Air Drop.

Kjaran

Kjaran slammed himself against the rock wall as bullets whipped passed and ricocheted off the loose rubble where he had until recently been taking cover.

“Ana, have you managed to get through yet? It’s getting a bit too warm for comfort around here”.

“Alpha control, this is Alpha one niner, we are pinned down at grid; figures 5165 6734. Multiple hostiles are advancing on our position. We are running low on payback and request immediate extraction; Over” shouted Ana into the microphone of her radio set.

“Alpha one niner, this is Alpha control, negative on extraction, supplies in bound; Out” was the rather curt reply.

“Sorry Sarge, we’re stuck here but control is sending supplies” Shouted Ana.

“Supplies!? What the hell do they mean by supplies!?” was the rather bemused response from Kjaran.

Kjaran ducked down as he saw a Bohkin with a heavy machine gun aim in his direction and fire. A steady stream of heavy calibre rounds slammed into the rock and ground nearby, kicking up great plumes of dust and debris. Nearby there was a curse as Sven took a hit on his shoulder plate and was knocked to the ground; fortunately he was saved from harm by his trusty armour and he climbed to his feet and returned fire. The Bohkin were massing nearby and appeared to be happy taking pot-shots at the Grymn patrol for now. They hadn’t started to close in but seemed to be building up for a push in the near future.

The Grymn patrol was made up of five heavy infantry with an attached sniper. They were armed with extremely effective weapons but were being pinned down as a result of the high level of incoming Bohkin fire. Kjaran was the sergeant in charge and had made sure that all his troops had conserved their ammunition as much as they could but they were beginning to run low and were now getting to a point where they needed some help. They were stuck and things were beginning to look very uncertain for them.

Kjaran was beginning to plan a desperate dash to freedom for his troops, when he noticed the sound of grav motors nearby. He looked to his right and caught sight of a Grymn fast transport flying low over the rough terrain. As it roared towards them, three large pallets fell from the back and hit the ground heavily in a shower of dust.

“Fething hell!” shouted Kjaran as the transport flew over head and disappeared “they’ve dropped the supplies too far away!”

Kjaran was furious. He watched as some of the Bohkin broke off from the attack and started running towards the supplies. His desperate dash for freedom was starting to look like the only option for his troops now.

Suddenly there was a grinding crunch from the supply crates and Kjaran looked towards them. The sides had fallen away and they appeared to be getting taller. Kjaran grabbed his monocular and watched as the contents of the crates began to unfold. First they grew legs; then, what appeared to be a cockpit came into view.

“Sarge! “ shouted Ana “We’re getting comms chat from the supplies and they want to speak to you.”

Kjaran kept low and dashed over to Ana and grabbed the handset...

“this is Alpha one niner leader; send message; Over.” He said as bullets whipped up the dust where he had just been running.

A metallic voice replied:

“Alpha one niner leader; this is Eagle two. It’s good to hear you are breathing; we’ll be joining you shortly; Out!”

Kjaran turned to Ana with a questioning look and she just shrugged her shoulders. Neither had ever heard of call-sign Eagle before. But whatever it was, appeared to be their only hope for survival at this moment in time so Kjaran was happy for any help he could get...no matter where it came from.

Kjaran ducked again as incoming rounds whizzed passed him. He shouted to his troops to start giving more aggressive return fire as supplies had arrived so they could afford to be a little less frugal. He popped his head above cover and fired his pulse gun; punching a fist sized hole through a Bohkin. He was about to fire again when the sound of heavy weapon fire caught his attention and he glanced towards it. Where the supplies had landed there was a great deal of confusion. Bohkin were running away from the area, amidst the sound of anti-personnel rockets and chain-gun fire. Kjaran watched as bodies began to fly into the air as the rockets found their mark, and other Bohkin were being shredded by the concentrated fire from a chain-gun. Amidst the carnage, three metal giants strode; firing in all directions as they moved towards the Grymn position. Of the Bohkin that had gone to investigate the crates, none remained whole.

The Bohkin fire lessened and Kjaran dared to peer above his cover to see what was happening in the Bohkin position. One of the larger Bohkin appeared to be shouting at a smaller one who was pointing at the metal giant’s approach. A number of other Bohkin were looking rather frightened and were fidgeting rather uncontrollably. Kjaran saw his opportunity and with a shout of “Rapid Fire!!” let loose a stream of pulse rounds, felling the confused aliens in their droves. The other Grymn followed suit and the Bohkin began to take better cover and snap out of their bemused state for long enough to return fire. Although there was dissention in the enemy ranks, they still remained fairly effective.

Suddenly the Bohkin position erupted in a huge series of explosions. Kjaran and his patrol flattened themselves against the ground as debris began to fall all around them. The whine of chain-guns could be heard above the din as the multiple impacts found their marks amongst the soft bodies of the Bohkin. After what seemed an age, the noise lessened and ceased. The Grymn patrol remained flat against the ground for a short while and listened for movement. Kjaran was startled by a tap on the shoulder and rolled quickly to bring his weapon to bear. He looked straight into the face of an impeccably dressed Grymn in a jet black flight-suit and helmet.

“Sorry about the delay sergeant, we couldn’t leave until we’d toasted the mission...and we’d run out of mead” said the newcomer as he proffered his hand towards Kjaran; who grasped it and was helped to his feet.

“Sorry, sir...but I don’t recognise your unit” replied a quizzical looking Kjaran.

“That’s alright sergeant...it doesn’t exist” said the newcomer, who winked as he passed a small satchel towards Kjaran.

“What’s this?” asked Kjaran.

“Your supplies of course, sergeant” The officer replied with a smile. He then turned on his heels and walked away.

Kjaran looked into the satchel and found five small pulse-gun power packs and a box of 20 sniper rounds. He looked over towards the officer who was nimbly climbing into the cockpit of an armoured walking machine with various heavy weapons mounted on it. It was painted in matt jet black and had a gloss black eagle, with spread wings, emblazoned across the front. He then looked towards the Bohkin position and could see that it had been completely and utterly obliterated. He returned his glance towards the armoured walker as it raised itself up from the crouched position it had been in, to allow the officer to climb in, and steadied itself on sturdy, armoured legs. From the cockpit the officer could be seen to flip down a monocle and flick some overhead switches before he glanced a look at Kjaran, grinned broadly and looked to his front, before firing up the motors and striding off; closely followed by two other walkers.

The Grymn patrol was left in stunned silence; staring after the walkers as they disappeared into the distance.

“What the hell was that?” asked Ana.

“That” said Kjaran “was a delivery of supplies” and he handed each of his troops the single re-loads that had been delivered.

“Humph!” said Sven “they could have brought some chocolate!”