Jungle Warfare...
What you cannot see...can kill you...as a young Decepticon soldier is about to find out...
It came to me in a flash, like a raging tide of vision and emotion.
We were
deep within the jungles of Altair IV, my squad and I. Three fire times, one
commander and one radioman. I was squad leader for third squad, taking up
the rear. I could hear, distantly, the distinct thump of hand held missiles
leaving their tubes, and the incessant roar they made as they approached.
Alpha squad bought it first, they were standing on the ridge overlooking a
river valley as the first missile struck. I could see, through the haze and
heat the sight of their bodies writhing within the firestorm, jellied
gasoline burning through their armor and incinerating them alive. I could
hear myself yelling "Hit the deck!" almost as if I were listening to someone
else give the order. There was heavy comm chatter, shouts of "We're taking
fire!" "Bravo squad, we've been cut off, they're all around us!" filtered
through my aural receptors and were drowned out by the screams of terror and
agony that rode the air like wraiths. Sergeant D. rose to unleash a volley
of flechette rouns in the approximate direction of the enemy, when a sniper
bullet pierced his shoulder, then his right temple, then his neck. Fluids,
dark and red rode forth from the gaping wounds in his external armor,
spilling down on me and blinding my sight. His lifeless body crumpled upon
me just as the enemy overrode our position. I waited, stock-still as they
walked slowly around the bodies of my fallen comrades. I held a breath for
what seemed like a lifetime as they milled about the corpses of my friends,
and all I could see was their faces, and the burning red symbol that adorned
their bodies.
Autobots.
"They're all dead."
"I wouldn't be so sure, intelligence reported there was a full platoon.
That makes eleven soldiers. I only counted 8 bodies."
I could see the one pushing his thin finger into the others shoulder. "You only saw 8 bodies because that's all that was left. I'm sure if we
looked we could find the parts for the other three. Now let's move out, the
area is secured."
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