Rescue

Amber wasn't trying to be a good person.

He certainly didn't want to put himself in danger, either.

But if the escape pod wasn't too far from the convoy, there was no harm in making a quick stop to help.

Granted, he had only five wheeled combat vehicles under his command.

Still, Amber was confident they could handle a few Imperial Orbital Paratroopers under his command.

Even if their luck was terrible and they ran into an HCP the enemy had dropped in,

the convoy's Electronic Warfare Variant could cover their retreat well enough.

Besides, the escape pod had come down from Lansford Port. Its occupants would surely know what was happening there.

If Amber and the others wanted to leave Robert IV later but couldn't find another way off the planet,

they would probably have to reach the Space Elevator.

While Amber weighed the risks and benefits, the Communications Officer triangulated the direction from which the signal had last transmitted.

After he entered the coordinates and the specifications of a standard spaceport escape pod into the Vehicular Terminal, several system-calculated descent orbits appeared on the screen.

All their projected landing sites fell within ten kilometers of the convoy.

"Well, guess we have to go now."

Amber chose the landing site the system rated most likely.

He sent its coordinates to the other vehicles as their next destination through the command system.

Once the camouflage nets had been stowed and every Mobile Infantry soldier was aboard, the convoy set off again.

"Attention, everyone. We're making a stop to carry out a rescue."

Seated in the swaying Wheeled Armored Vehicle, Amber opened the Squad Communication Channel.

"A few lucky souls came down in an escape pod from that spaceport over your heads."

"Unfortunately, there won't be flowers and wine waiting for them on the ground."

"And judging by the earlier battlefield situation, enemy forces are probably active near their landing site."

"We've got our own problems, but since they're on our way, we might as well pick them up. We can even invite those people who spend all day flying over your heads to take a ride in a ground vehicle."

"We've got plenty of empty seats, anyway."

Laughter broke out among the Mobile Infantry soldiers over the channel.

They had been under Amber's command for only a matter of hours.

Yet they had come to trust their temporary commander.

After two battles, they no longer had any real objections to his orders.

Hearing them laugh, Amber couldn't help smiling too.

Then his voice turned serious again.

"All vehicles, prepare for combat!"

"Vehicle 3, launch your onboard drone and maintain aerial surveillance within a twenty-kilometer radius!"

"Vehicle 4, activate the Millimeter-Wave Battlefield Surveillance Radar and set the Electronic Warfare System to automatic countermeasures!"

"And mind your radio discipline. If I hear anyone bullshitting on this channel again, I'll kick his ass inside out!"

When they had set out earlier, Amber had assigned call signs to all five vehicles to make command easier.

Vehicles 1 through 3 were standard personnel carriers.

Vehicle 4 was the Electronic Warfare Variant.

Vehicle 5, which Amber rode in, was a communications relay variant temporarily serving as the command vehicle.

After the vehicle commanders acknowledged his orders, Amber turned his attention to the Tactical Map.

Vehicle 3 had already launched its Reconnaissance Drone.

It was now flying a broad figure-eight pattern above the convoy.

With electromagnetic launch technology so commonplace, almost any military vehicle could launch this sort of Fixed-Wing Drone by installing a launch rail.

The Reconnaissance Drone launched by Vehicle 3 was classified by the Federation Military as a squad-level vehicle-mounted drone.

It was primarily issued to Mechanized Infantry Units.

The small drone was 1.8 meters long, with a three-meter wingspan when its folding wings were extended.

It could cruise at ninety kilometers per hour for nearly three hours.

Its maximum operating altitude was 1,500 meters, and its maximum remote-control range was twenty-five kilometers.

In its standard configuration, an optical and infrared reconnaissance module was mounted beneath its nose.

Its equipment could also be swapped out for electronic reconnaissance.

Its only drawback was that, to keep costs down, it had limited automation and no landing gear.

That made recovering it a little tricky.

When the little drone was nearly out of power, Vehicle 3's crew would have to stop and stretch out a recovery net.

Then they would wait for the slowing drone to fly straight into it.

Finding the escape pod didn't take long.

The drone operator spotted a suspicious object the drone had marked on the Tactical Map.

He immediately adjusted the optical observation module and saw a long black scorch mark across the plain, with smoke rising from it.

A magnified image was soon transmitted to Amber's temporary command vehicle.

"That's it."

Amber snapped his fingers, but he quickly realized the pod had not landed in a particularly good spot.

The automated farmland covered hundreds of square kilometers, and its flat terrain was ideal for an escape pod landing.

But that same open terrain left the pod completely exposed.

It had come down in the northwest corner of the wheat field, less than three kilometers from its edge.

Across the golden wheat, the trail gouged by the falling pod stood out like a blot of ink on a painting.

Amber studied the drone footage, then switched the Tactical Map to Satellite Map Mode.

He marked a stop line in the woods bordering the automated farmland.

"All vehicles, advance to the stop line in a staggered column!"

"Fire restrictions are lifted! Remember, mark enemies before you shoot!"

"Mobile Infantry, check your ammunition and prepare to dismount."

After issuing his orders over the channel, Amber turned to the Communications Officer beside him.

"Keep calling the escape pod. Let them know we're coming to help."

"Understood, sir!"

The Mongoose Mark IV armored vehicles were fast. Before long, the convoy reached the woods where Amber had marked the stop line.

The three standard armored vehicles lined up fifteen meters apart, their noses pointed toward the endless wheat field beyond the trees.

The Mobile Infantry aboard quickly dismounted and took cover near the vehicles.

The communications relay vehicle and the Electronic Warfare Vehicle stayed farther back among the trees.

Amber did not drive straight out to rescue the pod's occupants. The distribution of friendly and enemy forces on the Tactical Map, along with his instincts, told him one thing.

There was no way the Empire had failed to notice the escape pod falling.

If he wanted to turn these Mobile Infantry soldiers into hunters, he would have to wait patiently for their prey.

As it turned out, he didn't have to wait long.

Less than ten minutes after they set their ambush, the drone overhead spotted a group of "prey" racing toward the escape pod.

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