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On the Rim, Ch 13: Grizz's Day Out

2020 copyright comidacomida

Grizz had never particularly minded away missions; guard duty had always been his biggest pet peeve. The trip away from the crash site and toward the pirate camp was just plain horrible, and for many reasons. Aside from the fact that the terrain was rough, the constant buzzing insects were a pain. On top of that, chances were that he and the others would be stuck out away from camp for the night, which meant not only roughing it as far as sleeping went, but it also meant sleeping without the sweet sweet piece of Lynx he had waiting for him.

The professional side of his brain, however, couldn't argue with the plan. The security team was trained for dealing with pirates; the four of them knew about combat and were aware of what to expect; presumably, all of them would follow the Cap'n's orders and work like a well oiled machine. The Bear wasn't naive enough to think that they'd be a perfect company considering Claw and Leo were relatively new additions, but it was still a far cry from having to deal with civilians. Then his less professional side poked through, reminding him about Missy.

The majority of the day passed in the drudgery of slogging along through the thick undergrowth of the large forest around them. The ground was damp in spots and, occasionally, even turned to mud, making travel even less pleasant. Fortunately, another positive side effect of no civilians was that the belly-aching was kept to a minimum. That was of particular benefit when they came across an entire span of a bog filled with stinking muck. That too was eventually left behind them, though Grizz did notice that they hadn't escaped the smell.

They came upon the strike base mid-afternoon. Cap'n called everyone close together and they all hunkered down behind some rocky outcroppings as they took the time to survey what they had waiting for them. There was only a single completed structure, but it looked like the pirates had cleared the ground for at least three more; one of them was in the first stages of framing with a nearly complete side wall. The camp was surrounded by sand bags which, while not as effective as, say, a stone wall or concrete barriers, were certainly a reasonable defense considering the backwater nature of Planet A.

After about an hour of observation, the group was fairly confident that they faced on two pirates, which meant that the security team not only had the element of surprise, but they also outnumbered their foes two to one. The build site was on fairly level ground and in the relative open so an advance would have to be planned out carefully. With the majority of trees around the camp cut down to stack up lumber for construction, the pirates would have decent field of view but they hadn't done anything to clear out large boulders that populated the area around the base. The tactics that Cap'n decided on were fairly straight-forward.

Cap'n and Grizz were set to approach the camp from the south; since they were the only sec officers with armor it would be their job to catch the pirates' attention while Claw and Leo snuck around to the side; the Lion would attack from the East, hopefully flanking the pirates, while the Badger would do a quick reconnoiter of the base to make sure there weren't any reinforcements hidden in the main building, and then join in the combat when feasible. The fact that Claw had refused a gun meant that he'd have to get up close and personal, but his method of warfare was much quieter than a firearm, so there was a benefit for the trade-off.

With the sky just starting to turn golden, the security team elected to prepare for a dusk assault; nobody had any night time gear so fighting in the dark could be as much of a hindrance as it would be a boon. Since Claw had the furthest to travel, the Badger left first, hugging the hillside upon which the group had perched before slinking off into the overgrowth on the West side of the site. Leo went second, moving with precision and skill as he disappeared into the brush to the East. Grizz chuckled to himself, admiring the Lion's grace; if the Bear hadn't already decided to lock down one pussy he might have almost been tempted.

Captain Archie glanced toward him. "We head down to the four large rocks by the creek... counting down from ten."

Throwing the dalliance from his mind, the Corporal put his game face on and focused. "Copy that, Cap'n."

The Dog managed started at ten, and got down to two before the sound of gunfire forestalled any further delay; Leo had already engaged one of the pirates, shooting at the man who was running for cover, moving to put the wall of sandbags between himself and the lion. Captain Archie wasn't pleased. "Fucking loose cannon. GO!"

Grizz rushed after Cap'n as the two barreled down the hill. The second pirate was made aware of their presence in that time and he leveled a submachine gun in their direction just as they arrived at the bounders. Both dove for cover as an initial spray of bullets peppered the area around them. Grizz quickly turned the knob on his pulse rifle to three round burst, and stuck it up over the rock, squeezing off several bursts just to keep the pirates on their toes. Beside him, Cap'n took to one knee and stuffed the butt of his rifle against his shoulder. "You suppress... I'll aim."

The Bear nodded as he rolled around, moving into a similar crouching position. "Copy that."

The two officers stood up in unison; Grizz began alternating bursts back and forth between the two positions where he'd seen the pirates. The one closest to them dove for cover after the Bear fired and, after the pirate presumably began figuring out the rhythm of the Corporal alternating shots, the man popped up; Captain Archie drilled him with a triple tap: three for three in the dome. The Dog confirmed the kill. "One down."

A roar from the side followed by a round of explicatives indicated that not everything was going well. Grizz kept his gun trained on the last pirate's position, hazarding only a quick glance toward the Lion. Leo, from what the Bear could tell, had been hit but, judging from the complexity, consistency, and strength behind the swearing, the Corporal was willing to bet it was probably a flesh wound. He bellowed out to the side "You still with us, Calico?"

The Lion roared back "He shot me in my FUCKING LEG!"

A new voice screamed out from behind the sandbags by the base. "It's what you get, you fucker! I'm gonna do you all for what you did to--"

The challenge fell suddenly and unexpectedly silent. A second later Claw's voice called out "We're clear."

Captain Archie slowly rose again, gun still at the ready and Grizz did likewise; Claw was standing within the ring of sandbags, blood dribbling from the curved blades of his combat prosthetic. Leo had a lot more trouble standing, getting up with the assistance of the boulder behind which he'd been hiding. The Lion hobbled slowly, wincing every time he put too much weight on his leg. He continued approaching the build site as he likewise called out "Clear!"

Grizz, who was several steps ahead of the Captain approached the only completed building. He glanced over at Claw, who was kneeling down and tying up the pirate he'd downed. The Badger spoke aside to him. "Like I said, clear. I already checked it."

The Bear did so anyway, peeking inside and verifying that yes, there were no contacts within; the fact that there were only two beds was also a good sign. He called out the door "Clear!"

A moment later he jumped when he heard the sound of a firearm discharge. Racing out of the building and into the open, the Bear readied his gun, only to see Leo standing over the body of the pirate Claw had been binding. The Badger was understandably displeased. "What the FUCK, shithead?!?"

Leo shrugged, stowing his pistol. "Pretty sure Cap'n said 'no prisoners'... right?"

Grizz was right there to separate the two, and Captain Archie joined him quickly enough. The Bear provided the physical presence to keep them apart while the Dog gave them orders to keep them busy. "Claw, gather up any salvage you can find; Leo, Grizz come with me-- I need to get a look at that leg."

The next half hour was spent getting the camp in order; Claw gathered up the gear the pirates had worn and carried while the Captain treated Leo's gunshot. Exactly as Grizz had presumed, the injury was just a flesh wound and it was handled with field dressing and some minor pain killers. Even so, the Cap'n made a command call. "Get the bodies dumped in the crevasse on the south side of the base. We'll be inside tonight and leave first thing in the morning once Leo's leg has a chance to improve."

Claw growled, staring out the door. "Good thing we have this place... I'm not liking the look at the storm clouds out there..."

Grizz was less worried about the storm and more worried about other pirates possibly showing up. "I'll take first watch, Cap'n."

The Dog nodded. "As you were, Corporal... we can't radio back to camp, so I'll have to get some reports ready on my PCD to file when we get back."

The Bear was suddenly reminded why he didn't envy a command position. Heading over to join Claw on watch by the door, he confirmed the plan. "Copy that."