Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mind of the Soldier ❯ Ivdel ( Chapter 10 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Body





Chapter 10: Ivdel

The rotor of the helicopter made a constant thumping sound as it moved towards the Ural mountains. Norman allowed himself to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the coniferous forests passed beneath him. He sat back in the seat watching the rest of the squad, all quiet, their eyes contemplating. Norman assumed they were thinking about what they were in for when the helicopter came to the landing zone. They had reason to think that, they were young. Norman knew what to expect.

All of them were dressed in their combat uniforms. From the black shirts with the golden Oz insignia on the shoulders, to the back baggy pants and the light kevlar vests with pockets. The vests were not very protective, mainly just to carry hand grenades and extras. They also had kevlar helmets, designed to protect the head as best as possible. Norman had decided to travel light. They had taken no packs, under the fact that the Oz special forces there were fully equipped. If the helicopter were to somehow crash, there were rations in the back. Norman had directed them to take only rifles. He equipped them with the French made FAMAS assault rifles, due to their durability and reliability, and their fully automatic potential.

In addition to the assault rifles, they took four extra twenty-five round clips each, to put in their belts. In addition, they took Glock 17 sidearms and a combat knife each. Norman felt this would be good enough for them. They could always pick up the heavy arms from their destination.

Norman continued to look through the window at the enormous but majestic mountains as they approached them. He had been thinking why the UCO would to occupying a city up there. Probably because they were going on an imperialist quest. On the radio, the pilot's voice sounded and he informed the passengers of the time to the landing zone.

"We'll be at the landing zone in approximately thirty minutes." Thirty minutes. Norman thought. Not too much time left. He supposed their was no reason to regret anything now, he knew of the chances of not coming back.

"Lieutenant?" Norman said, directing this at Brooks.

"Sir?" He said, surprised. This confirmed Norman's belief that they, or at least he, were thinking.

"What month is it?" At this question, Brooks smiled as if it were a joke.

"It's September. Are you serious about that?"

"Yes. I guess this severe disorientation to time occurs in the old age." Norman replied. Brooks simply laughed to himself then turned back to the window.

"Sir?" He heard another voice. It was Johnston.

"Yes, Private?"

"What are we going to do there?" Norman was surprised at her innocence.

"I believe you were briefed."

"Yes, what I mean is-is how..." She just trailed off.

"Is what, Private?"

"It doesn't matter sir, it wasn't important." She lowered her eyes to the floor with those last words. Norman knew what it was. He had seen it time and time again. It was fear. That black invisible specter which grabs you into its claws and does not let go. Hell, these young soldiers were never told that there would be combat, but they were frightened anyway. Frightened at the prospect of even lifting that firearm at another human being, much less being able to pull the trigger. There was no cure for this, except experiencing it, and getting over the fear. However, all this does in the end is eat away the mind.

Norman looked through the window and tried to see in front of the helicopter, but the effort was quite futile. Yet on this overcast day he could see the signs of a city somewhere ahead. They were close. He gave another scan of the small cabin, and saw the unchanging faces.

About twenty minutes later the pilot informed they were now landing in an open area a little way from the Oz encampment. The helicopter hovered in midair, then started it's slow descent to the Earth. The helicopter jolted slightly as it met wind resistance, but stayed stable. Finally, they landed in front of part of the forest. The city could not be seen yet. The filed out of the helicopter, crouching to brace the force from the rotor. The pilot got out as well, and then spoke to Norman, which was not really speaking, rather yelling.

"The town is about two clicks north through this forest. Keep straight, and you'll get right to the base."

"Thank you." Norman yelled back, as the pilot got into the helicopter. The helicopter took off once again, and then was gone from sight, and the noise as well, faded into the distance. They were alone now, right in the middle of a mountain forest. Near a town, that probably was not inhabited anymore. Norman scanned the wilderness, and took in the vastness of the mountains that surrounded them. They were huge, covered with trees and then ended with a snowy peak. Norman looked ahead toward the green forest they needed to go through, and saw how huge the pine and spruce trees grew here.

Brooks came up to Norman and squatted beside him, running his fingers through the grass. Norman looked at him, the straps of his helmet were hanging undone. Norman noticed he had not bothered to strap his on either.

"So we gotta head due north from here for two clicks." Brooks repeated to Norman. "I guess I wanted a nature hike after all." Brooks got up, and walked towards the forest. Norman followed, and so did the rest.

They had hiked for at least an hour, silently through the forest. It was almost a surreal moment, that they looked like complete aliens moving about the giant trees and plants of the forest. Each of them took their time looking about, and taking in the fertility of the Earth that surrounded them. It must have reminded a lot of them about their homes, Norman thought, and times now forgotten. The march through the wilderness continued, until Norman broke the silence to Brooks, who was walking beside him.

"So it's September?"

"Yeah."

"I hope we aren't here for too long. The Russian winters hit hard."

"If it comes to that, let's hope they have winter clothes." Brooks said again, very casually.

"Are you worried, Tom?"

"Do I look worried?"

"Not exactly, but that is expected from a Captain."

"I'm human too, you know." Brooks gave a little chuckle at this. Norman really appreciated his lighthearted attitude.

