given time to regroup!’
One of the senior officers nodded, stepping forward, his face flushed with exhaustion from a night of planning, ‘General, I have briefed the self propelled artillery commander…his vehicles will move up to Contax Base once it is secured and
