Chapter 170
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Frank Bryan Goettge was a well decorated veteran of many battles. He had been across the galaxy fighting for the Empires shadow wars. He scores of kills under his belt that the public eye would never know about. That was the entire point of the shadow wars though, just to poke and prod and the other nations along the barrier worlds.
He was about a year away from retiring from his dangerous covert missions. He already had a girl he was sweet on too, just hadn't found the right time to confess to her. He was sure she was waiting as well, given all the signs he kept getting. His friends had even been poking fun at how slow he was being and how there was no time like the present.
But he was a bit shy in that regard.
Even he found himself to be contradictory. His very job had him living a life-or-death struggle in every task and yet he was afraid to confess his feelings for his girl.
Then came this nice cushy job that had him coming back to Ordin Prime for a while. There was no end date to the job, but the perks were great. He was even offered a paid vacation with all expenses paid to The Hub. He was planning to propose to Mary there. He had the plan already mostly formed in his mind about it.
The job was pretty simple, just survey an area and keep his head low until further notice.
They had been out here for a while, over a month, when everything started to go wrong.
He still remembered that stabbing pain shooting through his mind as the connection with everyone was cut. He had felt that several times before already and he immediately knew what was wrong. He gathered up his squad, all veterans of the shadow wars on the barrier worlds, and immediately went towards their shitty outpost.
As veterans, all of them, they knew how to act in this situation.
They advanced in a scouting formation: two people up front, one person behind and between them, three people behind and spread out behind him, and ending in two people behind them. It was their standard formation that they had evolved from the militaries basic scouting formation, but they found it worked better so they used it.
They also kept all chatter out of their movements, relying only on hand signals. They kept their eyes out and looking around as well. Even a breeze would cause them all to pause and look towards its source with caution. The man in the absolute middle was keeping track of all twelve different detectors as they walked. He would follow the footsteps of the man before him as it consumed all of his focus.
A second of distraction could conceal a hackers attack. If a hacker tampered with their equipments from afar and they didn't know it, they'd all be doomed.
This, naturally, slowed down their pace to a crawl, but they didn't mind. Acting this way kept them alive in many dangerous areas. When you're alone in enemy territory with nothing but your squad of companions, a single wrong move can cause you all to die in an instant. Especially with Mecha flying around, you had to be extra careful to avoid anything that could give off any signs of your existence. It just wasn't worth the risk to move faster than necessary.
Sure, it had caused a few allies to die as well because they were too slow to reinforce them. But those allies couldn't blame them, after all they were in different squads so it was better them then us, or so Frank's squad was fond of thinking.
As a result of their incredibly slow pace, they were pretty sure they would be the last ones to arrive at the burning outpost. They had noticed that it was a fire long before they got close. After all, the thermal readings were off the charts. Now that they were closer, they could tell why the other squads hadn't bothered to even try to put it out. It wasn't spreading above the outcropping that the shitty little tent building was placed in, so there was no real need to put it out. Besides, it was a beacon to all the surroundings squads, who had gathered around it, expecting to find the cause.
Every squad had veterans in them on this mission. Some of them had newcomers, but no newcomers were leading them. Because of that, every squad figured that all the other squads would have closed in on the light the same way once they felt that familiar sensation of the connection being cut.
Frank cast a look over the squads who were on standby around the fire. They all looked a little bored but also a little anxious. He approved of that. They should be cautious when something like this happens, especially since no one had found the perpetrator.
He cast his look towards the group of four people who were gathered to the side and his brow formed an arch. They were all squad leaders. But there was a problem. There should have been five people there already, not four.
The other four people who were gathered looked at him with their stern own stern expressions. Upon noticing it was Frank, their faces became grave instead. This mirrored Franks own grave expression as he made a hand motion and his squad began to take up positions they felt were advantageous and keep a lookout. He then walked over to join the other four.
As he approached, a shorter man with a balding head and a raspy voice said, "Richie's squad isn't here. No sign of any fighting in their direction either, though, so no idea if they're still alive."
