Clipped Wings

"Medic!" John yelled both over his radio and out loud. "Man down! I need a medic over here!"

As far as John knew there were no medics in the immediate area. The Aussie squad had been a rifle squad just like his. John's mind raced. He had to do something and he had to do it now. He racked his brain for his first aid training. He knew there was something for this. Then it clicked, all he had to do was remove the rock and bypass the damaged area in Ross's throat with a tube or something.

Tracheotomy, that was the term. He dropped his PFAK and opened it up, all the while shouting for Johan to come over to him. A couple of Aussies were now rushing onto the scene as well as taking up defensive positions around the downed man. John unsealed his helmet and let it drop to the ground beside him.

"Hey, hey, calm down." John said as gently as he could, attempting to move Ross's hands away from his throat. "I'm going to get that thing out of you but I need you calm."

Johan was beside him now as well, PFAK open and ready. One of the Aussies had joined the trio as well. John didn't bother to look at him.

"I need you to restrain him." John said to the Aussie and Johan. "Keep his hands away from his throat."

John grabbed a bunch of surgical tubes from the first aid kit. He used the included scissors to cut them into smaller parts. Using some surgical tape he tied them into a bunch. Next it was on to Ross. The rock looked like it had been lodged in sideways. John took the kits tweezers and gripped the rock as best he could. With a wet pop the rock came loose.

Ross's breathing had become more frantic as the blockage was now gone and he was getting intermittent air. John took the scalpel and attempted to cut a cleaner hole where the rock had been. Ross was thrashing a bit now, but Johan and the Aussie were able to keep on top of him.

John put some gauze on the entry hole and as gently as he could pushed in the surgical tubes. He had to make sure he was getting all the way past the collapsed part of his friends throat. Once he was confident he closed up the gaps around the tubes with gauze and surgical tape. He could hear the light whistling of his friend breathing through the tubes and the gurgling subsiding. At least he was breathing more consistently now.

"Hey buddy." John said addressing Ross. "You're gonna be alright, the medic will be here soon."

"Aye" The Australian Marine that had helped them said. "We have a corpsman on his way up."

"You hear that Ross? You're gonna be fine. They're gonna get you out of here." John said as he laid a hand on his friends shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

John wasn't sure if it was working, but looking into Ross's eyes he saw a mix of pain and relief. There was a tap on his shoulder. John looked around to see Neal standing behind him.

"Sarge is coming to. You all good here?" The trooper asked.

"Yeah," John replied. "The Aussies got medics coming. Where's Miller?"

"Over there with Dorn and Martin." Neal said, jerking his thumb back behind him.

John picked up his helmet and put it on, resealing it. He gave a final pat on the shoulder to Ross and turned to the Marine.

"You guys got it from here?" He asked.

"Yeah, we'll take good care of the Lieutenant." The Aussie responded.

"Roger that." John said turning and standing up. "Washington, Ford. Lets head over and pick up the Sergeant."

Sergeant Miller was sitting upright now, hand to his head and hunched over. Billy was attempting to tend to both Miller and Martin's ankle. John jogged over and knelt beside his squad lead.

"How you feelin boss?" He asked.

"Ugh, got a splitting headache but otherwise just peachy." Miller said, rubbing his temples with the palms of his hands. "What's our status?" He asked with a groan.

"Everyone is green except you and Martin." John replied.

"What's wrong with Martin?" The sergeant asked.

"It's my ankle sir, twisted it pretty bad and can't put any weight on it." Martin replied, seeming very frustrated at his circumstance.

"Well get yourself to a medic, trooper." Miller responded firmly. "You're going to have to sit the rest of this one out. Can't have you slowing us up."

"Yes sir." Martin said defeated.

"Medics will be on site soon." John chipped in. "Aussies got corpsmen close by."

"What's the status on the Lieutenant?" Sergeant Miller asked, grabbing his helmet and standing up. "He was as close as we were to the blast."

"Caught a rock in the throat." Johan chimed in. "Baird here preformed some emergency surgery to get him stable and breathing."

"That true Baird? You patched 'im up?" Miller asked, donning his helmet and resealing it.

