Copyrights-
Balto, and all other relating characters are copyrighted by Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment.
"The Thin Red Line", and all other ideas from the movie that I’ve borrowed for my story, are copyrighted by 20th Century Fox, and PHOENIX Pictures.
Anubis, and all other ideas from my story are copyrighted by me, ANUBIS.
Please do not use these ideas without my permission.
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"JOURNEY TO THE LINE"
(A "Thin Red Line" cross over)
Written by: ANUBIS
CHAPTER 1
The Dreaded News
5:30 a.m.
The year was 2089 and it was around 5:30 a.m. when a loud banging was heard on the door of Master Sergeant Balto’s quarters. There had been a rumor going around the ship that Master Sergeant Balto and his four man team where going to be assigned to the planet Nome for search and destroy missions against the Zarbons. Zarbons where considered the plagues of the universe. They would travel from planet to planet consuming every natural resource and leaving them barren and lifeless. They were to be destroyed at once.
Balto began to rub his eyes while trying to figure out what that noise was. His ten-hour sleep has left his mind clouded and he couldn’t even remember where he was. The result of no sleep for 24 hours has taken its toll on him.
"HOLD ON, IM COMING!!" He shouted from under his bed covers.
Finally, he jumped out of bed and dashed for the door knocking everything down in the process. His room was very dark so it was hard for him to see where he was going.
"AHHH!!!!" Balto screamed.
The pain was over whelming. He didn’t see the coffee table in his path and ran into it, stubbing his toe really hard. Finally he managed to limp over to the door and open it, cursing under his breath at the same time. In the doorway stood a figure of a small husky. Balto knew who he was. He knew that this figure was a messenger that in his opinion brought nothing but bad news. Different thoughts ran through his mind as he tried to figure out what this man could possibly want.
"Master Sergeant Balto?" the husky said in a stern voice.
Balto hesitated for a moment
"……..Yes?"
"I’ve got something for you."
The husky then reached into his coat and pulled out a large brown envelope and handed it to him. As he opened the package, he thought of the rumor, and preyed that it wasn’t true. When he finished opening the envelope, he pulled out a piece of paper. He then began to read it.
"….. Oh man." Balto said in a depressed shaky voice.
He exhaled and drew in a staggering breath. A lump rose from what seemed to be the bottom of his feet and settled into his throat. Swallowing in attempt to rid himself of the lump, he looked up at the messenger with sad eyes. There was a brief silence between the two men.
" I’m sorry sir." The messenger said, and he turned and walked away.
The rumors were true. He and his men were to pack up and be ready to leave for the planet Nome. Every solder on the ship knew that the chances of surviving the front line were close to slim and none. Someone was going to die. He just hoped that it wouldn’t be any of his men.
CHAPTER 2
The Meeting
7:45 a.m.
At least 17 solders where sitting in the briefing room. 17 solders divided into 3 teams. They were selected from the 106th canine regiment to journey to the front line. They were the best of the best. Just then, the soft murmur of chatter was broken by the sound of an opening door. The room became silent and in walked two men. Balto’s eyes were focused on a little piece of paper lying on the floor. He was too depressed to even care about what was going on around him. He watched the feet of the two men as they walked by, not even bothering to look up at them. He already knew who one of them was. The one wearing the dress shoes was the General. And the one wearing the G.I. boots? Well…he didn’t know, nor did he care. He just continued to stare off into space.
"Good morning." The General said.
"Well, by now you all know why you’re here."
"You have been selected to journey to the line and clear out any resistance there may be." "This mission isn’t going to be an easy one, infact most of you will encounter some type…."
Balto’s thoughts began to drift off again. He didn’t care what the General had to say, he only wanted to think about his home…..Earth. He could remember when he was little and how much fun he had playing in the snow. He could remember his friends that he left behind when he joined the forces, and how much he missed them. He wanted to be with his wife, and family. In his heart, he was home sick.
"Sergeant Balto, are you paying any attention to me?" the General said sharply.
Balto’s eyes shot up to look at him. He had been day dreaming and didn’t have any clue what he had been talking about.
"Uh….yeah…I was paying attention." Balto said with a dull smile.