Frank asked an obvious question, "Any sign on the movement detectors from them?"
The woman of the group, a cold vixen with an eyepatch and longer hair than should be fit for battle, stated, "None. We're thinking of heading out in the direction in a search formation to see if we can find them. They shouldn't have been slower than your dregs to get here."
Franked nodded thoughtfully as he ran a hand through his beard in thought. He then sniffed loudly before he stated, "I agree. What's the call sign?"
The short man simply stated, "How about a endurgo?"
The woman shot him a look of disdain before she coldly said, "You do that one and I'll cut off your dick and feed it to you."
The scarred man, who had been watching silently suddenly laughed lightly, cause his disfigured face to change to one that would scare children. Through his laughter he stated, "Why not just Johnny? It's simple, no? In these woods, it would probably echo far too."
Frank nodded in agreement to that. A simple whistle was easy to understand. But the problem was, if you got ambushed, the call was to cry for your 'mama' and that just didn't see right with him.
He cast a glance at the woman. He would love to her hear make that cry. She was a cold hag but if she ever did that before him he wouldn't let her live it down. It would follow her to the grave and probably beyond.
The woman didn't seem to notice his thoughts as she nodded in agreement, "I agree. Johnny is simple."
The short man scowled as he looked at the last person who hadn't said anything. He was a stonefaced man with a no-nonsense aura about him that made everyone think he was an old school drill sergeant. No one would know that he was actually as gentle as a lovers kiss unless they talked to him.
That man simply nodded his agreement as well.
This caused the short man to scoff loudly before he begrudgingly stated, "Fine. Johnny it is. My squads on point though."
"We'll take the middle," said the woman.
The scarred man sniffed before he said, "Gotcha left," he looked at Frank and asked, "You got right or rear?"
Knowing that the shy oaf wouldn't pick a spot Frank narrowed his eyes in thought. If his squad went to the rear they would probably be left behind so it was best if they went to the right. That way, the middle row would have to match their searching speed and it would be a more thorough and cautious approach.
After being silent a moment, Frank replied, "We'll take the right." He looked to the shy man and added, "We'll leave the rear to you."
The stonefaced brute nodded in understanding and then the whole group split off to their squads.
Frank looked over his men and did several hand motions. He didn't need to explain his orders because they all knew that what he said went. After all, he hadn't lost a man in his squad for four years under his leadership, and that's how long he's been leading it. They, naturally, wouldn't doubt any of his orders now.
The other squads got moving and spread out. The squad on point took the lead and walked off in the direction of where Richie's squad was supposed to be coming from. After waiting for half a minute, the next three squads lined up with a gap of fifteen meters between them before they all went into the forest after them. Half a minute later, the last squad went in as well.
In the total silence of the woods, the stalker began to move.
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Frank Bryan Goettge was a well decorated veteran of many battles. He had been across the galaxy fighting for the Empires shadow wars. He scores of kills under his belt that the public eye would never know about. That was the entire point of the shadow wars though, just to poke and prod and the other nations along the barrier worlds.
He was about a year away from retiring from his dangerous covert missions. He already had a girl he was sweet on too, just hadn't found the right time to confess to her. He was sure she was waiting as well, given all the signs he kept getting. His friends had even been poking fun at how slow he was being and how there was no time like the present.
But he was a bit shy in that regard.
Even he found himself to be contradictory. His very job had him living a life-or-death struggle in every task and yet he was afraid to confess his feelings for his girl.
Then came this nice cushy job that had him coming back to Ordin Prime for a while. There was no end date to the job, but the perks were great. He was even offered a paid vacation with all expenses paid to The Hub. He was planning to propose to Mary there. He had the plan already mostly formed in his mind about it.
The job was pretty simple, just survey an area and keep his head low until further notice.
They had been out here for a while, over a month, when everything started to go wrong.
He still remembered that stabbing pain shooting through his mind as the connection with everyone was cut. He had felt that several times before already and he immediately knew what was wrong. He gathered up his squad, all veterans of the shadow wars on the barrier worlds, and immediately went towards their shitty outpost.
