April 18th, 2006
0720 Hours
Southwestern Equestria, ahead of Papa Line, near Vanhoover
“I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.”
“The Godfather, come on man you think I wouldn't know that one?” Roycewicz answered. “What do you take me for, huh?”
“I don't know what you did and didn't get up there, man,” replied Chaffin from the gunner’s seat. “Hell I'd be surprised if you got any movies at St. Paul.”
“Hey, you hearing this San? This guy is taking me for an uncultured caveman!”
Sergeant Diego groaned irritability from the back of the LAV. His form stretched awkwardly over the metal bench that would normally seat passengers, but for now acted as his makeshift bed for a nap. The blouse of his uniform was folded neatly and put to use as a thin pillow, though there was nothing to protect him from his crew’s little game.
“Rice, unless you want to volunteer to take my shift tonight, you better let me sleep.”
A small portion of the First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, along with part of the Fifth Marines, had been alone in the wooded area for two days now. The group was enacting field exercises and practice with self-sustainability in the relative wilderness of the area. In between this were bouts of enjoyment as the men got away from the city of Las Pegasus far back to the east. Diego, and many others, were enjoying the trip, though military matters were still enacted which in his case stole his sleep.
“Alright, let me think of one,” the driver continued. “Hm… aha! ‘You fools! You’re in danger! They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!’”
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
“Shit I was hoping you hadn’t seen that old one.”
“How about… shit, how’d it go? ‘Nothing is over! Nothing! You don’t just turn it off! It wasn’t my war! You asked me, I didn’t ask you! And I did what I had to do to win, but somebody wouldn’t let us win!”
“That's First Blood, man that movie was awesome.”
“Hell yeah it was,” agreed Chaffin. “Remember, ‘You’re not hunting him!’”
“‘He’s hunting you!’”
“That was the shit man.”
“Boy was it… I got one, I think-”
Roycewicz was interrupted by an outburst of noise from the radio, which was usually quiet at this time.
“Huh? Hey Sergeant!”
“What,” Diego grumbled, not bothering to look up.
“Radio’s going crazy.”
“Shit, what now?”
“Hey! Hey!” a panicked marine called out, bursting through the woods and across the open to the campsite as Chaffin watched from the turret, popping out to greet him.
“Whoa, slow down! What's going on?” Chaffin questioned, as the rifleman came to a halt.
“Shooting! Someone's shooting at us!” he exclaimed. “Don't know who, squad’s right behind me though!”
Before Chaffin could question him further, a long string of metallic clangs impacted along the side of his LAV. He instinctively ducked back inside as bullets ricocheted off the armor. The noise quickly stirred his two companions to action, with the sounds breaking the peace of the forest.
“Hey! Friendly! Blue on blue!” Chaffin yelled as loud as his voice permitted, believing the shooters to be another group of marines. “Cease fucking fire! We’re American! Stop shooting you dumbasses!”
Contrary to his demands, the rate of fire increased as a firefight developed around the campsite.
“They can't be friendlies!” Diego shouted as he pushed to the front. “Rice, crank this thing up! Chaff get on the radio and tell everyone we're under attack.”
The Sergeant gingerly moved up from his spot to reach the machine gun mounted on the turret. The skirmish developed around the campsite, with scattered marines yelling in confusion to one another and firing in the general direction of the enemy. Two marines were taking cover next to the LAV and, using them as reference, Diego was able to orient the gun in the proper direction. He let out several long bursts into the foliage of the forest, causing a notable dampening of fire from the unknown assailants.
In spite of some small arms rounds continuing to impact the side of the LAV, the Sergeant retained his position, acting as the involuntary covering force for the infantry. The marines, confused and improvising but aggressive as they always were, began to counterattack the aggressors, flanking around both sides as the LAV commander sprayed the woods with bullets. Occasionally Diego would spot a muzzle flash and direct his attention towards it, but he never directly saw if he killed anything.
The distinct sounds of the American’s weapons spread out among the woods and slowly decreased. Diego reduced his firing, knowing the riflemen were closing in, and as such did not want to hit them. Eventually the call of ‘all clear’ went out; the entire engagement was rather short, lasting no more than three minutes. Having not planned to be ambushed, Roycewicz only now was able to get the vehicle running.
“You guys stay put, I'm going to find out what the fuck’s going on.”
