Easy Squad
Author's Note:
The contest calls
for aliens and war. I give it Alien Trooper with a Man. Mark my words, it was
not easy to come up with three chapters in the tale as it's the ruleset then.
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1
There is one thing
I dislike most is Humans, and more so in-depth when they are posted to my
squad. They are clumsy and above all with an ego in them thinking that we are
below them in the intelligence levels. Frag the Commander for sending me this species
when I asked for is a reliable scout not an oaf in a uniform. If I had my
choice, I would have pulled the trigger on that species the day it reported in.
I am on recon with
my squad of aliens in the Gazza sector. My squad is not large in number but we
are the best in the battalion under the Alien Troopers. There is my second in
command, Senior Officer Seth; a pythonic species with an affinity for crushed
meat and bones. He is a scrawny reptile species with a short length of twelve
feet but he made up for his strangulation skills, and he has this small two set
of arms on the scale side that holds a phaser each. I saw him shot up four
different targets in one click each of his four phasers. Next to him is Rhono;
large bulk and good man in the field. He may be on his four limbs in movement,
but his heavy bulk carries the twin mounted cannons on each side of his bulk.
The four cannons can tear a hole in a three-inch thick armor with one burst.
Many commented on Rhono as he has a curved horn on his snort, but they would regret
it soon enough when he charges at them. His thick hide can stand up any phaser
shots except the heavy cannons. But we complement his hide with the body armor
as not every squad has a Rhono in theirs.
But there is
always a sneaky rat in one squad; mine is Rat-Daniel, the worst of the scums.
He would run off in any battle if you are not winning or the odds are too
great. I normally fight with one paw on his tail so he can't do the hiding
trick. He hates me for it but he is the best sniper in the battalion. He can shoot
well with the Sniper Class Rifle so he tolerates his rat-like behavior. My last
member in the squad besides the human is Lizzie. She is a Class One Amphibian
with a set of orbs that you cannot be without. Her orbs are independent of each
other and she can see more than any of us can. Her other best skill is her
ability to blend into any background; so we sometimes nickname her 'Chameleon'.
She is our pointer in the patrol. As for my human recruit, its name is Tom but
we just called it Man. He told me on my first encounter with it, that not
addressed him as 'it' but him. I dragged him up off his feet with my paws and
looked at it in the face. The man never complained again. It's not every day,
he comes face with a Grizzle like me. I am Squad Commander Yogi, formerly of
the Grizzle Nation, now a mercenary here. I am about seven feet tall and my
paws can crush a human head in a click but I let my sawn-off twin-barrel rifle
phaser do the crushing now.
Lizzie raised her
tail and that means to halt. We are in the worst stretch of the Gazza Sector;
the area where the thickets are dense and higher than my lower torso. We are also
surrounded by the thick trunk of trees that has build canopies of shelter with
its leaves, leaving little sunlight at the ground level. I signaled Seth to slitter
off to the left while Man takes the right. I pulled Rat-Daniel to take the firing
position on the upper branches. He is having a problem to climb up or feigning
one. So I grabbed him and hurled him up to the branches. He sneered back at me,
but I ignored his gesture. I pushed Rhono to cover the left while I took the
right.
"Liz, what
you got?"
"Movements at
twelve; I count ten or more. They are also alerted to us."
Ten or more, says
bad odds against us. I need more confirmation so I comm to Rat; 'Do a re-count
and assessment." We may need to retreat and re-route. The mission is more
important than a skirmish as the latter may cost us time and lives.
"Enemies
withdrawing. The count is affirmative but they are retreating to the rear. We
are cleared on the route." If Rat says they are withdrawing, I can agree
with him. He has an uncanny appreciation for the fight situation. He is not a
coward but he hates confrontation especially when the odds are against us.
"Squad to proceed
on caution. Give them five clicks to start before we move. But the new route is
to the north left. We do not want to walk into a trap. Over."
Four clicks say it
all; order understood and confirmed. I let them move as I take the rear. I just
do not want the enemy to be backtracked on us. We moved out in close formation
to our target.
We finally made it
there.
I had to lie down
flat on my front to avoid being seen. It's not easy being seven feet tall and
with a dimension this large. I unslung the heavy launcher on my back and laid
it next to me. I took my Range View which will give me a magnified look at the
area. It's there as Intel has provided the information before we left the camp.