As veterans, all of them, they knew how to act in this situation.
They advanced in a scouting formation: two people up front, one person behind and between them, three people behind and spread out behind him, and ending in two people behind them. It was their standard formation that they had evolved from the militaries basic scouting formation, but they found it worked better so they used it.
They also kept all chatter out of their movements, relying only on hand signals. They kept their eyes out and looking around as well. Even a breeze would cause them all to pause and look towards its source with caution. The man in the absolute middle was keeping track of all twelve different detectors as they walked. He would follow the footsteps of the man before him as it consumed all of his focus.
A second of distraction could conceal a hackers attack. If a hacker tampered with their equipments from afar and they didn't know it, they'd all be doomed.
This, naturally, slowed down their pace to a crawl, but they didn't mind. Acting this way kept them alive in many dangerous areas. When you're alone in enemy territory with nothing but your squad of companions, a single wrong move can cause you all to die in an instant. Especially with Mecha flying around, you had to be extra careful to avoid anything that could give off any signs of your existence. It just wasn't worth the risk to move faster than necessary.
Sure, it had caused a few allies to die as well because they were too slow to reinforce them. But those allies couldn't blame them, after all they were in different squads so it was better them then us, or so Frank's squad was fond of thinking.
As a result of their incredibly slow pace, they were pretty sure they would be the last ones to arrive at the burning outpost. They had noticed that it was a fire long before they got close. After all, the thermal readings were off the charts. Now that they were closer, they could tell why the other squads hadn't bothered to even try to put it out. It wasn't spreading above the outcropping that the shitty little tent building was placed in, so there was no real need to put it out. Besides, it was a beacon to all the surroundings squads, who had gathered around it, expecting to find the cause.
Every squad had veterans in them on this mission. Some of them had newcomers, but no newcomers were leading them. Because of that, every squad figured that all the other squads would have closed in on the light the same way once they felt that familiar sensation of the connection being cut.
Frank cast a look over the squads who were on standby around the fire. They all looked a little bored but also a little anxious. He approved of that. They should be cautious when something like this happens, especially since no one had found the perpetrator.
He cast his look towards the group of four people who were gathered to the side and his brow formed an arch. They were all squad leaders. But there was a problem. There should have been five people there already, not four.
The other four people who were gathered looked at him with their stern own stern expressions. Upon noticing it was Frank, their faces became grave instead. This mirrored Franks own grave expression as he made a hand motion and his squad began to take up positions they felt were advantageous and keep a lookout. He then walked over to join the other four.
As he approached, a shorter man with a balding head and a raspy voice said, "Richie's squad isn't here. No sign of any fighting in their direction either, though, so no idea if they're still alive."
Frank asked an obvious question, "Any sign on the movement detectors from them?"
The woman of the group, a cold vixen with an eyepatch and longer hair than should be fit for battle, stated, "None. We're thinking of heading out in the direction in a search formation to see if we can find them. They shouldn't have been slower than your dregs to get here."
Franked nodded thoughtfully as he ran a hand through his beard in thought. He then sniffed loudly before he stated, "I agree. What's the call sign?"
The short man simply stated, "How about a endurgo?"
The woman shot him a look of disdain before she coldly said, "You do that one and I'll cut off your dick and feed it to you."
The scarred man, who had been watching silently suddenly laughed lightly, cause his disfigured face to change to one that would scare children. Through his laughter he stated, "Why not just Johnny? It's simple, no? In these woods, it would probably echo far too."
Frank nodded in agreement to that. A simple whistle was easy to understand. But the problem was, if you got ambushed, the call was to cry for your 'mama' and that just didn't see right with him.
He cast a glance at the woman. He would love to her hear make that cry. She was a cold hag but if she ever did that before him he wouldn't let her live it down. It would follow her to the grave and probably beyond.
The woman didn't seem to notice his thoughts as she nodded in agreement, "I agree. Johnny is simple."
