The Grey Chronicles Part One: New Declaration of An Old War

Chapter 9: Like A Christmas Ham...

Stonehaaryn outpost, surface of Luna Seven, March of 163  AL.

A quiet whirring sound signaled the Phantom's departure as it rose up above the trees and took off into the sky, leaving five people alone in the dark forest clearing. Salem looked around at the others, flipping his night-vision visor down and pulling the charging rod on his rifle.

"Demon-actual to all teams, radio check," Salem said over his headset, "Team leaders sound off, how copy?"

"Metal-actual reads you loud and clear, sir."

"Solid copy on grizzly team's end."

"Noble team hears you just fine."

"Glad to hear it, all teams move on your AO; we're going dark, maintain radio silence unless absolutely necessary. Everyone loaded?" His question was directed at his family, and was greeted by several nods, "Alright, let's move."

Task Force-296 marched into the forest in the direction of the outpost, forging their own trail as they went. Salem and Augustus led the way, then came Soluna and Korana, and Briarios brought up the rear; he was a support gunner, his weapon was a larger, belt-fed machinegun, he served best at the back of the pack. After several minutes Salem stopped, pushing aside several branches to reveal the outpost; a tall, glowing blue dome glittered above a relatively small compound with concrete walls.

"Demon-actual to grizzly-actual, how copy grizzly-actual?" Salem called over his headset.

"Solid copy, sir," a familiar voice replied; Salem recognized it as the man with the mohawk.

"What's your ETA to the insertion point?" Salem asked, pushing ferns and tree branches out of his way as he went.

"Four minutes ago, sir," Mr. Mohawk answered, "We have visual of the outer walls, we're just waiting for the shields to drop."

"Excellent, sit tight for the time being," Salem smiled to himself; Jaeger had chosen well. "Eagle-Four, are you prepared to drop off metal team?"

"Yes sir, we are in position and ready to approach," a Phantom pilot responded, "Just waiting on an opening."

"You'll get your opening, believe me," Salem almost chuckled, "Noble team, are you in position outside the walls?"

"Absolutely, sir," noble leader called over the radio, "We're ready to scale the walls and breach as soon as the shields go down."

"Glad to hear it," Salem smiled to himself, "Dagger-zero-one, you are cleared for flyby; start the show for me, and make it loud, would you?"

"Dagger-zero-one happy to oblige," an eager voice replied. The woman said something else, but Salem couldn't hear it; a pair of fighters roared by overhead, breaking the sound barrier as they went. As the ships passed over the apex of the blue dome a pair of objects dropped off of them, colliding with the shield and arcing electricity across its surface. The shield glowed brighter, flaring then suddenly dying; a hole appeared in the top of the dome, then quickly widened as the energy field receded to the ground. Salem heard shouting from inside the compound and saw half a dozen spotlights flicker on, pointing skyward in search of their attackers. They didn't search for long; a Phantom swooped in from above the forest, chin gun barking at anything that moved as it hovered over the center of the courtyard. Ropes dropped from the back of the drop ship, and soldiers quickly followed. Salem lost sight of the men and women as they dropped below the top of the walls, but he heard eager, almost excited shouting followed by further gunfire he recognized as UCAM rifles; metal team had their full, undivided attention.

"All teams move in," Salem ordered, "Keep it quiet, if he doesn't know we're here he may run straight into our arms."

Soluna and Korana produced objects from their coats as they approached the wall, screwing them onto the end of their rifles. They pointed their weapons at the top of the wall and each fired once, launching grappling lines that connected themselves to the battlements. After checking they were secure, Soluna and Korana both started shimmying up the lines and onto the wall, standing and spinning around as soon as they made it over the battlement. They scanned the walls, looking for any sign of danger and finding none. At least, none on the walls; the gunfire in the courtyard had grown louder, the spotlights that once searched the sky were now pointed in the middle of the courtyard, illuminating their targets. The majority of the guards had been called to the courtyard to deal with metal team.