Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry

After resending the coordinates and waiting for a reply from Command, Augustus sent four soldiers equipped with communications gear and binoculars to two entrances on either side of the railway tracks. The backpack Harnack had taken from the cargo hold was filled with walkie-talkies, while another held high-powered binoculars.

The sentry posts had been chosen in advance by Augustus and Raynor. They were tucked among steel frames, streetlamps, and metal debris, well out of sight.

But Augustus had barely had time to rest when, a few minutes later, the sentry on one side of the platform reported bad news: a Kel-Morian force in light reconnaissance vehicles was rapidly approaching. The skull flags fluttering from their vehicles identified them as the infamous Wasteland Wolfpack—the Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry.

"How far away are they? Can you tell how many vehicles there are?" Augustus asked the sentry he had sent out, a soldier from New Recruit Squad Two.

"I don't know. Maybe two thousand yards. They have four reconnaissance vehicles, or more," the sentry said, speaking quickly. Augustus knew he was extremely nervous, but the soldier was still holding his post, waiting for the order to withdraw.

"Have they slowed down?" Augustus asked.

"I think... No, they haven't. They might even be speeding up," the sentry replied.

"Get out of there. Take everything with you. Don't leave anything behind," Augustus ordered. "Stay hidden as you withdraw. Don't let the Kel-Morians spot you."

"Yes, sir," the sentry replied.

Augustus had arranged for everyone to gather in the same spacious waiting hall, which had a U-shaped corridor. In the meantime, he had also appointed temporary squad leaders for New Recruit Squads Two through Four.

"Fall in! A small enemy Assault Cavalry unit is approaching. There can't be more than twenty of them. Grab your weapons and report to your squad leaders!" Augustus called as he entered the hall.

"Hell's bells." Raynor's eyes widened. The worst part was that these recruits had only just left boot camp, and none of them had Power Armor.

The other soldiers looked just as stunned. They had never expected their first real battle to be against a veteran Kel-Morian unit. Even so, though they were frightened at the thought of facing the enemy in a real fight for the first time, the recruits weren't despairing.

The Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry operated mainly on the planet Reading III. They belonged neither to the traditional army nor to the Marine Corps or the Fleets. They were a true "cavalry unit."

The Assault Cavalry rode Kel-Moria's fastest reconnaissance vehicles into battle. On Reading III's sparse grasslands, they would strike Terran Confederacy outposts and settlements with ghostlike speed, then withdraw just as quickly.

Though the Terran Confederacy's records didn't describe the Assault Cavalry as experts in frontal assaults or sieges, and they weren't the most feared unit in the Kel-Morian regular army, they were certainly the biggest headache for Confederacy Command. They never took part in large-scale battles, performing only reconnaissance and sabotage missions. They came and went without a trace, slippery as eels.

Rumor had it that some Assault Cavalry on Reading III also took mercenary jobs on the side. When their pay ran short, they might even turn to raiding colonies or becoming space pirates.

The nearly impossible-to-pin-down Assault Cavalry often appeared behind Confederacy lines, becoming a nightmare for logistics units, artillery, and hospitals. The instructor who had told the recruits about them had contemptuously called them flies buzzing over corpses, maggots crawling on the dead.

They were easy to kill, but disgusting.

The instructor had drilled one point into the recruits: for all their notoriety, the Assault Cavalry weren't all that formidable and could certainly be beaten.

"Are those bastards coming for us?" Raynor asked, loading an E-9 Electromagnetic Rifle.

"I don't know, but at the speed and direction they're traveling, they'll have to pass through this station," Augustus said.

"What did we do to deserve this?" Omo voiced Augustus's thoughts.

By then, everyone had assembled. With two people left to care for the wounded, Augustus had thirty-eight soldiers available.

"I remember Instructor Travis saying that a small Assault Cavalry unit usually isn't very large. To stay fast, they don't wear heavy Power Armor, and they can't carry heavy weapons," Augustus said. "The Assault Cavalry aren't good at sieges or sudden engagements, and I doubt they have the courage or resolve to fight to the death."