The short man scowled as he looked at the last person who hadn't said anything. He was a stonefaced man with a no-nonsense aura about him that made everyone think he was an old school drill sergeant. No one would know that he was actually as gentle as a lovers kiss unless they talked to him.
That man simply nodded his agreement as well.
This caused the short man to scoff loudly before he begrudgingly stated, "Fine. Johnny it is. My squads on point though."
"We'll take the middle," said the woman.
The scarred man sniffed before he said, "Gotcha left," he looked at Frank and asked, "You got right or rear?"
Knowing that the shy oaf wouldn't pick a spot Frank narrowed his eyes in thought. If his squad went to the rear they would probably be left behind so it was best if they went to the right. That way, the middle row would have to match their searching speed and it would be a more thorough and cautious approach.
After being silent a moment, Frank replied, "We'll take the right." He looked to the shy man and added, "We'll leave the rear to you."
The stonefaced brute nodded in understanding and then the whole group split off to their squads.
Frank looked over his men and did several hand motions. He didn't need to explain his orders because they all knew that what he said went. After all, he hadn't lost a man in his squad for four years under his leadership, and that's how long he's been leading it. They, naturally, wouldn't doubt any of his orders now.
The other squads got moving and spread out. The squad on point took the lead and walked off in the direction of where Richie's squad was supposed to be coming from. After waiting for half a minute, the next three squads lined up with a gap of fifteen meters between them before they all went into the forest after them. Half a minute later, the last squad went in as well.
In the total silence of the woods, the stalker began to move.
Frank Bryan Goettge was a well decorated veteran of many battles. He had been across the galaxy fighting for the Empires shadow wars. He scores of kills under his belt that the public eye would never know about. That was the entire point of the shadow wars though, just to poke and prod and the other nations along the barrier worlds.He was about a year away from retiring from his dangerous covert missions. He already had a girl he was sweet on too, just hadn't found the right time to confess to her. He was sure she was waiting as well, given all the signs he kept getting. His friends had even been poking fun at how slow he was being and how there was no time like the present.But he was a bit shy in that regard.Even he found himself to be contradictory. His very job had him living a life-or-death struggle in every task and yet he was afraid to confess his feelings for his girl.Then came this nice cushy job that had him coming back to Ordin Prime for a while. There was no end date to the job, but the perks were great. He was even offered a paid vacation with all expenses paid to The Hub. He was planning to propose to Mary there. He had the plan already mostly formed in his mind about it.The job was pretty simple, just survey an area and keep his head low until further notice.They had been out here for a while, over a month, when everything started to go wrong.He still remembered that stabbing pain shooting through his mind as the connection with everyone was cut. He had felt that several times before already and he immediately knew what was wrong. He gathered up his squad, all veterans of the shadow wars on the barrier worlds, and immediately went towards their shitty outpost.As veterans, all of them, they knew how to act in this situation.They advanced in a scouting formation: two people up front, one person behind and between them, three people behind and spread out behind him, and ending in two people behind them. It was their standard formation that they had evolved from the militaries basic scouting formation, but they found it worked better so they used it.They also kept all chatter out of their movements, relying only on hand signals. They kept their eyes out and looking around as well. Even a breeze would cause them all to pause and look towards its source with caution. The man in the absolute middle was keeping track of all twelve different detectors as they walked. He would follow the footsteps of the man before him as it consumed all of his focus.A second of distraction could conceal a hackers attack. If a hacker tampered with their equipments from afar and they didn't know it, they'd all be doomed.This, naturally, slowed down their pace to a crawl, but they didn't mind. Acting this way kept them alive in many dangerous areas. When you're alone in enemy territory with nothing but your squad of companions, a single wrong move can cause you all to die in an instant. Especially with Mecha flying around, you had to be extra careful to avoid anything that could give off any signs of your existence. It just wasn't worth the risk to move faster than necessary.Sure, it had caused a few allies to die as well because they were too slow to reinforce them. But those allies couldn't blame them, after all they were in different squads so it was better them then us, or so Frank's squad was fond of thinking.As