"I'm going to advance to that tractor alone," you say to Shah, pointing at the abandoned vehicle on the far side of the field, "and assess the rebel strength."
"You're not going anywhere alone, sir," he growls back. "And try not to get yourself or my best trooper killed."
At Shah's gesture Amori joins you again. You tell him your plan and he assesses the terrain before you.
"Crawling it is," he says with a grin. "Good thing I didn't join the Corps to stay clean."
"Spread the squads out into line abreast again," you say to Shah, "and take charge of the right flank."
"Yes, sir," he says. "We'll maintain this distance from the central farm building."
The crops are growing tall in neat rows, and it's fairly easy for you and Amori to combat crawl and shuffle through the field below line of sight. It takes time, but you eventually reach the edge of the field. A quick dash to the tractor and you hunker down behind one of the giant tires.
In a series of quick glances, you and Amori both size up the main stronghold and the nearest outbuildings. The rebels look well-entrenched, with rifles visible from most windows. It would be easiest just to bombard the entire farm from orbit, but your mission is to gather intelligence, and it's hard to get anything useful from a smoldering crater.
You and Amori dash back into the cover of the crops and move to meet up with your advancing platoon. You're going to have to do this the hard way.
Next