"Yes sir. Made sure to check you out first when I noticed that the Lieutenant required assistance." John said, stating the facts of the previous couple of minutes excitement.

"Fantastic." Miller said flatly before carrying on. "Where's Hansen?"

"Securing the perimeter sir. You should probably radio him to let him know you're back." John remembering that Jamie had requested he radio him when the sarge woke up. This was close enough.

John heard Sergeant Miller over the radio call Jamie's Red team back. A few minutes later the squad had regrouped. In the mean time Sergeant Miller was consulting with the Aussie Marine squad lead on how they should proceed. The general consensus was to continue the breach.

After a few minutes of waiting for command approval, they had it. John's Blue team was now on point for Charlie squad, with the Australian Marines parallel to them. Before long they reached the edge of the outpost. The two squads moved swiftly through the rubble of one of the destroyed bunkers. The battle around the outpost had now started to subside with the human forces encroaching on the base.

John could see dozens of Siven Breten Hvas pirates, and a few other unknown species wearing Hvas colors, all in varying states of dead. Had the human forces been more inclined to take prisoners they would have most likely end up using a 5.56 NATO round instead of the 7.62. But as Neal had said earlier, surrender was not really a word when it came to the Breten Hvas.

John's team had found a side door of some kind leading inside of the complex. He ordered his team to stack on the door. John took the right side and Johan took the left. The general consensus was among the squad was that this was most likely a trap and if they had simply breached to clear they would be torn up by whatever was on the other side waiting for them.

Billy and some of the Marines had made sure to bring flashbangs in their kits for just such an occasion. John and Johan each took one. The door mechanism was on John's side, it read as unlocked. More evidence of a trap. Giving the squads a fingered countdown, John hit the door control. The door slid open to a hail of bolt rifle fire, pretty much as expected.

They waited for the initial barrage to subside before the two paratroopers slowly and silently pulled the pins on their flashbang grenades and tossed them in. A few seconds later a flash and a muffled boom echoed from the open door. Taking that as their queue, John and Johan entered side-by-side.

At the end of a heavily conduited and bored out hallway were two Siven pirates, thrashing around behind a pile of crates they were likely trying to use as cover. The troopers put a burst into both, dropping them before they knew what happened. The rest of the two squads moved in behind them. Down where the pirates had been was a T junction. John motioned for Johan to take the left while he took the right again. They each peeked around their respective corners. Nothing but more hallways.

"All clear!" John said, chinning his radio and beckoning the rest of the squads to come up.

"Alright," Miller said as he moved up next to John. "The Marines are going to take left, so we're going right. Blue you're still on point."

With that John proceeded down the hallway right. Johan and Neal at his flanks. The tunnel seemed to go on for another 50 meters before curving to the left. John motioned for his team to stack up on the corner. He took a peek. In a small bay were five pirates. Luckily none of which had looked his way.

"Got five contacts about twenty meters down the tunnel." John said into his radio. "They're behind light cover, looks like shipping crates."

"Actual here, acknowledged Two-Five." Came Millers voice. "Squad be aware that friendly Marines have entered the complex to the east. So check fire."

A flurry of copy and roger that came from his squad. John took a second to think of a plan of action. When he had one he spoke up, turning to Johan behind him.

"Hey Johan, how many forty-mikes you got left?" He asked.

"At least two and I get what you're thinking, loading now." Came Johan's reply.

John stepped aside and let Johan take his place. At this range he almost wouldn't need to aim. John gave him a tap on the shoulder that meant he was ready on him. Johan took what looked like a breath, stepped around the corner and shouldered his rifle in one quick movement. He fired the underbarrel launcher.

An explosion rang out almost the exact moment Johan stepped back behind the wall. John saw little bits and pieces of something hit the wall across from them. Whatever it was it was pretty much charred beyond recognition. Giving the explosion a moment to die down, John manuvered around Johan and into the adjacent hall with the rest of the squad in tow.

Johan had hit his mark dead center in the middle of the five Breten Hvas pirates, which were now nowhere to be seen. John could smell the cordite from the explosion filter into his suit as he walked over the pirates former cover. He was able to see them now. Five Siven bodies slightly charred and bloody. One was still faintly moving.