"Then get up here and shake the hand of your new crew member." The General scoffed
His eyes widened slightly. He didn’t remember hearing anything about getting a new member to his team. But in spite of it, he stood up and walked over to the new face. By this time, the General continued talking to the rest of the men telling them about the mission. Balto then pulled the new face aside and introduced himself.
"Hello…(clears throat)… My name is Master Sergent Balto and I am the leader of team number 17." "What’s your name and…..(hesitates)……why did the general say you were here?"
The new face stood up straight, and spoke with a clear deep voice.
" My name is Lieutenant J.G. Anubis, and I was told that I am to join your team."
Anubis was a slender fellow around 6 foot with a medium build. His eyes were soft yet demanded respect. He had the head and facial features of a jackal, and it is said that he had never been to a battle before. This would be his first.
"So…..What do you specialize in?" Balto said
"Well, I’ve been trained in mortal combat, around ten different styles of fighting….and I know a lot about battle tactics, weaponry, fire power….things like that."
By this time the meeting had just ended and everyone was on there way out. Three men walked up to Balto and Anubis to see what was going on. The smallest one of the group interrupted Balto right in the middle of a sentence.
"Hi…who’s the new guy?" the smaller one said.
"Oh hi guys." Balto responded.
"Anubis, I would like for you to meet my other three team members." "Staff sergeant Nikki, Private first class Star, and Gunnery Sergeant Steele" "Everyone…this is Lieutenant J.G. Anubis." "Staff sergeant Nikki is in charge of navigation, Private first class Star is in charge of communications, and Gunnery Sergeant Steele is our weapons specialist."
Just then Steele turned around and headed for the door. The four men stood there with blank looks on their face disappointed at Steele for his rude gesture. Balto hesitated for a moment before he spoke.
"He’s been on the edgy side ever since he found out that we were going to Nome, so don’t be surprised if he…..well acts like that."
He then turned and started to walk for the door, and after a brief moment, the three men followed. Little did they know, in the next 15 hours, their trust for each other and their lives would be hanging by a thread.
CHAPTER 3
The Arrival
4:45 p.m.
The decent into the alien atmosphere proved not to be the best ride ever. They were facing sheer that threatened to shake the STX units to pieces. Three other men had already gotten sick from all the motion, and thrown up all over the deck making those around them even sicker. It definitely wasn’t a pleasure ride.
"30 SECOND TILL TOUCHDOWN!" The STX pilot cried.
"Oh god…here we go." Balto mumbled to himself.
He stood there watching the rest of his team load up their weapons. Anubis took an AK 47 from out of a wooden crate and loaded it up with a thirty round banana clip. As he did so, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. His lips and fingers began to tingle from all of it flowing through his body. Never in Anubis’s life has he ever been this scared. It was the same story for Kaltag, Star, and Steele. They just stood there with sweat running down their foreheads and into their eyes, frozen from fear. Then, suddenly out of nowhere, a loud thump was heard followed up by a sudden jolt. Touchdown had occurred.
"Radio silence is in effect….Everyone shut up." The STX pilot commanded.
They were to wait 10 seconds after touchdown to check out the surroundings and look for any danger. A periscope popped up from under the armor of the STX, which allowed the pilot to peer out into the alien country.
"OK, WERE GREEN!" shouted the pilot.
And with that he hit a red button to open the doors. A loud bang was heard and the doors began to open. Kaltag closed his eyes expecting to be mowed down by a barrage of bullets, but instead there was only silence. He opened one eye, and when he realized nothing happened, he tore out of the STX like a raging hurricane and bolted for the surrounding bush. The rest of the men followed. They had arrived safely on Nome. The other teams headed off into different directions leaving Balto and his five-man team all alone. They had selected a huge bush and some grass to hide in until they found out what they were suppost to do. As soon as the STX units left, a gloomy silence crept into and around the men. It sent a chill running up Nikki’s spine. The silence was then broken from the sound of Star talking into his radio.
Star- "Torah, Torah, Torah… this is homing pigeon calling viper command, over."
Another creepy silence feel upon them accompanied by a low electronical hum from Stars radio.
HQ- "this is viper command…..Your signal is 242/55, over."
Star- "Copy that….tranquility base here, the eagle has landed."
HQ- "Roger, I understand."
