Spin

Chapter 4

Cast of Players & Places: Iron Eagle or Eagle Eye- Ira Eggers GAT WWDC15-Warden Wartouski Detainment Center 15. Mal Reynolds Jayne Cobb River Tam Simon Tam Zoë Washburn Wash- Washburn Kaylee Shepherd Book Inara

The Battle of Xian Xue

Sergeant Eggers readied his troops to make the assault on Mount Xian Xue. He looked around…….in the darkness of the twilight hours it would be difficult for either side to determine or asses the strength of the opposing force. He decided he should command an order that Ira Eggers hated to make with every fiber of his being, but it was one that needed to be made.

“ Fix Bayonets!”

A bayonet charge? His men looked around! Was he crazy?

Well, he wasn’t crazy! Sergeant Eggers was looking to give his unit every advantage possible in what could turn out to be very close-quarters combat. It wasn’t like in the heat of battle, if you were out of bullets, and your foe were out of bullets you could call for a treaty while you each fixed a blade to the end of your weapon…..how silly would that be?

Lucky for the browncoats under this command, there had been an Alliance weapons cache captured the day before and there were bayonets aplenty…….and not the shiny kind that would reflect light in the darkness, but the new carbon steel kind with a dark, dull finish, as hard as a diamond tip and sharp enough to pierce flesh under the ribcage in a mere fraction of a breath.

The order went down the line, then it came back that everyone had completed the task. The troops then made ready for the upcoming attack to be made by commander Reynolds on FOX hill, then it would be their turn.

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Malcolm Reynolds launched his assault on FOX hill after calling in a mortar barrage on the whole Alliance front line. The shells would keep the enemies heads down until their advance could be made close enough to bring their AR-19s into play.

The sounds of the rockets and the exploding mortar fire brought plenty of attention to FOX hill, but the Alliance here were use to harassment skirmishes…. And had no idea this may be the real thing. Mal knew his troopers could possibly get within 30 yards of the Alliance fortifications before it would be determined that this were more than just a harassment move by the Independents. Malcolm Reynolds would throw everything he had at the enemy on FOX hill for this assault.

He ordered Zoë to command the bazooka squad and to take out every heavy gun emplacement she could see until they reached the trenches. Then he ordered corporal Kirk to clear out the left side of the line while he took care of the right. Mal tossed in a couple of grenades that proved effective while his unit poured into the line and took out the resistance with barely a fight. He felt a sense of pride with his patrol.

Zoe, in the meantime had blasted a hole clear through the opposing forces ammo bunkered. The exploding bombs and rockets streaming off into the air looked like Independence Day. Whatever that was, some holiday celebrated back on old “ Earth That Was” and continued on Shadow as a festival.

Flaring rockets and exploding shells in the night sky looked as if there were a carnival going on instead of a battle. Reality was, people were dying……and thick red blood was soaking into the soil of FOX hill.

Mal ordered his second in command to focus her bazooka unit onto Mount Xian Xue. This would be Eggers queue to launch his attack.

Sergeant Ira Eggers became aware soon that the objective before him was being blasted from FOX hill. This was the signal for him to advance.

“ Forward!” He commanded, and his troops sprang from their shelter and advanced as rapidly as their bodies could run. Two went down almost immediately but the others never faltered. Eggers screamed as he never had before. A psychological expression used to install fear in an enemy that had no idea of what they were facing.

Ira screamed an old Indian chant, a prayer really……“Oh Divine One, rest my spirit, submerge my soul into the slurry of your profound enlightenment , bring me to peace so that I may know the comfort of you divine wisdom…..”

Of course this was all shouted in Ira’s old native tongue so none of his troopers had any idea of what he was shouting. To them it could be something mystic and magical. A spell Sergeant Eggers was chanting upon himself and his patrol. Something that would protect them…..or just cursing them like dogs……whatever, it gave them encouragement.

With this thought the troopers began fighting more fiercely. How could they be killed if there were a spell protecting them? Truth was that Sergeant Eggers did not suffer another casualty while taking his objective of Mount Xian Xue, while the enemy suffered 10 casualties. The remaining Alliance troops had abandoned their position so that Sergeant Eggers and his group of 13 entered the bunkers without another soul around, they were pretty much all alone up there.

“ Corporal Cole, private Rice! Any equipment undamaged or still working haul down the hill and deliver it to the radio techs!” Ira commanded.

“ Yes sergeant!”

“ Corporal Deb!”

“ Sergeant!!?”

“ You, Chase, Porter, Vickers and Ramos assist me in raising the Independent colors over there!” Eggers pointed to the heaped of a dirt mound on the southwest side of the bunker. There was an old antenna pole laying on the ground which had been blown away from it’s placement during the mortar barrage.