"Got a live one still here Sarge." John yelled down the line. "What do you want to do with it?"

A sigh came from Miller. "Give me an assessment. Do you think it will make it?"

John looked over the pummeled pirate. It was most likely the farthest away from the blast. It didn't seem to be bleeding too bad and other than broken bones and a bunch of bruises he guessed it would be okay.

"It's got some minor lacerations, definitely broken bones and charred a little. Probably internal organ damage as well." John paused, thinking it over. In the end a sense of decency won out. "If we get it to a medic right now it will survive. It's no threat in its current state."

Another sigh came from Miller. "Alright. Hansen, have your team drag it out of here and to a medic. You're already a man down so you're on guard detail for this thing until further notice."

"Yes sir." Came from Jamie, obviously a bit annoyed at John's diagnosis and being stuck on prisoner detail.

Jamie's team disarmed and cuffed all its appendages together with special zip ties and proceeded to haul the incoherently blabbering alien back down the tunnel from which they had come. John was sure he was going to get no end of shit from Jamie when they got back to the Houston. A problem for another day. The problem at hand however was to keep moving.

The hallway continued past the bay for another 50 meters. Looking at their GPS schematics of the outpost it would meet up in a large cargo bay like area. The ground penetrating radar had picked up quite a bit of activity in that area. John didn't want to guess as to what that meant but he had a feeling. They continued on as before. John in front, flanked by Johan and Neal with Billy and the sergeant bringing up the rear.

John could hear firefights breaking out all over the complex now. Every so often hearing an explosion of some kind. The squad reached the end of the hallway and was greeted by a large blast door, easily two and a half meters tall by two meters wide. It appeared to be in two parallel parts with a small opening in the middle that went from floor to ceiling.

John touched the inside left part and gave it a push. The door slid open slightly more. If he had to guess the locking mechanism was broken and the pirates had just been manually opening and closing it. Better for him, John thought. John pushed it again, gently. The door didn't make much of a noise. When he had made enough room for his squad to walk through he entered. It was indeed a cargo bay. Crates and shipping containers were carefully placed about four meters high

John was wondering why they weren't stacked higher when a shout caught his attention. His squad moved quickly around the boxy shipping containers, attempting to get eyes on where ever the noise had come from. Around a corner with its back to them was a Siven Hvas pirate. He was holding what looked like some kind of reptilian alien hostage with his side arm to the creatures head.

A couple meters beyond that John saw a squad of Australian Marines, staring the pirate down. The Aussie squad leader was attempting to negotiate with the pirate to let its hostage go. The Siven replied with something along the lines of 'take another step and I'll blow its brains out'. John knew that the Marines had seen them behind the pirate as the lead Marine made a quick glance at them then back to the panicking pirate.

John held a single gloved finger up to his faceplate. The Marine nodded slightly, pretending to give into the Siven's demands. Meanwhile John gave Neal a quick finger motion to take down the xeno, sliding one finger across his throat. Neal nodded, removed his combat knife and let his SAW fall on its sling.

He carefully crept up to the xeno pirate, making sure each step was no louder than it needed to be. One he was within range, Neal turned the knife around in his hand, grabbed the now surprised pirate by the side of the head, twisted it and plunged the knife into the aliens throat while pulling it down backwards towards him. The pirate had dropped its pistol in surprise and Neal quickly kicked it away.

The rest of John's team and the Marines quickly ran up to meet with him and the shocked and now scared shitless reptilian like alien. The lead Marine bent down and retrieved a small device from his pocket. He put it on the ground next to the alien. He then spoke and asked if it knew where the rest of the prisoners were.

After a minute of the device cycling through major alien languages the reptilian finally understood one and pointed a shaky talon towards the shipping containers. Those fuckers! John thought. They were keeping their prisoners trapped inside windowless shipping containers. John could feel his blood start to boil.

"The hostages are in the fucking cargo containers!" He said aloud.

John's squad an the Marines fanned out and began unlocking and breaking open the rooms shipping containers. The Breten Hvas had packed their prisoners at least 20 deep in each container, with no light, no food and no water. At first the captured aliens were terrified, but a new look crossed their varying faces as they realized they were not staring down the barrels of Breten Hvas rifles.

