Scout Battle

"Sir!"

Kelifeng's weak voice interrupted Moroz's thoughts.

The scout had stopped at the rear of the squad, resting his sniper rifle against his shoulder.

"Squad, halt."

Moroz rasped:

"Stay alert. Report what you found, Kelifeng."

"I think I heard engines, sir."

Moroz walked back and stopped beside the scout, who was crouching there.

"Did you hear engines, or did you not hear engines?"

"I heard engines."

There was more confidence in Kelifeng's voice.

"Behind us."

"Distance? Numbers?"

"I don't know, sir. I can see heat haze in that direction."

The scout pointed toward a slope on the plain they had crossed a few minutes earlier.

As the scout continued his description in a taut voice, Moroz removed his binoculars from his belt.

"I see them. Three vehicles—two trucks and an armored vehicle. No bikes or infantry... They're coming straight for us!"

Moroz could see nothing with the naked eye, but from the sound alone, he knew the Orks were driving without lights.

Had they deliberately come to hunt the scouts?

Through his binoculars, he confirmed Kelifeng's report: three Ork vehicles were pursuing them, crammed with soldiers.

Moroz immediately looked around for the best defensive position.

Less than a hundred meters to his right stood several low trees, while a narrow river cut diagonally down from the north, thirty meters to his left.

The trees could help them avoid the Greenskins' likely route of advance and provide some visual cover, but their thin, twisted trunks and branches offered almost no physical protection.

The stream was at least a meter deep, with bushes lining its banks, but it lay directly across the Orks' path.

Moroz made one final sweep with his binoculars and confirmed that there were no other Greenskin forces nearby. If the scouts were discovered, they would face three vehicles