Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry

While resending his location coordinates and awaiting a response from Command, Augustus dispatched four soldiers equipped with communication gear and binoculars to the eastern and western entrances of the train tracks. Harnack had pulled a backpack full of radio handsets from the cargo hold, while the other contained high-magnification binoculars.

The sentry posts had been pre-selected by Augustus and Raynor; they were tucked away between steel frames, streetlights, and piles of scrap metal, providing sufficient concealment.

However, Augustus had barely rested for a few minutes before the sentry on one side of the platform relayed bad news: a Kel-Morian unit riding in light reconnaissance vehicles was approaching rapidly. The skull flags fluttering from their vehicles identified them as the notorious Wasteland Wolfpack—Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry.

"How far away are they, and can you count how many vehicles there are?" Augustus asked the sentry he had sent out, a soldier from the second recruit platoon.

"I don't know, maybe two thousand yards. They have four scout cars, maybe more." The sentry spoke rapidly; Augustus knew he was extremely nervous, yet the soldier remained at his post, waiting for the order to withdraw.

"Have they slowed down?" Augustus asked.

"I don't think so. They haven't; they might even be accelerating," the sentry replied.

"Fall back. Take everything with you; leave nothing behind," Augustus ordered. "Stay concealed during your withdrawal. Don't let the Kel-Morians spot you."

"Yes, sir," the sentry replied.

Previously, Augustus had arranged everyone in the same spacious, U-shaped waiting hall, during which time he had appointed temporary squad leaders for the second through fourth recruit platoons.

"Assemble! An enemy Assault Cavalry detachment is approaching, no more than twenty men. Grab your weapons and report to your squad leaders!" Augustus said as he walked into the hall.

"What the hell," Raynor widened his eyes. The most critical issue now was that these recruits had just walked out of boot camp and lacked power armor.

The other soldiers wore the same expression. They had never expected their first combat engagement to be against veteran Kel-Morian troops. That said, while the recruits were terrified of their first real-fire fight, they did not fall into despair.

The Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry were primarily active on the planet Reding III. They belonged neither to the traditional army nor the marines or the fleet; they were a "cavalry unit" in the truest sense.

The Assault Cavalry fought from the fastest Kel-Morian scout cars, often raiding Terran Confederacy outposts and settlements on the sparse grasslands of Reding III with ghostly speed, only to retreat with the same swiftness.

Although no Terran Confederacy record listed the Assault Cavalry as a unit skilled in frontal assaults or siege warfare, and they were certainly not the most feared of the regular Kel-Morian forces, they were undoubtedly the biggest headache for the Confederate High Command. The Assault Cavalry never participated in large-scale legion warfare, performing only reconnaissance and sabotage missions, coming and going without a trace, as slippery as "loaches."

It was rumored that some of the Assault Cavalry on Reding III took mercenary jobs on the side, and when their pay ran short, they would turn into colonial bandits or space pirates.

The omnipresent Assault Cavalry often appeared behind Confederate lines, becoming a nightmare for logistics units, artillery, and hospitals. The instructor who had briefed the recruits on this unit had contemptuously called them flies buzzing on a corpse, maggots on the dead.

Fragile, but disgusting.

The instructor had constantly drilled this point into the recruits: while the Assault Cavalry were infamous, their combat effectiveness was not that high, and they were not invincible.

"Are those bastards coming for us?" Raynor asked, loading his E-9 electromagnetic rifle.

"I don't know, but judging by their trajectory, they are bound to pass through this base station," Augustus said.

"Why are we so unlucky?" Omo voiced Augustus's own thoughts.

By now, everyone had assembled. Excluding the two left to tend to the wounded, Augustus had thirty-eight men at his disposal.

"I remember Instructor Travis saying that a detachment of Kel-Morian Assault Cavalry usually isn't very large. To maintain speed, they wouldn't be wearing heavy power armor, nor would they be carrying heavy weapons," Augustus said. "The Assault Cavalry aren't good at siege or encounter battles, and I believe they lack the courage and resolve to fight to the death."

Augustus already had a plan in mind. They couldn't escape now, and given the Assault Cavalry's combat style, they would never initiate an attack unless they held an absolute advantage in numbers. The best and most likely scenario was that they might not even know a transport ship full of Terran soldiers had crash-landed here.

The recruits had plenty of weapons and enough manpower. By utilizing the height difference between the platform and the tracks, they could launch a downward ambush, perhaps catching the Assault Cavalry off guard.

"This is an order. First Platoon deploys on the left platform, Third Platoon on the right. Second Platoon acts as reserve for the First, and Fourth Platoon as reserve for the Third. Use chairs, tables, and wrecked trucks to build cover at the edge of the platform," Augustus's orders were concise and clear.

"Once they drive into the tower station, wait for my command to open fire immediately."

The soldiers moved at once, following Augustus's orders to the letter without hesitation. By now, the sentries Augustus had sent out had returned, bringing even worse news. There was no need for words; Augustus could already hear the roaring engines of the scout cars.

Augustus immediately ran with Raynor into the First Platoon's cover, pulling out the military binoculars Harnack had salvaged from the transport to look in the direction of the sound.

Four Kel-Morian scout cars had entered his field of vision. These were four-wheeled vehicles that hugged the ground rather than hovercraft, looking much like jeeps. The scout cars were coated in dark camouflage suited for urban ruins, and the flags fluttering high above them bore not only the KM mark of the Kel-Morian Combine but also a gaunt, shriveled human skull.

The skull's deep eye sockets were accented with red paint, and the flag's background was ink-blue, symbolizing the murky atmosphere of Moria caused by its heavy industrialization.

Augustus's heart skipped a beat. A truck was following behind the scout cars. He couldn't tell if it was a troop carrier or a regular cargo truck, as it was clearly a civilian heavy-duty truck modified by the Assault Cavalry.

The Assault Cavalry seemed unaware that a group of fully armed Terran Confederacy soldiers was waiting for them. There was no sign of them slowing down; if all went as expected, they would pass through this station within a minute or two. Augustus estimated the scout cars were at most 150 yards from the entrance to the station.

At this moment, Augustus raised his right hand in a gesture for silence, then took an E-9 rifle from Raynor. The safety was off; he immediately entered a state of focused aiming.

The first scout car roared into the station, a light autocannon mounted on top. An Assault Cavalryman wearing black goggles and face paint stood on a raised seat, staring suspiciously at the suddenly appearing barricades. The next moment, before the trooper could even cry out, Augustus had already fired.

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

Dozens of electromagnetic rifles and shotguns opened fire simultaneously. Red-gold tongues of flame engulfed the first scout car. The trooper manning the cannon was struck by dozens of rounds, torn into a pile of gore by steel nails and buckshot.

The driver was hit as well, and the unarmored scout car became riddled with holes in an instant, spinning wildly before coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

The following scout car swerved in a panic, crashing into the barrier beside the train tracks. The vehicles behind it braked hard and began to return fire, but by then, the platoons had formed a downward-firing crossfire grid with almost no blind spots.

The Assault Cavalry became sitting ducks in the blink of an eye. The recruits, lacking combat experience, fired continuously for dozens of seconds until their magazines were empty. Even Augustus's shouts to stop were useless; his voice was completely drowned out by the gunfire.

By the time the recruits regained their senses, the Assault Cavalry had been blown to pieces, as simple as the target practice in boot camp.

Even Augustus was surprised by the magnitude of their success, though in his view, this was a forced act of self-defense. To escape the fate of being slaughtered by the Kel-Morians and to survive, he had been forced to command a group of inexperienced recruits to strike first.

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