Walker Brigade - Book of Incidents

"Ok, ok. You...Corporal Jensen, take your squad and get these bastards down to LZ Green."

"Aye, ma'am." Jensen got the prisoners on their feet and started them off toward rear.

"All right, everyone back to your area." And the patrol continued.

* * * Jolene Akers

We were working our way south to the site we were to set up Zone Green South when the firefight started. We were taking rounds from multiple positions on our front and left flank. I deployed the Marines and my team in a skirmish line. As we advanced on the ambushers, all incoming fire stopped. We reformed on the move, turning back to our original bearing.

Not fifty meters on, they hit us again from the opposite side. This time I sent two walkers to deal with the threat. The rest of us kept on. The firing ceased as soon as the walkers started their way. Fifty meters more and they hit us from the left again. I called a halt and deployed two walkers. The firing stopped as the walkers approached. I had had enough of this shit. I had five walkers and a company of Marines.

"Formation Foxtrot!"

I had discussed this formation with everyone before we had left LZ Green, five walkers out front in a line abreast formation, a Marine skirmish line between the three middle walkers, and the rest in column formation behind the spearhead.

"If it shoots at you, return fire immediately," I said on squad-com. "Move out!"

The walkers were now out front on either flank. Sporadic fire came from both flanks as we advanced. Pulse cannon, particle beams or rail-gun fire silenced it almost immediately. Soon we were taking fire from the rear as we moved past those individuals who had not fired as we approached.

"Second Platoon, formation Romeo!"

The platoon in the rear turned and fired on those behind us, acting as a rear guard.

"Second Platoon, by the numbers, fire, and maneuver."

This would place them in the same formation, yet half their members would be moving to a point just to the rear of the column, where it would wait for the other half to pass them, then take over the rearguard action.

"Echo Two, Echo One, we have your back. We'll take care of those pests for you. Get your Company back together."

"Echo Two, aye. Second Platoon back in formation."

The second platoon was just getting back in formation when all hell broke loose behind us. Plasma bolts exploded as they hit the ground around our attackers, throwing clods of dirt and shrubby into the air. We could feel the concussions of the blasts through our armor. Three walkers from team one went flashing by me out ahead of our column.

"Echo Six, Echo Nine, join Echo Four, Eight and Eleven out front."

We now had five free-roaming walkers on our front, which meant we could pick up the pace. We made it to the site in five minutes. As the M'roby started to work on their shield generator, the Chief joined me.

"Jolene, keep your Marines for close in support. My team and Marines will be your far perimeter. When you have the shield established we'll leave."

"Aye, Chief!"

The shield for the safe zone was up and running in twenty minutes. Once it was functional, I pulled my Marines back inside. My squad and I stayed out of the zone and made a sweep around the perimeter to clear it of combatants, so the M'roby could expand the field to the final size.

A Marine contingent was relieving us within the hour. Then it was back to LZ Green.

* * * Max Jones

After helping Jolene, I pulled my team back and we resumed patrolling our assigned area. We started at West Seventy-Second Street. I had my troops form a skirmish line facing east on either side of Seventy-Second Street.

"Okay, move out, at the walk."

The Marines started to move, with the walker's right behind them as support. For every single step of a walker, a foot soldier has to take ten, so it was a constant battle to stay behind the skirmishers. We also stuck out like a sore thumb. Maybe that's why I didn't see it coming.

It started as individual small arms fire on the Marines, then escalated to an all-out firefight on the right flank. The fire stopped the Marines there, causing a bend in the skirmish line. It also caused me to stop to lend support fire to them. As I stood there firing on the opposition, I moved to the side to get a better angle with my rail-guns. Just as I placed my right foot on the ground, there was a tremendous explosion. I remember being tossed to the left in a clownish cartwheel. As I tumbled, a brilliant flash jumped across the park from the building on Fifth Avenue. It hit me square in the gut, pushing me back. The pain was breathtaking. I must have blacked out, because I don't remember hitting the ground. I came to staring at the sky, unable to move. Something was wrong with my walker.

"Echo Eleven to Echo Six, we have a man down and need you here ASAP." My com-unit was still working. I could hear Sam calling for Chelle.

"Echo Eleven, what are your coordinates?"

"Echo Six, just east of Central Park West at Seventy-Second Street. I'm squawking Blue-Flash-One."

"Copy Echo Eleven, on my way."