Star- "Viper command, what is the meaning of life?"
HQ- "Red Ryder has been spotted at vector 22 by 44. You are to meet the king and start the music, over."
Star- "Copy that….viper command, how do you figure?"
Balto was confused by the crazy radio terms Star was using. Even his team had no idea what he was talking about. This mission was top secret, so no one knew except for Star and the radio operator on the other end.
HQ- "………stopping the grinch before he can steal Christmas." "Report back on the horn when all is well, over."
Star- "Copy, this is homing pigeon, out."
All five men gathered around Star and waited for him to finish putting his radio away so he could tell them what he had been talking about.
Star- "Ok…Well we know where the bunker is." "CAPCOM spotted it on thermal radar about 30….."
Nikki- "Woah, woah, woah, wait just a sec." "I don’t remember the General saying anything about a bunker."
Star- "Oh sorry…We were suppost to clear out any resistance and make a path…"
Nikki- "Yeah, yeah, we know dis already." "But what was dis bunker thing you was talking about?"
Star- "Yeah I was getting to that." "To make a long story short, we officially have a choice now."
Balto- "What do you mean we have a choice?" "What’s that suppose to mean?"
Star- "Well, recently HQ discovered a machine gun bunker on thermal radar." "CAPCOM says it’s hot." " Red hot." "Full of all kinds of goodies." "And now they say that they can’t move anyone or anything through that area until it’s destroyed." "They decided to give this job to us since they say we are the only ones who can pull off a stunt like this." "So now we have to decided what we want to do."
Balto- "Well, why wasn’t I informed about this before we left?"
Star- "I dunno……classified maybe?" "Or maybe they just decided that they were going to tell us now."
Kaltag- "What do we get if we pull this off?"
Star- " A one way ticket home." " They said if and when its destroyed, they’re shipping us back home."
Nikki- "Wait, stop right there!" "What do they mean by home…..Are they saying that If we decide to do this, and get it done, there gonna send us HOME?"
Star- "I guess so….that’s what they said."
Nikki- (scoffs) "I say we do it."
Anubis- " Yeah, but you guys also have to think about the other side of this deal."
Nikki and Star- "What do you mean?"
Anubis- "Well just think about it…if we do the search and destroy mission, the odds of us running into an overwhelming force are small." " But if we do this bunker thing…..Well let’s just say were going to be caught up in some mad fire fights, if you catch my drift."
Kaltag- "Yeah but Anubis, just think about it……..We get to go home."
"How many solders do you know that are given’ a choice like that."
Anubis- "Uhhh…………..I can’t think of any."
Kaltag- "EXACTLY!"
Balto- "I say we do it."
Kaltag, Nikki, Star, Steele- "Same here."
Balto- "Anubis, what about you?"
(Long pause)
Anubis- "Yeah sure, why not." " We all got to die sometime."
CHAPTER 4
The Battle Begins
35.23 (7:23 p.m.)
It was getting late and the alien sunset was going to take at least two hours more than earth to finish setting. So about this time an eerie cast of dark orange and red was seen covering the sky. The temperature dropped thirty degrees, and the wind began to pick up turning the once warm tropical afternoon into a chilly, breezy evening. The weather was definitely different here, then on Earth.
As they approached their destination, it was obvious to Balto that something wasn’t right. He knew that they were close, and he could smell it. He could feel the fear in the air radiating from his men. They were definitely close, and they all knew it. And just at that moment, as they turned the corner around a hill, there it was. They could just barely see it resting between two hills, covered by grass. They just sat there………Lifeless………. There was no movement what so ever.
The bunkers were cleverly designed. They consist of a series of deep ditches dug between the hills covered by camouflage tops only exposing a two-foot slot so that the machine gun mussels could stick out. This was going to be a very dangerous mission. As soon as they saw the bunkers, they all dropped to the ground flat on their stomachs. Slowly they crawled there way through the three-foot high grass, stopping only for a moment to let the dust settle. Nikki noticed, through the tall thick grass, a good sized boulder that might allow all of them to hid behind.
Slowly they crawled there way to it. They were now about twenty yards from the bunkers. As they all stood up behind their new cover, Star didn’t know that his backpack had about four inches exposed out in the open.
(click) RADADADA…..
