"They appear and disappear so fast the SALs can't get a lock on them!" Ayers said. "It's just like when they hit the hovers at the LZ."
"But we have twenty times as many SALs out here now," Callahan said. "None of them are able to get a lock?"
"It seems that the greenies have been practicing this maneuver," Ayers said. "Somebody is out there guiding them to their targets and they're keeping their exposure time at four to five seconds. We simply can't lock on and fire that quickly."
"Clusterfuck," Callahan muttered, not bothering to close his transmission link first. Why in the hell didn't they know the greenies operated like this? Obviously they'd practiced this maneuver for years. Had the marine units stationed on the planet held them in such contempt that they'd never bothered learning what their tactics would be?
Ayers had no answer for him. Callahan shook his head in disgust and then looked at his screens, trying to get a sense of what was going on outside. He could make nothing out of the confusing array of infrared enhanced images so he opened the hatch on the APC and stood up, poking his head out to take an actual look around. Like before, the dust was so thick he couldn't see a thing. He set his goggles for infrared enhancement and looked around. Still, nothing seemed unusual except for the fact that all of the armor was maneuvering wildly about. He could see no burning APCs or tanks, could see no Martian aircraft in the sky. They must have hit further back in the column.
"What about getting some dismounts out there with hand-held SALs?" Callahan asked Ayers. "If we put enough lasers into the air we're bound to hit one of those things."
"I've passed that idea onto battalion," Ayers said. "They're checking with regimental about it now."
Callahan shook his head in disgust and continued his look around. Wondering about who was guiding the aircraft to their targets he began scanning the hillsides to the south just in time to see the flash of Lisa Wong's weapon sending a burst of laser energy out. It was followed by three other flashes in close succession. He didn't know where the first three flashes went but he had a pretty good idea about the fourth. Two hundred meters to his left an APC suddenly exploded, the turret flying into the air, shrapnel flying in all directions, blood vapor and smoke boiling out into the atmosphere.
"Holy fuck!" he yelled in horror. Twelve marines had just died in the time it took him to blink an eye.
"They're hitting us again!" Ayers said. "No aircraft spotted!"
"It wasn't aircraft!" Callahan reported. "AT-50 fire from the south! Spread out among at least four hilltops!"
"Confirm AT-50 fire?" Ayers demanded.
"I saw it with my own eyes!" Callahan reported. "Let me get the coordinates." He called up his map display and quickly read off the grid and hill numbers. By the time he'd done this several other units had reported the same information.
"We got it!" Ayers said. "Regimental is ordering the tanks on the left flank to engage."
"They're not close enough!" Callahan said. The tanks could only engage dismounted troops with their main guns or their machine guns and the range on those weapons was only four kilometers for the former and less than a kilometer for the latter.
"They're moving them in!" Ayers said. "Continue evasive maneuvering. They're sending a company from the 324th to take that position!"
Callahan opened his mouth to ask why in the fuck they were doing that when it was reported that more laser flashes had been spotted, that more APCs had been hit, this time from hills on the north side of the valley.
"It's a fuckin' ambush!" Callahan said. "Screw going after them, we need to get the fuck out of here!"
"We need to take them out!" Ayers countered. "We're going after them. Bravo Company is moving to the north position along with the tanks from the right flank."
Things were suddenly becoming very clear to Callahan. "Cap," he said, "that's just what the Martians want us to do! They're drawing us into a trap!"
"Regimental is ordering it, Callahan!" Ayers said. "They did not ask for your goddamn opinion on how to counter the enemy!"
"Well maybe they should!" Callahan yelled back. "I've been out here. I know how these Martians fight. They're trying to get us to hold here while they pick us off from out of range and then as soon as we get in range to counter them they're going to disappear! We need to push through this area as fast as we can!"
"You're out of line, Callahan!" Ayers returned, quite pissed now. "You do what the fuck you're ordered to do and shut your ass about everything else!"
"Yes sir," Callahan said through gritted teeth. At just that moment the lasers flashed again. He saw another APC — this one about three hundred meters away — explode with a spectacular, lethal flash.
"Keep it up, guys, keep it up," Lon encouraged. "We still have a couple of shot cycles left before those tanks get into range."
Lisa nodded but said nothing as she waited for her AT to charge from the last battery she'd put in. So far she'd fired three times and had scored three definite kills on command APCs, watching with glee each time as they'd exploded into wrecked piles of steel and smoke. Each hit equaled at least twelve marines who would not make it to Eden, who would not challenge the armored cav units and the infantry behind them. She felt almost guilty that she was getting a thrill out of this mass slaughter she was participating in that was very close to sexual in nature.
Her weapon beeped, indicating it was charged and ready to fire. She already had another target in sight, another blue tank in her zone, another officer and the squad he was riding with. She pushed the firing button and the APC exploded at the same instant. Her smile grew wider, the wetness between her thighs grew wetter. She ejected the spent battery and took another from her case, slamming it expertly into place and hitting the charge button.
"Lead tanks are at fifty-five hundred meters," Lon reported. "They're hauling ass. Seventy-five kph. One more shot and then let's do what we do best."
"Run away," said Horishito. "I'm down with it, sarge."
Lisa took a moment to zoom out and glance at the approaching armor. No less than sixty main battle tanks were bearing down on them like wildfire, their guns pointing forward at the hills. Behind them was a stream of APCs — at least thirty of them — moving nearly as fast. Yes, it was about time to blow this scene. She zoomed out a little further, found another blue APC in her zone of fire and sighted in on it, zooming back in until the APC was the only thing in her view. The charging beep sounded and she fired, watching it explode. "Last shot out," she reported, turning her combat goggles back to normal magnification. "Ready to haul my ass."
The other three AT holders reported the same.
"All right," said Lon. "Let's go. You all know the drill."
Within thirty seconds all ten of them had their equipment stowed and were scrambling down their respective hillsides, careful to keep the bulk of the hills between themselves and the approaching enemy. Their timing was none too soon. As they started heading south, towards the waiting Hummingbird that would extract them from the area, the hilltops they had just occupied erupted in a cataclysm of explosions and flying dust. None of them could resist taking a look back.
"Fuck me," said Lisa in fearful awe as she watched high explosive shells rip apart the place where she had been lying less than two minutes before, as she watched other shells go streaking overhead.