I saw Sam's ugly mug looking down at me; he was out of his walker. What was he thinking, getting out of his walker in the middle of a firefight? He was disconnecting me from my walker, but couldn't get the safety cage open. I could hear the firefight going on around us. There were several brilliant flashes as plasma cannon discharged in our proximity. From what I could see out of the corners of my eyes, the Marines and my walker team had fallen back in a ring formation around my location. I decided enough of this shit and tried to get up.

"No, Chief, don't move. Just lie still until Meds gets here," Sam ordered me. I didn't try to overrule him since the pain that shot through my gut made it hard for me to breathe. I found I couldn't even lift my arm to give Sam a pat on the shoulder.

"Chelle, over here. Don't dismount yet, I need help getting this cage open."

"Okay," Chelle answered.

"Here and here, Chelle. That's it, just a little harder. Good." The cage flew away as if shot out of a cannon.

"Okay, Chief, just keep still while I see what's going on here." Chelle's face was floating in my field of vision. I was looking at this angel, and wondering why she was a Walker Troop instead of a Doctor when everything started to go gray.

"Oh, shit! Chief, Chief, don't go to sleep. Wake the fuck up..." Everything went black.

* * * Jolene Akers

Chelle got the call just as our Marine relief showed up. She was gone so fast my head was spinning.

"Team Three, on me. Captain Lazlo, you and your Marines stay here." I headed in the direction that Chelle had taken.

"Aye, Ma'am," Captain Lazlo responded.

It only took us a few minutes to reach the firefight to where Chelle had disappeared. As we came up from the south, we came under fire from the east. There was a plasma cannon in operation in a building across Fifth Avenue. Turning, I sighted in on the window it had fired from and waited. The next shot came from a different window. I sighted in and fired. The room behind the window became a white-hot inferno. I hurried to catch up with my team, hoping I hit the plasma cannon.

"Echo Three to Team Two, get rid of those combatants in the park." My team spread out and started to clear the area of gang members. Anything that moved and didn't show up in our HUD as a friendly we dealt with in the harshest manner possible.

Within minutes of our arrival, the area around the Chief was cleared. My Marine contingent showed up as we were setting up a perimeter. I didn't chew them out but, put them to work securing our left flank. I now had time to see how the Chief was doing. As I came up to the spot where the Chief had fallen, his team was milling around trying to get a look at what was going on.

"Echo Four, you and Echo Eight go back up the Marines on the west flank. Move it."

"Aye, Sec," Echo Four answered for them both and turned and headed off.

I wanted to dismount and run to the Chief, but I knew I had to be mounted and able to command with the Chief down.

* * * Michelle Santos-Tomas

The call I got from Sam that the Chief was down sent a shiver down my spine. Without consulting Jolene, I headed to the Chief's location in a flash. It only took a few minutes to get there, and I found the Chief with a hole in his gut and Sam bending over him trying to get him out of his walker. Before dismounting, Sam had me remove his safety cage, as it appeared to be jammed and wouldn't open. I dismounted my walker and tried to assess the damage to his body. His eyes were open as I looked into his helmet, so I smiled to reassure him. He smiled back as his eyes started to roll up into his head. He was passing out.

"Oh shit! Chief, Chief, don't go to sleep. Wake the fuck up." I hurried to get him out of his armor to stop the bleeding I could see through the gaping hole.

"Goddamn it, Chief, wake up! Sam, help me get him out of his armor. Sam!" I shouted the last because Sam was standing there in shock at seeing his longtime friend and commander so injured.

"Sam!" I shouted again and backhanded him alongside his head.

"Sorry, Chelle," Sam answered, bending to help me with the Chief. We got him out of his armor without doing him any more damage.

"LZ Green, Echo Six, we need dust off at grid location four-five stroke five-five, squawking Blue-Tango-Foxtrot."

"Echo Six, aye. Dust off in two minutes." I could hear the roar of the med shuttle at Rikers Spaceport as it lifted off.

"LZ Green, Echo Six, roger."

My med kit was out and I was pushing gauze pads into the wound. I could see the Chief's insides, his intestines seemed to be intact, but the skin and muscle were gone where the blast from the plasma cannon had hit him. If we could get him to a Med Ship in time, he would live to fight another day. It would be a long road to travel, but he would be like new at the end of it.

"Chief, wake up." I heard him moan as I pressed the gauze into the wound. "Chief!"

