Oshbob bk2 - Partition 6 (Patreon)

There seemed no impetus to move the next morning. As light streamed through the windows, most of the others groaned, rolled over, or put a pillow over their heads to block out the light. Some did all three.

“Not like the city bases then,” I mused. I was more than happy to lounge a little longer. The more time not fighting or stressing about something or other, the better it was for my survival rate.

Nozz was the first out of his bed. He walked past mine and came to a stop. “You know where the mess hall is, sir?”

“I don’t, but I could eat. The Captain who welcomed said to use the kitchen in our barracks.”

“That’s because he’s an asshole. It was Captain Parraway, I assume?”

“Never gave me a name. He was a big human, gruff and irritable?”

“Yeah, that’s Parraway. Don’t get me wrong. They’d love it if we ate in our quarters. That’s why we keep getting supplies, but everyone else eats in the mess hall, which mean so do we.”

“Good enough for me, Nozz. I’m not much of a cook so, lead the way.”

The mess hall wasn’t in the main building area. It was one of the surrounding long huts given over entirely to feeding soldiers. There were a number of people already eating, and they looked up to scowl at us as we entered.

“Is that just for me?”

“It might be a little spicier that usual, but that kind of greeting is reserved for the entirety of Scrub Team 4.”

“That us?” I asked, having never heard the designation before.

“Yep. There’s five APS units stationed here, and twelve Scrub Teams. Two Scrub Teams go out every time an APS gets a call for an A Ranker.”

We came to the serving station and our conversation filtered out while I took in the delights. It wasn’t half as bad as I expected with a good range of decent if synthetic, looking food.

“What do you recommend, Nozz?”

He was interrupted by an announcement over the PA.

Alert. Scrub Teams 3 and 4 report for duty.

As the rattling speaker fell silent, he answered my question as if nothing had happened. “I recommend the eggs, the Roast Schmeat, and the mixed roots. The roots are grown in a hydro-farm under the base. You can taste the difference between them and the other stuff.

“Sounds good.” I replied, wondering where the urgency was to go and report for duty was. “Shouldn’t we get going.”

He waved my concern off. “Nah. The APS will sound an alarm for us when were set to go. We have an hour from that point, so plenty of time to get our act together.”

I scooped from the dishes he’d suggested, looking forward to the roast schmeat in particular. It had a gravy that had a rich, savory scent that was about as good as anything I’d inhaled since rejoining the military.

The thought brought a question to mind. “So you said you joined the military after I took over in Portolans, does that mean you have seven years left of service?”

“Closer to six now,” he said with a grimace. “They really need to start offering shorter terms of service.”

“I hear you there. And they don’t like you leaving halfway through for a break.”  A wry grin splint my face as I thought about my return and how lucky I’d been that Harold had intervened.

By the time I was halfway through my pile of food, Umak and the rest of our team came into the canteen, loud and raucous and upsetting the rest of the diners.

That brought yet another smile to my face. I’d never get a team of Orcs to work with, but I had to admit, this was the next best thing.

They all grabbed plates of food, getting almost exactly what Nozz had suggested to me, before sitting around our table. Theta, sat right next to me, shoveling a fork full of food into her mouth before pointing at my plate.

She at least finished chewing before speaking. “What did you think of the fodder?”

It was just as well she pointed at my plate, or I’d have no idea what she was talking about. “It’s good. Better than the last base.”

She nodded as if she’d won a personal victory and dove back into the meal, eating quickly but not in any great panic despite the call to report.

As the second call blared out across the PA:

Scrub Teams 3 and 4, fifteen minutes remaining to report for duty.

Umak let out a large belch and slid his empty plate away from him. “Time to go.”

I followed them out of the mess hall, and across the yard to where one of the chunky AV’s stood on retractable footpads. We headed straight past it and into the hanger where six APS in their mighty, Beige colored mech suits were checking their weapons.

Umak led us right to the back of the hanger, to a room filled with lockers and pegs. Umak pointed to a large locker with the number two on it. “That’s yours, Corporal Oshbob.”

I headed straight over and opened it up hesitantly. Inside was a set of dark gray,  full body armor, that actually looked it would fit me. I picked up the helmet first, the reflective glass visor was down. It was different in design to the ones I was used to, looking more durable, and a button press on the side caused the visor to retract into the helmet, which was at least the same as previous helmets I’d worn. I tried it on to see if it was big enough.

As it slid over my head easily, I received a nudge in the ribs. “Overalls first, big fell.” It was Theta, already in her overalls and grinning.

I removed the helmet and smiled back. “Just checking. It’s rare I get anything that fits without a battle with the administration.”

“I can imagine. You could crush a small moon with that head.” Then she sauntered off to continue with her own armor. A quick look around told me I was already falling behind the others who geared up with efficiency.

I set about catching up and was impressed with how well I managed it, with the aide of my newly acquired right arm dexterity.

Once I was fully armored, I looked back in the locker at the weapons in there. A rifle, a hand gun, and a long knife. I picked up the rifle first:

Plasma Assault Rifle: Nilsamun RRS-14

A mainstay in most Military’s across the world-for a reason.

lightweight, an easily activated mag clip for stowing anywhere on appropriate armour along with excellent accuracy and stopping power at medium range, the Nilsamun is one of the most reliable, mass produced guns in existence.

