Walker Brigade - Book of Incidents

"C-com, Echo One, go get 'em, but proceed with caution." Good.

"All-com, Becky," Click. "Echo squad, safe weapons. Prepare to move out, bearing four-five true, seventy klicks, one-quarter speed." Didn't want to just bust in there without knowing what was there.

Twelve ghosts moved over the arid plain toward fifty two-legged lobsters. What the hell were they doing out there in the middle of nowhere? Well, we would see in a couple of minutes.

"Formation Lima Bravo one-niner," I called for a line abreast formation nine hundred meters separation. The squad fanned out on either side of me as we approached the M'roby. At one klick, we could see them. They were in a horseshoe formation with about three meters between them. There was a group in the 'u' doing something, what, I couldn't tell.

"Weapons armed. Auto-sights engaged." I was just making sure.

Puffs of dust started to rise out of the floor of the plain in front of us.

"Fire at will," I called out. Plasma bolts and particle beams shot out across the plain. Our first volley decimated the M'roby, as the bolts and beams slammed into their formation. The group in the center was still untouched. Raising my sights, I fired a bolt at the group. Nothing happened. The bolt appeared to be absorbed by the group.

Bam! I found myself flying through the air backward.

"Cover, cover, cover," I yelled as I hit the ground, sliding a good hundred feet to a stop against a small boulder. "Damn." I had to roll over to get up, I then moved behind the boulder.

"All report," I called out, waiting for the lights on the inside of my helmet to turn green. Eleven lights blinked to green, the twelfth light remained red. Well, at least it wasn't blinking.

"Echo Five, are you alright?" Sometimes voice-com worked when the data link didn't. No response.

"Echo Six, You're closest, can you see Echo Five?"

"Negative Chief. There is nothing but a cloud of dust around his last reported position."

"Roger. Echo Two, C-com," I called out to Becky.

"Echo One to C-Com." It was taking a long time for them to answer.

"C-Com, go."

"Echo One, transferring data, the M'roby appears to have a new weapon or defense system and are testing it out. Down one trooper, status unknown, we may need back up." Just the facts as I knew them at this time.

"Data transfer complete. Stand-by." Great, another standby, didn't they have anyone there that could make decisions?

"C-Com, take up defensive positions and await further orders. Do not, repeat, do not let the M'roby past your position. Fox, Gamma and Charlie squads are on their way. ETA three minutes."

"Echo One, roger." Click. "You heard the man, dig in, oh, and no firing on that group of M'roby in the middle of the horseshoe." I could hear all the affirmatives as I looked around for a bigger boulder. I didn't see one close enough to matter. Well, I was at least safe from the M'roby slugthrowers.

Squatting down behind my boulder didn't do much good as my head was still above it, but at least most of my body was hidden. I flipped down my distance viewers, settling the crosshairs on the group in the middle. They were frantically working on a low squat black box that had sprouted four tall thin rods that angled out to the corners and were about two meters tall.

I saw a shimmering around the group in the middle as they worked on the box. The horseshoe was outside the shimmering field. Field? They had developed a defense field. Crap. Selecting my rail gun, I loosed a burst at the shimmering field. The slugs just deflected away from the group. There was no blast back as there was from my power weapons.

"Echo Squad, rail guns only, clear the M'roby outside the field." Streams of aluminum shot into the M'roby, cutting them to little tiny bits. Within seconds the only M'roby standing were those inside the field.

"Ceasefire." No point in wasting good ammo, I stepped out from behind my boulder, and slowly started toward the M'roby field.

"Chief what the hell you doin'?" yelled Becky. None of the M'roby inside the field had weapons, and it appeared that, so far, the shield they were using was purely defensive in nature until an energy weapon hit it.

"All energy weapons on safe!" I commanded as I strode slowly toward the M'roby. They were working frantically on the black box in the center. Twelve, I counted twelve of them working, trying to do what? The field was already established; as long as they were inside, there was nothing we could do. Or was there?

"Becky front and center." She was beside me in an instant.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Chief," she said as she followed me, getting closer to the edge of the field.

Close-up the field shimmered like a thin veil of water flowing up from the ground. It was fascinating to watch. The next thing I knew I was inside with the M'roby and two were coming toward me. I tried to step back, but couldn't move, I seemed to be paralyzed. I could see Becky beside me, her rail guns blazing. The two M'roby disappeared in a haze of chitin and ichor.

