Through the next fifteen minutes, Eve and her team stalked through the forest, moving away from where they'd been attacked. Honestly, Eve did want to bring the camo suit with them for engineers to take apart and analyze but they didn't have the time to take the Asphodelian operators out of the suits, and the extra weight of carrying a dead body would've compromised how fast they could move.
Luckily, they hadn't been attacked, and Elisa leading her Seaward Squad and TRACE squad 3 had managed to catch up to the main task force.
After a while with no engagements, Eve piloted the team back on course towards their exfil point.
Eventually she received confirmation that the main task force had regrouped with Elisa's Seaward squad and TRACE squad 3 which she'd sent ahead earlier.
The main task force was now waiting near the clearing for the helis to arrive, with ETA 30 minutes.
This gave Eve and her team a 30 minute window to get back to the clearing. Provided they didn't run into any nasty surprises, that was completely doable.
Eve breathed out.
We got this.
- - -
[ETA 20 mins]
Things began to get complicated.
They were heading back towards the main task force when Eve received the call over comms. It was from Warrant Falin.
"All, this is Warrant Falin. We have enemy contact at the LZ, about 75 meters out. TRACE 1, how far are you?"
Shit.
Eve checked their position.
"We can be there in five minutes, Warrant."
"As soon as you arrive, see if you can get on their flank. We're fighting with our backs to the field. Hopefully we can end this or throw them off before the helis arrive. Be advised that there's a mix between those camo suits and those in regular gear. I've already notified the pilots of the exfil helis."
"Roger."
Eve turned back to her team.
"They're being engaged. Seo, how are you holding up?"
"I'm fine, Sergeant."
"Alright. We need to move faster."
- - -
[ETA 15 mins]
The exfil field finally came into view, and Eve slowed her team to a crawl. Muzzle flashes rippled through the treeline ahead, strobing bursts of light cutting across the dark. Rounds zipped past, snapping through branches and dirt. They seemed as if they were aimed at shadows that Eve couldn't immediately pick out.
"...More camouflage suits," she muttered. "Warrant, we're here."
Eve guided her squad off to the flank, away from the kill sectors where stray fire from BHISL and TRACE wouldn't tear into them.
"Good. I've sent Seaward and BHISL 2—they'll try to flank from across your position," came Falin's clipped reply.
Then, a realization hit her and Eve's thoughts spiraled at a million words per second.
…BHISL is cleared to use gas, and that's primarily what they're known for. So... why aren't they using gas? Did they burn through their canisters during the trench exfil? No, only a handful of BHISL squads deployed smoke and gas earlier. We still have plenty. If we gassed the forest now, those suits probably wouldn't hold up. From what I saw, they didn't look like they had filtration tech built in. Then again… if they've developed suits that can blend with their environment, maybe filtration isn't impossible either.
…But the fact still stands. We still have gas.
"...Vian," Eve said.
"Yes, Sergeant?"
"How far do you think you can throw a gas grenade?"
"Decently far. Do you want to try and gas them out?"
"We'll try," Eve replied. Luckily, she could tell the direction of the wind was blowing into the forest from the sea of grass that rippled in waves, a strong wind racing across the plains.
The wind was to their backs and towards the Asphodelians.
Eve called Falin. "Warrant, do you still have gas and smokes?"
"BHISL 4 through 6 still have them, but all we have left are obscuring. We can't risk losing visuals through the smoke. It was hard enough to get a visual in the first place. Ms. Nymera is something else for spotting them immediately."
…Was that Elisa, or was that the Bloom?
"It might be worth just to cut off the engagement before we sustain casualties," Eve said anxiously. "If we obscure their vision, then we'd be playing on equal footing. Either way, be advised that TRACE 1 is going to use colourless gas. Worst comes to worst, the phantomhawks can get through a hot exfil if they have gunships coming, and if not we can call CAS to break it off."
"Noted. Go ahead, Sergeant."
Eve did a quick kit check as her squad ducked behind trees. Seo kept her eyes up, scanning their immediate surroundings while Taeyeon scanned the forest in more detail.
Her squad combined had eight gas grenades total from their kit. They'd been supplied by TRACE and were colourless, the only sign of the toxins a slight distinct chemical smell that could easily be missed in the chaos of battle.
Eve nodded to Vian. Her team all had masks on.
"All, this is TRACE 1. Deploying gas now."
Eve and Vian hurled their grenades wide apart, angling them into what they assumed was the Asphodelian flank. Luckily, they didn't need much distance as the wind at their backs did the work for them, carrying the gas farther and spreading the chemicals in a wider cloud.
The grenades hissed as they passed through the air as they landed with soft thuds on the canopy floor, some smacking into trees.
These specific grenades would exude the gas for the next minute and a half. Fifteen seconds of exposure to the gas they used without proper protection would be debilitating. A minute would quickly be lethal.
Luckily, it seemed to Eve like their gamble had paid off as she heard the distinct sounds of coughing and wheezing. The gunfire towards their own ranks seemed to die down as well.
"I have one," Taeyeon said.
"Take it. I'll leave the rest to your discretion."
Two shots flew from Taeyeon's DMR as she lay on the forest floor. They zipped through the greenwood and thumped into an unseen target who fell to the ground as the two massive rounds impacted squarely on their chest.
"One down. I have another." Taeyeon plinked away with deadly accuracy as she acquired target after target.
Soon, the forest became calm.
Eve left Seo to watch over Taeyeon and took Vian with her as they stalked closer to the positions of the Asphodelians. Partway, they met with Seaward 1 and BHISL 2.
"...They've left," Elisa said to Eve. The Seawards plunged rounds into Asphodelians that had been left behind. There were signs of people being dragged away—blood marks on the floor, drag marks on the forest floor, flattened underbrush.
This time, the Asphodelians hadn't left much behind. Aside from a few bodies too risky to recover under fire, they'd hauled away nearly every one of their dead and wounded.
Why? The obvious explanation was to deny us access to their gear. But could there be more to it? Could there be a human element—maybe they actually care about their operators? No.The HCCAD documents contradicted that. Either way, they know that we're here now. The real question was whether they know we have the drone. If they do, they'll be back, and with far more resources. But if they don't… maybe the drone wasn't as valuable as we assumed. Or maybe they had others in reserve. Still, no R&D worth their salt would risk letting us get our hands on their tech.
That's when she heard Warrant Falin once more, crackling over comms.
"BDA."
Three, short letters.
Eve waited as the numbers and reports rolled in. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as she'd thought.
At the very least, no one had been killed. Several BHISL and TRACE operators had taken hits, but the injuries were mostly light—Eve figured they were the result of lucky shots, with the exception of those who'd been cut up in CQB[1] against the Asphodelian camo suit operators.
Warrant Falin arranged a more thorough and widespread security detail as the silent chopping of the phantomhawks and hummingbird heli wove through the air, leaving a rippling wake in the swaying grass and landing in the field just behind them.
Eve breathed out.
"Time to go home."
[1] Close quarters battle