The Marines had set up some kind of speaker broadcasting to the captured aliens that they were Human military forces and that they were there to rescue them. Slowly the dehydrated and malnourished aliens began to come out of their former prisons. There were dozens of different species, only a handful of which John recognized.

Additional Marines had begun to fill the bay. Many carrying medical supplies and stretchers. Others with water, protein and blankets. The Marines had also secured a path back through the complex to extract the trapped aliens.

Sergeant Miller was back on the radio getting progress updates on Jamie's prisoner escort and conveying with platoon command the hostage location mission objective. John had switched over to platoon frequency as well while he helped guide the ex-prisoners through the gauntlet of Marines and other personnel. The battle was nearly over.

Only sparse resistance remained. Apparently the big head of the whole slaver operation had met his demise to the gunner of one of the US's LAV's. Going out in a hail of machine gun fire, defiant to the last. Jamie's prisoner had been picked up by the medics and was now firmly in the custody care of the ANZAC Marine Corps. All in all they were reporting near 99 per cent mission completion.

The only thing left to do now was extract the prisoners and themselves. His units drop pods would be recovered in a few days by a coalition asset recovery team, so his squad would be leaving via dropship. Charlie squad stayed and assisted the prisoner extraction until the last of the aliens had been escorted out of the complex and onto the waiting dropships.

John figured the only thing left to do now was comb over the complex for survivors, leave and then nuke the place from orbit. Turn it into nothing more than and ugly stain on an already ugly planet. It took a few hours but eventually John and his squad were airlifted back to the Houston The deployment bay was even busier now than it had been the day before.

Now instead of US Army, ANZAC and Houston personnel, the bay was filled with rescued prisoners of the Breten Hvas. Some congregated in groups, wearing blankets and eating and drinking whatever they could. The other more fragile were being treated by medical personnel. The final total was 196 hostages rescued.

Apparently the Houston had engaged and boarded a ship attempting to leave the planet. An additional 12 alien prisoners had been recovered, bringing the grand total to 208. There were victory parties planned throughout the ship tonight to celebrate the win and morn the 15 soldiers who didn't make it back. 6 of those were from the ANZAC Marines and 6 of them were from his own unit, no names he recognized however. The last 3 were from a US recon vehicle that had been caught by an ambush.

Thankfully on the list of ANZAC dead John did not see Lieutenant Ross Vanderbelt. John was planning to visit him after the mission debriefing. It was about 2 hours before John was on his way to the medical ward. Three decks and 20 minutes later he was there.

It was fairly easy to spot Ross. Even though he had just come out of surgery a few hours prior, he was sitting up in his bed watching a private version of some movie John didn't recognize. The Australian noticed John and waved him over.

"Hey there El Tee, how're you feeling?" John asked.

Ross's voice came out coarse and quiet.

"The food they serve here is fucking terrible." The man said as well as he could. "Your cooks could learn a thing or two from the cooks on the Irwin."

"Should you be talking?" John asked, a small grin crossing his face at his friends upbeat attitude.

"Probably not." Ross said with a cough. John could see that hurt by the look in his eyes. The Aussie continued regardless. "But it's not like 'No' or You shouldn't do that' ever stopped me."

"Did you see the ANZAC casualty list?" John asked, immediately wondering if bringing that up now was the best choice of conversation.

"I did." Ross responded, still coarse and quiet. "I knew a few of them. Good boys. They'll be missed."

"If you want I can record the memorial for you." John offered.

"No need." The Marine replied. "I plan to be there myself. Ass hanging out in a hospital gown if need be."

This garnered a chuckle from John.

"I'm not in a rush to see you naked again any time soon."

Ross smiled and attempted to laugh. It ended up more as a wheeze than anything else. The two let that hang in the air for a moment before Ross spoke up again.

"I suppose I should thank you for saving my life." Ross said in a more serious tone this time.

"I couldn't just leave you there to suffocate. There were no medics nearby and I had to do something. Besides, I feel like it's my fault. If I hadn't stopped to talk I would have seen that 'Have" before he dropped the grenade."