"Don't hit that damn box!" I croaked. She must have heard me because she walked forward and started pulling the M'roby away from the box and ripping them apart with her walker's pinchers. By the time she was done, she was covered in ichor from head to toe.

"What should I do now?" she huffed. Hell, I didn't know. I just knew I couldn't move. I could talk a little, though.

"Nothing, I'll wait until C-Com can get someone up here who will understand this crap." It was getting hard to talk now. In fact, it was getting hard to breath. My chest now felt as if there were two people sitting on me.

"Chief!" Becky was in front of me staring into my helmet.

"Damn!" She yelled as she spun and fired at the box. She put a stream right through the center. As the first slug pierced the box, I was suddenly able to move and breathe again. If it hadn't been for my walker, I would have dropped to my knees.

"Well, that was fun," I croaked, as I sucked in air to fill my burning lungs.

"Chief you okay?" Becky asked, scanning the M'roby bodies.

"Just peachy. I thought I told you not to shoot."

"You were turning blue, Chief."

"Well, that just makes it alright, then," I said, dripping with sarcasm as I started coughing my guts out. "Give me all-com," I squeaked out after my coughing spasm subsided.

"Echo Squad, report." Eleven green lights one red. "Echo Six and Seven, see to Echo Five. All other Echo units form a perimeter, five hundred yards."

The rogers came in as I walked toward the black box the M'roby had been working on. It was now a shambles, the wires and circuit board hung out of it where Becky's slugs had ripped through the covering metal.

"Well, that's pretty much toast," I said, looking at the mess that was new M'roby technology. "Command is gonna shit a brick."

"Gee thanks, Chief," Becky said, standing next to me looking at the mangled piece of equipment. Just then, Fox, Gamma, and Charlie squad leaders appeared beside us.

"Uh, what in the hell happened here Chief?" Fox squad's leader asked.

"Shut up, Leffler. Echo One to all Squads, freeze and hold." I was still ranking squad leader in the field.

"Aw Chief what did you go and do that for?" Leffler asked as his troops froze in place.

"C-Com," I barked at Becky. Click. "Echo One to C-Com." Leffler shut up as he listened in.

"C-Com, go."

"Echo One, M'roby destroyed. M'roby tech damaged during battle. Data transfer, now." I signaled Becky to transmit the video of the battle to C-Com.

"C-Com, data received. Fox, Gamma, Charlie squads return to base. Echo squad stays on station for tech eval team. Out." The click was loud in my ears as Becky switched to all-com.

"Fox, Gamma, Charlie squads return to base." Thirty-six ghosts whispered past on their way back to base.

"Chief?" Echo Six was hailing.

"Go Meds."

"Echo Five is fine. Transmitters are screwed and the walker is trashed, but she can ride with one of us." That was good news we wouldn't have to replace an experienced trooper with a green replacement.

"Roger Meds make it happen." Six was a scout walker and had the capacity in the form of a carrier rack for supplies. She would be able to handle a mere armored human with no trouble at all.

"Becky, take over the squad. Rotate positions every half hour." I was suddenly exhausted.

"Aye Chief." I heard as I placed my walker in standby mode, closed my visor, and went to sleep.

* * * Becky Latham

The Chief was asleep as we waited for the Tech crew to show up.

"Ackers take your team two klicks toward the base and wait for the Tech crew."

"Aye, Sec."

Team Two peeled off toward base to await the Tech crew.

"The rest of you, I want a perimeter around this area, five hundred meters. Go!"

The team seconds sorted out who should go where and how far. It was a good squad. Max had trained us well.

I could hear the chatter between the teams as they patrolled their sectors. As I sat with the Chief wondering what that infernal bug box had done to him, I replayed what I had seen before I had to smash it to pieces. I knew I would need to describe it in my After Action Report and I wanted to get everything right.

"Sec Latham?" Ackers was calling me.

"Go, Ackers."

"Tech crew is here, we're headed your way. Be there in one minute."

"Roger."

I switched to my private com-link to the Chief.

"Chief." Nothing, he should wake up when I call him. "Chief."

What the fuck was wrong with him? I reached out to shake him but stopped when I realized I was in my walker. Setting my com-gear to emit a high-pitched squeal, I pressed the button. Not even a blink from the Chief. I checked his vitals on remote and saw he was in a very deep sleep. So deep, he probably couldn't hear me.

