[con](WN)Ambush Epsilon

[Sir_Funkalot]

Chapter 1
We made halt at near some big rocks.

Sergeant Armand ordered some scouts out searching for water, pointing in the direction of an old dried lake. Obviously someone was having to dig a bit to get to the liquid, but at the time it didn't matter. Most of the men were to thirsty after having walked through the desert for days, to make any noise about the order.

At the same time the lieutenant sent two squads to set up a perimeter, and a small group of officers former a temporary commando central at the cliff wall. My men was to be the rear guard at the moment, alerting the platoon if enemies became visible.

It didn't really make a difference what the officers called it, at the moment we were bumpers, slowing down the enemy so that the rest of the platoon could get away, if the situation called for it, that was. I placed them out in six groups with three people in each, and tried to make sure they had provisory bunkers good enough to hold them alive before help arrived. This proved indeed to be a tough project, involving quite some digging, but some hours later the men had put up walls of soil and rock. Machineguns were brought to the men, so that they not only had to duck and cover, but also could bite back, keeping the enemies at bay as long as the magazines lasted...

About at the same time the scouts searching for water returned, bringing some bottles of water. Apparently some of them had stayed at the old lake site, digging to get to what water they hoped to find under the desertshell, whilst some had continued further away from the camp, in search of still visible sources. The second proved to be the most lucky, about a kilometre away they'd found a surprisingly clean source within a forgotten well, amongst ruins of a farm.

Another expedition was sent out to collect more water, and I helped putting up some tents for soldiers not on duty to sleep in. Dusk was almost transformed into night as something happened at the cliffs. As I at the time had nothing else to do, I went over there to find out what was going on. As I made my was towards the direction of the noise, gunfire broke out. Soldiers ran out of their tents, getting fit for fight (literary) as fast as possible. Some of the officers screamed out orders, but the camp was already in a very tense mood, at the edge to rioting. I ordered a squad to follow me, decided to find out what the hell had happened at the cliff perimeter area. Reaching the foot of the cliff I realised the hostility of the situation. One of the bunker groups began firing their machinegun out in the black desert, and obviously someone was ambushing us in the dark.

Apparently we'd underestimated the foes we left behind, and they had managed to get some re-inforcements. My squad that was to be rear guards had suddenly become frontline soldiers. Panic began to broke out in some places of the ranks, but these were cooled down as the lieutenant made his way towards the frontline. He seemed to have the situation under control, and besides, the position I was at had suddenly turned into the rear of the battle, meaning at least I still was part of the rear guards. With this in mind me and my men started climbing up the opening of the cliffs.

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That's the first part of my contribution to the contest. More coming up soon...

Real title will be on it's way too...