Chapter 6

The morning after the first major deployment to UNL-465, Major James Hunter emerged from his shelter to greet the new day. His men had already prepared the map for the zone they would search today. As he approached the center of their encampment, a few men nodded to him.

Being in the Broderian Special Forces was like no other unit. When outsiders were present, they adhered to every rule of military courtesy but while working with each other, rank was put aside for experience. Hunter was a fair officer, having moved up the ranks from enlisted before enrolling in the officer program, he was one of the few men who understood both sides of the coin. He expected results from his men and they expected and received quality leadership from him.

He walked up to the team sensor tech and stood behind him as the unit fed information from the sensor net and orbiting satellites.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Negative." Was the reply, the tech said without turning around.

Hunter walked over and helped himself to breakfast. The rest of the team was loading the two all terrain scout vehicles. The vehicles had four, large, wide tires that displaced their weight evenly across almost any surface. Totally enclosed from the elements, they could carry four troopers and all their gear.

On the roof, various commo antennas, sensor transponders, and image enhancement devices, sprouted here and there. Inside, the four seats, two up front, driver and co-driver, two behind, sensor/commo tech, and weapons controller, were mounted individually and gyro-stabilized for each trooper to adjust the comfort level. Along the sides of the scouts, were large, heavily armored sliding doors, small, multi-purpose missile launchers, and a dual rail gun turret was mounted just above the front view screen.

Sergeant Hazard walked up beside Hunter as he stood watching the last minute preparations.

"Gotta love this weather sir." He said in way of greeting.

Hunter spooned a large mouthful, chewed, and swallowed, before responding.

"Roger that, Guns." He finished his breakfast and tossed the empty tray into the resource receptacle. The two men walked to the vehicles. Both inspected the exterior for any faults before returning to the center of the room for the briefing.

"Gentlemen. Our job today is to find out as much as we can from this planet. I want the sensor pods deployed every five klicks. Your sectors will be completed by 1700 and you will be back here no later than 1900." He paused to look around, "Record anything you find. If you deem it important enough, lock a sensor on it and contact me at the command APC." He looked back the men. "Any questions?" The men returned blank stares at him. He knew they understood the mission and they expected him to tell them their job. After all, redundancy was borne out of a military mind.

"Dismissed." The scout teams, for this operation, would not wear the full Broderian Armor, but rather a lighter more comfortable just out of R&D, one piece 'coverall' that still maintained ballistic integrity but more functional inside smaller vehicles, ran a system check and moved out eagerly.

Hunter walked down to the ground level where the command APC was located. A temporary barrier had been erected around the entrance of the building to prevent water from entering. One of the scouts roared past spraying water up as it moved to its assigned sector. Hunter entered the APC and took a seat at the command station. The multi function display he was looking at, told him weather formations, troops movements, ambient temperature, wind speed, precipitation level in the last twenty-four hours, speed of the scouts, and continuous feed from the now orbiting thirty satellites.

Onboard scout 21, the troopers had just deployed their fourth pod.

"Come right to heading 271." The sensor tech said over the inter-vehicle commo system.

"Copy that." As the driver made the correct adjustments.

The tech adjusted his scan for wide range, in that split second as the scope changed parameters; he caught a blip on the screen.

"All stop!" he yelled out. The vehicle slid to a stop almost slewing sideways on the slick road. He slowly swept the area as the rest of the team waited.

"Sorry. Thought I saw something." He said.

The driver started the scout forward. They would be a little behind schedule for the next pod deployment so the driver increased his speed. Moving almost recklessly over the wet terrain, the scout shot over a small embankment and landed with an immense spray of water and mud on the other side as all four wheels spun momentarily before propelling the vehicle forward. The vehicle rounded a corner and was stopped by a fast flowing current of water that covered the roadway in front of them. The tech scanned the area for an alternative route.

"We're going to have to retrace our steps." He said finally. "This river goes on for several klicks." The driver threw the vehicle into reverse and moved back to the embankment. He deftly turned the small scout around and began moving parallel to the flowing river.

Passing through older ruins and more collapsed buildings, the weather grew worse. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed as the team maneuvered past smaller bodies of standing water. A large lightning bolt struck the ground beside the vehicle, rocking it and making the electronics and interior illumination flicker. The four men looked at each other, not saying a word. Lightning began to crash down around them; some strikes close enough to leave scorch marks on the armored finish. The driver dodged the impacts and headed for a building. Driving through a hole in the wall and into the somewhat dry interior, he stopped the vehicle and let out a breath of relief.

"Notify base camp that the lightning storms are hazardous." He said as he regained his composure. The sensor/commo tech immediately started the task. The weps tech was doing a recalibration of his equipment when the ground began to tremble under the vehicle.

"What the hell?!" The co-driver slapped a switch, outside, outrigger arms deployed to stabilize the vehicle. Normally used when the drone launch system was installed. The trembling increased accompanied by a crackling sound. The troopers were shook up even in their gyro-stabilized seats. As one, they reached for the gimbal that was on the arm of each chair. Fingering that gimbal, the tension on the shoulder straps increased and sat them upright in the seat.

"Send a burst transmission to base!" the driver shouted over the increasing din.

"Give our position! Experiencing seismic activity!" he yelled.

"Sensors off line!" the tech yelled. "Resetting!" he shouted as he reached out and flipped the circuit breaker next to his panel.

"Commo system is out! All weapons off-line!" Weps reported. Abruptly the noise increased and the vehicle pitched forward. The co-driver fired out the emergency grapples to stop the forward movement. The grapples shot away from all sides of the vehicle and found purchase in the walls, ceiling, and floor of the old building.

The vehicle shook and shuddered until finally pitching backwards and falling into the deep crevasse that opened up beneath it. The cables held for several seconds before ripping entire sections of the walls and flooring into the crevasse with the small vehicle. The earthquake stopped as soon as the scout vehicle disappeared. Mud and water flowed into the large hole, filling it over. The rain continued to fall but the thunder diminished and the lightning stopped.

"Major Hunter. Scout 21 reports lightning and ground tremors in their sector." Hunter slid his chair along the track built into the floor until he was beside the commo tech.

"Lost transmission. Could be electrical interference from the storm."

"Keep trying." Hunter said as he slid back to his console. He called up that sector and reviewed the satellite data. Weather patterns looked a little rough, a localized storm front. Next, he keyed up the geological information. No reports of seismic activity. Very strange, he thought. He positioned his boom mike closer.

"Sgt. Hazard. Meet me at the entrance ramp." He said as he got up and moved to the hatch.

Outside, the rain was increasing, signaling the change of day. Hunter glanced at his wrist chrono as Hazard walked up to him.

"Sir?"

"Scout 21 has encountered a phenomenon in their sector." Hunter gazed out at the heavy rain.

"We've lost contact with them." He added.

Hazard nodded knowingly.

"So it's begun." He said flatly.