Snippet #1610908

When the rest of the squad had left, Black and Captain Valentine began to walk towards TOC Bunker 2, while talking. "So, Shelton Black, we finally meet." Valentine said. "I know your father. He's told me a great deal about you. If even half of it is true, you are very much like himself. A very competent officer he is. He still serves in South Africa, yes?" He smiled a little, adding: "The man never even considered any of my countless offers to join SG. Said he would only risk his life for his country, not for a private army, even if it were SG. Tell me, are you as stubborn as he?" They both chuckled.

"I would hope not, Captain." Black replied with a slight smile. "Stubborness is only good if you truly are right in your decision. But I find SG to be a very good employer, and so I have no complaints. My father has enough of them for both of us, though." They chuckled together once more.

"Good. That is good." Valentine replied, nodding to himself. "Well, I won't keep you. Of course, as an officer you'll be sleeping in Building 9, rather than in 12 where your men are bunking."

"Understood, sir. Thank you." Black said.

He left Valentine, and went to the building where he would be sleeping. It was a timber building, like all, half-buried below the ground to protect it from mortar shells. It was larger, and contained many one-room bunkers with dirt-packed walls. The standard seemed to be lower than that of where the soldiers slept, but with the added benefit of privacy. His own room was small, but contained a military bed, a desk and a locker. A transistor radio of an old model was placed on the desk. Black unpacked his equipment. He proceeded to gear up with little time wasted, and once he was done, he went to the armory building. He checked out enough ammunition for his 6,8 mm chain rifle, to fill up eight clips, and tucked another cardboard box full of bullets into one of the leg pockets of his uniform. He also brought four 40 mm grenades, which he put in one of the pockets of his combat harness, for the underslung grenade launcher. He then proceeded to go to the briefing room in the TOC building. Many of the soldiers had already arrived, and were sitting, spread out in chairs, talking, but Captain Valentine was not yet there.

Black sat down in one of the chairs, placing the rifle on the floor between his leg, the barrel pointing forward. The equipment was heavy, and it felt good sitting down for a while. He took out the canteen from his harness, and drank some water, while waiting for the captain to arrive. He returned the canteen to its place, and went over the rest of his equipment, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be - a knife on the right side of the front of his combat harness. Eight full Chain rifle clips in pockets well within reach. Water, compass modified for Guinam, a map in his leg pocket, covered in plastic to protect it from moisture. As he went on to make sure every piece of equipment that he had found, by experience, to need in the battlefield, was there, Captain Pip Valentine walked into the briefing room, and almost automatically, conversation died out instantly. Someone put out a cigarette on the dirt floor by putting their combat boot on it. Captain Valentine spoke:

"Let me take this opportunity to once more welcome all of you to Base Camp Ozanga." He said. "This was once a military facility known as Ozanga Range, before the last military junta overthrew the Guinamese government. Anyway, now it's an SG facility on lease from the Guinam Ministry of Defense." He looked around. "You all know we're here to fight a war, to bring peace to this planet. But you do not yet know much of our enemies. The Chimurenga - or the Chimps as you will hear some SG soldiers around here call them - are a pro-human, human-only, racist anti-alien insurgency. People call them a guerilla, but I would be more inclined to compare them to a terrorist group. Either way, they are well trained, well-equipped, and very dangerous. Many of their numbers come from the former Guinamese Defense Forces, from the time of the junta. Their racist tendencies remain, and they have made it their personal quest to throw all non-humans off this planet, or annihilate them all. That is why we are here. The Guinamese Defense Army cannot handle this task alone, and so they brought us in as outside help to do it. We are here to protect aliens, and destroy the Chimurenga. The word 'Chimurenga', by the way, comes from the African language of shona. It means 'revolutionary struggle', if you can believe that." Valentine snorted disdainfully at the word.

"Now that you know a bit more about your enemy, let us get to the mission..." He took a deep breath, as if preparing for a long speech. Pressing a button on the desk in front of him, a map appeared on a large, black screen behind him. It was a map of a city. "This is Balca, a city approximately thirty kilometers from here, and beyond the Green Line, the line that marks where safe territory ends, and territory where there's a high risk of being attacked by insurgents, begin. Balca is a notorious shithole, where you will only find humans living - most of them, ferocious supporters of the Chimps. Make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen. Balca is right smack in the middle of enemy territory." He looked around, letting the words sink in as he added: "That is exactly where you are going."