Primary Attack: Five-shot bursts of plasma projectiles. With a fire rate of 1.5 seconds per burst.  Followed by a 2 second cooldown.

Special function: Due to the Nilsamun’s patented solar recharge technology, an operator could theoretically have a never-ending supply of ammo, if the amount of light is sufficient and the Plasma cells are not fully drained.
Fully drained Plasma cells must be recharged at a suitable charging station.

I’d used the Nilsamun RR-14 at the city base. That one did not have a recharging plasma cell, but then there was very rarely any sunshine around the city, so that wasn’t a surprise. Next up I checked the handgun:

Ballistic Hand Cannon: Artec Deliverer MQ-10

The Artec Deliverer provides low-tech solutions to high-tech problems. With Armor Piercing Ballistic rounds with enough short-range stopping power to put a rampaging armored Orc on its arse, you know you’ve got all bases covered when paired with a sturdy plasma weapon.

I was far from amused that Orcs were used in the description, but I had to admit, it made the gun sound powerful. Last but not least, I cast my eyes over the long knife:

Viber 3.1

This simple but effective knife is ideal for both stabbing and slashing. With the application of ultrasonic vibration, you can deal precise and deadly attacks to unarmored flesh.

By the time I was finished, the others were waiting patiently for me. The biggest and most scarred of my new unit, Agga, slapped me on the back as I followed Umak out the locker room door. His voice was slow and deep. “I normally give new guys a how to survive pep talk, but for you, I don’t think I’ll bother.”

“I can survive well enough, but I’ve no idea what I’m walking into, so any information as we go will be appreciated.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a proper briefing once we’re aboard the Balor,” Umak said without turning. They were all serious now, marching in strict single file.

We boarded the Balor AV and sat on a long bench opposite Scrub Team 3. They were all human. Big and rough looking for their kind, but still puny in comparison to Orcs. They spoke among themselves but barely acknowledged us beyond a few scowls.

A voice came up over the ships PA as the back door raised.

This is Colonel Azash. I’ll be coordinating the operation today.
Keep your eyes and ears open, and your weapons ready.

Take off in 3.2.1…

Once we lifted into the air, Umak finally spoke. “So when we get off the AV the APS go first and make their way toward the target. Their passing usually brings out lower rank monsters. Anything under a C rank, we’ll be expected to deal with.

“One of the Scrub Teams shadow them at around two-hundred meters. The second Scrub team follows at around six-hundred meters, depending on the terrain. Some days are easier than others. Some days nothing shows up at all.”

“Which is more difficult? Following the APS or bringing up the rear?”

“They’re all dangerous when you’re a useless fucking orc, one of Team opposite said. Their voice distorted slightly through their helmet. I noted the number on their armor. Number 3. He didn’t make it on my ledger yet, I couldn’t put every Orc hater on there or I’d have close to the whole city to kill. But I’d keep an eye on him for certain. For now, I ignored him as Umak replied.

“Rearguard is worst. Less chance of assistance if shit gets bad. That’s where we are put seven times out of ten.”

“Figures,” I replied, expecting no less.

It didn’t take long before the AV landed again. We were blind inside, and I was thankful for the visor on the helmet as we headed into the harsh sunlight beating down on the dusty barren land.

“We’ll be around a kilometer away from the sighting,” Theta said for my benefit in the group channel of our helmet comms.

As we moved off, the AV Umak led us off to one side of the ramp. The other team moved out and stood on the opposite side of the ramp to make way for the APS.

As they came clomping off the ship, an impressive array of heavy weaponry at the ready, a dozen drones shot out above their heads.

They flew off immediately, and the APS wasted no time marching off after them.

We stood silent and waiting until a few minutes later, Corporal Azash’s voice entered my helmet.

Scrub Team 3. You’re up.

I watched with interest as they followed after the APSS, then finally took in the landscape around us. It was hellish, that was for sure. The odd, spindly shrub clung onto life in a landscape that the beige armor of the APS mimicked perfectly. Unlike the graphite color of our armor. I thought it looked slick in the military base. Now I had questions.

Scrub Team 4. Follow in. Stay alert. The drones are picking up movement in the valley wall to the west.

I looked up the rocky hillside that ran along our intended path, but couldn’t see anything as we moved off.

I found myself in the middle of our line and I instantly didn’t like it. Not the being in the middle, but that we were in a line when the threat we’d been warned of, was coming from our flank.

The other scrub team moved in the same formation, so it must be just one of those things that became habit. Today probably wasn’t the day to start making changes. I kept my eyes glued on the eastern ridge line, as we moved forward, determined not to be caught out.

A loud, piercing beep came from behind us. I spun around, as did the rest of the team. Almost as soon as we did a horde of Arachnids came pouring the top of the eastern ridge. The opposite direction to where we’d been warned. What created the beep to alert us, I had no idea, but this was definitely where the threat was coming from

“APS and  Scrub 3 are gone,” Theta said through our private team channel.

“Same as yesterday, then,” Umak growled. I then heard him speaking over the command channel only he had access to as the rest of us opened fire.

Close to a hundred Arachnids almost on top of us. A mix of C and 4 Ranks.

Support needed.

I couldn’t hear the reply, but Umak’s next words on our channel were telling. “APS and Scrub 3 are apparently engaged. We’re on our own.”