Diego pulled himself out of the LAV and onto the deck before jumping down the the ground below. He moved timidly, not sure if there were further enemies hiding and waiting to pick off an unsuspecting marine, though the infantrymen around him seemed to have calmed and were on lookout. He made his way to a clearing, where a group of them was gathering around a corpse, lying face down in the dust and dirt.
“Hey!” the Sergeant Kalway of the infantry squad called to him. “Thanks for the suppressing fire back there.”
“What the Hell is going on?”
“We got jumped by these guys and fell back to your position.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all I know, I don’t know anything beyond that.”
“Not even who shot at you?”
“We were about to find that out,” Kalway responded. “Leahy, flip that thing over.”
Though they could tell by the form of the body, the men still held their breath for the final confirmation of their enemy's face. The marine private turned the corpse over cautiously, taking care in case their victim was still alive. Once he did so they were greeted by their foe, through the camouflaged uniform and equipment, with the dead, full blue eyes and black skin of a Changeling.
“Oh damn it!” the infantry Sergeant exclaimed as he looked over the body. “Son of a bitch!”
“Bug, I fucking knew it,” a nearby corporal added.
“That's a Changeling para,” the private observed as he went over the corpse. “Real Changelings… not some spies or anything, they're army. Crack troops.”
“You're telling me, Leahy.”
“Real Changelings? What does that mean?” Diego asked. “What are they doing here?”
“I wish I knew, Sergeant,” Kalway replied.
“Why would they be here? You think-”
“I do, but I really fucking hope not.”
“You think they're invading, Sir?” the Corporal asked, being the first to say what the two sergeants were theorizing.
“Maybe, I don't know. Maybe that or this is just some fucked up accident,” answered the squad’s sergeant. “Either way Jim, we are seriously fucking overmatched here. These are expert soldiers and they caught us with our pants down. And we don't know what the fuck else is going on.”
“If it's an invasion… shit we need to get back together with the main force,” Diego realized.
“Yeah, we can't stay here in the dark. What about the rest of the guys?”
“Get your guys together and mount up. Let's go link up with them.”
After ensuring there was nothing useful on the fallen Changelings, the infantry packed up what they had and followed the Staff Sergeant back to his LAV, filing into the back.
“Who was shooting at us?” Chaffin questioned him as he put his blouse on.
“Changelings. Paratroopers. We need to meet up with the rest of the unit.”
“They’re already ahead of us. Finally got in touch with them on the radio while you were away, told us where to link up with them. They didn’t tell us anything beyond that.”
“Rice, get us moving,” Diego ordered, picking up the radio himself. “This is Aegir 2-3, Aegir 2 Actual. If you hear us we came under fire from hostiles but we took care of them. We’ll try not to attract any more. We are oscar mike to your position and will maintain radio silence until we arrive, out.”
The armored vehicle moved out, leaving the battle in a cloud of dust. It followed a trail through the woods towards the rally point, moving at a cautious pace and keeping watchful for any more Changelings that could be hiding in the woods. The trip was spent in total silence, with no words spoken as they passed through. The first noise was a relaxing sigh from the Staff Sergeant as they finally came upon the collection of marines, with the other LAVs of the platoon waiting in a line along the dirt road.
“Stop just behind them driver,” Diego ordered as the LAV came to a halt at the rear of the line. “You guys stay here and be ready to move. I'm going to head up front and see what's happening.”
He dismounted along with the infantry they carried here and followed them up the path. The other LAVs of the unit were holding under the cover of the woods on the shallow reverse of the hill they were on. Among them was a number of anxious marine infantrymen, each holding serious looks of concern. As he passed the leading LAV, he came upon the hill’s small summit and the clearing of the forest, overlooking a horrific scene in the valley below.
The clearing greeted the men with a great number of paratroopers either falling or setting up in the valley. Their encampments of supplies and equipment, sandbags and other miscellaneous necessities, covered the valley floor among the brown and green. Up above the sky was dotted with lumbering transport aircraft and descending parachutes, some carrying armored vehicles, others canisters and boxes. From some of the planes came swarms of Changeling troops that buzzed to the ground, while some had parachutes for an indiscernible reason to the men. One of the transports passed low over their position, giving a clear look to the identity.
“Oh my God! Look at all those transports!” exclaimed one of the riflemen. “Holy fucking shit! You’re shitting me!”
“This is really it, this is an invasion,” Diego added, seeing the commanders of the infantry unit and his own LAV company speaking to each-other while observing the area. “Captain Taggert Sir!”
