Grey Lines

Chapter 2 - Mission Brief

     Shadow was getting uneasy. The Team had been in the compound for almost an hour now and he hadn't heard anything over the past 15 mins. The last chatter over the radio he had caught was from Aegis to Artemis reporting that the Target was confirmed KIA. Artemis had replied he was on his way but it had been nothing but comm silence since then. During his time outside the compound he had eliminated another 8 insurrectionists that had attempted to flee. He almost felt bad for them. It must have been terrifying to be on the receiving end of a dynamic entry conducted by an elite team of ODST. But then again they wouldn't even be on this planet if the Innies hadn't been exploiting the local populace and using them as hostages for their own personal gain. It was a pathetic excuse for 'freedom' as they liked to call it. As far as he was concerned anyone that used innocent civilians as expendables to achieve their goals were just a bunch of selfish scum. The keying of his radio snapped him back to reality

    "Shadow we are on our way out. 01 high value target KIA, 02 injured friendlies." Artemis reported.

    Injured? Shadow didn't like the sound of that. Had this guy really given them that much trouble? If so it was no wonder top brass had chosen to send their team in and not a squad of marines.

    "Roger."

    A few minutes later three ODST clad in the forest camouflaged armor of pathfinder emerged from the warehouse and were on their way back toward the hole they had made in the compound's wall earlier. Artemis was leading the pack which meant the other 2 must have been the injured. Carroll didn't look too rough he was dragging his left leg slightly but was managing along fine. He was helping to stabilize Aegis who was looking much worse. Through his scope Shadow could make out cracks and chips in his armor that looked like it had been smashed with a hydraulic sledgehammer and he was limping pretty bad while he clutched the side of his rib cage. Shadow slung his rifle on to his back and begun his decent down the tower. When he reached the base of the tower he drew his M6C sidearm from its holster on his right thigh plate and jogged over to meet the rest of his team. He reached them about 15 feet from the hole in the concrete and took Aegis under his arm.

    "What the hell happened to you?"

    "Exo suit bastard with a grudge." Aegis responded through gritted teeth. "Guy couldn't take a joke."

    Shadow smiled beneath his helmet. At least Aegis' sense of humor was still intact. The 4 man team slowly made their way back into the cover of the forest and up the hill side. When they were roughly 500 meters from their marked extraction point Artemis had the squad hold up and begin digging in. It wasn't entirely necessary but Shadow knew that the Sergeant's paranoias weren't based on false pretenses. He was this way because of the countless operations they'd both been through. Shadow laid Aegis down against one of the thick trees nearby. He heard him let out a deep breath and could tell his fellow ODST was thankful for the respite. He set to work with his entrenching tool along with the remaining 2 members of Pathfinder to build up the foxholes they'd be patiently waiting for extraction in. After Artemis was satisfied with the defensive position they had constructed he had Aegis establish a link back to command.

    "65th-Actual this is 5-7, over."

    "5-7 from 65th-Actual it's been a while. You boys alright?"

    There was that familiar calmness once again. Something else was attached to it. Pride perhaps? The Captain himself had picked them for this mission after all. He was proud of his team. He decided, this time, not to mask his sense of accomplishment within his reply.

    "65th-Actual from 5-7. Affirm, mission complete, 5-1 is ready for exfill, over."

    "5-7 from 65th-Actual. Glad to here it let's get you out of there. Extract is inbound ETA 10 mikes, over."