Chapter Twelve

                                    

                                          
Chapter Twelve
                          
 
                          
"Contact in five Mike's," a calm voice hissed through Angela's helmet and sent a tremor of both fear and anticipation through her spine. "Red Company has reached target location and are standing by. Awaiting further orders."
                          

                          
"Remain on point and be ready to engage when the enemy is in range," she ordered at the same time a personal text only message flashed across her vision from Alexander, telling her to do pretty much what she just had. "Any word on our air cover yet, Castle Three?" she then asked Michelle who had been put in charge of monitoring all lines of communication.
                          

                          
Angela and the rest of the X-04 team, along with Alex and the Aegis, sat among a small forest of trees that were barely taller than their machines. The sky had gone from a dark and inky black to one of light blue as the sun threatened to rise earlier then she would have expected. It had been nearly thirty minutes since they had left the outpost and her plan was about to be put into action. All she could do now was hope and pray that everything went as she hoped it would.
                          

                          
"The War Dogs are on station and are awaiting the first salvo of artillery before making their bomb run. I've also just scanned the enemy horde and there are nearly ten thousand UNE's rushing towards the firing line."
                          

                          
"Are they just tanks?" Sarah asked and Angela berated herself silently for not thinking to ask that very thing herself. Her whole plan hinged on air superiority and that might not be possible if there were laser class UNE's in the horde.
                          

                          
"I can't make out their composition; they're moving too fast. There are some smaller anomalies, but they might just be the soldier class that we've heard about."
                          

                          
"Don't let your guard down. Even with long range sensors and the body/mass tracking system it's still unlikely that you will know what is coming at you until you see them with your own eyes," Alex interrupted and his voice carried with it a weight Angela had never hear before. "Just focus on your part of the mission and let the others do the same. This is where all the planning and preparation goes out the window."
                          
"Gee, that doesn't sound very good, Captain," Lisa sneered and Michelle laughed in the back ground. "By the way, you still never answered my question earlier."
                          

                          
"Which question was that?" he asked.
                          

                          
"Back when we were resting inside our Mechs I asked if you were going to take me into close combat with you."
                          

                          
"That's not up to me, Switchblade. You'll have to ask Black Cat if you can."
                          

                          
"Cut the chatter!" Angela called out angrily and silence rang through the channel. "We're a few minutes away from a battle so keep your heads in the game! This isn't the time to lose focus!"
                          

                          
Her outburst wasn't totally predicated on the need to remain professional, but she wouldn't tell the others that. She sure as hell wasn't going to allow Alex to run off with Lisa during the battle so they could fight together, that much was certain. She hated that side of her that had suddenly been coming out, but the more Lisa and Alex talked the less she could control it. She honestly couldn't wait for their two weeks off when she could go home and relax without having to be near him all the time.