a result of their incredibly slow pace, they were pretty sure they would be the last ones to arrive at the burning outpost. They had noticed that it was a fire long before they got close. After all, the thermal readings were off the charts. Now that they were closer, they could tell why the other squads hadn't bothered to even try to put it out. It wasn't spreading above the outcropping that the shitty little tent building was placed in, so there was no real need to put it out. Besides, it was a beacon to all the surroundings squads, who had gathered around it, expecting to find the cause.Every squad had veterans in them on this mission. Some of them had newcomers, but no newcomers were leading them. Because of that, every squad figured that all the other squads would have closed in on the light the same way once they felt that familiar sensation of the connection being cut.Frank cast a look over the squads who were on standby around the fire. They all looked a little bored but also a little anxious. He approved of that. They should be cautious when something like this happens, especially since no one had found the perpetrator.He cast his look towards the group of four people who were gathered to the side and his brow formed an arch. They were all squad leaders. But there was a problem. There should have been five people there already, not four.The other four people who were gathered looked at him with their stern own stern expressions. Upon noticing it was Frank, their faces became grave instead. This mirrored Franks own grave expression as he made a hand motion and his squad began to take up positions they felt were advantageous and keep a lookout. He then walked over to join the other four.As he approached, a shorter man with a balding head and a raspy voice said, "Richie's squad isn't here. No sign of any fighting in their direction either, though, so no idea if they're still alive."Frank asked an obvious question, "Any sign on the movement detectors from them?"The woman of the group, a cold vixen with an eyepatch and longer hair than should be fit for battle, stated, "None. We're thinking of heading out in the direction in a search formation to see if we can find them. They shouldn't have been slower than your dregs to get here."Franked nodded thoughtfully as he ran a hand through his beard in thought. He then sniffed loudly before he stated, "I agree. What's the call sign?"The short man simply stated, "How about a endurgo?"The woman shot him a look of disdain before she coldly said, "You do that one and I'll cut off your dick and feed it to you."The scarred man, who had been watching silently suddenly laughed lightly, cause his disfigured face to change to one that would scare children. Through his laughter he stated, "Why not just Johnny? It's simple, no? In these woods, it would probably echo far too."Frank nodded in agreement to that. A simple whistle was easy to understand. But the problem was, if you got ambushed, the call was to cry for your 'mama' and that just didn't see right with him.He cast a glance at the woman. He would love to her hear make that cry. She was a cold hag but if she ever did that before him he wouldn't let her live it down. It would follow her to the grave and probably beyond.The woman didn't seem to notice his thoughts as she nodded in agreement, "I agree. Johnny is simple."The short man scowled as he looked at the last person who hadn't said anything. He was a stonefaced man with a no-nonsense aura about him that made everyone think he was an old school drill sergeant. No one would know that he was actually as gentle as a lovers kiss unless they talked to him.That man simply nodded his agreement as well.This caused the short man to scoff loudly before he begrudgingly stated, "Fine. Johnny it is. My squads on point though.""We'll take the middle," said the woman.The scarred man sniffed before he said, "Gotcha left," he looked at Frank and asked, "You got right or rear?"Knowing that the shy oaf wouldn't pick a spot Frank narrowed his eyes in thought. If his squad went to the rear they would probably be left behind so it was best if they went to the right. That way, the middle row would have to match their searching speed and it would be a more thorough and cautious approach.After being silent a moment, Frank replied, "We'll take the right." He looked to the shy man and added, "We'll leave the rear to you."The stonefaced brute nodded in understanding and then the whole group split off to their squads.Frank looked over his men and did several hand motions. He didn't need to explain his orders because they all knew that what he said went. After all, he hadn't lost a man in his squad for four years under his leadership, and that's how long he's been leading it. They, naturally, wouldn't doubt any of his orders now.The other squads got moving and spread out. The squad on point took the lead and walked off in the direction of where Richie's squad was supposed to be coming from. After waiting for half a minute, the next three squads lined up with a gap of fifteen meters between them before they all went into the forest after them. Half a minute later, the last squad went in as well.In the total silence of the woods, the stalker began to move.
