by Sid K
“How did these Ranxian soldiers get into our country?” Tybett asked. “Is our port administration so loose and sloppy?”
“No, they are fine operators,” Yucker said. “Not all these men didn’t came from the seaports, although some were smuggled in, but also through the airports. I had Sayett’s team of detectives go through Ranxian tourists and businessmen and match their photos with some of the robbers. They apparently overstayed their visas and disappeared. Since we never had a war or any type of hostility with Ranx, SPASI never paid much attention to the Ranxian travelers.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Krratyk said. “We have to focus our resources on enemies like the Narducat Empire. That is what we wanted you to do.”
“As soon as this matter is resolved, I am going to expand SPASI’s watch to all the travelers,” Yucker said.
As they were talking, an army officer from the Radio Operations knocked on the door and saluted Krratyk. “Commander,” he said. “Colonel Sthykar is on the radio. He says he needs to talk to you right away on an important matter.”
Krratyk was bewildered and he looked at Yucker. “Does he know about his wife getting kidnapped?”
“Not as far as I know,” Yucker said. “We have been trying to locate him but to no avail. He is on vacation. He could have heard, but I don’t know from what source. We haven’t even told the Constellation about her yet.”
“Alright, I will receive his transmission here,” Krratyk said to the officer. There was a radio on a side desk of the room. The officer carried it over and set it up on the central table, plugged in the cord, dialed a few knobs and then pointed to a button. “Sir, press whenever you are ready,” he said, saluted and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
“Colonel Sthykar,” Krratyk said. “Supreme Commander Krratyk here. I am in the House of War with Commanders Byter and Tybett and SPASI Chief Yucker.”
“I am glad that you have Chief Yucker there,” Sthykar said. “He will be very interested in what I have discovered. A few of my friends and I were on a hunting vacation and we stumbled on a dangerous scheme by a foreign power to create a secret weapon.”
“What is going on?” Krratyk asked. “Are you inside Starfire nation?”
“You won’t believe it, sir,” Sthykar said. “This is happening right here in our country. I am in a small town called Coldwoods; it’s in the far southwest.”
The commanders and Yucker looked at each other shocked. Yucker leaned in to the radio. “Colonel Sthykar, Chief Yucker here. Is this foreign power Ranx nation?”
“You got it. I don’t know what your detectives know about it ,but my friends and I were in a shootout with Ranx Rangers,” Sthykar said.
“Ranx Rangers! No wonder they got your guards,” Krratyk said to Yucker. “Colonel Sthykar, what kind of a weapon are we talking about?”
“I think it might be Alpha Privilege secret what I have learned,” Sthykar said. “Alright for me to go ahead and share it on the radio?”
“Everyone here has Alpha Privilege, who is listening on there?” Krratyk asked.
“Colonel Jontvyk, Capitan Relkyett and a few other army men as well as friends and a retired policeman, all trustworthy men I would say.”
“Alright, now listen, whatever Sthykar says is not to be discussed with anybody else who is not there right now without House of War’s permission,” Krratyk said to everyone listening on the other side.
“Yes commander,” many of them in the Coldwoods police station replied in unison.
“Then go ahead,” Krratyk said.
“I broke into their compound as I found it suspicious,” Sthykar said. “I came across a scientist who was attempting to escape, unfortunately he did not make it. But he told me they were making a storm weapon, some type of machine that can create hurricanes and tornadoes and such storms. I do not know what to make of it except I know that our army as well as Narducat Empire’s army experimented with storm weapons, but they have been banned from further development in a mutual treaty.”
“So that is what they have been up to,” Yucker said, “All along we had been thinking it was just a bank robbing syndicate. Unbelievable!”
“Sthykar, that is the strangest coincidence,” Krratyk said. “Yucker had come to us for help precisely because a SPASI team was ambushed in Coldwoods by these Ranxian men you tell us are Ranx Rangers.”
“Well, that explains one more thing that is not a coincidence,” Sthykar said. “The entire Coldwoods town police is missing; I am certain they were kidnapped as well.”
