Tasmanian SFG: Book III, Of One Mind, page 20
"I can walk," I protested as we reached the second-floor landing, hoping I could when they let go. "Check the windows to see if we have a clear view of at least one Sykath leader and one of her squad on a glider." I took several tentative steps as Jafar and Josh began opening doors and entering the rooms. Van stayed, watching me like a mother hawk deciding whether the chick was ready for its first flight.
"I think I'm—" I was interrupted by Jafar.
"Over here, Fox."
I walked slowly, taking small steps over and into the room. It was a corner room with windows on both walls less than two meters apart. I could see both leaders from either window. I nodded and knelt as I took the covers off the suppressor and scope, slid the window open five centimeters, and sighted on the leaders, deciding the one on the left provided the best headshot.
"Jafar, I want you to pick a Sykath soldier who is on a glider and kill him," I said. "We both need to shoot well back from the window to keep them from easily determining where the shot came from."
Jafar nodded, opened his window enough to see through, and then retrieved a chair to rest his CheyTac on and moved another chair in front to obscure him. I did the same.
"What are you testing?" Jafar asked when his firing position was stable.
"How to make their gliders explode." I laughed. "I have first-hand experience. I am trying to determine under what conditions. I'm not sure if the round from my CheyTac killed the rider and then hit something on the glider, or his death caused the explosion because I knocked two off their gliders earlier, and neither exploded. Maybe they were hit but were still alive or…" I waited for him to nod. "If the glider doesn't explode when you kill the Sykath, I'll try for one of the leaders. Tell me when you are ready."
Two minutes later, Panther exhaled and said, "Ready."
"Shoot anytime you are ready," I said after I had picked out my target and was prepared to shoot. I heard the soft puff of the Panther's CheyTac suppressor. As I watched, one of the soldier's head exploded and almost simultaneously his glider. Like a tornado had struck the two groups, gliders and men were swept into the air. To my astonishment, the leaders' gliders, which were much larger and more substantial, rode the explosion like surfers riding a gigantic wave. As the force of the explosive energy lessened, they circled back toward the dorms, where their surviving five men raiding parties joined them, and they headed south toward their main force.
Just then, my TCom lit with a message from Carl.
Fox, the streets have people, mostly women, children, and the elderly evacuating the area. No Sykath. Bulldog.
Then a message from Pete.
Fox, an open glider sled passed us heading south with bodies stacked three high. Taipan.
Then another from Todd a few minutes later.
Fox, two squads passed, appearing in a hurry to get to your position. Mamba.
I opened my map and looked for an unoccupied area within a couple of klicks east of the area the Sykath were invading, then opened my TCom and clicked on my team's icon.
Teams one and two, to me. Teams three, four, and five meet us at H15xM8 as soon as you can safely get there. Luan.
Then I clicked on Howard's icon.
Howard, I believe we might have an opportunity to significantly weaken the current Sykath at all three sites; however, even if it works, it will only be a one-time surprise. Can you pick up my team and me up at H15xM8. We should all be there within the hour. Luan.
His reply came less than a minute later.
Luan, one hour at H15xm8. Howard.
When I looked up, everyone was in the room. "Cedric, I want you to be the lead scout for our group. Jafar and I will be the shooters to ensure we can cross safely. The location I want to go to is H15xM8. It is approximately two to three klicks to the east."
Everyone quickly took out their local maps and found the coordinates.
"There is nothing there," Smitty said, asking the question everyone had on their mind.
"Good, I'm dirty and tired and hope the general got my hint and has something acceptable set up by now. I need a bath, beauty treatment, and a good night's sleep."
"Isaac, are you sure that explosion didn't jar something loose in our platoon leader's upstairs container?" Smitty asked, staring at me.
"I did say two and a half clicks," Peppermint said with a smile.
"The general was so sweet. I'm sure he will remember and have it set up by now," I said, pretending Smitty's doubts were about the general's action. Then I made a pouty face. "I'm hurt that you think I enjoy being dirty and stinky." Looking around, I saw they were all frowning. "Alright, I have an idea I want to run by Howard and thought face-to-face would be better, so I asked him to pick us up at the location I gave you. Let's depart. I told him in an hour."