Jacking up the gain on my end, I yelled again. "Chief!" He began to stir. I removed my arms from the walker controls so I could reach up and smack the Chief's helmet.

"Echo One C-Com." I heard in my ears.

"C-Com Echo Two, go!"

"Echo Two, you are to return to base with the Tech Eval crew."

"Roger. Echo Two out."

* * * Max Jones

I was running across the plain as fast as I could, looking down, I realized I was bare ass naked. Behind me, there were three M'roby closings on my heels. It was strange they were just barely catching up with me. I knew they were much faster than I was, but I was almost out running them without a walker. I swung my head forward to watch where I was going so I didn't stumble. Hopping over boulders and hills taller than me, I could see the base a couple of klicks ahead.

"Chief." I could hear Becky's voice over the radio, but I didn't have a radio.

I bounded over another boulder into some soft sand getting bogged down as I tried to run out and stay ahead of the M'roby nipping at my heels. They were closer now as I glanced over my shoulder. I doubled my efforts trying to pull farther ahead. At my current rate, I wouldn't make it to the base and safety.

"Chief." It was Becky again. Where the hell was she? I was running for my life and she was whispering in my ear.

I could hear the M'roby's footsteps, claw steps, whatever, behind me as I sprinted toward the base. Wasn't going to make it, wasn't going to make it to my nice warm, safe bunk. Shit, it looked like I was going to die.

"Chief, wake the fuck up." What the hell was she talking about? I was awake and running for my life. I could feel the M'roby's hot breath on my back.

"Chief, Chief the tech eval team is here." Becky was now shouting in my ear.

"What?" I moaned. The M'roby were gone. I was in my armor strapped to my walker staring into Becky's eyes. "What the fuck?"

"Chief, the tech guys are here. They're loading up the box. We're to return to base with them." Becky slapped me upside the helmet, ringing my ears.

"Fine, fine, get 'em up and ready to move," I grumbled. I switched my walker to hot and ready, stood up and surveyed the landscape. The tech eval truck was hoisting the M'roby device onto the bed.

"Echo Squad, saddle up," Becky called over all-com. "Out heading is one-eight-oh, one-quarter speed, formation Alpha-Bravo."

"Move 'em out," I called and started heading to base, trailing the squad as they surrounded the Tech Eval truck.

It took us forty-five minutes to get back to base. It took another two hours to stow our walkers, armor and other assorted gear. Then the shower, so it wasn't until three hours had passed that I was able to lie down and rest. Then the damn com starting buzzing and wouldn't shut up until I answered the thing.

"What?" I shouted.

"Chief, Commander Jenkins. I need you to report to the infirmary ASAP."

"Aye, sir." Shit. I was dressed and heading to the infirmary, dragging my feet the whole way. What the fuck did they want from me?

"Ah, Chief, come in, come in." A man in a white coat was waving me into the back.

"How did you know?" He interrupted me.

"How did I know you were you? I have seen the video of your encounter with the M'roby. Oh, by the way, I'm Doctor Lawson."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with me doc." Maybe I could get out of there quickly.

"Oh, I'm not that kind of Doctor, I'm a Physicist. I need to ask you some questions about the field you encountered out there on the plain." He was smiling at me as if I had nothing better to do than come here and talk with him. Schmuck.

"Well, I don't know what I can tell you. I'm just a lowly Chief. I really don't know anything about science crap." I grinned back at him trying to look stupid.

"That's okay we just need a little information about your experience." All this time I had been following him like a goof. We came up to a nondescript door in a nondescript hallway that I had never been in before.

"Here we are," he said, stepping aside and allowing me to enter the room first. "Have a seat."

We were in a small conference room, a round table sat in the middle with two chairs. On the table was a microphone attached to a recorder and a comp-tab with a stylus. I took the seat in front of the microphone. I assumed that's where he wanted me. Besides, I was too tired to argue, as he took the other chair. Picking up the stylus and comp-tab, he tapped the screen a couple of times then nodded his head, placing the comp-tab in front of him.

"Ok, let's begin. What did you feel as you stepped through the energy field?" Right down to business.

"Not much, a tingling all over my skin that turned into tightness across my chest. I was having difficulty breathing the further I stepped into the field."

"Good. Now, what did you see? What were the instruments like? What do you think the aliens were doing before you killed them?" He paused, looked up at me and raised his eyebrows.

