Chapter 47
SSG Alexander Davis was aware of the constant whispered traffic coming over the detachment’s pre-determined secure frequency. The elves hadn’t been able to figure out how to decode secured analog radio transmissions yet, and it’d been determined that it was worth risking a possible breach to have the detachment on a single frequency. That was coming back to bite them now that almost all of the 5 man teams were reporting in at once.
It seemed the elves were either moving a large force through the area, or several small recon teams were out, scouting for something. Neither option would be well received by Savage Company command and was almost equally detrimental to the coming attack on Fort Eisenhower.
If there was a lot of scouting activity, it would mean that the normal patrols weren’t the only thing to worry about, and the attack element would likely be spotted well before they were ready to strike. With proper warning, the elf presence on the base could likely double or even triple, let alone the possibility for very high-level enemy soldiers.
If, on the other hand, there was a large movement of elven forces through the area, Savage company may be forced into an engagement before they even got in range of the military base, causing a loss of men and hard-to-replace resources before the main objective could even be assaulted.
There was a third option, one that Alexander didn’t want to accept, but that grew more likely by the minute. Possibly the elf prisoner had some method of contacting her own or other commanders' forces in the area. Something that didn’t operate on technology, but likely made use of the system somehow. She would have informed the enemy of this mission and planned out an ambush or counter-ambush of some kind.
It was this option that kept Alexander from ordering his forces to retreat. If the elf scouts were just trying to flush out his men, allowing them to move would give the enemy what they wanted, likely allowing all of his men to be captured or killed by another, larger, group of elves that were now either forming a security cordon to lock down the area or sneaking through the woods.
Based on the information that he was quickly writing down via a form of encoded shorthand, the enemy scouts numbered about 15. Not a terribly large group, but too many for him to risk engaging head-on, especially since he had no idea what their levels might be. And even then, Alexander was willing to bet there were at least two more enemy warriors for every one that they could identify so far.
Noon was quickly approaching, and if the scouts didn’t leave the area, a lot of his men’s LP/OP hides would suffer from degrading camouflage. Basically, most of the positions had been set up while the sun was rising. Now that it was almost directly overhead, the men would need to slightly adjust their coverings, or set things up to be more hidden while the sun began to sink.
If they’d had more time to set up their positions, this wouldn’t have been an issue, but they hadn’t known when the elf forces would come through, and they had expected the enemy to only perform a cursory investigation as they continued with the patrol. As a result, Alexander had ordered them to dig in as quickly as possible, expecting to either need to leave quickly or have the time to adjust their sites before the enemy returned.
As the minutes passed, Alexander felt the anxiety build. It was becoming more and more a matter of time before he or one of his men was discovered. One by one the radio traffic began to drop off, as elf scouts got close enough to hear even the quiet whispers of his men reporting in.
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Alexander's eyes tracked an elf scout that was getting a little too close. The creature’s eyes roamed over the likely unfamiliar terrain, occasionally stopping to note features only their owner was aware of. For a fear-inducing moment, Alexander felt certain the elf’s eyes had caught his staring back, but he didn’t dare move or even blink.
At that critical moment, a gunshot shattered the quiet. Alexander quietly swore under his breath, raising his weapon as the elf in front of him quickly turned to face the direction of the gunshot. He couldn’t blame whoever had fired the shot. They’d likely felt the need to take the initiative while they still had a choice. The problem now was that he would either have to sacrifice that 5 man team, or go all out and attempt to overwhelm the elf scouts and any reinforcements with extreme violence and economy of motion.
In any other situation, Alexander would have had faith that such tactics had at least some chance of working. With the system, if these scouts were high enough level, they might be able to just shrug off the small arms fire his men were capable of dishing out.
Deciding to minimize the possibility of the elf shrugging off his rounds, Alexander violently shoved the elf down. Due to either shock or incredible weakness, the elf fell face forward. Alexander quickly collapsed into the elf’s back, knee helping him keep the enemy from squirming. He shoved he barrel of his M7 into the base of the thing’s skull, where a human’s spine would meet the skull, and emptied the mag.
“All of you a cleared to fire at will. Full shock and awe. Let the mother fuckers have it. If you can, push through and make for rally point Charlie.” Alexander broke the radio silence before rushing off towards where he knew the closest 5 man team was. He didn’t pause to see if the 4 men with him followed, but he trusted that they were.
Another elf scout, and then another fell under Alexander’s surprise assault. The .277 fury rounds seemed to be having a larger effect than expected when combined with his class's primary ability [Elemental Ammunition]. As best he could tell from experience so far, the ability applied random elemental affinities to the regular ammo he fired from his M7 rifle.
Having taken down three of the enemies before they even saw him, Alexander was beginning to feel the anxiety melt away. Somehow the enemy scouts were less durable than he’d expected, and there was a fair possibility they might be able to kill their way out of this.
The sense of freedom was short-lived. Alexander caught a glimpse of silvery armored elf warriors marching through a clearing ahead. He kept moving forward, engaging a 4th elf scout but allowed himself to focus a fraction of his perception on his peripheral vision. Sure enough, there were also a number of elf warriors wearing the distinctive mottled cloaks and leather armor that he’d come to associate with the higher-level warriors the elves had deployed.
Even more concerning, the weapons fire from his men on the other side of the clearing had stopped. With the 4th elf down, Alexander swapped mags, briefly reviewing his remaining ammo. Three more magazines for the M7, including the one he’d just slammed home, then he’d be down to three mags of sidearm ammo and two M67 Fragmentation grenades.
He somehow doubted the grenades would be as effective as his ability-enhanced firearms had proven. That left 140 rounds to kill at least another 30 elves, and only 90 of that was for his primary. If his math held true, and it took him about 25 to 30 rounds to dispatch the scouts, he’d run out of ammo long before the enemy had suffered any kind of significant losses.
Alexander decided on a new plan of action. The elves wouldn’t understand the significance of his men having radios. He’d continue pushing forward and clear a path for any of the other men who were able to follow. They’d either punch through the enemy line or die trying and if enough of them survived, they’d regroup and look to follow the elf reinforcements and any prisoners wherever they were taken.