I counted fifty guards and two outposts with the rapid-fire tripod-mounted phaser.
There are the Command Post and our acquired target, the animal pen. That's
where they stored the General who was captured by the enemies two days ago near
the border. We have been tracking him to here now. I can see that they have him
strung up on the high beam in the pen. His low limbs are attached to the chains
on the ground. So the Grizzle is not allowed to sit or sleep but stand all day.
That is torturing humans.
I signaled Rat to
take to the higher ground and on my signal take out the Outposts. Rhono was to move
nearer to lay us cover fire during the attack. Seth as usual slitter off on his
recon and attack. I never hed him back as he is good at that maverick role.
Lizzie set up a cover fire to my left in case anyone comes in.
"What about
me?" The Man has to ask.
"Unpacked
your gear. I need those missiles for the launcher." I did not bother to
see how he unpacks it as I am already setting the launcher for shoulder release
of its missiles. The darned thing weighs heavy but it will hold on to my large
shoulder.
"Missile Set
One in the bay." That means its a go for the mission.
"Goodbye,
General."He is a broken Grizzle and it's best he goes down with his pride
intact. No one will know he was captured and displayed on those vids for the
others to see. We, in the Alien Trooper, do not condone capture by the enemy.
We prefer death to that, as the torture by the enemies can be very painful, and
humiliating. I sighted the launcher and pressed the trigger.
Missile One is away,
and I still have three more rounds inside this launcher.
I sighted the
Command Post as the first missile ripped the pen apart into a blazing inferno.
Missile Two launched and I am onto the Outposts. Outpost One has been
neutralized by Rat and he is mopping up Outpost Two. I took out the two outposts
before I discarded the launcher. Rhono is laying down cover fire to those who
were enthusiastic to run for our position.
"Easy Squad
recalled to Rendezvous Point. Mission completed." We reached the RP coordinates
to continue on our long trek back to our line. Man has to voice his opinion
then.
"You shot dead
the General, How could you? I will have you reported for Court Martial."
The human never saw Seth's move on him. He was dead in two clicks and we all
got up to march back. I told Lizzie to take point while the rest followed on
slow and easy.
"Seth, when
you are fully ingested; join up." He is a chomper when it comes to food.
With his jaws stretched, all he could do was nod at my request. "Rat, stay
watch over him. He would need maybe a day to ingest."
"Why
me?" The rat has to be the one to ask.
"Because you
are next if Seth comes to any trouble." I always like to joke with
Rat-Daniel as he is so gullible.
2
"Did you drop
your shit back there? How did they find us so fast?" I shouted as I
reached over from the side of the big tree trunk to place the next shot. We
were on the trail back to our camp now for two days and we came onto this
ambush. Seth and Rat have just joined up with us some click back. Now the whole
squad is pinned down by the hidden enemies. I could not see the enemies clearly
but the shots coming at us are very clear to take our lives.
"Where's
Lizzie?" I looked around and see all the teammates but missing the new
one.
"Lizzie got it
in the first wave." Now I remember, she took point today and she paid for
it. It's the most dangerous position in the patrol, and we fouled it all up.
"Don't blame her. Makes no fragging different." That was nice of Seth
to read my thoughts.
"Frag the
sentiments. Seth, take right, and Rat, you take left. Circle and wipe them
out." Rhono and I raised our rifles and cannons to lay some ground fire.
Then we ducked behind the tree and the replies came in short and hot on our
position. We laid down close to the ground and given our size that is still very
exposed in this jungle.
"Aargh! I
nicked one on my lower left rear." I looked towards Rhono was the one
shrieking off. "But I am okay to fight on."
That's my trooper,
Rhono; never say die. I heard two explosions over there followed by some shots.
Then it was all quiet again. So Seth and Rat did their part again. I ran
forward to check on Lizzie. She is breathing but weak in her breath. I looked
at her body and see no real marks on her.
"Lizzie, you
are doing that on me again, are you?" I grabbed her by her shoulders to
jolt her up.
"Hey, Big Boy.
A lady needs a respite from it all sometimes. So you boys can play hero and
save the heroine." I loved this spunky lady but she sure scared me off my
furs back there. This is her second time doing it; the last one was over the
cliff and I thought she dunked it down the edge for good. But she came crawling
up smiling.