Over the next forty minutes, Jafar led us across the campus and then through a small business area in a leap-frog manner: another would find a safe location then signal. I would cover Van, Cedric, and Josh crossing while he looked for the next safe jump. Then he would cover my crossing, before making for the spot he had identified. When we arrived, team five was already there, and teams three and four showed five minutes later. Before I could explain, a shuttle set down ten meters away, and we boarded. The ride back was quiet. I was pleased to see we landed behind the army's perimeter, which meant Howard hadn't had time to cross into the combat zone. Simons met us, and we followed him to a large tent where Howard, Gonzales, Finley, and the general waited.
"What have you got, Luan?" Howard asked, probably to avoid the general and me exchanging greetings.
"I've discovered that the male Sykath's gliders are connected in some manner to a specific man, meaning no one can steal the glider if they find it unattended. In addition, when the man is on the glider, his death causes the glider to explode. I conjecture without any proof, it is intended as retribution for whoever killed him. Because of their shields, it is only possible to kill him from the rear. Jafar shot one who was with two leaders and ten men. All ten men were killed."
"What about the leaders?" Howard asked.
"Their gliders survived the resulting blast and were able to ride the energy safely away."
"Why do you think we have to do this simultaneously at all locations?" Finley asked.
"Once they understand what we are doing, I think they can fix the problem easily and will get the information to their other two groups ASAP," I said. "It's probably a simple automatic switch activated when the man sits down or touches the glider's control panel."
"How large is the kill zone from the explosion?" Simons asked.
"I would say at least twenty-five to forty meters. I was almost seventy meters away, and it blew me into the building and rendered me three clicks."
"What is three clicks?" the general asked while stroking his chin.
"Wounded and not functional," Howard said. "So you are suggesting?"
"We tell all three Tasmanian companies and schedule a day and time to attack," I said.
"While you fiddle, they are capturing USP citizens," the general's voice was loud and sounded angry.
Howard spoke before I could say, since I left my fiddle on Delph, I planned on a hot bath and a shampoo instead. "If this works, we could recover the men the Sykath have captured and prevent further loss of life."
"And if it doesn't?" the general countered.
"We are no worse off than now."
"So the elite Tasmanians can't do any better than the army," the general hissed out as he left the tent.
"I am going to let Wallace and Muller know you are coming," Howard said. "Get yourself something to eat. I don't think this will take long."
"What's going on, Fox?" Smitty asked when I joined them later in the mess tent.
"All I know is that there is no beauty salon available. Maybe if we get a few more female Tasmanians, we could form a union and put pressure on the leadership."
"Space gods forbid. They can barely handle you," Jafar said, looking serious. "You already have your own private platoon and never have orders or an objective while on assignment."
"That's because they know she can't follow orders," Simons said as he approached the table. "This is the only military outfit in the USP that could tolerate Jolie."
"My self-esteem is crushed. Pretty soon, my hair will fall out, and I won’t need a shampoo," I hung my head and sobbed. Everyone started clapping.
"Jolie, Howard's waiting at the shuttle," Simons said, smiling. "They decided to meet on the transport to save time and to give you time for a shampoo."
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Planet: Leilid, The Plan
When I exited the shuttle with Howard, Simons, Gonzales, and Finley, a middle-aged petty officer greeted us and led us to a conference room where nine Tasmanians were standing around talking. I recognized Wallace, who I had been told was the battalion commander, as there were currently three company commanders, Howard, Muller, and Jiao. I recognized Muller from one of my previous assignments but not the other men.
"Please be seated," Wallace said after Simons closed the conference room door. The room had comfortable blue-leather padded chairs, and a long rectangular mahogany table that could accommodate twenty. "Most of you know each other but quickly give your position and name…no handles." He looked to his left.
"Company 1 leader, Jiao," said a forty-something man of Chinese ancestry.
"Platoon 1 leader, company 1, Katsu."
"Platoon 2 leader, company 1, Cross."
"Platoon 3 leader, company 1, Fidel."
"Company 3 leader, Muller."
"Platoon 1 leader, company 3, Tang."
"Platoon 2 leader, company 3, Harmon."
"Platoon 3 leader, company 3, Brody."
"Platoon 1 leader, company 2, Simon."
"Platoon 2 leader, company 2, Gonzales."
"Platoon 3 leader, company 2, Finley."
"Ghost Platoon Leader, company 2, Luan."
"Company 2 leader, Howard," Howard said and turned to Wallace who spoke.
