by C. R. Daems
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Planet Lochpin: Snipers, Pete Norman and Todd Bradley
Pete Norman, call sign Taipan, and Todd Bradley, call sign Mamba, moved as fast as the heavy vegetation would allow. They needed hilly ground if they were to conduct their ambush from eight hundred meters as Luan had suggested. Todd wouldn't have traded places with Jolie for any amount of money. He wouldn't mind thinking up the strategy, although he had to admit she was devilishly good at it, but he wanted nothing to do with making the assignments. The latest incident with Firebird was a good example. Firebird would most likely have lost the pursuit and made it back to base, but she called him back to the team where the platoon could ambush his pursuers. That technically put everyone's life at risk. He wasn't sure if he could have made that call. Everyone in the squad was a friend whom he had known for years. No, he liked being a Tasmanian. He didn't mind risk, but he didn't want that kind of responsibility.
Two hours later, they reached an area where the ground rose at least five to six hundred meters and provided a good view of the road, which was fairly straight at this point. There was only one or two places where the caravan would disappear for a minute or two due to dips in the road and vegetation.
"Pete, what if I take the north and you the south side of the road. That way, we will have them in the crossfire, and they will have to split their forces to chase us," Todd said, looking around.
"Do you think they will stop if we shoot out a couple of tires? They might just abandon the vehicle and go around it," Pete asked, frowning in thought.
"Not if it's the limousine tires." Todd laughed. "But the main targets after slowing them down with flat tires are clearly the generals in the limos."
"Agreed," Pete said, waving as he turned right into the heavily treed terrain.
Todd smiled as he watched Pete disappear into the landscape. Luan's team was comprised of Tasmanians who had been close friends for many years and knew each other well. And being all on the same team had been amazing, like a symphonic orchestra with every musician a master of his instrument and Luan the perfect conductor. Life was good, he mused as he reached the top of the ridge and surveyed the road.
He estimated he was a good nine hundred meters from what looked like the ideal spot to ambush the caravan. But Luan wouldn't be pleased if the troops in vehicles with the caravan sped ahead. They would be within three hundred meters within minutes. He gave a snort and then proceeded to walk for an additional ten minutes until he was at least six hundred meters off the road. A reasonable compromise, he thought as he walked around looking for good cover and the best view of the road. Then he began making sure the ground was free of rocks and twigs where he was going to lay, moving bushes, branches, and large rocks before he unpacked his CheyTac and supplies and relieved himself. After all, he may be laying there for a day or more without moving because of the human eye’s ability to detect even slight movements.
He was in sniper mode, everything turned off except the spot on the road he was watching. If he had looked at his TCom, he would have noticed fourteen hours had passed since he had assumed his current position. Movement brought him back to full alert. Vehicles were moving along the section of road he had been watching. He would lose sight of them for approximately one minute before they emerged at the section he had identified as the kill zone.
He sighted on the road and slowly applied pressure as he slowed his breathing. Then he took a deep breath, which was timed perfectly with the vehicles coming into sight. He paused, stopping the natural exhale, while he found the front tires of the first limo, and fired. The tire exploded slightly before the pop of the suppressed explosion of the 408 caliber bullet, and the vehicle swerved hard left. Only the skill of the driver kept it from plunging off the road into the dense vegetation. Todd waited to see their reaction because it was unlikely anyone thought it was anything but a tire blowout. Eventually, the driver got out, inspected the tire, and looked to be explaining what he saw to the passengers. A minute later, three men emerged, but none looked like officers. Killing technicians didn't seem worthwhile, so he waited. Pete had yet to shoot, apparently waiting for him to take the lead.
Todd considered the problem while he waited. His primary task was to delay the convoy to give Jolie and her team time to set up a major ambush. His secondary task was to kill the officers if the chance arose and to not get killed in the process. He knew Luan feared that worse than death. So, he sighted in on the second vehicle's side window, took a deep breath, held it, and then squeezed off three rounds only a second apart. The bullet-resistant window held for the first bullet and partly for the second but shattered on the third and hit someone. Several seconds later, two men exited the passenger side door but stayed behind the vehicle.
