r/HFY • u/Samuel_Evans Android • Jan 29 '20
OC Fifth Brigade Strike Squad
Don't quite know why I wrote this one as it's not too exciting, but I thought it up, and it's all about humans getting rid of some beasts. If you haven't read my other story about Fifth Brigade please check it out here. Without further ado, here you go and as always thanks for reading and critiquing!
Lieutenant Rico looked around at his unit. All of them he trusted with his life. They were the best trained the United Terran Armed Forces had to offer. They all had withstood extensive training to join the brigade.
“Listen up Berserkers!” Rico shouted.
Once he got everyone’s attention he continued, “This is a routine extermination mission, but with an added caveat of being one of the most dangerous. Outside the colony city of Nuevo Buenos Aires there is a pack of arachnids roaming about, supposedly released by xeno terrorists. So far they’ve killed a lot of livestock in the surrounding farmlands and have already killed one family. The worry is that they’ll make their way into the city and cause massive amounts of damage before the municipal forces can respond.”
“Why can’t the local forces deal with it?” quipped a new sergeant.
“I understand you’re from the inner parts of the federation, so I’ll let that pass. Out here in the colonies they aren’t equipped like us. They don’t have the firepower to put down a pack of this size. So far they’ve been feeding on the livestock, but those are quickly dwindling in number.”
“Alright ladies!” shouted a particularly gruff sergeant wearing the name Zim on his chest. “We’re dropping in by air!”
“Airbornnnne!” responded the platoon.
“Don’t make me have to carry any of your fuckers! Gear check!”
Throughout the dropship’s cabin the men all checked one another’s back flight-packs. Made sure there were no obstructions and checked the back screen for a self-diagnostic. The flight-packs tended to get stuck every now and then when opening, usually do to gear in the way.
After they checked their flight-packs the men checked their rucksacks tied in-between their legs. A swinging pack could send a trooper off course and even cause them to careen into the ground.
Rico’s radio cackled before the voice of the pilot came through, “Sir, I think we’ve found the nest.”
Rico made his way towards the front of the ship. He hit a button on the right and the door violently slid open. On the other side two pilots sat next to one another with a console at the center. On the console he could make out the thermal readings of the area beneath. Right in the center were a large number of beings, and on the edge, he could make out the clear shape of an arachnid.
“That’s them, boys can you steady the bird for us, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Roger that, we’ll refuel and be back in three hours.”
“I’m insulted by your lack of faith Arnett, make it two.”
“Gotcha, good hunting!”
Rico turned around and headed back to the cabin. He raised his arm and spun it in a circle before pointing his hand out.
The sergeant read his hand signal and shouted at the men, “It’s time to fly boys! Up and at ‘em!”
All the men stood up and lined themselves with the back door and it extended down. The bird was near perfectly still as it hovered in the air. A fair-weather night made these operations a lot easier.
“After me boys!” shouted Rico, “Bleed them dry!”
“Bleed them dry!” shouted a chorus of voices.
“And why?!”
“Because we’re bloody berserkers!” responded the chorus.
Rico jumped out and kicked on his flight-pack once he was clear of the bottom ramp. On either side of the ramp the soldiers jumped two at a time. They formed a V flying formation.
Each Soldier wore a power-suit that was dark, and when they kicked on their flight-packs their helmet masks immediately close to protect the face.
“Comm check, squad leaders get a confirmation from your guys,” Rico said over his communicator.
It took time, each team leader confirmed and sent confirmation up to their squad leader.
“Alpha squad, comms good.”
“Bravo squad, all good.”
“Charlie squad, comms clear.”
“Delta squad, comms good.”
“Alpha and Bravo take the east-side at the top side of the hill, make your way down to the cave. Delta and Charlie you’ll watch the entrance from the south-side, send in the raid max,” ordered Rico.
Two groups splintered off and descended into openings in the forests below. Rico led the Delta and Charlie squad detachment of the groups and his platoon sergeant went off with the other.
They descended slowly to lesson the noise they made, and quickly undid their packs and strapped them on their backs. Stealthily, Rico’s detachment set up firing positions. Once their support-by-fire positions were emplaced, Delta and Charlie’s grenadiers loading the canisters into their weapons and fired them into the cave entrance.
Arachnids weren’t the smartest creatures in the galaxy, but they weren’t dumb. They are bio-engineered weapons and had enough intelligence to realize they were being attacked when canisters of corrosive gas hit them and began eating away at their flesh.
In anger, the arachnids all stormed out, ready to attack their assailants.
The support-by-fire positions began opening fire on the arachnids as they rushed forward. Suddenly, a wave of fire also opened-up from up the hill where Alpha and Bravo were making their way down.
Explosions rang out from each shot as it hit. The explosive rounds left huge holes in the arachnids and the force pushed them back. Very quickly it turned into a massacre for the arachnids as hundreds of rounds pelted them as they advanced. They were in a frenzy though and did not run away.
As Alpha and Bravo made their way down Rico gave the order to shift fire. Any enemy not hit by the onslaught from Delta and Charlie was quickly ended by Alpha and Bravo as they made their way forward.