“Morning Staff Sergeant. I’m glad you could make it,” Taggert answered. “Was just talking with Colonel Tang. We’re about to step off.”
“Step off?”
“Wait, we’re going down there?” Kalway asked in disbelief.
“Of course we are, Sergeant! There’s a war on now and we’ve got to fight it!” Tang responded.
“Yes Sir, I understand but there’s way more of them than us, and we’re alone out here with no support.”
“I’m with you on that,” Diego added. “Sorry Colonel, but out in the open like that? We won’t last long.”
“We are not going to sit here Sergeants, is that understood!?”
“Staff Sergeant, you see that little bridge at the edge of the valley?” Captain Taggert asked, handing San his binoculars. “That’s why we need to do it. You remember who else is in this area?”
“I’m sorry, Sir, I don’t.”
“Part of the Royal Australian Regiment. They’re a ways off but that’s their way back.”
“The Australians? Do we have contact with them? We even know if they’re trying to pull back or moving up to the border?”
“The point is that the bridge over there is along their only route back to our lines,” Tang interrupted, pointing out towards it. “If the enemy controls it they’ll be cut off and wiped out.”
“Shit, do we even know if they’re still there to begin with?” Kalway added.
“That’s enough questions Sergeant! Get your men together, we’re all going down there!”
“Diego listen, I’m going to take most of the victors off to the right and leave a couple in the middle to support the infantry. The ground boys are going to be all going up the middle through that enemy camp,” Taggert described as he pulled the platoon sergeant to the side. ‘Your platoon is going left, into that open field. Engage any hostiles there and support the push but don’t get in their way and don’t outrun them. Take it nice and slow and support the line of advance. I haven’t heard from Lieutenant Edmund so you’re in charge; for now you’re Aegir Two Actual. Felder’s LAV is going to be attached so you’ll have a full four. Ooah?”
“Ooah Captain- shit we can’t really do this can we?”
“They’re paratroopers; they have to assemble their troops and supplies first. They may outnumber us but if we hit now while they’re organizing we’ll have the upper hand. It’s the only time we will. Get to-”
“Men, fall in and prepare to move!” Tang shouted.
Diego left the officers, sprinting back to the end of the line past the rest of the marines.
“Hey San, what’s happening?” Chaffin questioned as his commander as he reboarded the vehicle. “Heard there was a shitton of Bugs ahead of us.”
“Yeah, we gotta take them out.”
“Really huh? Figures.”
“We’re gonna shift left and support the infantry as they advance. No going too far ahead; we can’t afford to get seperated.”
“That’s the plan they came up with huh?” Rice asked rhetorically, unable to develop anything better himself.
“Yeah, let’s get going. Driver, move forward.”
“Yes Sir, moving out.”
“We can’t go through them. No way, no how,” Chaffin added.
“Get ready to shoot, Chaff.”
The marine infantry moved first, running down the hill and trying to close the distance before the battle began. Incredibly, though the few Changeling sentries noticed, they seemed stunned and confused on what to do, not expecting any forces in the area they had selected for a drop and assembly zone. The shock quickly wore off, and individual soldiers began to fire their weapons, forcing some of the charging grunts to take cover where they could behind boulders and wooden fences. Some reached the small stone wall running along the dirt road, where they halted and began to fire at the paratroopers as the Changelings scrambled to get their guns and organize a defence.
A few marine machine gunners and snipers that had been left back on the slope of the hill for support began to fire down at their enemy. The armored vehicles rolled past them one by one, with Diego’s being the last to go by virtue of positioning. The LAVs peeled off left or right depending on their individual assignment and formed up. Already they began to blaze away with their cannons, taking apart the Changeling positions.
“Gunner, target! Enemy troops near that field gun! Far right at three o’clock!” Diego called out.
“I got them!”
“Engage with the coax!”
The armored vehicle’s turret-mounted machine gun opened fire, sending bullets tearing into the unassembled weapon emplacement and ricocheting off the metal gun.
“Aegir Actual to all units, form line,” Diego ordered over the radio, with the LAVs in his platoon forming a line parallel to his. “Okay, all units advance slowly through the field. Engage any hostiles you see. Be ready to stop when I say; we can’t outrun our infantry.”
The LAVs began to roll forward at a snail’s pace, methodically firing at any movement ahead of them. The slow movement did make it easier for the gunners to maintain accuracy, and the cannons and machine guns of the vehicles tore apart the elite Changelings bit by bit. Without having the time to assemble, there was little they could do against the marines except battle the infantry, which they took to with great determination and desperation.