"Trooper
Lizzie, you get up and take the front again. If you let up one more time, I will
personally drag you down to rookie rank." I pulled her up and she grabbed
her phaser rifle off the ground.
"Promises,
promises, and more empty ones. Big boy, if you coming at me, I would not shout
violation of conduct but viola to my senses." She is one of her periods
when she is all slutty. I pushed her to take point and told the rest to follow
on. I darned this reptile to put me on my raging hormones mood. It's not like
we are back at camp and I can look up Maggie, but here in the jungle, even the
tree barks are tempting.
But we made it to
Camp without any more casualties or mishaps. I reported to the Senior Commander
on the status of the mission. He was happy we slap the General quick and
painless as the General is the first of ours of that rank that ever gets
caught. It would be too embarrassing to tell the other battalions that we lost
our General to capture. I also told him that Man could not make it out too. He
fell into a trap and was killed immediately. I was told the squad can rest for
now while he sorts out the correspondence and reports of our General who died
in a craft crash in the jungle. I saluted and took my leave of the Senior Commander.
The squad billet
in the rear of the camp with the other squads, but ours is an improvised bunker.
It was to be a mass grave but someone decided to lay iron sheets over it and
then laid the dug-up soil to became a mound. The ingenious alien created an
entrance to the 'grave bunker' as they all called it. That alien was Ferret-ion
type and they all lived underground. But since then we took over the bunker and
named it "Our Graveyard'. Lizzie is still praying the day a nuke will fall
directly on us sleeping there and leave us as a wisp of smoke. But it ain't
happening just yet.
We were to bunk in
when the alarm went off. It's to say we got enemies in the line; but where we
are supposed to find out. I caught hold of a running trooper and haul his butt
in. He's telling us some reports of enemies seen in the camp and they search
now. So all squads are to keep to their bunker including ours. The Military
Robotic Squad is policing the camp now. They have always been trigger happy and
they would shoot any of us for the sake of their perverted programming. I would
keep my squad safe.
Then they came;
them mechanical droids; all six of them with their phaser held ready to shoot
then answer the questions themselves.
"Easy Squad,
Alien Trooper. We are moving to check your place. Kindly move to the side so we
can do our work." Fragging polite they are until you twist their screws
hard. Like what Lizzie is trying to do; remove her phaser. "Warning!
Recruit is armed."I jumped in front of her and held out my hands.
"No! No!
Don't terminate. She is just putting in her phaser. She is not shooting it at you."
I held my ground watching them droids. They have their phaser raised but they
are holding fire. "Please."The droids lower their phaser and proceeded
to search the place. When I said search, I meant they thrashed it. They fished
out everything and leave it outside its original place. Soon the search was over.
It took us some time to clean up and then we bunked in. It was a short rest as
we got the call to see the Senior Commander. I wondered if those idiots sleep
or rest.
"Squad Commander,
Easy Squad. Your new mission is to go here with black ops. Your departure is in
two hours. Go and tell your squad." You don't question orders; you followed
them or you take on the droids. Either way, you are dead. I went back to tell
the squad. But I saw them facing off some humans; must be from the neighboring
Battalion. I heard they are called the Human Legion. I walked into the discussion
and heard some harsh terms.
"Aliens
scums, you tell us where we can find Tom and we are on our way?" That was
a burly looking man when compared to Lizzie, but with me, he is a young sapling
to be plucked off the ground. In this case, there are eight saplings to be
handled. But Seth has to open his jaws.
"Tom? Is that
the tall chap who fell into a big hole and got himself strangled? I heard he
broken some bones too. Was it then he got later chomped up some meat eater.
Delicious it was." He had to demonstrate with his extended tongue to his
lips. That got the humans to show their hidden blades.
"Boys, are we
too harsh here. I am sure Tom is somewhere in the camp. So be nice, and we will
all be fine. No aliens humans conflict. You don't need it." I had then
walked in to stand by my squad.
"Sonny, we
need you here. We got some Grizzly in our fight." I saw the puny man shouting
and his men are cheering. Then I saw a man named Sonny. He ain't tiny and he is
about below my head but his arms are huge. "Sonny used to wrestle crocs
and bears. That's your cousin in the zoo."
