RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 30-4: Seeing the Elephant (Part 4)

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 30-4: Seeing the Elephant (Part 4)

With a short burst that consumes somewhere around half of his magazine, Parker cuts down four Sardegnians who are in various states of disarray when the half-tracks tear down the wall. All around him in the back of the armored vehicle, the remainder of his squad also popping heads left and right. "Smoke and disembark!" Parker ordered, taking the opportunity when nearby threats were eliminated to deploy the two platoons.

As Sergeant Rum starts directing their squad in his stead, Parker goes to the front of the troop compartment, patting a Corporal who is manning the pintle-mounted MG-34 on his shoulder. "That thing still loaded?"

"Got a fresh belt in place, sir!"

Parker nods, pointing his finger at the windows of the 3-storey manor. "I want you to suppress the manor, take out whoever pokes their heads out!"

Instead of replying, the Corporal points the muzzle of his machine gun upward, squeezing the trigger, the Corporal unleashes controlled bursts at the manor, halting any attempt at getting a high-ground advantage over the Spanish force.

With the smoke screen deployed and the manor suppressed, the First and Fourth squads disembarked without a casualty. Parker, being the last to step off the half-track, quickly makes his way to Sergeant Rum standing a few steps away. Soon, Parker reaches a low-hanging inner wall that serves to divide a patch of well-kept garden from the paved walkways. Crouching down, Parker asks. "Where's the rest?"

"I sent half to clear a way to the manor building. They were told not to get inside unless backup arrives."

"Good call, there's not much cover here." Parker nodded. "With this much of a ruckus, the tanks should be coming here soon. We need to distract them."

"Smoke is about to clear, get ready." Rum propped his SMG onto their cover and so were Parker. All around them, dozens of Spanish men and women do the same. When the smoke curtain dissipated, the Spanish and a lone American lay their eyes on nervous Sardegnians.

With a solid cover to place his BAR on, Parker is the first to pull the trigger, with others following suit. A torrent of bullets ranging from many different calibers digs into the Sardegnians' line. Not expecting a sudden internal attack like this, these Papal soldiers are still in the open or staying behind soft covers. Suffice to say, not many escape the assault unscathed. It's a target-rich environment and Parker soon finds himself reaching out for another magazine. "Reloading!"

"Gotcha back, LT!" Rum said while Parker hid himself, the Sergeant managed to take out a Sardegnian holding a bolt-action rifle in Parker's stead.Findd new stories at novelhall.com

Private Julia, who's picked her hiding place to be behind a contemporary art statue, shouts at them. "Yo, guys! Movement at the front gate!"

"Ours?" Parker asked back, having just fed a new mag in for his BAR.

"Not ours! It's the tank!" Julia screamed the words before tucking herself behind solid cover, a few rounds from the machine-gun-equipped L5 tank then pelted the statue, making her grimacing. "Fucking Hell! Who the fuck is manning the Grenade Buster?!" Julia complained.

Parker looks to his left, finding the Fourth's squad leader. "Fourth Squad, you're up!" He jerked his thumb at the approaching tank that kept spewing its MG, forcing the gunners of their half-tracks to take cover.

With a flurry of covert actions, the AT crew belonging to the Fourth Squad deploy their Grenade Buster behind the half-tracks, lining up a shot, the crew launches a HEAT grenade that slams right into the L5's driver hatch. If you saw this in slow motion, you would see the superheated stream of metal vaporizing the driver's upper half before dispersing everywhere inside the tank's cramped compartment. A fire is set in the crew compartment, forcing the surviving tank commander to dismount with his whole body on fire. It would seem the HEAT grenade bursts open the fuel tank.

Ignoring the Sardegnian commander who is desperately trying to put out the fire, the Spanish resume their attack on both the front gate and the manor. That said, the Spanish have lost their element of surprise and the Sardegnians are no slouch either, especially when the ones assigned to this coastal town have already seen battles before. Soon enough, the first casualty appears among the Spanish soldiers, one of the half-tracks' machine gunners is shot in the shoulder blade, his gun shield having failed after successive hits. Momentarily, the Spanish lose a chunk of their firepower as the gunner is being taken care of by their medics. The Sardegnians use this chance to get in close, close enough to chuck a couple of grenades at their line.

Parker, seeing a grenade landing near their location, braves the danger and runs out to kick away the live grenade. Unfortunately for him, Parker's momentum has him right inside the blast radius of the second grenade. Rum would have gotten to him if not for him being suppressed by the Sardegnians. Parker is pushed down onto the floor and behind the treads' of a half-track though, Julia has speed-running her way to his location and tackled him. The Private saves Parker just in time before the grenade explodes, showering the area in fragments. Luckily for everyone involved, the half-tracks bear the brunt of the blast without much issue.

"Thanks...!" Parker coughs, feeling his ribs ache after Julia body-checked him. "But you may want to warn me next time."

Parker nods, understanding why Rum pulls out his pistol. He too reequips himself with the M1911. "I am confident in my aim."

