War Criminals by Gavin Smith (ereader for textbooks .TXT) 📕

into the water. Then the Wader exploded. It took a moment for Miska to realise that the tree they had been passing was the one that Kaneda had been hiding in.

Miska turned her attention to the second Triple S Wader. She saw something fall into its cupola. As the driver stood up a crossbow bolt sprouted from his face. Moments later his head exploded. There was frantic movement inside the Wader and then the grenade exploded. Bodies tumbled into the water. They were passing the tree that Hogg had been hiding in.

Miska looked around for the third Wader but couldn’t see it, and it didn’t seem to be attacking them. She could hear the sound of a vicious firefight behind her. Bullets sparking off their Wader. Nyukuti returning fire.

She started to turn as something hit her hard in the back. Then again, and again, forcing the air from her diaphragm. Her ceramic backplate split with the third shot, her inertial armour undersuit hardening. But something made its way through, lodging in her subcutaneous armour close to her spine. She was slammed into the slimy underside of the Wader again. She went down on her knees and started to turn. Nyukuti was moving. He put himself between her and the incoming rounds. She saw his body shake as he got hit again. He fell backwards. His face had been replaced by a red cavity. Miska brought her AK-47 up. She saw Kasmeyer turning away from her and towards Hemi. Hemi was charging the Sneaky Bastard, an empty M19 carbine in one hand, his māripi in the other. Kasmeyer tried to bring his SAW up but Hemi hit him like a truck. The māripi bit into Kasmeyer’s arm. He bounced off the huge fungus he had been hiding behind and Hemi ripped the māripi down his arm. Kasmeyer dropped the SAW, but it still hung from its sling. Kasmeyer tried to bring his left arm up defensively. Hemi hit it repeatedly with the toothed weapon until that was useless as well. Then he swung the māripi at Kasmeyer’s neck.

‘No!’ Miska shouted but the māripi’s teeth bit into Kasmeyer’s neck. Hemi looked her way. ‘Alive!’ she shouted. Kasmeyer sank to his knees, blood spurting from the wound. Hemi pushed the māripi back into a loop on his load-carrying plate. He grabbed Kasmeyer’s neck wound, trying to stem the bleeding. It put them another gun down.

Their ambushers were up. They had split into three four-man fire teams and were conducting fire and manoeuvre. Two fire teams would provide withering covering fire while the third moved. The most northern fire team was trying to get into position to flank them. Catch them in another L-shaped crossfire. Miska slung the AK-47/flamer combination across her back. She hit the quick-release on Nyukuti’s SAW and lifted it up. With the underslung grenade launcher it had a real heft to it. The collapsible stock nestled in her shoulder and she started laying down fire. This brought her attention, and withering return fire caused her to take cover behind the capsized Wader. Among the fungus trees she could see Mass, Raff and Corenbloom taking the occasional opportunistic shots but then having to take cover due to the sheer volume of return fire. The air was full of spores from the bullet-punctured fungi. Miska peeked out and fired a long burst from the SAW and then ducked back around the Wader.

Then the Triple S ambushers were taking fire from their flank. There was the pop of grenade launchers. Explosions followed by screams as shrapnel from 30mm grenades tore the contractors apart. The fire was coming from the water. Miska moved quickly to the water’s edge, using the capsized Wader as cover. Her remaining eye went wide as she saw the swamp creatures rising from the water firing slugthrowers. Absurdly, Miska thought they had chimneys for a moment. It was only because one of the swamp creatures was so fat that Miska realised what they were, or rather who they were. Grig, Gunhir, Bean and Kaczmar, the Nightmare Squad. Their sodden ghillie suits were thrown over their backs, their faces covered in waterproof camo-paint. The ‘chimneys’ were simple printed snorkels and periscopes that had allowed them to remain hidden. Now the Bastards had the Triple S mercenaries in a crossfire.

‘Mass!’ Miska practically screamed. The Mafia button man didn’t hear her. He was using the distraction of the Nightmare Squad to lay some fire down himself. ‘Mass!’ Raff tapped Mass on the shoulder and pointed at Miska. ‘Reload your 19! Sling it! Get Kasmeyer’s SAW, reload it! We all move when I say!’ Mass nodded, reloaded his M19 and, keeping low, he ran to where a clearly frustrated Hemi was trying to keep Kasmeyer alive. Miska risked a few short bursts with Nyukuti’s SAW but it was the Nightmare Squad doing all the work. The fungal forest was full of tracers tearing up the undergrowth. Tree-sized mushrooms fell to the earth. Of course they couldn’t keep up such sustained fire forever. Miska glanced around the corner as Grig, Gunhir and Bean, as one, fired grenades from their M19’s under-barrel launchers and then, along with Kaczmar, took cover behind the thickest fungal tree they could find and knelt down to reload their weapons.

‘Now!’ Miska shouted at Mass as the remaining Triple S contractors concentrated their fire on the Nightmare Squad. Miska came around the Wader. She moved quickly towards their ambushers. She fired the SAW’s grenade launcher first. Sent four HEAP grenades flying towards the contractors. She switched to the SAW, marching forward firing long burst after long burst at any movement, suppressing fire. On her right Mass was doing the same. Corenbloom and Raff were moving forward firing their M19s as well. Miska kept firing until the SAW ran dry. She tossed it. A tracer opened up her cheek. She barely felt the phosphorous burn. The Nightmare Squad were firing and moving forward again. It didn’t matter who you were, what your combat