[h3][b]Regaining Consciousness[/b][/h3]
‘What the fuck?’ Brian Park sat up with a start, looking around. He could barely remember falling asleep. Last he knew he was training soldiers from all over the world in Guyana, South America. Now he was…God only knows where he was. Brian Park didn’t have a clue.

“Sergeant Park,” Major Collins’ voice could be heard drifting through the fog. “Sergeant Park, you OK?”

Brian groggily looked over at Major Collins. “Yes sir, where the hell are we?”

Tony Collins allowed one of his broad warm smiles to wrap around the front of his face. He wanted to laugh, “why spoil the surprise? Get dressed, Sergeant. Get your people up and be in the briefing room in two hours. There is some breakfast in the galley.”

Major Collins walked away leaving that crumb of a clue behind. “Did he say, galley?” Brian asked himself quizzically as he rubbed his eyes.
[hr]
[h3][b]The Awakening[/b][/h3]
Brian found the coffee to be pleasing to his palette. He was awake by briefing time, but remained mystified as to where they were until the old South African Colonel on stage in front of the assembled contractors mentioned they were in orbit around some planet he had never heard of inhabited by a race of creatures he never heard of. A stunned look fell upon his face. “Damn, Toto, we definitely ain’t in Kansas anymore,” Brian muttered at a level only those around him would hear.

“All this talk about Salvesh is getting’ me to wonderin’ what they taste like? How many ways can you cook Salvesh? Has anyone ever tasted one?” Brian muttered to himself. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Did he just say, [i]Sauna[/i]? Damn, that reminds me of that deployment to Southeast Asia four years ago. This is going to be a hot one. Don’t forget your towels, boys and girls.” Brian knew he was going to stay. He didn’t have anything to go home to except mom and dad. He loved them, but didn’t need to be with them. He was positive they would still be there when he got back or didn’t think much about it. The prospect of this adventure thrilled him completely. He did wish he could have gotten off a message before they left earth to let them know what he was doing. He also knew that Operation Security (OPSEC) didn’t always afford such luxuries. He’d been in this business long enough to know some things were just no shareable. He felt sorry for his parents, but he wouldn’t miss this for anything.

When the Colonel asked if there were any questions at the conclusion of his briefing, Brian asked, tongue in cheek, “Will we have time for R&R on this Sauna?!” Everyone in the briefing room could hear this last comment.
[hr]
[h3][b]Welcome to the Sauna[/b][/h3]
The climate on Saina or as everyone were now calling it, Sauna was just that. It reminded Sergeant Park of a deployment he made to the Republic of Vietnam when he was with 1st US Special Forces Group. The heat, the vegetation, the insects and constant state of sweat were all the same. The only thing different was the color of the vegetation. Pink and purple flowers swallowed the landscape; were a bit hard to get accustomed to, but made sense for the troops to wear a similar colored combat uniform. Some of the girls he knew back at Brookline High would love the color pattern, and maybe even a few boys. Like everything different in life, it took some time to get used to.

The squad had a week to train before heading out into the bush. As a means of being acclimated to their new surroundings, they rehearsed tactical movement, react to contact, break contact battle drill, hand and arm signals and several of the soldiers in the platoon had the chance to call mortar fire in on targets for training purposes. Those NCOs from western, NATO or former Soviet bloc regions had some skill with calling in indirect fire. This was a new experience for many of the soldiers from other nations from earth. Many nations use specially trained soldiers in these skills to perform these tasks.

On their Operating Base, the contractors would have Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones for both surveillance and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) for strategical engagement of deep targets. Each infantry battalion had a platoon of UAV assets available while the UCAV asset was controlled by Centurion itself, a brigade sized element. They also had a 130mm mortar system that could rapidly respond to a call for fire striking targets out to 20 kilometers (20Km). Each of the five battalions in Centurion’s brigade had an organic mortar platoon with four guns per platoon. Brian had the opportunity to meet some of the guys in the mortar platoon that supported their company. He found it helped with the response time if the shooters knew what the guys on the directing end of the radio looked like. There was also a battalion of 155mm Artillery resembling the Swedish Archer system and the American Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). The 155mm Field Artillery battalion was organized into four firing batteries of six guns per battery, a Target Acquisition Battery (TAB) and a Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB). TAB battery provided a Target Acquisition Specialists to the platoon. He would travel with Major Collins and be available for calls for fire if needed. The MLRS battalion was organized into three firing batteries, the TAB and the HHB. A Fire Support Team was attached to each of Centurion’s Company level command staff. The Company Commander could call in MLRS fire if the need should arise.
[hr]
[h3][b]React to Contact[/b][/h3]
Danny Shattah, the former Israeli Sayeret soldier took his fire team on point. The four soldiers, Serge, Kensington and Pantoja would scout in front of the platoon as they moved along in a staggered file formation. Renard Serge, the former French Legionnaire from the Pas-de-Calais, served as a paratrooper for many years; carried the team’s light machine gun. The man had a reputation as a brutal warrior and his past with the Legion spoke volumes about the authenticity of the stories. Thomas “K-Ton” Kensington had served as an Airborne Sapper in the US Army and had a background in Engineering, both construction and destruction. He would assist the squad when they needed to set in a minefield, build an abatis, daisy chain some claymores or build flame field expedients. Lívia “Butch” Pantoja came from Brazil’s BOPE, their paramilitary commando unit used to combat the drug trade in Sao Paolo. She was an excellent shot, sniper qualified and serving as the squad’s designated marksman.