"Waa da fuc!" His words were slurred but he was awake again.

"Stay with me, Max. Stay with me." I looked him in the eyes as they opened. A smile formed on his lips, then the pain in his gut wiped it away. "I'll give you something for the pain in a minute. I have to stop this bleeding first. You're going to be okay, do you hear me?"

"I hear you, sweetie!" He must be delirious.

"You stay awake for me, Max. The med shuttle will be here any minute." Just then, a roar filled the sky as the med shuttle came in for a ditto landing just outside our perimeter.

"Sam, get some Marines to help us get him on my rack." I turned to my walker and grabbed the stretcher, flicking it open and placing it around Max. Sam showed up with six Marines, and we gently scooped the Chief up with the stretcher, then secured him to my walker rack.

"Echo Six, Med One," I heard in my earphones as I jumped back into my walker.

"Med One, Echo Six, on my way, one patient, plasma blast to the abdomen, armor took most of the blast but there is damage to the area in the abdomen. I will need a surgical team standing by, along with regeneration equipment."

"Echo Six, aye." I was at the med shuttle and out of my walker before the dust had settled. Jolene had her team securing the shuttles perimeter along with six Marines to help get the Chief into the med shuttle. I un-strapped the stretcher, and the Marines gently moved the Chief to the shuttles port where there were two medics and a doctor waiting. I started to climb into the shuttle when the doctor stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going, trooper?"

"I go where he goes. If you don't like it, take it up with her," I said point back to Jolene's walker. Her guns were pointing menacingly at the doctor. I could hear a conversation, taking place over the com between the shuttle pilot and Jolene as I continued into the shuttle, and sat down next to the Chief. I continued to work on him as the doctor stared at me.

The medic cycled the hatch as the engines wound up for takeoff. The doctor moved to the other side of Max and started to assess his wounds as I continued to attempt to stop the bleeding. Max had passed out again during the trip to the shuttle. I grabbed an oxymask from the overhead and strapped it to his face, then I started to hook up monitor buttons so we would know how his vital signs were doing. Through all this, the doctor just stared at me as I worked.

"Who are you?" he asked as I finished turning on the monitors.

"I am Michelle Santos-Tomas, graduate with honors, of the Pacifica School of Medicine, third in the class of Beta 0084! I am also Echo Six of the first battalion, of the sixty-fourth armored brigade, a Walker troop!" I said looking him in the eyes. I was proud of who I was and what I did, and no two-bit ambulance driver was going to make me feel otherwise.

"Oh," Was all he said as he looked away.

"Now, are you going to help me with my commander, or not?"

"Of course."

He pulled blood plasma from the bulkhead fridge and hooked it over the hangers on the overhead. Pulling the tubing free, he inserted a large bore needle into Max's arm. He turned again to the fridge and pulled a large bag of saline to hook it up to the infuser. Within seconds, the Chiefs color was returning and his breathing leveled off, along with his heart rate and pressure.

"Arrival Med Ship Nightingale, two minutes," the pilot said. We were going to make it in time. Max would live to fight another day. A wave of relief swept over me. Turning to the bulkhead, I grabbed a trash bin and puked my guts out as wave after wave of nausea caused my insides to contract. Everything settled down as we docked with the Nightingale. The shuttle doctor was staring at me.

* * * Jolene Akers

The med shuttle was on the way to match orbit with the med ship Nightengale. My mind was in turmoil. The Chief was out of action. We were under heavy attack. The plasma cannon was still in operation from the building across Fifth Avenue.

"Echo Three to all units, fall back by the numbers. Echo Eleven, you're in charge of Team One." Everyone acknowledged as we started to fall back toward Zone Green South. We were taking fire from the north side of Seventy-Second Street, as well as the building to the east across Fifth Avenue.

"Echo Two, Echo Three."

"Echo Three, go."

"Echo Two, proceed to Zone Green South, backup required. Watch for plasma weapons fire from the east at Seventy-Second."

"Echo Three, affirmative."

"LZ Green, Echo Three."

"Go, Three."

"LZ Green, require med team at Zone Green South, soonest."

"Affirmative, Echo Three."

We had back up coming along with medics. Now, how was I going to tell Becky about the Chief? I was still pondering that when we arrived at Zone Green South, and we could all relax a bit. Three med teams showed up soon after us and started to tend to the wounded. There was nothing too serious, a few bangs and bruises, nothing that couldn't be handled by the medics on scene.