Augustus already had a plan. There was no escaping now, and given the Assault Cavalry's tactics, they would never attack unless they had an overwhelming numerical advantage. The best and most likely outcome was that they had no idea a transport ship full of Terran soldiers had crash-landed here.

The recruits had plenty of weapons and enough people. With the height difference between the platform and the tracks, they could set up an elevated ambush and perhaps catch the Assault Cavalry completely off guard.

"This is an order. Squad One, take the platform on the left. Squad Three, take the platform on the right. Squad Two will back up Squad One, and Squad Four will back up Squad Three. Use chairs, tables, and wrecked trucks to build cover along the platform edges." Augustus's orders were concise and clear.

"As soon as they enter the tower station, open fire at my command."

The soldiers immediately got to work, following Augustus's orders to the letter without wasting a moment. By then, the sentries Augustus had dispatched had returned with even worse news. There was no need for them to say anything; Augustus could already hear the reconnaissance vehicles' engines roaring toward them.

Augustus and Raynor ran into Squad One's cover. Augustus took a military-grade pair of binoculars Harnack had found aboard the transport and looked in the direction of the noise.

Four Kel-Morian reconnaissance vehicles had come into view. They were low-slung four-wheel cars, not hovercraft, and looked much like jeeps. Their dark camouflage blended in with the urban ruins. On the tall flags flying from them, alongside the KM insignia of the Kel-Morian Combine, was a gaunt, emaciated skull.

Red paint marked the skull's sunken eye sockets. The flags were ink blue, symbolizing Moria's atmosphere, polluted by heavy industrialization.

Augustus's heart suddenly lurched. A truck was following the reconnaissance vehicles. He couldn't tell whether it was a troop carrier or an ordinary cargo truck, since the Assault Cavalry had evidently modified a large civilian truck for their use.

The Assault Cavalry seemed unaware that a group of heavily armed Terran Confederacy soldiers was waiting for them. They showed no sign of slowing down. At this rate, they would pass through the station in a minute or two. Augustus estimated that the reconnaissance vehicles were no more than 150 yards from the station entrance.

Augustus raised his right hand and signaled for silence, then took an E-9 rifle from Raynor. The safety was off, and he immediately took aim.

The first reconnaissance vehicle roared into the station. A light autocannon was mounted on it, and an Assault Cavalryman wearing black goggles and face paint stood on a raised seat, staring suspiciously at the suddenly appeared barricades. Before he could shout, Augustus opened fire.

"Fire!" The rifle's stock slammed hard into Augustus's shoulder.

Dozens of Electromagnetic Rifles and shotguns fired at once. Golden-red muzzle flashes swallowed the first Assault Cavalry vehicle. The gunner was hit by dozens of rounds and torn to pieces by Steel Nails and shotgun pellets.

The driver was hit too. The lightly armored reconnaissance vehicle was riddled with holes in an instant, spinning wildly before coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

The next vehicle swerved, only to slam into the barriers beside the railway tracks. The remaining vehicles braked hard and began returning fire, but the squads had already formed an elevated crossfire with almost no blind spots.

The Assault Cavalrymen became sitting ducks in an instant. But the recruits lacked combat experience, and they kept firing for dozens of seconds until they had emptied their magazines. Even Augustus's shouts did no good; the gunfire drowned him out completely.

By the time the recruits came to their senses, the Assault Cavalrymen had all been shot to pieces. It had been as easy as target practice back at boot camp.

Even Augustus was astonished by their overwhelming success. As he saw it, this had been a forced act of self-defense. To save himself and his men from being slaughtered by the Kel-Morians, he had had no choice but to order his inexperienced recruits to strike first.

Thanks to Agent Rongrong for the tip, thanks to I Will Always Love Slokai for the monthly ticket, and thanks for the investment!