"I saw six M'roby standing around a black box with two meter long rods sticking out of the top. The only kind of instrumentation I noticed were some blinking colored lights on one side. There were, however, what looked like slide switches by the lights, which the M'roby were manipulating. Before my Second killed them, they were trying out a new defensive weapon, I would assume. When fired into by energy weapons the energy bounced back to the shooter, knocked me for a loop and back almost a hundred meters."

"Hmmm. What happened when you used your rail gun?"

"The slugs bounced away at a ninety-degree angle, up." Well, that's what mine did.

"Why do you think your second didn't feel the same things as you?" So they had talked to Becky already.

"I don't know, maybe because she's a woman?" I made it a question for him to ponder.

"Most likely, most likely. Now, why did you go into the field, to begin with, when you were told to hold position?" Here it comes, disobeying an order.

"I thought I saw the field expanding, so in order to stop it, I did the only thing I could. I had to eliminate the M'roby inside and to do that I had to get in there with them. I didn't know what else the field was capable of, and didn't want my troops dead." Let him mull over that one.

"Your energy weapons worked inside the field?"

"Don't know, didn't use them."

He sat there thinking and looking at his comp-tab. He just sat there for the longest time.

"Uh," I said as I cleared my throat reminding him I was still there.

"Oh, sorry Chief. You can go." He waved his hand at me, dismissing me while he sat there watching something on his comp-tab.

I got up and left, headed back to my quarters. I was still in a daze when I got to my door. Opening it, I stepped inside. The lights were dialed down and the room smelled...like Becky. In the dim light, I could make out a lump in the middle of my bed under the blankets. I quickly undressed and slipped under the covers, sliding over to spoon with Becky. Her skin felt warm and soft as she breathed slowly in sleep. Wrapping my arm around her, I lay my head on my pillow and fell fast asleep.

* * * Becky Latham

I heard the Chief go out just as I had returned from talking with Dr. Lawson. He had recorded my statement and my description of the device. He also knew about the feelings that had coursed through my body as I had stepped through the field. It had been a strange feeling. My skin had crawled with little pinpricks the seemed to be in sync with the lights on the panel of the M'roby machine. Almost a heartbeat. As the lights flashed on, the tingling would press against my skin and then be gone the next moment when the lights went out.

From what I could see, Max had a much different experience. He had stood frozen in place with a look of utter despair on his face as he gasped for breath. The constriction of his chest seemed to get worse with each flash of the lights until I had fired a bolt of aluminum slugs into the thing. Then Max had almost collapsed when the field had dissipated.

After I was sure Max had not just gone down to the head, I snuck over to his quarters to wait for his return. Undressing, I climbed into bed to wait for my lover. About an hour later I heard the door open and could sense the Chief was in the room. I heard him sigh as he undressed.

I felt the bed give with his weight as he crawled in next to me, and wrapped his arm around me. I didn't make a sound or move, waiting to see what he wanted to do. Kissing my neck, he snuggled up behind me and fell asleep. I smiled as I closed my eyes to sleep.

3.6.0093/1

* * * Becky Latham

The alarm went off in my head. Looking at the clock on the wall, I saw it was seven in the morning. I looked around the room wondering, where the hell I was, then remembered as I felt the warm body next to me. The Chief was sprawled on the bed on his stomach with me cuddled up next to him

* * * Max Jones

I woke to the soft gentle kisses Becky was trailing down my back. Rolling over I took her in my arms hugging her. Soon we both climbed out of bed. Today was another down day but there were things to do, briefings to attend. I opened my door and peered out into the squad bay. It was dark and appeared that everyone was still asleep. Becky soundlessly crossed over to her quarters across the hall.

Ducking back inside, I pulled my comp-pad to me, brought up the duty roster, and the list of tasks that would need to be done.

"Alright listen up," I shouted to the squad, "We are down for the rest of today and tomorrow." A cheer went up from the squad; it had been a long time since we had had two days in a row off.

"Latham..."

"Aye, Chief."

"You and I will report to the Battalion Command Center for operational briefings tomorrow at twelve-hundred hours."

"Aye, Chief."

"Akers..."

"Aye, Chief."

"You, as Team Two lead, will also be required to attend."

"Aye, Chief."

"The rest of you will be required to report to the squad bay tomorrow at nineteen-hundred hours for operational orders."