Soldiers were pouring out of the trucks as the trucks were moving to protect the limos. Todd laughed as Pete opened fire on the men behind the second limo. Men exiting the third vehicle had the trucks for protection. It didn't matter as troops were now heading in his and Pete’s direction, so he decided it was time to leave, but not before shooting out several tires on the trucks and the gunner on the armored vehicle who had turned to shoot at Pete.
Todd worked his way west as that would be where Jolie and the rest of the team were preparing the next ambush. He had a good lead on the troops chasing him. They were unlikely to go more than a klick or two from the vehicles for fear of another ambush.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Planet Lochpin: Scavenger Hunt
With Salamander in the lead and Smitty and I at the end, we worked our way west in search of anything they could use for their intended ambush. After an hour, I called for a halt.
"I don't like it, but I think we need three lines separated by one hundred meters. The vegetation is so thick we could be missing all sorts of houses if we stay in a single line." I had no sooner said it when Bulldog, Firebird, and Flintstone stepped a few meters apart. Then Spiderman joined Bulldog, Peppermint joined Firebird, and Salamander joined Flintstone. I stood there like a dummy, the only one who didn't know who I was supposed to join. Then it dawned on me. These guys had been Tasmanians for years and on many assignments and knew each other personally, so situations like this were almost intuitive. There were no two specialties together and only one without a medical or an explosive specialty.
I stepped behind Spiderman and everyone smiled as they turned and began fanning out. The knowledge made me feel a lot better, knowing their seemingly random formations were actually well thought-out solutions, which I probably would have figured out if I had the time to think the situation through. Or maybe not, I mused.
We had been walking for close to two hours when Flintstone sent me a TCom message that he had found several buildings. I called everyone close as seven heads were better than five. There were three buildings: a house, a barn, and a produce-storage building. The Moech swept through the area, killing all the workers and livestock, but they left everything intact. At the time, they were intent on a lightning-fast surprise attack on Mortone and didn't want to leave survivors who might warn their enemy. We found an abandoned small truck and loaded it with two barrels of gasoline, several gas-powered saws, and rope. It was a risk taking the truck, but we couldn't carry the loot we had found, and it was just what we needed.
Over the next eight hours, we stumbled on five more farms and added more gas and gas-powered equipment to our stash. We covered fifteen klicks during our eight-hour scavenger hunt but saw no one alive.
"I think here," I said looking at the map and comparing it to the road. "Smitty, if you would set up some traps using the gasoline that the cars would trip, I'll take a couple of boys to cuts some trees. They will outnumber us, and we are down three men of which two are snipers, so we will need surprise and panic on our side."
As I began walking up the road, I noticed Bulldog, Salamander and Spiderman following me, and Firebird and Peppermint following Smitty. It made sense—a medic and an explosives man followed Smitty while those n
ot needed by Smitty followed me. The Tasmanian school wasn't designed for berserkers or musclemen; it was designed for people who could think after days without sleep under the worse of conditions. These men weren't blind followers; they just didn't want the responsibility of being in charge. But in the event I was killed, they would select the best person to lead, and he would accept the responsibility.
"Those three trees," I said, selecting the tallest trees near the side of the road. It would take twenty men to lift and move a tree that size, and of course, we weren't going to give them the opportunity. This was an excellent spot as the road dropped off at this point so the cars couldn't just drive around. Besides, two of the trees stuck out fifteen meters past where the road ended on the left side, and the third tree lay twenty-meters up the hill on the right. They would need the better part of a day to get their cars around these trees if their cars were in good condition and nobody was shooting at them. Two conditions I planned not to allow. I then walked back up the road past where Smitty was setting his trap and picked out three more trees.
I pointed to the trees. "I want those three to be cut so that a minimum of pressure will cause them to fall onto the road."