I dislike my reference
to the earthling bears. We shared the looks but not the intelligence. I grabbed
the puny man and was to crack his head in when I saw the droids coming. I let go
of the puny man. The whispers have gone off; droids. So everyone backed off and
try to act normal. Droids went past us and we are back in our line. But time is
running out; I got a mission to move out on. I just walked up to Sonny and
grabbed his nuts with my right paw and jabbed him in the right ribs with my
left fingers. Sonny hauled out in pain and I head butt him from above. He is out
by the count of two. Then I hauled back at the six men. I turned to my squad
and told them five minutes to get ready. Then I walked to my bedding space
inside the bunker.
One hour later we
were outside the Senior Commander bunker. He came out with the Black Ops
personnel. I never like them. Black Ops like to takes on these alien species;
the incorporeal nation of Mist. One of the few species with no physical form,
but they take on other hosts to housed their form. This one is in a human skin
form, or we termed as a skinwalker. The personnel is dressed like us Alien
Trooper but it's not carrying any weapons. They do need any as they have their
self-defense mechanism.
"Easy Squad,
this is Commander Pond. It will be a pleasure to served with the best squad in
this battalion." But I can feel the tension in my squad. They dislike
incorporeal species and more when they served in black ops. "You are to assist
me in my new mission. You take me there and come back with me. That's
all."
"Dead or alive,
Sir." That has to be Lizzie. She is the outspoken member of my squad.
"Alive
preferable. But being dead would be acceptable as long as the mission is done."
I almost puke.
But the mission is
green for Easy Squad. They are flying us into the hot zone but we were never told
the odds of being blown out of the skies.
And four miles out
of the drop zone.
With about six
dozen enemy troops around us.
Oh, I forgot.
They are all armed
and pointing at us. We've just been taken, prisoner.
3.
They threw us into
the pit and took our weapons. They even threw the skin of Ponds. He vanished on
the crash and left us cold. Lizzie picked up the discarded skin, and then
looked at me.
"You want me
to blow it up?" She had to ask but I just shook my head. I am not keen on
any dirty jokes but how to escape. But we are in a pit with a depth of twenty
feet and width of twenty across but with a large Rhono and elongated twelve
Pythonian plus sneaky Rat I am not envious of our private space right now. I
assessed the options and I decided to change them.
I brief the squad
and they nodded.
But nothing
planned is always to plan.
I was called to
the Commander's place. I dislike human's design; they are not suited to a
species like us. I had to crouched lower to walked in. The Commander is a normal
human being dressed like one. We are battling in this war between their species
except we are the mercenaries. We were brought in by the losing side and then
we even the chances to its current level now. I was offered a seat but I decided
to stand. I like to look down on the enemies.
My interrogation
was brief as we were interrupted by some explosion on the east side of the
camp. I was with two guards and that was a mistake when you have someone my
intelligence. I had them guards knocked out and I searched the place. I found
our weapons and more which Intel would love to preview. The door opened and I saw
Seth slithering in.
"Hello,
Commander. We got out and I see what we need are here. Can you help me to
assist in passing out the weapons? Rhono and Rat outside waiting." We did
as needed and I am out with part of the door frame removed by force. I told
Rhono to take the main troop bunkers while Rat covers us from a higher
position. Seth and I would run to look for ways to get out. Then I realized
that Lizzie is missing.
"Where is Lizzie?"
I asked Seth but he just shakes his tail ends to denote 'I have no fragging idea'.
There was a huge
explosion on my right as I see Rhono doing great with his cannons. Rat is doing
his part with his sniping on the troops. Then I saw the armored vehicle
approaching but I see the smiling face of Lizzie behind the driver compartment.
It is nice to see her in this bad situation.
"Hop into the
Easy Express. It only seats six." I signaled the rest and they came on
board but Rhono had to ride on the top with the cannons blasting away. We made
it out and now we are in the clear some distance from the camp.
"Easy Squad,
it's time to recover our guest. Anyone knows where Pond could be?" They all
looked at me but I drew blank looks. But I heard the voice behind me.
"Can anyone
helped me with the headpiece?" I turned to see Pond struggling into his
skin to look decent. I told Rat to help. It sure it's nice to be together after
a mission. "Thanks, Rat. But we can't leave yet. I have not completed my
project yet."
Easy Squad is back
in action.
----- to
continue........
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