EPTThere was another small hill just ahead and he made the best progress he could while keeping a keen eye for other creatures coming from the hive. He reached the top and the saw he was closer than he had expected. A large expanse of open ground that was dominated by creep lay before him. Overhead there were several overlords, their bulbous forms merely shadows with the sun behind them, their crab-like claws hanging limply and swaying gently.
With such open ground and the abundance of overlords surveying the area he would have to cloak and hope that his suit wasn't too damaged for him to make it across. 26831 took a firm grip of his rifle, took a deep breath and steeled himself before activating the cloak. He vanished from sight except for the stump of his arm which was only visible from below so he hoped the overlords above would not see. Then, he ran. He tried to bounce from cover to cover in case his cloak failed while still aiming for a small cluster of rocks ahead.
A screech overhead stopped him in his tracks and he looked up. A flock of mutalisks were directly above him, their leathery wings flapping furiously and their tubular, worm-like bodies bobbing up and down with the motion. They hadn't seen him, they were merely contesting their air space.
That's what he thought before they came straight at him.
* * * * *
“I want you to take a small infantry squad in and flank them. Use medivac group Mu and report directly back to me about any resistance along the way. Understood?”
“Sir, yes sir!” The Captain of the group saluted and his men followed suite before the Major dismissed them all.
“Remember, intelligence is what we need right now, not heroes, Captain.” Kalkar passed by the squad as they headed back for the drop zone where medivacs were constantly dropping reinforcements and transporting the injured back to the main base that was established several miles back. Kalkar and the Captain looked at each other momentarily and Kalkar saw the fear in the Captain's eyes. Before it could really register for Kalkar, the Major noticed him.
“Ah, Sergeant was it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Your men safe?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Now explain to me again what happened? I think we need to get some facts straightened out.” Something in the Major's voice made Kalkar uneasy. Kalkar looked for the Major's name but his armour was heavily scratched on it's chest and there was no sign of his name, just his rank.
“We were in our bunker and after a short break in the fighting there was a surge of banelings that destroyed our line.” Kalkar quickly paused for the Major to respond but he stayed silent for Kalkar to continue on. “I may have overstated the assaults size but it seemed like a full scale push. It seems that was because we bore the brunt of the damage.”
“Perhaps, Sergeant, but I got the impression you felt it was something more.” The Major looked out over the battle still raging in the distance. “Am I wrong?”
Kalkar did not want to admit that he had doubts about what had happened as he didn't want his fellow soldiers thinking he was a coward when he was merely being a realist about the situation. His mind raced as he tried to think of the most appropriate response, of what the Major would want to hear but he was struggling to think fast enough, fatigue setting in from the hours he had spent on the front line and carrying his comrades to the medical station.
“Well, Sergeant?” No more time to think.
“I do admit I was surprised with the brevity of the attack, sir, but I don't think it's because they felt they couldn't push through but more they are setting up a bigger assault.” The Major took a step closer to Kalkar.
“Do go on.”
“My guess, sir, is that they were weakening a small part of the line just enough that it makes it easier to punch through but not enough that we would feel the need to reinforce it. It makes sense with the strategies the Zerg often employ to constantly swarm one location until they run out of troops or they break through. Sir.” Kalkar stood silent as the Major processed what had been said.
“Have you taken any tactical training...”
“Kalkar, sir.”
“Kalkar.”
“No, sir.”
“Then what qualifies you to make such assessments of our immediate situation?”
“I have no qualifications of which to speak, sir.” A few more moments of contemplation.
“In that case I can't simply take your 'hunch' and make any tactical judgements with it.” Kalkar's heart tightened slightly. “If we were to waste resources reinforcing this location and you were wrong and they go ahead and attack elsewhere we would almost certainly lose ground and indeed this region. I have just sent Captain Marshall to scout the Western flank in case they are trying for an aerial assault of some kind and until I hear from him I cannot make an informed decision.”
“Of course.”
“I have to think about more than this small stretch, Sergeant. You understand.”
“Yes, sir. Completely.”