"Jolie, that's a good idea but I doubt any of us or even several of us could generate enough power to topple those trees even if they were cut halfway through. If we cut them too deep, wind or just the pressure on the cut will cause them to fall before we want them to," Spiderman said.
"True," I agreed. "I thought we would tie the ropes to that tree across the road, and cut deep enough so that after the cars pass, we could make it fall. The weight of that tree should be enough to pull the other three down."
Spiderman nodded. "That should do it," he said as my TCom lit with a message from Wolf notifying me that he was only thirty meters away and not to shoot. He appeared a minute later.
"Welcome back, Cedric. How did it go?" I asked, starved for specific information on what had transpired over the past seventy hours. Everyone gathered close to hear.
"Your Vanquishing Fear class saved the mission, Jolie. I'm afraid I would have done something foolish if I hadn't been able to clear my mind and make a rational decision. The Moech sent out a group of three to scout the ridge. Clearing my mind enabled me to consider all my possible options. My first instinct was to engage them but that would have alerted the Moech to my presence, and I would have had to leave the area. I maybe could have found a position on the road to notify Peter and Todd, but by staying, I was able to give them several hours’ more notice as I saw them preparing to leave hours in advance of actually leaving." He smiled. "The caravan left thirty hours after you departed."
When I looked at my TCom, I saw we had been gone forty-nine hours. Obviously, Pete and Todd had managed to detain the convoy by at least twelve hours, which was the elapsed time from their most likely encounter. Conclusion: we could expect the convoy at any moment.
"Alright, here's the plan," I said when they had all assembled. "As the cars come around the corner going at least fifty to eighty kph, the lead car will drag the gas barrels off the side of the road, splashing at least the first six cars in the convoy. As they pass, Salamander will cut the tree we are using as a weight to break the other trees free to fall across the road, blocking any vehicle retreat. Firebird will then ignite the gasoline, which should cause widespread panic. Flintstone has rigged twenty traps using our grenades. So, when the troops charge us, they will be in a mini minefield. As soon as the officers and technicians are dead, we can leave."
"What if they surrender?" Bulldog asked with a smirk.
"Tie them up and leave them. They will get loose eventually. We don't need prisoners, and it wouldn't be right shooting men who had surrendered." After a bit of thought, I added, "They will have to surrender en masse. We can't handle one or two surrendering while the rest are fighting."
We took up our prepared positions. Salamander, Flintstone, Spiderman, and Peppermint were about fifty meters away from the road where the vehicles would be trapped and on fire. Firebird was twenty-five meters on the opposite side of the road where the fire would be most intense to encourage a speedy exit in the other direction. Bulldog and I were stationed two hundred meters back on a small rise where we would attempt to kill the officers and their staff and to cover our retreat when the time came. As I reviewed the deployment of my troops again, I received a message that Pete and Todd were close.
"Welcome back," I said as they appeared out of the jungle only a few meters in front of me. "How did it go?"
"Pretty good, considering the convoy hasn't arrived here yet," Todd said. We shot out a lot of tires and killed a few technicians. We didn't hang around as they sent troops after us. The convoy consists of one armored vehicle with a heavy machine gun mounted on top, three limousines, and two trucks with some forty combat troops in full armor."
I went on to explain how I had configured the troops and kept Taipan and Mamba back with me and Bulldog. We didn't have to wait long. Two hours later, the armored vehicle came into sight. I watched as Salamander cut the tree, which would topple the three onto the road as Firebird ignited the gasoline. Ten seconds felt like an eternity as the first tree hung suspended, not appearing to bring down the other three. Finally, there was a loud crack, and one of the trees gave way, crashing onto the road. Seconds later, there were two more cracks, and all three trees lay across the road, blocking any vehicle from retreating. That proved unnecessary as the vehicles were all on fire and too hot and dangerous to drive.