A machine gun noticed Stars pack and opened up on him, hitting his bag. The force of the impact threw Star off his feet leaving him lying on the ground stunned, and wondering if he was dead. But after he realized he was still alive, he immediately scrambled for cover. The machine gun continued to fire on the men showering them with dust and rock fragments. And then, as quickly as it all started, it stopped. The reports from the gun echoed on and finally faded away deep in the hills. It was now silent again accompanied by the heavy breathing of the startled K9’s.
Only a thin stream of smoke could be seen rising out of the darkness from the heated barrel of the now silent machine gun.
"THAT SON OF A…." Nikki sneered.
"THEY ALMOST GOT STAR!"
Kaltag had noticed that Star was hyperventilating, and tried to calm him down by rubbing his back and whispering comforting words softly into his ear.
"Don’t worry, ill get ‘em." Anubis responded.
Pulling out a sniper rifle, he quietly slid into the tall grass like a snake. Moving only about 5 inches a minute, it seemed like forever for him to reach a suitable range. But it was worth it. He was now fifteen yards from the bunker and remained undetected. Slowly he pulled the cap off his scope and screwed on a silencer to the front of his rifle. He then placed the gun in front of him and put his eye up to the scope. After a brief moment, he rested the cross hairs on what looked like a very faint profile of a head. It was too dark inside for him to know for sure.
"Now this is what I call …just a shot in the dark." He thought to himself.
Moments later the trigger was pulled. A muffled pop rang out that sent a two-inch bullet screaming toward the dark profile. An instant later, the barrel of the machine gun was thrusted upward at a ninety-degree angle followed up by a dull, hollow, thud. Somewhere in the darkness of the bunker lie his enemy…dead.
"Gotcha." Anubis said to himself.
He then returned his attention to the scope and began look for another suitable target, noticing in the process that the guns were franticly searching for whoever shot there comrade. By this time, Anubis had taken aim on the second gun in the first bunker, placing the cross hairs about one degree above the mussel. Suddenly, he noticed that his target had suddenly stopped moving, and was pointing directly at him. There was no movement between the two enemies, nor did they fire on each other just yet. Anubis was frozen with fear. He couldn’t have pulled the trigger even if he wanted too. He was just too scared, and he preyed that this was the same case for whoever was looking down the barrel of that gun. But it wasn’t. Before he even knew it, a flash suppressor blast flew out from under the bunker. The bullet from the blast struck the ground about a foot and a half from Anubis’s head sending dust, dirt, and rock into his face and eyes. He was now staring death right in the face.
"DAMN, THEY SEE HIM!!!" Cried Steele.
"We…..We need……Uh…….need to….COVER FIRE!!" Balto sputtered
"GIVE HIM SOME COVER FIRE, NOW!!"
The team gave it everything they had hoping to give Anubis a little bit of get away time. Realizing what he had to do, he then stood up and bolted for cover not knowing that the gun he almost shot had been shooting at him, sending bullets biting at his heels. Now all four bunkers were shooting at him. Anubis was caught in an unbelievable crossfire. He could feel the stinging from all the sand and dirt being blasted up onto his legs. He could see the tracers from both sides whizzing past his head, but he didn’t let it effect his focus on getting back to safety. And at the last minute he took a diving leap up and over the boulder smashing his shin on the top of the rock. He just lay there, with tears filling his jackal eyes. Between the pain, being scared half to death, and the fact that he had made it back alive in one piece, he began to cry. He could not believe he survived such a fire fight as that. It made him insane.
CHAPTER 5
The Battle Continues
36.49 (8:49)
It had been close to three hours since the last shot was taken, and Balto and his team were growing restless. The alien sun had already set, and it was now completely dark outside They had been sitting there with there heads poking out from behind there safe spot. Star’s nerves were shot, Kaltag has gotten sick to his stomach from all the stress, Nikki was getting hungry, and Anubis’s leg had swollen up really bad from his accident. Even Steele was starting to feel the effects. After a deep breath, Balto sighed and decided that enough was enough. He couldn’t stand the fact that his friends were falling apart.
"Ok look…we have two choices." Balto finally said.
"We could either A…..Stay here and wait for them to slowly kill us off."
"Or we could B…….end this thing right now."
