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hadn’t thought of that. But now his sergeant had pointed it out, it was an obvious possibility. After all, their information was several weeks old; it was hardly as if the pirates were likely to leave any opposition running around for that long. Still…
    “Be that as it may, we can’t be sure. And, even if we can’t meet up with the guerrilla forces, we’ll still need to penetrate the pirates’ defensive line.”
    “Yes, sir.” The sergeant’s tone didn’t indicate agreement… but neither did it convey disagreement.
    “Very well. I think we will continue proceeding then. However, Sergeant Hervitz,” Frank habitually dropped the ‘Von’ in his sergeant’s name. “Stop several miles outside their sensor range. We’ll decide then how to proceed, whether to continue on foot or by truck. McKain, I want you in particular to keep your eyes out for anything unusual.”
    “Yessir,” the two chorused.
     
    ***
     
    Raising his head slightly above the rock he was crouched behind, Frank examined the ravine his platoon was about to move through.
    In the end, it had been decided that the platoon would continue on foot, making its way towards its hoped for rendezvous with the ‘guerrillas’.
    Unfortunately, it had also been decided that they would travel in unpowered battlesuits.
    While it was part of basic training to do so; it was hardly easy. Though the battlesuits were lighter than they looked, they were still heavy enough to make moving difficult. Hiking in them, therefore, was near torture. And, unfortunately, they had had to do so for several hours, to travel the last fifteen miles to their destination.
    But by now, they were almost there.
    “Sir, I think…” That was Sergeant Javer, who had come up as the lieutenant had been examining the ravine.
    “What?”
    “I’m pretty sure the guerrillas are guarding the ravine. It looks like they’ve got outposts; there, there, there and over there.” His hand waved vaguely.
    “Can’t be pirates either. Wrong style, positioning is off for a trap, and too ‘professional’. For a group of pirates, anyway.”
    “Hmm…” Although he hadn’t seen them at first, now his scout sergeant had pointed ‘em out…
    “We’d better go easy then. Don’t want to surprise them into doing anything rash. Sergeant McKain! Get the platoon moving again! But take ‘em in slow!”
    Proceeding cautiously, the platoon slowly made its way into the valley. And did so while being quite hard to see. Although their battlesuits weren’t on, the camouflage function only required power to change from one camo to another, though it was less effective when shut off, as it couldn’t shift colors and shades to better match with the surroundings.
    “Lieutenant?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Why haven’t they hailed us? I don’t like it.”
    “Hail us how? Our coms aren’t up.”
    “Doesn’t matter. A warning shot, then.”
    “Maybe they didn’t see us.”
    McKain grunted.
    “If they haven’t managed to notice us by now, they ain’t gonna be worth much.”
    “We are camouflaged.”
    The sergeant snorted, but didn’t make any other reply.
    In fact, it took another ten minutes before something finally happened. One of the scout squad, ahead of the rest, was suddenly shot. Several times.
    “Ow! Stupid, freakin’, triggerhappy -” The scout immediately dropped to the ground, swearing.
    “Jar, damage?”  McKain called.
    “Just some dents, sarge.”
    “Good. HEY! Stop firing!” the lieutenant bellowed, several more shots pinging around the front of the platoon.
    A last, single shot, hit a bush near the lieutenant, who had dropped to the ground.
    Then a voice called out, somewhat distant, “Who the hell are you?!”
    “We’re a platoon of Marines! Sent to deal with the pirates!”
    There was a short pause.
    Then, incredulously, “A platoon ?!”
    Frank gave a grimace.
    Was everyone going to react that way?
     

Chapter Four
     
    “…and so we’ve spent the last few hours