"I know, but I'd hate to be one of our new friends at the back right now."

"Why?"

"Because I can tell they're scared shitless." With that the conversation ended. The observation that Brooks made was entirely correct, just seeing them walk was enough to tell one this. The line of black uniformed soldiers continued on into the forest, with Norman in the lead. Norman stopped suddenly and instantly crouched, hiding himself in the foliage. The others did the same instinctually, as they were taught to in training. Brooks crouched walked up to Norman.

"What's wrong?" He whispered.

"There is something up ahead."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell from here." Norman glanced back and looked at the faces of the others. Rodriguez and Stadler looked intense, and so did the rest. Armstrong had his hand clutched tightly on his FAMAS.

"I'm going to get a little closer." Norman whispered to Brooks. Norman slowly moved through the brush, and then under his foot, a twig snapped. A roar of shots opened up from the front, and Norman hit the ground as bullets whizzed over his head. He saw the bullets strike a nearby tree and the bark when flying off in fragments from the impact.

"Who the fuck is firing on us?" Brooks said, crawling up towards Norman. The steady firing continued. Armstrong got up and fired a burst from his rifle just as Norman saw through one of the shrubs that they had black uniforms.

"Armstrong, hold your fire!" Norman yelled. The firing stopped from Armstrong, and he looked surprised but obeyed. The firing quickly stopped from the opposite side, and there was a painful silence.

"This is the thirty-second!" Norman called out. "We're coming out!" Norman waved his hands at his troops to rise. The men on the other side rose as well, and Norman noticed that they were Oz soldiers as well. This was all he needed. A skirmish with fellow soldiers.

"This is the forty-fourth!" A voice called back to him. "We're glad you boys showed up." Norman and they rest of his group approached them. Norman saw a man perhaps in his mid forties before him, with light and faded eyes, and wrinkles across his forehead. The man saluted him. Norman saluted back.

"Captain Walter Curtis, forty-fourth."

"Captain Tomas Norman. We're from the thirty-second." Curtis looked around behind Norman.

"There's seven of you?"

"Yes." Norman saw three other people with Curtis, from his regiment.

"We're sorry about that little thing there, Captain. We're just out on patrol, making sure the UCO troops don't sneak around from behind. They way you dove to the ground like that gave us a bit of a scare."

"It's nothing." Norman replied.
"Do you have any other officers?"

"Yes." Norman said, pointing to Brooks. "This is Lieutenant James Brooks." Brooks saluted Captain Curtis as Norman introduced him.

"I got word of your mission just yesterday, Captain. I hope it turns out well. We all sure as hell want to get out of here before winter."

"I understand, Captain." Norman said to Curtis. "We'll try to make it easy on you." Curtis chuckled at this.

"I'm sure you will. Let's head to our base now. It's not really a base, but we like to think it is. It's not too far from here."

Norman and the rest of his squad followed Curtis, and soon they came to a clearing, which was obviously a section of the town. The town looked rather destroyed. There was a lot of rubble and broken pieces of concrete lying about. There was also a lot of wood scattered around the area. Norman noticed various Oz soldiers walking around the compound. Some were hanging up clotheslines. Others were talking and smoking. It seemed to Norman like a regular community.

"How many are you?" Norman asked Curtis.

"We're about seventy. Our regiment used to be about one-hundred fifty, but we came under some heavy combat."

"Colonel Higgins said you'd only be about forty."

"Would a colonel in the offices know the actual numbers?" Curtis said, moving forward. Norman examined more of the area, and saw several large tents set up, and a building that looked like it was once a small school was being put to use.

"Why is the town in ruins like this?" Norman asked. Curtis chuckled again.

"This is not as bad as where most of the fighting takes place. Over here the UCO just likes to plant bombs to try and scare us."

"Do you know how large they are?"

"At this time they might be around one-hundred fifty or sixty. However, they seem to be under equipped. We seem to have an abundance of top notch equipment. Obviously the higher-ups thought we would be here for awhile." Norman and him continued to walk towards the school like building. Norman saw a humvee go by, with the canvas top taken off. The humvee had a M-60 on top of a mount.

"We have a lot of firearms, M-249 SAW's, FAMAS rifles, lots of grenades. We have plenty. We also have a lot of food and extra clothing. It appears we're lucky." Norman wondered why the Oz commanders had set them up with so much equipment.

"Are there any civilians here?"

"Most left when the UCO came, but there are still some, being spoon fed propaganda about us being the 'bad guys'."

"Much fighting?"

"It's been quiet lately." That's all Curtis said as their conversation ended. Norman glanced at a lot of the soldiers looking at them, and smiling, as if they knew what they were here for. Norman did not doubt that they did. Many of these soldiers looked like kids. The landscape around here contrasted greatly to the forest. It was all dull, faded out grays and dust.

They arrived in front of the building and Curtis stopped before the entrance. He then spoke to all of them.

"I need to talk to Captain Norman for awhile now. Brooks, you're coming in too." Brooks gave Curtis a slight nod. "The rest of you can take it easy. Get to know some of the others around here." With that, the rest of the privates in the group disbanded and started to explore the encampment.

"Let's go into our so called intelligence room now." Curtis said, leading them inside.