"Right here, right now."
"I’m ready to go home." "And I don’t know about you guys, but no one is going to keep me from getting there."
"So what do you guys think…….you guys ready for this?"
Slowly one by one, they all decided the time was right. It was now or never. They all knew they were tired, and they could just sit there all night. The stress of battle was slowly killing them and it was time to take control. Finally Balto gave the command to lock and load. Steele decided he was going to use his HK 97. Nikki pulled out a German MG-34. Anubis still went with his AK 47. Star never could handle the bulky guns, so he used two hand held Uzi’s. But Balto had his own little treat for his enemy, his trusty Browning (heavy) auto. This machine gun sure packed a punch. It was originally used as an artillery weapon for the STX units, but they were over stocked on them, so they gave away a couple hundred to all the Special OPS commanders. He was just lucky enough to be there when they were passing them out. After everyone was loaded and ready, Balto told them to set three grenades on the floor in front of them.
"Gather around everyone." Balto said. "I’ve got a plan."
"Alright, now this is going to take all six of us, so I need you to listen good."
"Ok, this is what I want to happen…Kaltag, you and Anubis are going to cover the left side, and shoot at anything that moves." "Steele and Nikki, you guys are going to cover the right." "Same thing as Anubis and Kaltag…shoot at anything that moves." "Star you’re with me." "Ok now listen good, cus’ we cant afford any foul ups." "About seventeen yard from here, there’s a good four foot drop off in front of one of the bunkers." "This should be enough for me to hide behind." "Now, after we’ve thrown the grenades, me and Star are going to make a run for it." "Star, you break left and go between those two bunkers to your left." "I’m gonna head right and hide behind the drop off." "As soon as you get past the bunkers, I want you to get on top of one of them and start chucking’ grenades inside." "I’m gonna do the same with mine." "Now, as were doing this, Anubis and Kaltag are going to run up and help Star out." "Nikki and Steele are going to help me." "I’m pretty sure that when you guys start running, your gonna be hearing about it…so the whole time your running, I want you to be shooting right back at them." "Don’t give them any room to breathe." " Ok, now pay extra attention to this part." "After each side has taken care of their target, I’m going to blow my whistle two times." "This is going to be the signal for your group to return here." "Me and Steele are going to stay behind and rig the place with C 4." "After everyone has arrived back here…Kaltag, your going to give your whistle three big blows." " Make sure everyone is back before you do this, cus’ this is going to be the signal for Steele to set the timers for thirty seconds." "That’s not a lot of time." "Ok…does everyone understand?"
(They all nod)
"Alright then….keep your focus out there and don’t forget what to do." "We can do this…I know we can." "Good luck."
"I’m going to give you a count down from three."
"As soon as I call time, you start throwing."
There was a brief pause between the six men. As they prepared their grenades, you could see they anxiety in their eyes. The veins in their necks throbbed from the speed of their beating hearts. They just couldn’t wait till this was over with. Home was just within reach, and they could almost taste it. The only thing holding them back was a valley full of bunkers that could easily send them to there doom. But it was too late to turn back now. Balto had already began the count down.
"3…."
"2…."
"1…."
As soon as he reached zero, grenades went flying. A total of twelve landed on and around the bunkers. Moments later they exploded. The blasts lit up the night sky turning it into a fiery orange. As the fireball burned out and left a looming smoke blanket hovering over them, it was time for them to make their move. Balto signaled Star, and without hesitation they made a mad dash toward there awaiting enemies. Almost immediately they were facing eight angry machine guns. The cool night air was instantly lit up by speeding bullet tracers. It looked like a laser show. And now was the time for the rest of the team to step in. One by one, they all returned fire on the bunkers. Balto and Star were now caught in a terrible crossfire. But no one was hit. It was too dark and smoky for them to be seen.
Finally they made it. Balto was now just a matter of feet from the front of a bunker. He lay in the ditch, flat on his back watching a three-foot flame fly just above him. Realizing what had to be done, he fumbled for a grenade. His body felt ridged and stiff. His fingers moved like wet cement. Before he even realized what he had done, a grenade was already on its way with the pin pulled. It seemed almost involuntary. For a second, it looked like it was frozen in the sky, as if it were suspended by an invisible string. But it wasn’t. The deafening roar of the explosion was enough to prove otherwise.
