The Republic of One [backpost]

Posted on Tue Nov 10th, 2020 @ 5:15pm by Lieutenant Finchley Kerr
Edited on on Tue Nov 10th, 2020 @ 5:17pm

Mission: Trial by Fire
Location: Synova Prime
Timeline: Current.

***One year prior to arrival on USS Chuck Norris***

[Synova Prime, Insertion Team One, Purple Squad]

"Oh my God!" Finchley called out, "there's more coming, left flank, covering fire...now!!!"

Two of the squad left the line and took up a position just inside the wall line. "I can't see anyone" one called out, cautiously rising up to get a better look. "They must be..." but that's all she got to say before the side of her head exploded, blood, splintered bone and brains matter spraying her comrade and Finchley.

The second soldier of the two blinked several time in shock before he convulsed, wretched and then threw up. Finchley grabbed him by the back of his collar and slammed him into the wall "This isn't the time to revisit your breakfast, get your shit together and give covering fire, now!!!"

The second soldier fumbled with his rifle and finally looked through the sight "I can't see anyone, how am I supposed to fire at something I can't see???"

"What..." Finchley replied quickly, "do you think they're just going to pop their heads up like moles coming out the ground and invite you to fire? Use your sight, look for movement and if you see any, fire at it, you got it?"

The soldier looked at Finchley, more frightened of him now than he was at the unseen attackers. He scrambled to a more upright position and took up a firing stance, careful not to raise his head as much as his fallen comrade had done moments before.

Finchley got on the radio "Dara, this is Green Wing, we have a situation...Bergen is not, I repeat, NOT, yet safe, we've been compromised. Team two has the ball, team one is still in play covering the base...what are your orders?"

There was what felt like an eternal silence, then a message came back "Green Wing, this is Dara. Team two have Bergen and are nearly safe, I say again, team two have Bergen and are nearly safe."

All around Finchley's team, explosions were now reigning in a living hell and he leaned in close to the communicator "Dara, this is Green Wing, permission to pull Purple Squad and the rest of team one out and rendezvous with team two!"

"Green Wing, this is Dara" the reply came back "negative...you're now the republic of one..."

Finchley stared at the communicator "Say again Dara repeat last message."

"Green Wing, this is Dara, I repeat, negative, you're now the republic of one, Dara out..." the reply came back.

Rage built inside Finchley till finally he shouted "BASTARDS!!!! Dara, we're going to get out of this hell hole and when we do I'm going to hunt you down and kill you for this, mark my words" and he threw the communicator back in the pack.

"What did they say Sir?" the soldier at the wall asked.

"We're the republic of one" Finchley replied, setting his jaw tight.

"I don't know what that means Sir" the soldier replied.

"It means soldier, we've been sacrificed to ensure team two complete the mission, we're expendable" Finchley replied "we're already dead to them."

He looked around the remaining members of his team, one by one, and in grim determination said "Dara doesn't know Purple Squad or the rest of team one though, but they will, mark my words, by all that's fucking holy they will..."

Taking out the small PADD with the contour map on it, Finchley made a couple of quick calculations.

"Right, eyes and ears open for the attackers. but half an ear on me" Finchley said "We're about ten 'k' from the pick up zone, team two will be there in less than an hour. I don't know about any of you, but I'll be damned if we're just going to lie down and die. Dara might have abandoned us, but we still have a chance to get out of this alive, but it's not going to be easy. I have a plan, it's a fifty fifty chance we'll make, but it means sacrificing a few so the rest of us can make a run for it."

The sounds of discontent sounded out as the soldiers mumbled about who would stay and fight who would try to make it to the pick up zone.

A voice from the background said "Sir...I'll stay...my legs shattered and I can't move by myself so I'd only slow you down."

Finchley looked down to see the young volunteer who'd spoken. It was Hazelmen, the electronics specialist. His leg was indeed a mess, bone splinters stuck our from a gapping wound just under his knee. Finchley nodded quickly, and looked around "That's one, I need one more."

"I'll stay Sir" another voice said. Finchley looked round to see it was the soldier who was against the wall, the one he'd chastised earlier for throwing up.

"Are you injured soldier?" Finchley asked.

"No Sir, but my reason for living is now dead.." he replied, looking down that the corpse of the woman who had been killed earlier "and someone has to make these bastards pay for what they've done, that someone's me!"

Finchley nodded again. He looked round the rest of the squad "Right, we're traveling light, so drop everything you don't need, all you're taking is your rifle and and mags, knives, a few mines...but that's it!"

Minutes later, the remains of team one, including Purple Squad, were ready.

Finchley pulled them all together on the far side of the area they were in. Signalling the two remaining soldiers to lay down fire, as soon as they did, team one made a break for it.

Finchley yelled for them to keep running. The suppressing fire from the soldiers had done the trick, and team one broke into the trees and were now running for their lives. Behind them, the firing continued, it looked like their plan was succeeding. The the firing stopped, and the screaming started...

The high pitched screams, even at the break neck speed Finchley was crashing though the trees at, made his skin crawl. The screams turned to begging for mercy before the screaming returned, but team one kept running "Don't...stop...keep...running!!!" Finchley called out, but even he knew that their attackers would now be hunting them through the trees.

Finchley stopped, turned and yelled "Form a skirmish line, kneeling!"

Team one stopped in it's tracks, turned, formed a line, knelt and waited. Sure enough, within a minute the attackers came blundering through the tree line facing them .

"STAND...FIRE!" Finchley yelled. Team one all stood and fired volley after volley into the oncoming attackers and watched as they fell. Finchley screeched and ran forward, placing his rifle muzzle against the head of any attacker he found and firing point blank. The rest of team one followed suit, all of them making sure none of the attackers lived.

Finally, standing stooped, breath coming in short gasps, Finchley looked around him "Is everyone...ok?" he asked.

The affirmatives came back, so Finchley forced himself upright and turned back to the way they'd been going. Stumbling forward he said "Right, let's go."

It took a superhuman effort, but team one finally made the pick up zone, just as the last of team two entered their craft.

"Hold up, team one coming in..." Finchley called out.

Suddenly team two swarmed back out of the craft and took aim at Finchley and team one. "How did you make it?" their team leader called out "we were told you were classed as the republic of one!"

"That's the thing about being a republic..." Finchley replied, slowly walking up to the team two leader "we live by our own rules. Now get my team onboard, I have an appointment to keep!"

The team two leader put his hand on Finchley's shoulder as he was about to pass by "Dara's gone Green Wing, forget them, just make sure your teams ok."

Finchley looked askant at the hand on his shoulder as he said "I won't forget, my time will come, that bastard Dara will pay for what they did to team one...to my squad, I will make sure of it."

Both teams climbed onboard the craft and were soon heading up and away from Synova Prime. Finchley swore then that he'd make Dara pay...and he was going to keep his word.