Here and there, Changelings were cut down by small arms fire. Any that ventured into the open ground were quickly cut down by the LAVs. Most stayed in their camp where they could find cover, doing battle with the American rifleman. In spite of the disadvantage, the paratroopers did not break and run, or even retreat. They were still dangerous and steadfast troops, and amongst the battlefield individual marines began to fall dead or injured to their opponent’s fire.
“Gunner, target! Enemy fire team behind that wall!” Diego yelled. “Use the cannon, take the cover apart!”
“Engaging!” shouted Chaffin.
The Bushmaster cannon shot its 25mm rounds with a heavy thumping sound. The shells erupted in small explosions, breaking apart the rocks that made up the wall. The Changelings behind it suffered as well, being struck by the fragments or the shock from the barrage. At least one took the full brunt of several shells and had parts of his body bloodily torn off, killing him and leaving the green blood to mix with the grass and the camouflage of his uniform. The remainder were wounded, with another trying to crawl away, wings buzzing inefficiently, before giving up and writhing on the ground until he passed out.
“Drive! Halt!” commanded the Staff Sergeant, upon seeing the marine grunts stop. “Aegir Actual to all units, halt!”
“We’re stopped, San!” Roycewicz announced.
“Scanning for targets,” Chaffin added.
“Enemy IFV spotted!” warned the LAV farthest down the line. “Counterattack incoming!”
A Changeling BMD raced bravely from the left flank, not daring to stop to give the marines a stationary target. Despite the speed, the gunner of the vehicle scored a hit on the farthest LAV with his first shot. The cannon round penetrated the front armor and found the ammunition storage, destroying the LAV in its entirety. The remaining three all targeted the BMD, and after a barrage of high-explosives it came to a halt. One of the LAVs switched to armor-piercing rounds and continued to assail the BMD until it caught fire, after which the line of armored vehicles began to advance again alongside the infantry.
“Three-Four is down,” Diego murmured. “Shit, that was Jake. I knew this was going to happen, damn it!”
“More infantry across the field! Engaging!” the Gunner announced.
The Americans continued to push up towards the other end of the valley, clearing the camp and the area around it. Casualties continued to rise as they did so, particularly among the infantry. The riflemen continued their aggressive push forward, knowing they did not have the time to stop for a prolonged firefight. The paratroopers fought back desperately with all of the determination the marines had, prisoners had yet to be taken save for the critically wounded. The ground and individual pieces of cover were peppered with the signs of the battlefield, from bullets and explosion marks to the blood and bodies of the infantry on both sides. An LAV would erupt in smoke from sudden enemy fire, or a BMD would be struck and destroyed from the infantry’s anti-tank weapons or the Bushmasters.
Diego’s team suddenly suffered a second loss. A well concealed Changeling paratrooper toting an RPG rose from his cover behind a bush and some netting to launch his rocket. The projectile flew out and struck the side armor of the second LAV in the line, one belonging to Staff Sergeant Roberts, with a minor explosion. Though the LAV was still in one piece, and some of the crew survived, it was taken out of action completely.
Diego did not stop to anguish, returning his eyes to the front and ordering the last other LAV to close ranks with him. The remaining infantry hustled over a minor rise and over the other side, continuing their attack against the last pocket of airborne troops before the bridge. He ordered Chaffin up to the edge of the crease, just enough for the gun to be fired past and keeping the vehicle in defilade cover.
Once they did so, their immediate attention was attracted by another BMD that was attempting to engage the infantry with its machine gun. Both surviving LAVs selected it as their target and soon the armored vehicle was smothered in 25mm shells and smoking badly. With their last pieces of armored support burning, the remaining Changelings fled in various directions while under fire from the marines. As the chaos of the battle finally subsided, the remnants of the American force assembled and overlooked the concrete bridge they had finally seized.
“Aegir Two to Six, do you read?” Diego called Taggert over the radio, receiving no response. “Aegir Actual do you copy?”
“Hey San, I think I see the Colonel,” noted Chaffin. “Over there, next to the road.”
“Alright I'm going to go talk to him and see what's going on. You guys stay here and keep watch.”