Brian Park, also known as “Riddler” placed himself approximately one hundred meters behind the point team. They would remain within visual line of sight. If a twist in the terrain prevented Riddler from seeing the point team, Danny knew to have his team go to ground or take a knee until his squad leader caught up or at least could see them. Every soldier in the platoon had their heads on a swivel looking to the rear as much as to the front. A warning sign could come from either direction. Brian recalled having the trail man in a ten-man patrol observe a potentially hostile five-man patrol roughly 200 meters to their left. The hand and arm signals passed up the column until everyone stopped. The patrol faced left, now online prepared to assault. This squad behaved with the same precision and Brian was happy to see it.

The temperature was over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit with the humidity level over 90%. Everyone felt it. It was hot and no one was dry. The squad continued to plod along with roughly a ten-meter interval between each man. Major Collins traveled just ahead of the second squad and roughly 100 meters behind the first squad. The platoon leader, accompanied by a GPMG crew, second and third squads were trailing behind the first squad. One of the GPMG teams followed Major Collins and the second GPMG team and AT gunners traveled with the assistant Platoon sergeant between second and third squads. The Platoon Sergeant traveled at the rear of the column with the platoon’s medic. At ten meters between each person and one hundred meters between first squad’s A Team and its squad leader and between the first squad and the platoon leader, the platoon was spread out over 700 meters. As the terrain became more restrictive, as found in dense jungle, the distance between each soldier was closer to five meters which brought the platoon in just under 350 meters in length. At night, using luminous tape, IR sticks and night vision devices, the distance dropped to one meter. Without the use of technology, it could be as close as one arm’s length distant.

[i]"Riddler,"[/i] Danny’s voice came over the radio. [i]"I've got multiple hostile contacts. Three-wait, four enemies emerging from cover at eleven o'clock, range 50 meters, moving into our ten o'clock. More emerging, I count...uh, six more. Squad strength Salvesh, still moving in the same direction. They do not seem to have detected us."[/i] 

[i]’Great. Now we get to see how they fight,’[/i] Brian thought to himself. He knew Danny would take his team to ground, prone behind cover and concealment ready to return fire if needed. When he looked back at the platoon leader, he realized Major Collins had heard the transmission; confirmed by signaling to Sergeant Park. The squad leader hurried the remaining two fire teams forward to get on line to the left of A Team.

“Sergeant Hedberg,” the platoon leader spoke to the second squad leader. “Lead your squad up to the left of first squad. Post the pig between your two squads. When the second team comes up, they will go to your right as well.”

As the second squad quietly doubled past him, Major Collins spoke to the third squad leader, the assistant squad leader and the platoon sergeant. He let them know what was going on, ordering the AT gunners and third squad to fall on him. They would serve as the assault element once contact was established. Next, he flipped a switch on his comms to speak to the Company Commander, “Dagger zero six, this is Dagger one zero, over.”

“Dagger one zero, this is Dagger zero six, go ahead over.” The company commander had previously served as a Major in the American Army. He spent much of his time with the 75th Ranger Regiment or with the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. The man stood 5’ 9” tall (1.75m) and weighed a hundred fifty pounds (68Kg) dripping wet. He was expertly trained in several martial art forms including a fifth degree black belt in Krav Maga, black belt in Muay Thai and a first dan in taekwando. Apparently, the man had five or six amateur UFC MMA fights under his belt.

“Zero six, one zero, we have contact with squad sized element of Salvesh, five zero mikes to our front. Danger Close. Requesting Uniform Alpha Victor in our Alpha Oscar for deep recce, over.” Tony Collins spoke over the comms as he moved closer to where the enemy was located. He could see the squads filing into position rapidly and moving to ground, setting up a hasty ambush right on the spot. As the platoon sergeant and Doc Atwater caught up to him, Major Collins spoke to the Platoon Sergeant, “You have the support and security. I am taking third squad, the weapons squad leader, assistant platoon sergeant and two AT gunners to assault along the right flank. Lay down a heavy suppressive fire for me and the lads. We’ll appreciate it right, grand. Got that, mate?”

“Yes sir,” the assistant patrol leader responded. “Should I initiate the ambush?”

“It’s all yours, Sergeant!”

Major Collins took the fifteen soldiers of third squad around the right end of Brian Park’s squad and waited for the Platoon Sergeant to initiate the ambush. He considered the UAV about to fly over the area. Not that long ago, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols would conduct this type of mission; the deep reconnaissance of suspected and known enemy locations. Now, these high tech gizmos perform that job. During the time of World War II and the Korean War era, British and American Regiments employed an Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoons (I&R) to conduct these deep recce activity. Those all went away in 1959 when the armies turned their backs on the regimental system and adopted the Combined Arms style of warfare.

[hider=TL;DR][i][color=6ecff6]The first squad is in the prone pointed in the direction of hte enemy, observing. Two GPMG teams and the second squad are coming up on the first squad's left to provide a base of fire for a hasty ambush. Major Collins is prepared to assault into the enemy on the platoon's right flank, to the right of first squad with the 3rd squad, the two AT gunners, the Assistant PSG and the Weapons Squad leader. Major Collins has called in a UAV recon drone to check out the area behind this Salvesh squad. He wants to know if there is a large element hiding in the bush.[/color][/i][/hider]