“I think we should tell him,” Yucker said to Krratyk. Krratyk thought for a moment and then nodded his head.
“The leader of that SPASI team was your friend Sayett,” Krratyk said.
“Did he survive?” Sthykar asked distraught.
“Kidnapped,” Krratyk said. “But there is more bad news.”
“What?”
“They have also kidnapped your wife, Constellar Slyntya,” Krratyk said and stopped. He wanted to explain further but he waited for Sthykar’s reaction.
Sthykar suddenly felt his stomach go empty and he swallowed hard. He was more distressed than angry, but he quickly collected himself. There were murmurs and headshakes in the room. Relkyett placed his hand on Sthykar’s shoulder and Colonel Jontvyk looked at him with sympathy.
“How did this happen?” Sthykar asked.
“As you know, she was on the House of Banks and SPASI believed till now this was a bank robbing syndicate,” Krratyk said. “She was made the overseer of SPASI investigation especially because she would work well with Sayett, as he is your friend. Now they were opposed to her going on the field investigation, but a Constellar has political authority to order herself in and she did. She was ambushed earlier and kidnapped.”
“Actually, Sayett and a hundred guards were going there to rescue her,” Chief Yucker chirped in. “but we underestimated the opposition; we had no clue that they were Ranx Rangers.”
“Commander what are you doing to get them back?” Sthykar asked. He was still feeling ill in his stomach, but he had composed himself. He had always accepted that tragedies and villainies could happen anytime to anyone. One could only be brave and bold and be always ready to fight against them in cold hearted manner.
“The local warrior class, the 999th reserve army has been ordered to mobilize two thousand soldiers,” Krratyk stopped and then turned to Commander Tybett. “Commander Tybett, now that we know they are Ranx Rangers and their extremely dangerous plan, I want full mobilization.”
“I was thinking the same and was about to suggest it to you,” Tybett said, “I will order Colonel Weltar to call for full and immediate mobilization.”
Commander Tybett picked up the table phone and dialed a number, meanwhile Krratyk resumed his talk on the radio, “Sthykar, I have just ordered full mobilization of the 999th Reserve, and I can’t think of anyone better to be the battle commander than you.”
“Appreciate, but how long will that take? Five hours is standard full mobilization time for reserve armies—the most disciplined ones,” Sthykar said.
“Five to seven hours for them,” Commander Tybett said. “Unfortunately, Colonel, large areas, spread out homes and towns in that district so it might take longer.”
“I understand,” Sthykar said, “Commander I would like to go in ahead. I am sure whoever the Colonel of 999th is…”
“Colonel Weltar,” Krratyk said.
“Yes, Colonel Weltar will do a great job of leading his soldiers,” Sthykar said. “I want to go ahead and rescue Slyntya, and if possible Sayett and others. She is not a soldier nor a detective and deserves my first attention.”
“I certainly won’t stop you, Colonel,” Krratyk said. “Your decision. All army units in that region will be under your command as of this moment. Keep me informed; I will be in here at the House of War till we have seen this through.”
“Will do,” Sthykar said.
“Colonel Sthykar,” Tybett s
aid. “I just told Weltar of your presence as well as what you have told us. He will catch you on the radio on our army frequency as soon as he is fully mobilized and ready to attack. I have ordered him to storm their compound.”
“I will try to get the hostages before that,” Sthykar said. “Alright.”
“Alright then,” Krratyk said and shut off the radio.
Sthykar shut off his own radio and looked at his friends.
“Terrible to hear that,” Jontvyk said.
“She didn’t deserve it at all,” Relkyett said.
“I know she is my wife, but right now we have an operation to execute and that is what we are going to do: in a cold, disciplined and ruthless manner. Life is a tragedy, we all accept this, I won’t dwell on it more.”
“We are all behind you,” Kartar said. “What are our orders, Colonel?”
“You are not even in the army Cap Kartar,” Sthykar said using his formal title, “and I can’t order an aristocrat.” Others laughed lightly and that reduced the tension in the room as the rest of them relaxed and some of them sat down on the chairs and the tables of the police station.