The troops couldn't exit the trucks fast enough, and the last few troops exited on fire. The first ones to exit stood with heads swiveling, trying to find something to shoot. The limo doors on the driver side opened, and eight individuals scrambled out. One of the officers said something and pointed into the jungle, and the troops began running in that direction with the officers and their staff following. Then the chaos began. The front four Tasmanians opened fire on the armored troops, leading the charge into the jungle. Their armor significantly reduced the casualties, and the smiling troops charged the shooters. But within seconds, they began tripping Smitty's traps, and shrapnel from the grenades and 408 caliber bullets from the three snipers with me penetrated where the bullets of the Tavor were only partially effective. The officers and their staff who weren't in armor died before the seven survivors surrendered.
"Salamander, Peppermint, see to the Moech troops after you've attended our wounded. Smitty, after they have been treated, tie them up enough so that we can leave the area safely," I said, relieved it was over and my troops were alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Planet Lochpin: What Next?
"Well, Fox, what now?" Smitty asked, with all eyes on me. Again, they had done their job, and now it was my turn.
"We could attack the rear of the North Moechs attacking Mortone," I said while frowning in thought. Open mouthed stares greeted me.
"We aren't that bored," Spiderman said with a snort.
"What wimps. What if we attack the Moech's camp at Moech Alley?" I asked, still frowning. "Should be easy. They are sitting around doing nothing and bored."
"I think we have lived to see the Fox without any ideas," Smitty said to smiling and nodding heads. Of course, Smitty was right. I didn't have a clue what to do next. We could return to the Tasmanians, but ten more troops weren't going to make a significant difference in the outcome. My group's function, while undefined, was to find ways to thwart the enemy, and we weren't going to make that happen by joining the Tasmanians. I folded into a meditation posture.
When I opened my eyes, nine men sat facing me. They smiled when they noticed my eyes were open.
"What does an army run on?" I asked, cocking my head as if to hear better, and waited.
"Food," Peppermint said.
"Ammo," Mamba said.
"Discipline," Spiderman said.
"Correct," I said. "So, what is our job?"
"Sabotage!" Firebird said.
"Correct, again." I smil
ed. "And I would think the group fighting Mortune has got to be low on food and ammo, and the only place to get more is the reserve unit at Moech Alley. And since some nasty Tasmanians have ruined their equipment, the only way is to send people." I paused to look around the group, hating what I had to do. "Taipan, Wolf, you will stay here and make sure no one from Mortone passes here…nor anyone from the Alley. The rest of us are going to make sure the Moech attacking Mortone aren't overeating or hording ammo."
My announcement was treated with smiles. I guessed that meant these nut-cases enjoyed wandering around causing trouble more than being part of the main Tasmanian force. I agreed.
"Single file?" Todd asked. When I nodded, they formed up, with Smitty and I following at the end.
* * *
A day later, we perched at the rear of the Moech troops attacking Mortone, or more specifically, the USP protecting North Mortone. I thought it would be nice to find out how the Tasmanians were holding up, so I sent Mueller a text:
Watcher, how is the engagement going? Luan.
Fox, we are down over thirty percent overall, the Tasmanians, ten percent. The good news is that the fighting has slowed since you interfered with their communications and senior officers. It feels like they are waiting for something. Mueller.
I responded with some amusement.
Watcher, it isn't coming anytime soon. I thought my team and I would inventory the Moech ammo and supplies. It would be a shame if they ran out of both. Luan.
Mueller was quick to respond.
Fox, that would be a game changer. Taarah. Mueller.
"Well, boys. I just had a chat with our commander, and he thought the Moech had too much ammo and food," I said, which produced grins on every face. "Mamba, you scout the south side of the Moech line; Spiderman, you scout the rear of their line; and Firebird, you scout the northside. Whoever finds the ammo stash, send two clicks on the open channel. That will be the signal for everyone to return here." I saw nods of understanding as Mamba, Spiderman, and Firebird stood and disappeared into the thick underbrush. Now was the hard part: waiting.
