The Invisible Universe

Alpha Division: Part 3

With the order to push up being confirmed, with an objective marker popping into view before my very eyes, suddenly the formation of squad symbols was moving. Not quite being able to see everyone under the dark conditions, it looked like an odd screen-saver as the blue hexagons bobbed up and down across my view. I didn't have long to take it in however as almost immediately I was up and moving too. Running quickly over the top of the mound and darting from cover to cover. Maxine was beside me and as a pair, we pushed up as instructed towards the highlighted building. Our progress was halted however, as some more shots began to fly out of the bunker. Obviously our barrage of death had missed one. Everyone hit the deck, myself and Maxine included. Whoever was still alive in there clearly had a lot of bullets to spare, as a constant stream of rounds came pouring out towards the squad.

"Someone get a goddam grenade in there! Blow the bastard up!" Colter screamed.

Like waiting for someone to be the first to speak at a wedding when the two family's meet for the first time, everyone anxiously waited for somebody to throw the grenade. Not wanting to poke their heads up even for a second with such a constant barrage coming their way. Eventually however someone did, I couldn't say who, but after a few seconds I heard a loud explosion as the bunker was blown apart; sending chunks of rubble high into the air, each landing with a heavy thud.

"Up again!" Colter said as once again the squad was moving.

By the time me and Maxine had made it to the bunker, the rest of the squad, or what remained of it, was already there.Taking cover around its location, assessing for more threats. The bunker itself was a burning pile of blackened rubble so it seemed pretty unlikely anything was still alive inside. Now that I could actually see my squad mates, their bodies were highlighted in very much the same way the now non-existent bunker had been. Only this time it was a friendly blue colour, not a hostile red one. Taking a knee besides a piece of rubble, I looked over at Maxine.

"How are your stats?" I asked.

"Err, everything is green, though I certainly don't feel like that. If this is everything on green, then I'm not sure how I'm going to handle anything on amber." She worryingly replied.

"Don't worry, you will be fine. Who knows we may not even get into amber!" I added in an attempt to comfort her before taking a look at my own stats, hoping to high heaven that everything was green.

Opening up the menu, my vison was suddenly flooded with information about my body and the current condition it was in. Blood pressure, blood oxygen level, the level of muscular fatigue to specific body parts, hydration levels and energy levels. On top of this I also had a list of all the ammunition and ordinance I was carrying. Anything the army deemed to be at an acceptable level to maintain combat efficiency was coloured green. Amber and red were used to signify any less than optimal levels. Amber was bad, but not panic stations, whereas if you saw anything in the red category then you were in a dire situation. Luckily I was comforted by an all green view. Not time to panic yet. 

The battle was still raging on around us at different points, the cracks and pops of gunfire along with the echoing booms of landmines coming from what seemed like everywhere. We needed to keep moving, we were still sat in the enemy's kill zone. Getting up close and personal within the bases buildings our best chance of seeing tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, Colter had the same idea.

"Let's keep it going people!" Colter demanded as he issued another objective order. This time a rendezvous point about 200 metres ahead, right next to one of the many hangers that lined this side of the runway. I was moving again, the rippling sound of many feet hitting the ground passing through my ears as the whole squad moved away from the smoking rubble. The terrain was much the same it had before, coarse dirt and the occasional bit of equally coarse foliage, everyone moved with purpose. Forming an arrow-head formation as we traversed the relatively open ground, I was on the far right hand side along with Maxine.

"Mines!" came a sudden shout from one of the squad members.

We all stopped in our tracks. Being thrown high into the air and spread out over a large area wasn't on any of our to-do lists. Looking ahead, I could see the mines in question as everyone started to share what they could see in the same way I had shared the location of the bunker. One by one the little disks of death appeared in my vision as everyone scoured the landscape. Spotting a few myself, suddenly the seemingly empty field had been transformed into a giant checkers board.

"Eyes peeled." Colter added before the order to continue moving popped into view once again. As if walking though...well... a minefield, everyone cautiously set off, stepping over or around the glowing disks with as much grace and subtlety as they could muster. Edging our way to safety.

Checking my body's stats, as well as seeing a large increase in breathing rate, I could also see a steady rise in Norepinephrinein my blood stream; one of the main hormones responsible for fear and anxiety. I wasn't surprised, despite being able to see, and therefor avoid the vast majority of the mines, some might be camouflaged, hidden from view and one false step could mean the end. To compensate for the high level of stress hormones (in a situation where careful steps were necessary) I activated a Cortisol node. One of many small delivery systems that were implanted into my body's neck, designed to regulate the various hormones that were rushing around the bloodstream. Each one containing a different hormone that could be used in different situations, depending on your needs. Cortisol is the hormone that your body releases to help reduce the effects of stress, so that seemed the appropriate choice. As I saw the Norepinephrinein levels come down and the breathing rate reduce I smiled to myself, thankful that I had paid attention during training.

The squad continued to edge forward, and I continued to monitor my hormone levels. "Go around that one. Go over that one. That one is too far away. Step over this one!" I would say as I drew out a safety line to follow. The holographic line appearing in my view, showing what I thought was the safest route. It was easy to get confused or lost in a situation like this and a nice glowing line to follow was of great use.

I was half way stepping over another mine, my left foot lunging over the top, my right foot lagging behind, when one went off. The bone shaking sound echoing in the night air.

Let's just say, at that moment my stress hormone levels went through the roof! Taking a second to reassure myself I was indeed still alive, and after I was sure no piece of debris was going to land near me, I finishing the step over my mine and looked over to see the damage. Where had once been a solider, was now gaping hole into the earth. Filling my vision was the squad member display; I could see a thin red line through the face of McCarthy. A good man, a friend.

Without saying anything, everyone continued to move, as sad as it was, they were still in the minefield. Not a place to mourn your dead, unless you too were planning to join them. Besides, compared to the numbers lost while exiting the transports, one more corpse didn't seem like a lot. The minutes passed by painfully slowly, but eventually we reached the other side. My view of the moonlit terrain, no longer filled with hostile red disks.

Oh god did it feel good to move normally again! I jogged over to a nearby bush, enjoying my new found speed and took a knee.

"On your left." Maxine announced as she did the same next to me, keeping a few metres apart to maintain our spacing. "You ok?" She asked once she was down. In a sombre tone of voice.

"Yeah. You?" Was all I said.

"Yeah, good enough."

We both knelt there in silence for a few moments while the last of the team got clear of the minefield. There was no need to say anything else. Listening to the battle continue on in the distance all I could think was, "I don't want to end up like McCarthy."

Colter as per usual, broke the strangely comforting silence.

"Well done everyone. Remember the mission, focus on it, and let's get it done!" He said before the move order popped up yet again, and you guessed it, once more we were on the move.