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Chapter 3: Ambush

"Sarge," Sgt. Hines called through my cubicle's door. "Wake up, sarge. Col. Lechund needs us at Highman's command center, ASAP."

"Fucking a," I muttered to myself. "To early in the..." I glanced at the clock. It was 09:00. "Fuck," I cried. "Understood, sergeant! Let me get dressed!"

I emerged from my cubicle in my ACUs. I had been smart enough to replace my sergeant patch with my SFC insignia. "Morning, sergeant first class," Phantom Squad said groggily.

"Morning, squad," I replied. I was just as groggy as they were. "I've been told we need to head to the command center?"

"That's right, sarge," PFC. Sandzen said.

"Then, let's get our asses in gear," I said. "Move out, double time."

The jog to the command center took the better part of 15 minutes. We were soldiers, though; we didn't give a fuck.

"Phantom Squad reporting as ordered," I said as I slowed the squad to a march and approached Col. Lechund, who stood outside the command center. I halted the squad and saluted the colonel. He returned the salute.

"Very well," he said. "Get to the war room. I've an assignment for your squad."

"You heard the man," I said to my squad. "Get your asses to the war room." We began to walk to the room. We were amazed when we entered the room. The walls were filled floor to ceiling with holo panels displaying maps, security feed from different satellites, and weapons data. The central table had a hologram of the surrounding terrain floating about a meter above it.

"Position your squad around the table," Col. Lechund commanded. "And bring them to parade rest."

"Yes, sir," I replied. "Squad, circle around the table." Once they were positioned around the table, I gave the order: "parade rest."

"Good morning, gentleman," an elderly black lab spoke. "I am Brigadier General Zinga. I am the ops commander at Highman Army Base. Your squad is here, sergeant first class, because I have an assignment for you."

"Whatever it is, sir," I said. "We'll do it to the best of our abilities."

"Good," BrigGen. Zinga said. "Your assignment is to ambush a group of Solvitians who are heading this way. They are coming from the north. I don't give a rat's ass how you ambush these bastards. Just do it. Now, move out, double time."

"Yes, sir," we rang out. We skipped moving to attention. We just went straight into double time out the door.

"Alright," I said. "We need to double time our asses to the north ASA fucking P. I'll think of a way to ambush the while we're en route."

Highman was a large base. It takes a long time to even double time from one end to the other. And it didn't help that the command center was right in the fucking center of the base.

"I fucking wish the damn comm center was at the north end of this hell hole," PFC. Sandzen.

"Stop bitching," Sgt. Hines said. "It's bad enough listening to you fucking snore all night."

"Stop bitching, both of you," I ordered. "We don't have the Goddamn time."

It took fifteen Goddamn minutes to reach the north end of the base. We approached the guardhouse. "Slow to a walk," I ordered. "Catch your breath."

The forest outside the base was dense. Good. Our ACU uniforms would blend well. We walked roughly a football field into the forest.

"Alright," I said. "PFC. Gerard, PFC. Garrison: go with Cpl. Merendez. You guys get them to this spot. The rest of you, you're with me. Hide until I give the word, then ambush these fuckers."

PFC. Gerard and PFC. Garrison went with Merendez. The rest of the squad, including me, hid in the forest brush. All that was left to do was wait.

It didn't take long. We heard our soldiers shout things like, "get back here, you little bastards!"

"Hold," I told my Phantom Squad as the enemy approached. "Hold. Now!"

We all jumped from our hiding spots and began to fire on the Solvitians. After about thirty seconds of firing, all four Solvitians lay dead. "Take that, you bastards," PFC. Jeldine yelled. I took one last look at our work.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go inform BrigGen. Zinga of our success." The jog back was easier than the jog to the ambush site. Then again, we weren't being weighed down by as many bullets this time.

"Well," BrigGen. Zinga asked as we entered the command center's war room. "How did your ambush play out?"

"Outstanding, sir," I said. "Solvitian KIAs count at four, and our KIAs cont at zero."

"Out-fucking-standing," the brigadier general said. "Good work. That will be all, gentlemen. Feel free to wander the base, explore it."

I said nothing. I simply saluted the ops commander and about faced.

"How about that Halo match now, sergeant," I asked Sgt. Hines.

"Don't cry when I whoop your ass,"sergeant first class," Hines accepted.

"Trust me," I retaliated. "You won't."

After jogging for five minutes, the barracks were in sight. "Alright," I said to my squad. "Once inside the barracks, take off all of your combat armor. After that, you can wander the base, or stay here. If you wander the base, just be back by 22:00."

"Got it, sergeant first class," the squad rang.

After removing our armor, Sgt. Hines and I went to the TV in the corner. I opened up the Halo: Reach case that sat by the TV. Empty. I checked the disk tray and found it had the disk. I closed the tray and turned on the TV.

"Good luck," I said to Hines. He just sat there with a sinister look. Soon, I figured out why. He was great at this game. He could kill from a distance with a DMR, or up close with a shotgun. The final score was 50 to 9.

"You're one cocky bastard, sergeant first class," Hines joked.

"Oh well," I laughed. "It's just a game." I checked the time. 12:00. It was only noon. "I'm going to find some place to get some chow," I announced. Anyone else want to come along with me?"

"Fuck yeah," Cpl. Merendez said. "I'm hungry as hell."

"Then, get your ass moving," I said. "I'm leaving right now." We walked out of barracks 2 Charlie. "So, where do you want to eat?"

"Mickey D's, I guess," Merendez replied. "Or BK, if that's alright with you, sarge."

"Mickey D's it is," I replied.

After stopping for directions about 9 times, we finally found it. We walked into the air conditioned building and memories from my home life came back to me.

"Welcome to McDonald's," the cashier said, snapping me from my trance. "What would you like to order?"

"I'll take a #1, please; large," I asked. "And the corporal will have a kid's meal."

"Screw off," the corporal joked. "I'll have a #7, please; large, as well."

"Ok," the cashier said. "Your total comes to $16.38." I pulled out $17 dollars from my wallet. "Alright, sir," the cashier said. I had to restrain from getting on to her about calling an enlisted soldier "sir". "Your change is 62¢."

"Thank you, sir," I said as I took the receipt and stood off to the side. The receipt identified us as order 43. Upon getting our food, we filled our cups, both with coke, and devoured our food.

The walk back to the barracks was quiet. I checked my phone since the sun wasn't going to tell us what time it was. It was 17:00. Were we really there for five hours? Or, how long did finding it take? I shrugged.

Once in the barracks, I went to my cubicle and practically collapsed on the bed. I sat up and walked to the small kitchen area the barracks had. I found a coffee machine with a can of ground coffee beans next to it. I removed the filter from the machine, put in a new one, poured water into the machine, and waited for the coffee to brew. "Damn, I'm tired," I said to nobody in particular.

The coffee machine slowed and finally stopped. I poured myself a cup and went back to the main area. I was left to watch Sgt. Hines and Pvt. Garrison play Rock Band on the PS3.

The hours passed quickly. Soon it was 10:50, and everyone was back at the barracks. "Good night," the soldiers echoed each other. "Night, squad," I said, and retired to my cubicle. I closed the door and flopped on my bed; it was a long day.