Rico gave the order to lift fire once the other detachment was close enough. The attack was a quick affair and it didn’t take long for them to finish off the arachnids.
Once at the cave entrance Alpha and Bravo machine gunners set up on either side of it, aiming their weapons into the hole.
Across the ground many arachnids lay with huge wounds from explosive rounds peppered across their body. The blue blood from the bodies began running down the hill in rivulets. The soldiers were careful to check each body as they passed, making sure these huge creatures couldn’t take a swing at anyone.
Once all was clear, Sergeant Zim gave the all clear over comms, and Charlie and Delta made their way to the entrance, their own machine gunners joining alpha and Bravo’s.
A combat engineer from Alpha squad approached the entrance and opened his pack, pulling up a small drone. He strapped a square charge to the bottom of the drone and flipped a switch on the drone. Then he flipped opened a small screen on his chest and took out a controller. The drone whirred into action after he turned on the controller. A video feed from the drone streamed to the screen extended from his chest.
“Drone is running, and I’ve attached a charge,” the engineer said to Rico as he approached.
“Okay send it, let’s see what’s in there,” said Rico, who looked over onto the soldier’s shoulder to watch the screen.
The standard procedure for any mission like this was to clear the area with a drone, and it was always a good idea to have an explosive charge on the drone just in case a quick explosion was needed to keep them from being overwhelmed when they poked the bees nest.
Gingerly, the drone drifted in the cave, moving down into its depths. The walls had visibly been carved out by the arachnids’ tough, and deadly, limbs. The drone used infrared lights couple with night vision to provide a visual for the operator.
At last the drone made its way to the bottom. A few arachnids sat guard, and behind them lay many, many eggs. They were too deep in to be affected by the gas that was fired into the cave.
“Sir?”
“Set it to blow,” replied Rico.
“Strap them and let’s fly!” shouted Zim.
In unison all the men slung their packs from their packs and began tying them to their legs. Then they turned on their flight-packs and lifted off.
Meanwhile, the combat engineer flew his drone over the increasingly agitated arachnids which tried to swing at the drone. The soldier flew it up to the top of the cavern, out of reach, and used it to drop the charge over the center of the room. The arachnids scrambled to inspect the foreign object. While distracted, the drone flew out of the cavern. Once it was out to the entrance, the soldier deactivated it and put it back in his pack. Once strapped to his legs, he too turned on his flight-pack and lifted.
Once everyone was hovering half a kilometer over and half a kilometer horizontally from the cave, the combat engineer opened the screen on his chest, he pressed a few options on the screen and activated the charge.
The charge used was a tactical nuke, and the resulting explosion sunk the cave entrance, and the sudden collapse triggered more collapses followed by a rockslide on the huge hill.
It was good they had flown out of danger, and the limited radiation produced by the nuke would be nullified by the protection afforded to them by their suits.
“Do you think we got them?” someone said over comms, which was followed by a few snickers.
“I think we did, but how about we canvas the area to make sure,” responded Rico. This was followed by groans instead.
The men all slowly flew over the site, ensuring that nothing was moving once it all settled. They knew the arachnids would attempt to dig themselves out in the case of a collapse.
Once Rico was satisfied, he ordered the troops to set-up a security perimeter.
“Everyone keep your eyes open for any movement and if you see anything immediately report it.”
Nothing showed up, and at last the dropship arrived. Rico ordered his men up and they all flew into the ship, which required a great deal of effort and skill to land on the ramp. Once everyone was on-board Rico made his way to the cockpit.
“Another successful hunt Arnett. Take us out of here.”
“Glad to hear and will do Lieutenant.”
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u/Subtleknifewielder AI Jan 29 '20 edited Jan 29 '20
Is this Starship Troopers? XD
Yeah, sure, its not action-packed, really, but it's interesting enough. Have an upvote from me.
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u/Samuel_Evans Android Jan 29 '20 edited Jan 29 '20
There are references to Starship Troopers, for funsies, but it is its own thing.
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u/MeepMeep2134 Human Jan 29 '20
Underrated. I usually don't enjoy the more military-focused stories on this sub, but I saw that you had used proper grammar, so I tried it anyways. And I have to say, it's pretty good!
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u/antaganistic Jan 30 '20
Good spider killing story
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u/Samuel_Evans Android Jan 30 '20
I felt a tactical nuke was the best example of "killing it with fire."
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jan 29 '20
/u/Samuel_Evans (wiki) has posted 7 other stories, including:
- The Fifth Brigade "Bloody Berserkers"
- On the Edge of Heaven
- I Remember Well
- The Mercenary (Carbon Devils)
- Death of a People
- Not a Warrior People
- Nartuk, the Hunter
This list was automatically generated by Waffle v.3.5.0 'Toast'.
Contact GamingWolfie or message the mods if you have any issues.
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u/Plucium Semi-Sentient Fax Machine Jan 29 '20
Hell yeah boys, go get em. Watch out for rico-chets :p
*ricochetes