Just as Balto had taken out his target, Star had reached the top of his. Careless to the thought of whether he was seen, he rushed to the front and hung his arms over the edge with his Uzi’s in hand. He clenches his eyes shut, as he pulled the triggers. Suddenly everything went numb. He could barely hear. He could barely see, and his mind was running out of control. All his senses were dull. The fear of dying had caused this. It was very strange to him. Everything moved in slow motion. Even the flame from his guns seemed to be in slow motion. When he finally came too, he had already wasted both clips. He then followed up with a single grenade to make sure he finished the job.
By now Anubis and Kaltag had arrived, and Kaltag had already selected his target. He took a grenade in his right hand and his AK 97 in his left hand, and rested the butt under his armpit, as he ran to the back of the bunker. The walls were made of clay and grass, so any gunfire could easily penetrate them. He then started to shoot through the door, wasting the whole clip. After a moment, two dark figures ran out from under the bunker. But Kaltag was ready for them. He then pulled the pin with his teeth and hurled it over the bunker making a direct hit. But he wanted to make sure he got them all. Slowly he entered the bunker. He could hear the distant gunfire from his teammates, and their exploding grenades shook the walls. Satisfied that he got them all, he turned to walk out but stopped dead in his tracks. In the far-left corner sat a dark figure. He tried to squint to see what it was. Realizing what it was, he froze. His heart raced a mile a minute. And then suddenly, it rushed at him. Kaltag responded with a scream and swung his gun in the air. A sickening crack rang out and the object fell just before his feet. Not wasting time to see what he had hit, it took him less than five seconds for him to pull out a grenade, pull the pin with his teeth, drop it, and run out the door.
Only one bunker remained and Star and Anubis were in the process of finishing it off. On one end stood Star, shooting in from the front of the bunker. As they fled out the back, they were instantly mowed down by an awaiting Anubis. One managed to get away, but he didn’t get far. Nikki had spotted the run-away and took aim on him, bringing his get away to a screeching halt.
Everything seemed to have been taken care of. Now it was time to get the left overs. Anubis and Kaltag quickly ran into the forest behind the bunkers. Star stayed behind to help Balto and the others. As the duet began to search the forest they spotted six figures running down the hill. Kaltag immediately began to fire on them, splitting tree trunks at first, but managed to drop four a couple of seconds later. In the corner of Anubis’s eye he could see the tip of a mussel pointing directly at Kaltag. Startled by the sight, he quickly whipped around and starting shooting into a hole where the gun was seen. A series of four thuds was heard and the object fell forward and back down into the hole. Unbelievable…there enemies had dug ditches into the ground just big enough so that a few could fit in. they were very hard to spot at first because they were covered with a camouflaged lids made of grass and leaves. Anubis fell onto his hands and knees and threw the lid off to see if there where anymore inside. Realizing that there was only one, and he had killed it, he began to franticly search for more hideouts.
"Kaltag…watch out." "They’re everywhere!!" Anubis shouted
Kaltag then stop shooting when he heard Anubis’s frantic voice.
"Watch out for what??"…….."What are you talking about?"
Anubis didn’t answer. He just continued to search wildly for more of the hideouts.
And then, about five yards in front of him, he spotted a suspicious clump of grass. Slowly he crawled up too it to examine it. Indeed it was another one of those hideouts. Quietly he crept up to it, pulled the pin of a grenade, lifted the lid, and dropped it inside. Almost immediately, cries of desperation and panic arose from inside the ditch, only to be snuffed out by the following explosion. Instead of a loud bang…only a muffled pop was heard. The lid of the hideout was blown upward, as if someone had tied a rope around it and yanked it off. Debris and what looked like a shoe fell on and around the panting duo. It scared the life of the unsuspecting Kaltag back a few years when he heard the explosion.
As the echo faded away, very faintly, they heard two tweets from a whistle. It was time to go. They began to run back in the direction of the bunkers, leaving the bodies of their enemies to be incinerated by the up coming blast. As they ran into the clearing where the bunkers lie, Kaltag saw the rest of his team running back down the hill. Only two figures remained behind, bent inside one of the bunkers. It was Balto and Steele, and they were rigging the place with explosives. They continued to run down the hill at full speed gasping painfully for air. Anubis was so out of breath that he couldn’t feel his legs anymore, nor could he feel his feet touch the ground as he ran. Finally they reached the boulder. Half dead, and out of breath, Nikki noticed Anubis, and Kaltag both staggering over against the boulder. Exhausted, and struggling to breathe.