The Staff Sergeant pulled himself gingerly out of his vehicle and onto the deck, hoping there were no remaining Changelings waiting to pick him off. He nudged himself off and walked the short distance to where Colonel Tang was, along with another group of soldiers. From this viewpoint, Diego could see their numbers had been badly reduced by the lack of men. The Colonel himself seemed to be embroiled in a debate with the infantry surrounding him.
“I don't have a squad to dig in with!” one of the Sergeants yelled. “All my men are dead or wounded!”
“Mine’s not much better. I lost a whole fire team, all dead. They're all gone,” another added. “Sir, I think we ran right into a full brigade.”
“We’ve secured the area, that's what we had to do!” Tang shot back. “We will not lose it and waste everything we've given today! We are going to dig in, and some of us are going to push up to secure the rest of the road past the bridge for the Australians.”
“We don't even have enough to hold this place as is! We can't spread ourselves out like this!”
“That aggressiveness is what keeps the enemy off balance! We leave them be they'll reorganize and overrun us!”
“Sergeant Kalway, you seen Captain Taggert?” Diego asked as the two watched.
“He's dead, got hit by an ATGM.”
“Christ no… no way.”
“Yeah, there's not much left.”
“Staff Sergeant, give me a SITREP,” requested Tang as he gestured to the LAV commander.
“My Captain’s gone along with half my platoon,” Diego summarized bitterly. “I don't even know what the rest of the company is like.”
“Do you have enough fuel and ammo to continue pushing down the road?”
“We don't have enough men to push down the road,” he retorted before trying to find a more satisfactory answer. “I don't think we do. Most of our ammo’s used up. We weren't expecting a fight, Sir, so we weren't loaded out for one.”
“Go as far as you can. I'll make sure you have infantry support riding with you. Sergeant Kalway.”
“Yes Sir, we’ll go.”
“Kal, no. We are all dead if you leave. We’re fucked,” one the infantry sergeants protested, whispering to him as Tang turned to another marine. “I've got some pretty serious reservations about this guy. We need to get out of here!”
“I'm with him on this one. We’ll get wiped out to a man if we go out there,” Diego concurred.
“Sergeants Kalway! Diego! Mount up and push on as ordered!” Tang demanded as one of the enlisted marines on lookout shouted a terrified warning.
“Fast air! From the west!” shouted Leahy.
The men were stopped by a low-flying jet screeching over them, causing them to duck and generating an uproar among the surrounding men.
“It’s not ours is it!?”
“That was a Frogfoot! Not a chance!”
“Did he see us?” asked Diego.
“I can’t tell!” Kalway replied.
“Did he see us!?”
“I can’t fucking tell-ah!” the Sergeant grunted as his eyes caught a bright reflection of the sun from the aircraft’s wings. “That shine… he turned around!”
“He’s doubling back!” another marine warned. “Holy fucking shit run!”
“Hit the deck!” Kalway yelled to Diego, dragging the hapless LAV commander behind a cluster of unassembled artillery pieces.
The marines scattered in various directions, seeking the nearest cover from the attacking Su-25. The plane’s cannon opened fire, trailing a line down the dirt road and tearing apart anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its path. The jet swooped past, going back the other direction and setting up for another run.
Diego could not tell much of what was happening from the dust and comotion kicked up by the first run. Not far off, he saw his LAV with it’s crew poking out, motioning for him to run back. Though he could have, the immediate thing that struck his mind was how much of a bigger target it was to the attacking plane than himself or the infantry on the ground. His main concern was the survival of it and his two crewmen, and a stationary target like that would not survive for long. He returned their calls with waving and yelling, ordering them to start moving again, evade the attack, and run for the best cover. It took a few tries as the two were not willing to abandon their Sergeant, but they eventually complied and drove off at high speed, leaving him to run forward with the rest of the infantry like a herd of sheep running cluelessly from a wolf.
“We can’t do fuck all to that thing!” Kalway exclaimed.
“We don’t have any AA?” asked Leahy.
“Nothing! We have to wait till he runs out of ammo! Watch it, here he comes again!”
Diego again took cover, diving into a shallow, dry ditch and pressing his face into the ground as the Frogfoot’s shots impacted around the area.
“We got to find some better cover than this!” he called out, hoping the infantrymen would have a better idea as to what constituted that.
“The bridge!” Kalway cried. “Get to the bridge and get under it!”
Diego did not question the idea, nor did the other soldiers for lack of a better option. They continued sprinting up in bursts, taking cover where they could from each pass of preying Frogfoot. Some did not wish to wait and see if they would survive each run, and opted to sprint the full length to the bridge. Regardless, the Sukhoi jet had its fair share of targets.
