The Back Of The Front. Part 4.

"Lote! Lote! Wake up!" a man's voice pierced my fuzzy world of semi-consciousness.1

"Lote! LOTE!"2

"What?" I mumbled, screwing my eyes to recognise the individual throught the scratched glass of my helmet.3

"God, he's alive..." the man sighed as another person came into view. His body blocked out the pale sunlight and brought a little contrast to the mysterious faces. It was Glasto and Narisson, relief and sympathy in their looks. Whatever happened that night had left my head emptier that a Halloween's pumpkin. The suffocating helmet wasn't helpful, so I clicked the button on my armour neck piece and tossed it aside. The damaged eyepiece had prevented me from noticing that it was snowing and that the fluffy flakes, streaming downwards in frenzied gusts, would have swallowed me completely if my fellow soldiers did not find me sooner.4

"Where are we? I thought Pace mentioned a warm welcome at the barracks after the pick up?" I asked.5

"Pace isn't here. The majority is missing aswell."6

"What? Where?" I pushed myself from the ground only to fall onto my back as waves of pain attacked my legs.7

"Calm down." Glasto pulled me up to a sitting position. "You got quite a knock that last night. Your parachute ripped while you were still in the air." His hand dived into the snow beside me and fished out a torn rag.8

"So it's us three?"9

"No," Narisson sat down beside me, his deep blue eyes looking over the growing snow. " We got Baitov dragging Guitten around to look for the others. "10

"Dra-?" The memories of the operation and Guitten's wound came flooding back. The snowstorm was getting worse and I spluttered to get rid of the icy crystals from my mouth, " so it's us five?"11

"We'd better move somewhere quieter," Glasto brushed the pale heap of snow from his head, "can you stand up?"12

"Yeah, if ye two help." They grabbed me under the arms and dragged me off the ground and onto my feet. We were located, I noticed, in the middle of an ancient, glaciated valley. A ribbon lake lake motionless, frozen into a glassy sheet, the only remnant of the creeping ice which passed there. Towering above the ground on both sides were the craggy shoulders of the valley, adorned by lush spruces and pines. We limped slowly to the coniferous shelter and ducked under the furry branches.13

"Mind filling me in now that we're here?"14

"We don't know ourselves. Baitov and I spent the night in these groves, hiding from the snow. At sunset we started to scrutinize the area and Narisson found us himself. Guitten wasn't hard to find either: having spent the night ice skating in pitch-black, the valley was being treated to some very graphic exclamations. That was four out of fifteen, so Baitov decided to go and look for the others. He took Guitten with him."15

"Where are they gone?"16

"The slopes soften a couple of miles from here. He wanted to have a closer look and try and reach some higher ground to have a better view. After he left, I tried to contact the jets but all contact is lost."17

"Can't be..."18

"Can," Narisson interrupted, "does this look like the 'flat plains' on which the landing was to take place?"19

"No, but we're not far out. We jumped at the right place, at the right time. Pace is always punctual."20

"Don't believe me?" Glasto pulled the communication link from his belt and pushed it into my hand. I clicked the power button. 'Welcome' read the dazzling orange text, 'Please wait while the system locates your position'. I tried to keep the screen steady but the sickening anticipation made my hand tremble. 'Out of bounds'. My stomach turned into a tight knot as I pushed 'try again' on the touch screen. 'Out of bounds' I clicked off and handed the gadget back to Glasto.21

"So is the warm welcome coming?"22

"Funny." I could never stomach Narisson's brazen sarcasm in difficult situations. I thought back to the operation: the landing, the infiltration, the engines, the getaway.23

"Where's Raykord?" I asked.24

"Huh? Oh, him...don't know. Escaped and landed somewhere above these abysses probably."25

"Hopefully, more like," Narisson remarked. The tree trunks squeeked and creaked under wind's stress. Glasto eyed them anxiosly for fear of one giving in to the howling onslaught.26