It was now up to Balto and Steele to finish the job. But the four men weren’t out of danger just yet. Soon after they arrived, about ten yards from them, a sudden flash shot out of the tall grass. A spurt of red ejected from Stars left leg, buckling it, and sending him crashing to the ground. He had been shot!
"SNIPER IN THE GRASS!!" Nikki cried out.
Hearing what he had said, they all fell into the grass, and out of sight. Kaltag crawled over to Star to see how bad he had been shot. The wound wasn’t too severe. He had been hit in the calf on his left leg. Tears began to fill Stars eyes, while he bit his lip to try and forget about the pain.
"Are you ok?" Kaltag said with a shaky voice.
"Ill be ok….Its…Its just a scratch." Star responded with a painful smile.
"Poor little guy" Kaltag thought to himself. He then put his hands on Stars wound and pressed down to try to stop the bleeding.
"OWWW…WATCH IT!!" Star cried, thrusting his head back in agony.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry" He mumbled back.
Just then Kaltag remembered the whistle and what he was suppose to do. "Oh no, I forgot to give them the signal." He thought to himself. He scrambled to find the whistle somewhere around his neck. When he found it, he took it up with his bloody hand, and gave it three loud tweets. The sound of two machine guns suddenly tore out of the grass, lighting up the ground with suppressor flashes. It scared Kaltag so bad that it sent his heart pounding painfully in his chest. "What the hell was that." He thought to himself noticing that Nikki and Anubis were nowhere to be seen. Just then, they both stood up with their guns smoking heavily.
"We got ‘em." Nikki exclaimed as he walked back.
"Little bugger was wearing a sniper’s vest."
"Yeah, but we got ‘em, we just blew him away…hehehe." Anubis said with a sinister grin.
Kaltag then turned his attention back to the injured Star. He had to stop the bleeding somehow. So he used his field knife to cut the sleeves off his camo jacket, took out his canteen, and soaked the bandages with water.
"Ok, this is probably going to hurt like a mother." Kaltag said softly "So get ready."
Star grabbed some surrounding grass with both of his hands and clenched his teeth. Kaltag began to tie the bandages together on Stars wound in a knot. He hesitated a moment to look at Star, then jerked the knot tight. Star let out a blood curdling cry,and threw his head back. He just lay there with his eyes closed, moaning and groaning.
"God, I can’t wait till I can go home." Star finally said in a slow tired moan.
A couple of seconds later, out from the now quite battlefield, Balto and Steele flew up and over the boulder and continued running down the hill.
"KEEP RUNNING!!" Balto cried as he rushed by.
And without any questions asked, that’s just what they did. Nikki picked up Star in his arms and took off after the rest of his team.
"Why are we running!!" Anubis shouted to Balto.
"I screwed up!!" Steele responded.
Kaltag- "What do you mean, you screwed up?" "What did you do??"
Steele- "I…Uh…overloaded!!"
Nikki- "WHAT….what are you talking about…how did you manage to do that?"
Steele- "I panicked…I panicked and I don’t know how much time I put on the timer. I just pushed the buttons…And when I started to run…I forgot my pack…and its full of HE and C4!!"
Star- "YOU WHAT??
Nikki- "YOU LEFT OVER FIFTY POUNDS OF HIGH EXPLOSIVES BACK DERE’ ?!?"
"ARE YOU INSAIN?!?"
The six men continued to run down the hill till they could run no more. Finally they reached the bottom and collapsed on the ground.
Steele- "OK…THIS WILL HAVE TO DO…GET DOWN, STAY DOWN, AND COVER YOUR EARS….ITS GONNA BE BIG!!"
Anubis- "How big could it be?"
Balto- "Just listen to him…he knows what he’s talking about."