Becky and her group showed up about ten minutes later. We knew they were coming from the sound of the firefight as they traversed the park. We now had a Walker Squad and three companies of Marines at Zone Green South. Becky was standing in front of me as I helped a medic with one of the wounded.

"Where's the Chief?" Christ, I was going to have to do this now. As I looked at Becky, I noticed Sam and Chuck standing on either side of her. She looked back and forth between the three of us I told her what had happened.

"Becky, Max was wounded and dusted off to the Nightingale. Chelle is with him as we speak. From what she was saying when she left, he will be all right." The color drained from her face as Sam and Chuck caught her before she fell. They eased her to the ground as her body was racked with sobs. Kneeling down beside her, I stroked her hair while she shook with emotion. Chuck and Sam left us alone to talk.

"How...how...how did it happen?"

"He was on a sweep to the east when they came under attack. He stepped on a mine and while flying through the air was hit by a plasma cannon burst."

"Where was he hit, Jo?" She was now hanging on to me as I held her in my arms, her head resting on my shoulder.

"In the stomach."

"Oh, god," she sobbed and broke down again as I held her tighter.

* * * Becky Latham

Completely drained, I found myself sitting on the ground in Jo's arms. My Max was hurt. He was in orbit on the Nightingale. He might as well be on Pacifica, as far as me, being at his side was concerned. I don't know how long we sat there; I might have slept for a time. Jo finally shook me.

"Becky, we have a job to do. The day is almost over, but we have to go now."

"I know, Jo."

"And you're in charge, sweetie."

With a sigh, I disengaged myself from Jo's embrace and got to my feet. A chow wagon had been set up in the Zone along with showers and a command bunker. I started walking to the command bunker, signaling Jo to follow. Entering the bunker, I was confronted by a burly Marine who was trying to keep me out until he noticed my rank insignia.

"Sorry, ma'am." He stepped aside as he saluted.

There was a Marine Lieutenant sitting in front of the com panel. His feet were up on the ledge and he was leaning back in his chair, a smile on his face as he hummed a tune with his eyes closed. Reaching out with my foot, I kicked the chair out from under him, sending him to the ground.

"What the fuck! Who the hell do you think..." he stopped as he saw Jo and me looking down at him.

"Out!" I shouted.

"Yes, ma'am." He scrambled to his feet and headed for the door. Jolene snickered under her breath as she righted the chair and put it in front of the com unit. Sitting down in the chair, I scanned the com panel. All frequencies where set.

"LZ Green, Echo Two."

"Echo Two, LZ Green, go."

"I need to speak to Colonel Stewart ASAP."

"Affirmative, wait one."

I slumped in the chair while Jo and I waited for them to get the Colonel. Jo started to massage my shoulders. It felt so good I closed my eyes. I opened my eyes with a start and shrugged her off with a smile. I didn't need to be falling asleep just now.

"Echo Two, Colonel Stewart."

"Colonel, are you alone in the com bunker?" A long pause ensued.

"I am alone now, Captain Latham."

"Sir, I would like you to send all the Marine Walker troops to Zone Green South. I have an idea how we can clear the park and the surrounding building of hostiles."

"Ok, let's hear your plan, Captain." I started to explain the plan in detail to the Colonel. As I explained, Jo filled in with times and waypoints. It took about thirty minutes to fill him in on the plan.

"Ok, Captain, I understand. I'm going to promote you to major for the time being. The Marine walkers will be on the way within the hour. Get some chow and some rest. Will you be able to start tomorrow morning?"

"We'll be ready, Colonel."

"Good. How is Major Jones doing? Have you heard?"

"No sir, you were my first call. The Med Ship Nightingale will be my next."

"Ok, I hope the Major is alright. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Aye, sir." I broke the connection and slumped back in the chair.

"Jo, we are going to need to cover the Marines as they arrive. See to it, would you?"

"Sure, be right back." She was gone in a flash. I turned back to the com unit and changed the frequency to that of the Nightingale.

"Nightingale, Major Latham."

"Nightingale, go."

"May I please speak to Captain Hansen?"

"Wait one, Major." I waited, the aches and pains throughout my body screaming for attention, attention I couldn't afford to give them now. Later in the shower, maybe Jo would massage the kinks out of my back and shoulders.