“Now,” Sthykar said, “I am going right away to rescue Slyntya. The warriors under Colonel Weltar’s command will come in hard when they are ready. So far Ranx Rangers seem rational, but I don’t know how they will react and how they will treat their hostages once they are surrounded and their defeat is certain. You don’t have to come with me; you can wait till Colonel Weltar is ready and attack with him. I leave the decision to each one of you because my attempt is very risky and specifically for my wife.”
“I am in,” Kartar said.
“Count me in,” Jontvyk said.
“Me too,” said Muftar.
Sthykar heard almost all of them trying to shout over each other to join him. “Glad you are all coming,” he said.
“Colonel,” the retired policeman Rydar spoke when everyone had become quiet. “I would like to come, too. I know I am not part of your group of friends. I was never in any army and I am old. But I am a Starfirian and I want to fight as well. I also know the lay of the forest like none of you—been running around these old cold woods since a kid.”
“Delighted to take you with us,” Sthykar said. “Could always use an extra gun.”
“I can get a few more,” Rydar said.
“We don’t have much time,” Sthykar said.
“Just from around nearby, fifteen—twenty minutes drive,” Rydar said, “Many folks here are avid hunters just like all of you. Most will be willing to fight for their town and country.”
“We could use some locals,” Relkyett said. “I am the only one who knows the way. If I get shot, the rest of you will be lost.”
“Alright,” Sthykar said turning to Rydar. “We need time to plan our attack as well. I will give you half an hour; get whoever you can within that time to this police station.”
Rydar nodded and hurriedly exited and rushed to his car. Sthykar looked around the police station, found a large map of the town and the forest on a wall, tore it off and spread it flat on the police chief’s desk. He picked up the pen the chief had left uncapped. Rest of them crowded together to lean in on the map.
* * *
“Now we know what we are up against,” Supreme Commander Krratyk said in the House of War.
“Yucker, we need to find out about Ranx Nation’s involvement in this, and to what extent,” Byter said. “If they unleash a storm on us and if the Ranx government played a role, then I can get the fighter planes ready to hit them back hard.”
“Commander Byter, let us deal with the matter one at a time. The highest priority is dealing with the Ranx Rangers in Coldwoods,” Supreme Commander Krratyk said. “We can deal with Ranx at our leisure later.”
“I will put my detectives from the Counter-Spying department on this matter of Ranx involvement,” Yucker said. “Actually getting spies in there to get personal information will take time, but we can start analyzing their politics right away.”
“Alright,” Krratyk said. “We need to start making calls. I am going to call the King and have him use his authority to call the Constellation into session immediately. He can also give them news about Constellar Slyntya’s kidnapping. I am going to call from my personal office.”
“I will alert the Army Investigations,” Commander Byter said. “They can start creating a current profile of the Ranxian army if we decide to go to war.”
“Alright, but order them not to share the preparation for a thorough analysis with anyone except the top level officers,” Krratyk said. “Now we all have calls to make, events to set into motion, let us meet here in one hour and we will have the King and the rest of the army commanders with us as well.”
Krratyk, Byter and Yucker exited the conference room while the reserve commander Tybett stayed back. He picked the radio from the side and made a connection to Colonel Weltar’s camp to update him.
* * *
“Mark the location of your land on this map, Relkyett,” Sthykar said and handed the pen over to his friend.
“Roughly there.” Relkyett made a square on the map and handed the pen back to Sthykar.
“And here is approximately where that compound is,” Sthykar made a small circle to the south of Relkyett’s mark. “And this is the Coldwoods police station,” he made a check over the police station, which was printed on the map.
“We can go straight from here to there, barely any rivers or canyons in between,” Colonel Jontvyk said as he traced his finger from the police station on the map to the circle Sthykar had made to indicate Ranxian compound.
“I am just worried about the tower wall,” Sthykar said, “They know soldiers are coming for them. We won’t be able to climb the wall like I did before and we won’t be going there at night either, because that would be too late.”