They all laid flat on there stomachs with there ears covered, panting hard. The visible breath of the men rose slowly and lingered in the frosty night air, accompanied by their shaking bodies. Two seconds later…it happened. A brilliant flash suddenly filled the once pitch black sky, and turned it into a blinding white, stinging their eyes. The following event was unbelievable. The surrounding air began to rush over them and into the rising fireball, sucking the air from there lungs. They struggled to breathe. And then the blast wave hit. It slammed into their bodies with a crushing force that caused Balto to grunt. It was so bad that it knocked the remaining air out of their already starved lungs. The sound was deafening, causing their ears to ring. It shook everything within miles of ground zero. As the giant fireball continued to rise, it scorching the surrounding cool night air. Finally, it began to die down just enough to allow the battered men to slowly lift their heads and observe the spectacular fireball. It was now just a glowing ball of orange, but it just kept on going. Higher and higher it rose, until it finally burned out. The remaining echo rumble on for miles between the rolling hills, only to follow the fireballs same fate.
Slowly they all rose from off the ground, not saying a word, trying to catch there breath. Star was starting to feel dizzy from the loss of blood. Kaltag sat on the ground with his head between his legs, sobbing. And Steele was about to crack up and go bizerk. By now Balto was starting to feel the effects of stress from the battle. His hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and he couldn’t control how hard he was breathing. It felt like he was about to have a heart attack. But no matter how tired they all were there was one thing that rang in their heads like a bell, and kept them going. The fact of staying alive. They didn’t care if they were scared half to dead, shot in the leg, shaken to pieces, or just plain, flat out exhausted. They just thought of it as "Were standing…there not." And that’s the only thing that matter to them. It was teamwork that made this possible, and they were grateful for it.
CHAPTER 6
The Long Awaited News
It was around 5:30 in the morning when a loud banging was heard on the door of Master Sergeant Balto’s quarters. There had been a rumor going around the ship that he and his five-man team were to be sent to the planet Earth.
Balto rubbed his eyes trying to figure out what that noise was. His ten-hour sleep has left his mind clouded and he couldn’t even remember where he was. The result of yesterday’s battle had taken its toll on Balto and his men.
"HOLD ON, IM COMING!!" Balto shouted from under his covers.
He finally managed to drag himself out of bed and slowly make his way toward the door.
His battered and bruised body hurt all over, sending jolts of pain shooting up his legs and spine.
"Ahhh…" Balto groaned as he limped his way to the door.
Finally he managed to get the door open cursing under his breath at the same time. In the doorway stood a figure of a small husky. Balto knew who he was. He knew that this figure was a messenger that in his opinion brought nothing but bad news. But this time there was something that told him otherwise. Different things ran through his mind as he tried to figure out what this man could possibly want.
"Master Sergeant Balto?" the husky said in a stern voice.
Balto hesitated for a moment, noticing the messenger was staring at his sliced up neck and face.
"……..Yes?"
"I’ve got something for you."
The husky reached into his coat and pulled out a large brown envelope and handed it to him. As he opened the package, he thought of the rumor. This time, he preyed that the rumor was true. When the package was open he pulled out a piece of paper, and began to read it.
"….. Oh man." Balto said in a shaky voice.
He exhaled and drew in a staggering breath. A lump rose from what seemed to be the bottom of his feet and settled into his throat. Swallowing in attempt to rid himself of the lump, he looked up at the messenger with glowing, tear filled eyes. There was a brief silence between the two men.
" Congratulations, Sir." The messenger said with a bright smile.
"May I request permission to have the honor of shaking the hand of the bravest team leader ever?"
Balto cracked a slight smile on his bruised face and held out his hand. The messenger shook it, all the while never taking his eyes off him. He then saluted Balto, turned, and walked away. The rumors were true. In exactly four hours Balto, Kaltag, Nikki, Star, Steele, and Anubis were to be packed up and ready to leave for the planet Earth. They were finally going to receive what they had risked their very lives for. They had worked so hard to earn this right, that was given to no other.
As Balto stood in the doorway, watching the messenger walk down the hallway. He sobbed softly. He thought of the times when he was little, and how much he loved playing in the snow. He could remember his friends he left behind when he joined the forces. And he could remember his wife….Jenna. He cried harder now, because he knew, in exactly four hours, he and his friends would be on a ship…..with a one way ticket home!
THE END