Ad Astra - The Alagore War

AA V1 Alagore, Chapter 11

"Why are they throwing ice at us?" Barrios asked as he stared out the window.

Ryder quickly looked toward what the Sergeant was staring at. He saw an ice formation that was still growing from the impact base. "They're not throwing ice at us—the ice forms after impact. Make sense once you think about it. At the temperature, if you are consumed, it will act like liquid nitrogen. At best, your arm becomes an ice cube, and worse, you instantly die. And the bright one seemed to be some energy bomb."

"Boss," Barret said. "These attacks are too accurate to be suppressive fire. They must have a spotter."

"Too quick," Ryder said. "We have not been here long enough for them to deploy a proper recon mission. They had to be watching us longer."

"We could have missed a spotter when we took the city?" Barret said. "Remember that cat thing? One of them could be hiding on any of these rooftops the entire time."

"Possible."

The artillery strikes suddenly stopped, and the sound of small arms intensified. Seeing the rest of his team regroup by more fortified buildings, Ryder decided the three needed to leave their position or risk being cut off.

He does not know why they were recently ordered to abandon the city. Hackett made it clear that they needed to evacuate as many militias as possible to assist in the defense of Indolass, so they needed to hold out as long as they could. Based on the speed of the attack, the Comanche captain was not confident that they would be able to hold out for long.

"Barret and I will cover," Ryder said. "Barrios, you go first."

Ryder aimed his M31 around the building toward the northern hillside, Viking Team's formal position. He saw an entrenched enemy who captured the position before they could, giving them a deception. Firing a couple of rounds, he then ordered the Sergeant to advance.

Flechette from enemy snipers impacted all around, but he maintained his fire. Returning to cover, he checked himself to ensure he was alright. Outside a few marks, he saw no puncture and went back to providing covering fire.

Once Bruno Barrios reached the other side, Ryder took off as his Sergeant First Class provided cover. Flechette and energy bolts continued to impact the area around them, more indirect fire than proper targeting.

In front of him was a pile of rubble that led into a large building. He saw his fellow Comanches creating a position inside as everyone regrouped. Once inside, he stopped and began searching for his XO. Before he could move around the building, he was interrupted by Sergeant Eger Wallace's hand reaching out to him with something within it.

"Welcome to the joint boss," Wallace casually said as he kneeled on the ground. "Doesn't this remind you of Khartoum?"

Ryder gave the 'you have to be kidding me' stare, which only made the sergeant chuckle. Khartoum, a state in Sudan, was one of Comanche's first missions during the Nile War; they held out at some remote village against an Iranian Republican Guard armor column deep behind enemy lines for hours until help arrived.

"Expect for the lack of RIA armor, yes," Ryder replied.

"Still not the afternoon, boss," Wallace said joyfully. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. "Peppermint?"

This time, Ryder couldn't help but laugh in disbelief at the man's defiance of the present reality. "God damn it, Eger."

Taking the stick of gum, Ryder asked, "Where is Rommel?"

"In the other room coordinating with the other teams."

Hearing an explosion from the residential section of the city, the two looked out the window. They saw Verliance Aristocracy soldiers outside the window securing the previous street intersection. Three Comanche redirected their fire against the new hostiles.