“We could storm the gate,” Felptar said. “Fifteen of us plus whoever the retired policeman brings. A handful of guards can’t withstand that much firepower.”
“Did you hear what Chief Yucker said?” Sthykar asked, pointing to a road on the map, “They ambushed a hundred SPASI guards somewhere there. They surely have enough manpower to hold the gate. No, we have to open that gate quickly and I can think of only one way to do it: blow it.”
“We would need explosives for that,” Muftar said.
“Not a problem,” Relkyett said. “This is a lumber town; you can buy explosives in half a dozen stores.”
“The problem is we have to blast the gate from the inside,” Sthykar said. “We would never be able to get close from the outside. I will have to sneak inside again or we have to find a helicopter in this town.”
“In this town?” Kartar said. “Unlikely. If you had told me earlier, I would have brought mine.”
“Actually there is one,” Relkyett said. “One of my neighbors has a helicopter. I can take you there and we can borrow it.”
“Or commandeer it,” Sthykar said wryly.
As they were discussing their battle plan, the ex-policeman Ryder walked in along with a man in his late forties dressed in hunting clothes, a green hat and shirt and brown pants and boots.
“Colonel, I rounded up nine men from nearby,” he said, then introduced his companion. “This is Capitan Yytar, the rest are standing outside.”
“Ex-Capitan, that is; it’s been more than ten years since I was in the 999th reserve army,” Yytar said. “I am honored to meet you, Colonel Sthykar.”
“And we are delighted to have your help. You must know this area very well,” Sthykar said.
“Ran around everywhere in these woods as children,” Yytar said. “I got eight more armed fellas outside, all of whom know the lay of this land well.”
“How many ATR’s, Yytar?” Sthykar asked.
“Only two—mine,” Yytar said. “Ex-officers of the six armies can own ATRs and I brought both of mine.”
“That gives us six automatic rifles, since we have four of our own,” Sthykar
said. “The rest of the volunteers are going to have to fight with single-shot hunting rifles or repeating rifles.”
“Most of the men outside have their repeaters with them,” Yytar said.
“Let’s go out and meet them,” Sthykar said. “We are done in this police station.” He packed his radio into his bag, folded up the map and put it in his pants pocket. He took the chief’s pen and hitched it to his front shirt pocket under the jacket, then walked outside along with Ryder and Yytar. The rest of his friends followed them and mingled with the new arrivals, introducing themselves. Many of them waved at Sthykar.
“Alright, listen up, here is the plan,” Sthykar said. “We have a war at our hands. Colonel Weltar and his warriors will be coming up in a few hours. We have to get to the hostages before the shooting starts to make sure our enemies don’t harm them in desperation. I will be going with Relkyett to one of his neighbors to get a helicopter; Pelyett and Tulkar are coming with us. Colonel Jontvyk has the highest army rank in my absence and he will lead the rest of you near to the compound where you will await our arrival in the helicopter.”
The crowd had listened in pin drop silence. Now many conversations broke out amongst them. Sthykar turned to Rydar and Yytar, “You will have to help Jontvyk with finding the way there.”
“Not a problem,” Rydar said.
“I know Colonel Weltar,” Yytar said. “He is a friend from my days in the 999thReserve; both of us were capitans at the same time.”
“How far is the nearest gun store from here?” Sthykar asked the crowd.
“Just ten minutes up the road there is old man Zyf’s store,” Rydar said, “What are you looking to buy?”
“Buy the whole store,” Sthykar said.
“The whole store?” Yytar asked. “You mean all the ammo boxes as well.”
“That too, but I mean the whole store, guns, explosive sticks, bullets, bows and arrows and all,” Sthykar said. “I am thinking if we can’t get the hostages out of the compound then we can at least secure them till the 999th Reserves storm the the place. The scientist I met there told me that most everyone lives underground below the tower. I bet our hostages are in there as well, in a prison like structure. They are SPASI and Police and they can help us hold off Ranxians.”
