wicked.
‘You
heard him, boys! Let’s go!’
#
The
Light Support Vehicles were anything but light, I realised. The largest ground
based vehicle we used in drops was the support buggy, which was nothing more
than a means to ferry kit and casualties to and from the frontline in the
absence of the dropships themselves. Even that had to be partially disassembled
in order for it to fit into the tiny crew compartments. But the LSVs were massive,
truck-sized vehicles laden with weapons and armour. Strangely windowless, I
quickly realised that they were unmanned.
‘They’re
robots?’ I wondered aloud.
The
rest of the section ignored my question as we approached the row of vehicles
close to the entrance to Eindhoven, but Jackson nodded excitedly, ‘Yeah. We can
control them directly by remote, though. We’ve used them a couple of times in
the city. Beats walking!’
‘Fair
one.’
‘Wait
till they get going, you ain’t seen nothing yet!’
Before
I had a chance to board the waiting LSV with the rest of my section, the
platoon commander grabbed me by the arm, pulling me to one side. He glared at
me, ‘You argue with my commanders again, and I’ll have you up on a charge. Do
you understand me?’
I
nodded. There was nothing else I could do but agree, ‘Yes, Sir.’
He
wasn’t finished, ‘I don’t care how good you may think you are, Moralee,
here you obey my rules, and you respect my men.’
‘Sir.’
‘Good.
Now get on the vehicles, and hurry up!’
My
cheeks burning red with embarrassment, and my body trembling with rage, I
jogged over to my waiting vehicle. The section were loading in reverse order so
that they could exit the vehicle in the correct order of march, and so they had
been waiting for me, watching me getting a telling off from their boss.
‘Off
to a good start I see,’ Geany sneered as I boarded, ‘Maybe we’ll see what
you’re really made of today, Corporal !’
My
blood boiled. Fucking bell ends , I thought in fury , I’m in a platoon
of fucking bell ends.
Fortunately
I was sat at the very rear of the crew compartment in order for me to ensure
that everybody exited at the other end, plus I had Patterson sat across from me
and Jackson to the side of me. Jackson seemed alright, although he was a little
over-energetic and Patterson was a crow, so unless he did something stupid or
asked a ridiculous question, he wouldn’t cause me any bother. I needed time and
space to calm down.
Sensing
my anger, Jackson gave me a calming tap on the arm as he took his seat beside
me. As a mammoth gunner, he had probably served as long as I had, but Jackson
clearly wasn’t bothered by my early promotion. He struck me as a friendly
trooper who didn’t care for seniority, just like my old friend Climo, and I
made a conscious decision to nurture that attitude.
‘ Door
closing ,’ a computerised voice told me through my respirator headset, and
sure enough the rear ramp to the LSV raised and sealed itself with a thud, ‘ Exchanging
atmosphere .’
I
could get used to this, I thought. The compartment was spacious and the
seats were comfortable. I enjoyed the cool rush of air against my neck as the
toxic atmosphere was quickly exchanged for something we could safely breathe.
‘Exchange
complete. Initialising visual feed.’
My
visor display flickered, and then suddenly the compartment became transparent.
I gasped, it was as though we were simply sat in a large open topped trailer,
looking out at the vehicle park.
‘Shit
the bed…’ I whispered to myself. Patterson looked similarly surprised.
Jackson
gave me a nudge, ‘Mad, ain’t it? These things are mega! Don’t let the wheels
fool you!’
‘Thank
God they don’t have this in the dropships,’ I said, ‘Blokes would be puking all
over the shop!’
‘Bet
you were anyway, weren’t you, back then?’
I
chuckled at the memory, ‘My mate did.’ A hard drop onto a hostile surface from
orbit was stomach churning. Some troopers had even
‘You
heard him, boys! Let’s go!’
#
The
Light Support Vehicles were anything but light, I realised. The largest ground
based vehicle we used in drops was the support buggy, which was nothing more
than a means to ferry kit and casualties to and from the frontline in the
absence of the dropships themselves. Even that had to be partially disassembled
in order for it to fit into the tiny crew compartments. But the LSVs were massive,
truck-sized vehicles laden with weapons and armour. Strangely windowless, I
quickly realised that they were unmanned.
‘They’re
robots?’ I wondered aloud.
The
rest of the section ignored my question as we approached the row of vehicles
close to the entrance to Eindhoven, but Jackson nodded excitedly, ‘Yeah. We can
control them directly by remote, though. We’ve used them a couple of times in
the city. Beats walking!’
‘Fair
one.’
‘Wait
till they get going, you ain’t seen nothing yet!’
Before
I had a chance to board the waiting LSV with the rest of my section, the
platoon commander grabbed me by the arm, pulling me to one side. He glared at
me, ‘You argue with my commanders again, and I’ll have you up on a charge. Do
you understand me?’
I
nodded. There was nothing else I could do but agree, ‘Yes, Sir.’
He
wasn’t finished, ‘I don’t care how good you may think you are, Moralee,
here you obey my rules, and you respect my men.’
‘Sir.’
‘Good.
Now get on the vehicles, and hurry up!’
My
cheeks burning red with embarrassment, and my body trembling with rage, I
jogged over to my waiting vehicle. The section were loading in reverse order so
that they could exit the vehicle in the correct order of march, and so they had
been waiting for me, watching me getting a telling off from their boss.
‘Off
to a good start I see,’ Geany sneered as I boarded, ‘Maybe we’ll see what
you’re really made of today, Corporal !’
My
blood boiled. Fucking bell ends , I thought in fury , I’m in a platoon
of fucking bell ends.
Fortunately
I was sat at the very rear of the crew compartment in order for me to ensure
that everybody exited at the other end, plus I had Patterson sat across from me
and Jackson to the side of me. Jackson seemed alright, although he was a little
over-energetic and Patterson was a crow, so unless he did something stupid or
asked a ridiculous question, he wouldn’t cause me any bother. I needed time and
space to calm down.
Sensing
my anger, Jackson gave me a calming tap on the arm as he took his seat beside
me. As a mammoth gunner, he had probably served as long as I had, but Jackson
clearly wasn’t bothered by my early promotion. He struck me as a friendly
trooper who didn’t care for seniority, just like my old friend Climo, and I
made a conscious decision to nurture that attitude.
‘ Door
closing ,’ a computerised voice told me through my respirator headset, and
sure enough the rear ramp to the LSV raised and sealed itself with a thud, ‘ Exchanging
atmosphere .’
I
could get used to this, I thought. The compartment was spacious and the
seats were comfortable. I enjoyed the cool rush of air against my neck as the
toxic atmosphere was quickly exchanged for something we could safely breathe.
‘Exchange
complete. Initialising visual feed.’
My
visor display flickered, and then suddenly the compartment became transparent.
I gasped, it was as though we were simply sat in a large open topped trailer,
looking out at the vehicle park.
‘Shit
the bed…’ I whispered to myself. Patterson looked similarly surprised.
Jackson
gave me a nudge, ‘Mad, ain’t it? These things are mega! Don’t let the wheels
fool you!’
‘Thank
God they don’t have this in the dropships,’ I said, ‘Blokes would be puking all
over the shop!’
‘Bet
you were anyway, weren’t you, back then?’
I
chuckled at the memory, ‘My mate did.’ A hard drop onto a hostile surface from
orbit was stomach churning. Some troopers had even
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