Though it was not far, for Diego and the others it felt like miles away. With each strafing run his heart felt like it stopped as he waited to see if he would live. Gruesome sights began to surround him, with marines falling here and there as the gun’s shells knocked them down or, in the worst cases, blasted parts of them off entirely from direct hits. At one point he noticed one or two more LAVs from a separate platoon being hit, but was unable to think anything of it. His focus was entirely on reaching solid cover.
Finally, with one last sprint, he reached the river bank and rolled over the edge, falling down the somewhat steep side and barely stopping himself from falling hitting the water. He calmed himself when he noticed the stream was far more shallow than he thought, and turned to clamber up. With the help of a few other riflemen, he and several other marines crowded beneath the underside of the bridge against the abutment.
Several more men joined bit by bit, causing serious concerns about crowding. Thankfully, their attacker did not seem to have much left to use. The Frogfoot made a few more strafes of the bridge, with two causing small chunks of concrete to fly over and worrying the Americans huddled beneath. After this the strafing stopped, and the Su-25 loitered a few minutes longer before exiting the airspace to leave the surviving marines to collect their dead and treat their wounded.
Those men and vehicles that survived gathered around the bridge that had been established, which was now littered with holes, debris, and wrecks from the strafing runs. Diego’s company had not fully formed before they attacked, and as such true casualty numbers were unavailable, but as he counted he knew at least seven of their vehicles had been destroyed or disabled in some way. The jumbled together infantrymen of various companies of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, which suffered the same issues prior to battle, had an even murkier outcome. It was clearly grim, as less than half of the men Diego initially saw in the woods beforehand seemed able to bear arms.
At this cost the ad hoc marine force had won the Battle for Brook Valley, one of the many names on their map that held virtually no importance and would be entered into books on the subject in the years to come. They had succeeded in a conflict they had no prior knowledge or preperation for, something they would later take pride in. For now the was only a melancholy air of focus as they tried to save what wounded they could and watched for more approaching Changelings, wanting nothing more at this point than to survive.
Thankfully, one of the groups to make it through the final air attack was Diego’s LAV, which came rolling to the bridge to retrieve their Sergeant. Some light smiles were exchanged and the three voiced their happiness at each-other’s survival before he ordered them to the other end of the bridge to guard it. There they dismounted, finding Sergeant Kalway among a handful of other marines, going over the corpse of another American.
“It’s Tang,” he clarified as Diego approached. “I think he was trying to run across the bridge. One round went through his back and punched through his whole chest, right out the front side. He went quick, I think.”
Diego only mumbled lightly, looking over the bloody, hollow body.
“I’m gathering up everything important on him. Tags, papers, ranks. Everything we don’t want the Bugs to get,” explained the rifleman before standing to face him. “Let’s see about getting our guys together, organize a perimeter around the bridge and treat the injured. Dig in and see if we can make contact with anyone. We’re not fucking going out there any farther.”
“Alright.”
“I’ll get a couple guys to scout ahead a little, make sure we’re clear. Nothing beyond that. Soon as the Aussies get across this bridge we’re leaving.”
“Alright,” Diego repeated, turning to look off to the west.
In contrast to the other end of the bridge, the rolling fields and hills ahead looked peaceful. Beyond a few stray bullets or shells, the battle that had raged not a mile back had not touched that land yet. To the side, he noticed Roycewicz going over the corpse of a Changeling paratrooper. Apparently noticing something of interest on the sleeve of the front right leg, the driver retrieved his knife and set it to the fabric of the uniform. After a few tough cuts he tore off a piece and walked back to Diego, showing him his new treasure.
“Check this out, San,” he said, handing it to his commander.
The fabric held the shoulder patch of the Changeling’s unit, containing what looked to be a yew tree, its branches stretching out and down in an old and noble way.
“I know that patch, I’ve seen it before,” Roycewicz continued. “In some intel briefings I read a while back.”
“Oh yeah? Which unit is it Rice?”
“The 45th Aerial Division. One of the best divisions in their military,” he explained. “And we beat them.”
“I guess we did. Barely, but we did.”
“Damn right we did,” concurred Roycewicz as Diego handed the patch back to him. “And they were supposed to catch us with our pants down. Not in their life.”
“Yeah, we did… we did something impressive today, Rice,” Diego agreed.