Rum then says. "On the count of three, I will kick the door down and you will engage the hostile. Three... Two... One!" With a kick that rivaled a bull rush, Rum completely dislocated the door from its hinges. The loud bang distracted the Sardegnian from rushing at the scared Spanish woman in the corner of the room, creating a window of opportunity for Parker. Parker takes the chance and puts two bullets at the man, center mass. With a heavy thump, the Sardegnian collapses on two the floor, surprisingly still whimpering in pain while clutching his bleeding torso. He won't make it out of this room alive though as Rum steps into the room and executes the man with a shot to the head.

As Rum and Parker clear the room, the Spanish woman ignores them and rushes into an object, a crib out of all things. "Shit..." Parker commented on the absurdity and the potential mess everything could have been. Rum and Parker then watch as the woman picks up a baby, somehow still able to sleep despite all the commotions earlier.

Rum sighs, gesturing to Julia. "Julia, take care of the lady and her child. They need not suffer anymore from this ordeal."

Julia nods before holstering her sidearm. "Gladly, sir." She then steps toward the woman, using her hands to slowly guide the woman to safety. "Come on, ma'am, we will take you to safety."

The rest of the squad clears the way for Julia to escort the pair of probably mother and child out before resuming their duty. Having made sure that the second floor was safe, the squad then ascended to the third floor. Arriving up top, instead of many rooms, it's one large quarter that is reserved for the leadership of this firebase.

"Could be a top brass behind the door." Parker hypothesized, prompting Rum to say. "Only one way to find out." The Sergeant then calls up the breacher, letting him blast the door open with his shotgun before the squad storms inside, guns up and at the ready.

Parker's hypothesis is proven to be a correct one when a well-dressed Sardegnian raises his hands up in a surrendering gesture, surprisingly, he speaks Spanish. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Facing the many barrels pointing at him, the Sardegnian officer slowly retreats. Behind him, however, is a tied-up female that has seen better days. She is dressed in ragged clothing and tied up to a chair next to a table full of... instruments. Parker is pissed when he sees that, just imagine how the Spanish men would feel at the sight. The Lieutenant is just about putting a .30-06 into the man if it isn't for his constant. "Don't shoot!"

Yet, Rum immediately notices something's wrong when the officer keeps retreating. "Wai-!" He didn't manage to finish his word when the Sardegnian tried to close the distance with the now unconscious female. Yet, due to Parker and the others being alerted, they immediately open fire, cutting down the man quite literally as .30-06, 8mm Mauser, and 9mm Parabellum saw his body in half at the torso. His innards and blood splatter everywhere under the mowing of bullets.

Rum quickly shouts amidst the gunfire. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" That got them to release their triggers at last. Parker wakes up from his reactive haze and rushes to check on the woman, sighing in relief when the bound woman is still breathing. "Fucking Hell, he was going for the hostage."

Rum comes forth, patting Parker on his back. "Then it's a good thing that we got him." He then frowns at the mess in the room. "Though we could have used less red in the room. Regardless, you did well for your first rodeo, Parker. You fought like a bull in the open before but now you are slowly shaping up to be more deadly. Keep this up then you will get promotions fast."

Parker smiles at the comment. "Thanks, but until then, I will be counting on you to keep me straight... And maybe show me a few tricks too like what happened earlier."

Rum laughs before both men shake their hands as medics come to take care of the rescued captive. Soon after, a woman carrying radio equipment comes in.

"Lieutenant, Sergeant," The Spanish soldier greeted. "Eagle-Six is on the line. All hostages are also accounted for, sirs."

Parker motions for her to hand him the phone. Picking it up, Parker reports. "This is Bravo-Six, the firebase is silent and we have taken control of the enemy artillery, sir. Hostages have been rescued and are being processed at this time, Colonel."

"Well done, Parker. You finished the job just in time as I have needs for you and your team. Scouts have reported disturbing information and I will be keeping this brief. Currently, the enemy is forcing civilians to board a few docked vessels. We don't know why but there are already casualties among the populace. As of right now, Charlie-Six has broken through the enemy outer line and is making a dash to the town's proper. However, they're facing stiff resistance and won't be able to move any further for a while. That means you're the only force close enough to break past the line and put a stop to whatever madness is going on. I have sent a resupply unit at your location, they shall be arriving momentarily. Your order is to rearm and push your way into the docking area, rescue the civilians, and hold until reinforcement arrives."

Colonel Sawyer pauses, mincing his words before continuing on with a grave tone. "Parker, I won't lie. This is no different than a suicidal run but if there's a platoon that comes out of this victoriously, that's yours. I have seen what the men and women under you are capable of, and I sure as Hell didn't pick the wrong leader for the job. You won't be going in alone though, Shadow Company has lent us their aerial scouts, their detachment of Witches. You have seen them in action before so make good use of them. Aside from that, I will see if we can man the guns you captured and assign them as your personal get-out-of-jail ticket. You got all of that?"

Parker nods, his face full of seriousness. "Yes, sir! I copy all of that, sir! I won't let you, nor the civilians down!"

The Colonel turns jovial as the Lieutenant's confident tone. "Good, now go and make Uncle Sam proud!"