"I'm not in the mood for hide and seek in the storm lads," a harsh voice drifted from the frozen lake. We kicked back through the heavy snow and stretched outwards from under the trees. Baitov and Guitten could be seen in the distance, fighting their way through the bitter weather. Guitten, I was happy to note, was recovering quickly and could now limp without Baitov's help. "We've got news!" he shouted.27

"So do we!" Glasto shouted back and pointed at me with his hands.28

"Lote you're here!" Guitten's face lighted up in surprise. Baitov was less emotional and starred at me with an apathetic look. A thin smile appeared on his mouth and he let out a short laugh, "welcome back to hell."29

"So what did ye find?" I grinned back.30

"A lot. Who has the link?" 31

Guitten rummaged inside his belt. "Here."32

"Thanks. You know how these new MT models have inbuilt cameras for live video footage back to base?" We all nodded as Baitov pulled of the L shaped latch from the stock's end and connected the thread thin cable to the link's port. "So this is what I saw." He clicked 'play' and a video sprang onto the screen. It showed tank divisions racing through the fields, backed up by the Sirese 'leafblade' helicopters soaring swiftly through the clouded morning. "That's only the ending. Guitten saw infantry and ballistic missile systems on the move aswell. They're on ground level."33

"All this because of Avianor? That's stupid. They'll hardly fight because a menacing little toy disappeared behind their borders."34

"Agreed. But you've got your facts wrong."35

"Huh?"36

Baitov pointed at the link. The video resumed as the camera pointed up onto a small, dark speckle hanging lifelessly in the empty sky. He paused it and pushed the zoom button twice. The paused still image was blurry and grainy but the speckle was enlarged to a recognisable size. It was Avianor. "That's not all." He fast forwarded to another still picture of a foggy mountain protruding over the horizon. "Who paid attention in Geography?" 37

Narisson gaped and nearly chocked on his own spit, "That's the White Mountain..."38

I paused, "So we've attacked Avianor in the heart of Siresynnia?"39

"Correct!" Baitov chuckled.40

"Why not attack unexpectedly if they want war?" Glasto asked.41

"It's their propaganda crap again. Now it seems that we attacked them. It's a good morale booster.Promotes anti-Mauritz brutality too."42

"But we would have heard the ship move..." I couldn't quite grasp the proportions of our misfortunes.43

"Maybe those spy planes got it all wrong. God knows what that Avianor thing is made from. The rumble might have masked the real purr," Baitov paused before continuing," all I know is that we can't stay here forever. There's a scaleable slope several miles to the North. Possibly twenty or more. If we got out of this hole, our chances of sneaking back to Mauritz through those forests are pretty high."44

"I suppose you're expecting to shoot your way through the Sirese army aswell?" Narisson sniggered.45

"No. Remember, Narisson, we are at the back of the front. I expect us to follow it and break through the weaker parts if necessary. We don't even know if it's a war or not. Maybe all this is just some aggresive commotion."46

"Oh, so now you're saying these warheads are just tearing around the place for the fun of it? Good luck in your journey." And with that, he slumped heavily onto the ground. 47

"You can lay down and die here, that's your choice. But I'll try and make my way out of here. I've spent eight years at the Martenne base training for this. Some snow and tanks can't discourage me now." He took a deep breath and looked at the others. "Who's with me?" Nobody spoke or, rather, knew what to say. "Nobody? I'm surprised...see you back at base." He turned and began to trudge to the centre of the valley. Guitten shrugged and followed suit, and I behind him as Narisson and Glasto watched us go. But it wasn't long before we heard shrill cries of "wait, wait!" and turned to see Glasto hurtling after us. Narrison walked deliberately slow.48

"Sorry about that," Glasto panted.49

Baitov eyed them, an evaluating sparkle in his eyes. "I like men who take time to decide what to do in difficult times. It means they won't be incompetent un-commanded. Are we all ready?"50

"Sir, yes sir!" we laughed at Baitov's attempt at philosophy.51

"Let's go then."