Sergeant Eggers gathered this and fix the Independent battle flag onto it’s end. It was quite a lengthy pole so it took the entire team to line it up with the placement hole and hoist it into the air. The flag raising resembles a similar one that had taken place on a battlefield on the old “ Earth That Was”.

At that moment Sergeant Eggers looked skyward into the darkness. At the end of a long, ridged length of metal waved a beautiful standard. It’s folds flapping in the breeze and it’s symbol more meaningful now to him than it ever had been. He took a deep breath of pride.

“ Sergeant Eggers!”

The sergeant turned to see the radio operator approaching him with the mic.

“ Wendy?”

“ Commander Reynolds…..Sgt, on the line!”

“ Eggers here!”

“ Well done Sergeant! Hold position until Z squad forms for relief. Reynolds out!”

Sergeant Ira Eggers handed the mic back to a smiling, soot covered face.

“ Private Marshal….got any smokes?”……….

It was the last words uttered the sergeant during his time on that hill. ______________________________________________________________________________ Just as raising the colors on Mount Xian Xue had been a signal for First Sergeant Reynolds’ command not to call in air strikes or mortar fire on the bunkers of the assault, it had also signaled the Alliance heavy gun brigade that the station had fallen into enemy hands.

“BOOOOOOM”

A bomb shell from an Allied assault command battery had found it’s target directly at the point privates Vickers and Ramos had been standing. Those poor souls never knew what hit them. The others were all blown into a tangled heap, all twisted and bent.

Sergeant Eggers although dazed and dreamlike raised his head just high enough to look around. He did not like what came to his vision. There were a pile of body parts twisted all around him. Thank God they were still attached to their owners.

He heard a slight whimper beneath him. He recognized the sound of Wendy, his radio operator. He attempted to roll off of her but it felt as if a thousand knives had pierced his leg. Bits and pieces of his clothing had been blown away from his body and he could feel the warm drip of blood in a dozen places. His or someone else’s he wasn’t sure.

The ringing in his ears still caused his head to feel as if it were being crushed in a vise and the surreal feeling was overwhelming. Had the Alliance launched an attack at that moment Ira Eggers would have been a dead man.

Unknown to him, they had.

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Sergeant Ira Eggers had no idea how long he lay in a pool of blood and body entanglement. His eyes were open but the images before them were dim at best. The echo of the blast still ringing in his brain. He felt something touch his skin…..sharp and painful as it drew down his arm. Not one knife point but more like four. It stopped when it uncovered a piece of his shirt which revealed a tattoo. The tattoo was the emblem of a mountain cat. Symbol of his native tribe back on his home planet. Just as the pain from the points had stopped, so had the pressure that had been pushing into his skin.

Ira Eggers’ people had lived with the symbol of the Mountain Cat for eons. Respected….as were all animals and given an offering when traveled across it’s territory. Ira had thought he’d heard the low growl of a cat too, at the same time that his tattoo had been revealed, but he couldn’t be sure. He was still too dazed to understand what was going on.

He felt himself being lifted and carried into the shelter of a nearby bunker. The soldier was strong and powerful because Ira knew his was a big man.

When his head rested upon a soft cushion the Sergeant again slipped into unconsciousness, and it was only at hearing First Sergeant Reynolds voice did he com back to his senses.

“ Ira…Sergeant Eggers, you Ok!!?”

The sergeant opened his eyes.

“ Yeah Mal.” He spoke, and it was the first time since he’d joined the browncoats that he’d called the son of his employer by his first name.

“ I’ve got to get you outta here.’” The commander spoke softly, and with that picked him up in his arms and carried him down to the aid station.

First Sergeant Mal Reynolds had launched a counter attack from FOX hill once he’d become aware that his friend’s position had been overrun by an Alliance assault force. Lucky for them it had been a small one and not determined to fight. He had gathered the wounded from the hill and set charges to blow up what was left of the radio bunkers.

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Some time later Mal Reynolds went to check on his sergeant.

“ Better now?” he asked.

“ Yeah, legs a little stiff but I think I’ll be fine. I’m ready to head back!” Ira said.

“ Yeah, I bet you are! No, sit tight until the meds release you.”

“ My troops?” Ira questioned.

Mal looked at him.

“ Private Marshal, Chase and Porter will be Ok, Corporal Deb too. Private Vickers and Ramos haven’t been found.” Mal said looking down.

Ira noticed his helmet was there on a cot next to him. The feathers still under the dark brown band.

“ Here,” He voiced to his First Sergeant, and with this he handed one of them over to Mal.”

“ The spirit of the eagle. May your heart always soar my brother.”

Mal took the feather and placed it in the pocket on his chest. For a moment nothing was said. Then Mal spoke up.

“Oh, and I have something for you!” With this he pulled out a folded lavender shirt. Ira looked at him with a question in his eyes.

“ Found it tucked under your head in the bunker. All folded neat and pleasant like that. You going Alliance on me?” He smiled and they both laughed.

End Part 4