"Thirty seconds," Brian announced over the laser net when they got close. "Do your stuff, shadow six."
"Gavin, Horishito," Lon said when he heard this. "Strike is thirty seconds out. Do it!"
"Copy," both said in unison. From their own perches atop their hill, in the safety of the boulders, they aimed their charged AT-50 tubes down on the column below. Both had already been assigned their targets — two of the anti-air vehicles — and, with the assistance of the magnification setting on their goggles, they sighted in and put their crosshairs directly on the sides, where the engines were.
Less than a second apart they pushed the discharge buttons sending the laser energy out at the speed of light. They scored two direct hits and just like that the advancing column had lost half of its anti-air capabilities.
"Sir," came the excited voice of sergeant Bracken, the second-in-command of the anti-air division. "Two laser flashes from the hills. We've lost two of the SALs! The lieutenant was in one of them."
"What the fuck?" Chin said, panning madly to see what was happening. Other reports began to come in on the frequency now, all of them reporting laser flashes on the hillside. What the hell was this? Had the special forces teams changed the way they operated?
To give him credit, Chin reacted quickly to the situation. "All tank units," he said into the tactical channel. "Open up on the hillside where the flashes came from. Put some fire on those fuckers! Van Pelt!"
"Here, boss," Van Pelt said instantly.
"Move your people in! I want every soldier you have converging on that hill group!"
"Copy," he said.
"Displace," Jefferson yelled the moment the lasers were fired. "Get the fuck out of here before the return fire comes in."
Gavin and Horishito did not have to be told twice. They rolled backwards, down the hill, and then crawled to the right, dragging their laser tubes with them. Jefferson, holding his M-24, brought up the rear. Before they could even get ten feet away training rounds, both large and small caliber, began slamming into the rocks around them, hitting with thuds loud enough to be heard even through the thin air and the insulating biosuit helmet. Tiny bits of soft plastic shrapnel sprayed over them. Other rounds whizzed overhead, an experience that was more sensed than felt or seen.
As soon as they reached their new positions both men ejected the spent charging batteries from their lasers, letting them fall to the ground. The charges were plastic, fifteen centimeters square by four centimeters thick, and colored yellow, indicating they were for training only. They grabbed fresh ones from their packs and slammed them into the slots, pushing the charge button as soon as they were in place.
Fire belched from the main guns of the tanks as well as the smaller, commanders' weapons. Hundreds of rounds per second were launched towards the spot where the two laser flashes had come in the hope that the offenders would be hit by one of them. Meanwhile the APCs, on order from Van Pelt, had all turned and were rushing at top speed at the hills, the soldiers inside of them anxious to get in the fight and put a hurt on the special forces teams that had tormented them for so long. They knew that if they could get to those hills in time they could catch the teams before they retreated to the safety of their Hummingbird.
"Keep up the covering fire on that hill," Chin ordered. "Spread it out a little. Plaster that whole fucking area!"
Before the tanks could begin to spread their volume around a little bit however, the Mosquitoes joined the battle.
"Coming into firing range," Brian announced to both his gunner and his wingman. "Let's pop some APCs!"
He pulled up over the last hill, flying almost directly over the top of Lon and his men. With a quick bank to the right he was now paralleling the valley, streaking along the side of it at more than seven hundred kilometers per hour. In the back seat Colton was looking out the canopy, his goggles placing an X on wherever the laser cannon would hit if fired at the moment. As he turned his head, so did the X, as he looked up or down, so did it. On the belly of the aircraft, the twin cannon complex moved back and forth with his motions as well, swiveling on its turret. The targets came suddenly into view, an entire line of tiny APCs rolling across the ground below. He moved his head and put the X on one of them, simultaneously pushing the firing button in his hand. The laser flashed and instantly was hitting the target, telling its computer to shut it down and to declare the twelve men inside of it dead. Another turn of the head and the X was on another APC. Another push of the button and another vehicle and everyone in it were out of the battle. Behind them John and his gunner did the same.
And then it was time to get out. Brian cut sharply back to the right while the lasers went into automatic recharge mode for another run. Before the remaining anti-air vehicles of the column even realized that an attack was underway, the Mosquitoes were back in the safety of the hills and out of range. It was a picture perfect Mosquito run.
"Charged," yelled Horishito from his new firing position. A second later this declaration was echoed by Gavin.
"Good," said Jefferson, who was peering out at the column below from between the rocks. He watched the advancing APCs and the flashing of the tank guns. Rounds were now starting to hit around them as the tanks spread out their fire. "Now take out those other two SALs," he ordered. "Gavin, you get the left one. Horishito, you take the right. Let's clear the air for the Mosquitoes before those bastards overrun us."
Without bothering to acknowledge their orders they aimed their weapons downward, each of them seeking the distinctive box shape of the surface to air laser vehicles. Horishito found his first. He moved his weapon until the firing recticle rested on its side and then he gently squeezed the trigger. There was no kick from the laser as it discharged, nor was there any sound or any light visible in anything other than the infrared spectrum. But down on the target there was a bright flash as the laser energy expended itself against the steel side of the vehicle.
"That's a kill," Horishito announced, rolling out of his position and preparing to crawl to the next.
Gavin fired a few seconds later, just as the tanks switched their concentration on the new firing hole. His shot was also a kill, which he gleefully announced.
"Strike one," Lon announced over the secure net. "The SALs are all down. I repeat, the SALs are all down. We have APCs closing our position. We could use a little help over here."
"On the way back," Brian's voice replied. "We're coming in from the north and egressing to the west this time."
Chin watched helplessly as his tactical display showed all four of his anti-air assets a lethal red color. He no longer had the ability to fight off the Mosquitoes without dismounting some of his infantry troops. "Those bastards," he whispered to himself, shaking his head. He could not help however, feeling a sincere measure of respect for them.
He keyed up his radio link. "Van Pelt," he said, shouting over the sound of the guns on his command tank. "They've knocked out our SALs. Get some dismounts out with anti-air lasers as quick as you can. Those Mosquitoes will be coming back! They'll chew us up if we don't have something to swat them away with."
"Copy, boss," Van Pelt answered, his voice resigned. Chin understood. A perfect plan to catch the special forces team with their pants down had just gone to shit. By changing tactics they had forced him to take his soldiers out of their APCs and put them on the ground where they were most vulnerable.