"I have had two assignments with the only Tasmanian unit that has permanently assigned members and a name—the Ghost Platoon, whose leader is ironically the only female member of the Tasmanians. The Ghost Platoon was initially an experiment because of Tasmanian Luan's unique approach to problems. She is slow to engage the enemy and tends to wander off as if not interested in the assignment." He smiled at me. "I've talked to the individual members of the Ghost Platoon. In the beginning, they were all frustrated as she appeared slow to engage the enemy or was intentionally avoiding the enemy. But over time, they came to realize they saw the most action and were a critical component to each assignment's success. I personally witnessed that with the Primordial Church on Delphi and the mountain men on Greelan. I've concluded that each assignment needs a Ghost-like platoon. The problem is that we have no one like the Fox to lead a second Ghost Platoon. We are predominately wolves who rely on our skill and speed to overcome our opponents. That works but can cause excessive casualties, and that is a problem because of our picky recruitment requirements." That created smiles all around the table. "I am told by her platoon members that the Fox is as crazy as the rest of us, just foxier." Wallace looked to Howard. "Howard, would you like to explain the reason for this meeting?"
"I usually ignore Jolie since she never knows what she and her team are going to do. Basically, look for something to cause the enemy a pain in the ass. This time, she discovered a potential weakness but believes we can only exploit it one time because it will be easy to defend against. Jolie." Howard nodded to me.
"Commander Wallace failed to mention I'm frequently having so much fun I forget to keep my commander up to date, although this time I had an excuse. I was three clicks." I smiled at Howard. "The Sykath gliders have a mechanism which causes it to explode if the rider is killed while on the glider. I don't know the reason and can only assume it's a retaliatory reaction to killing a Sykath. I don't know the specifics since killing a male Sykath when he is off the glider doesn't cause it to explode. One of my snipers shot and killed one of the ten Sykath men accompanying two squads. The best way is to shoot them in the back since knocking them off their gliders doesn't produce the explosion. The resulting explosion killed all ten men."
"What about the female leaders?" Jiao asked.
"The explosion lifted their gliders into the air, but they managed to ride the energy to safety."
"In summary," Wallace spoke into the pause. "We need to set a time that the three companies will simultaneously attempt as many on-the-glider kills as possible. I suggest we continue the procedure until it no longer works."
We left fifteen minutes later. The time was set at eighteen hundred hours, ten hours from the time we entered our shuttles to return to our assigned cities.
Back on Shago, Howard and the three platoon leaders went off to develop a strategy for deploying the three platoons.
"Well, Fox, are we going to accompany the three platoons?" Smitty asked for the others who were wondering the same thing.
"No, that sounds boring," I said, making a face and shaking my head. "I thought we would see if we could discover how to kill a Sykath leader."
"How do we do that?" Carl asked.
"I thought you boys would figure that out." I grinned. "Quite frankly, I don't want to be in the same city when one of their gliders explodes." When I looked around the group, everyone was looking a bit sheepish. I waved to follow me as I began running to the west, planning to stay to the outskirts of Shago as we made our way south past the current action. Two hours later, I stopped near a large barn. I could see shuttles coming and going off to the southeast.
"What now?" Smitty asked.
"Think and wait for eighteen hundred hours," I said, sitting down and pulling out one of the energy bars that I aways carried with me since I couldn't afford to lose any significant body mass. "We don't want to create a disturbance before our brothers are in place and shooting. Then I want to see the Sykath's reaction. So I plan to stay here safely out of sight until eighteen hundred hours, then move up and find good places to observe. What we do then will depend on the Sykath." I looked at my TCom and saw it was twelve hundred hours and decided I should check in with Howard as I wasn't doing anything else.
Professor, I am on the outskirts of Shago's city center, looking for the Sykath's main compound. I don't plan to move until after eighteen hundred hours because I don't want to cause an incident that may disrupt your plans. Fox.
The reply came ten minutes later.
Fox, what are you looking for? Professor.
I am hoping to find a Sykath female to kill, I mused, and if I do that, it was a good idea.
Professor, just looking as usual. The boys are bored, so I am hoping we can find a tall female or two for company. Fox.
His response came only a minute later.
Fox, in that case, make sure it is long after eighteen hundred hours. I don't want the Sykath here to be called back to your area. Professor.
"Get some rest," I said, since everyone had their eyes on me. "We are staying here out of sight until the start of Operation Boom. Then I want to find their main camp and observe until the space gods let me know what they want me to do."
"In other words, you don't have a clue," Smitty said, grinning.
"I was hoping my second in command would come up with a plan as part of his on-the-job training," I said, trying to look serious and thoughtful.
"Jolie, that is not funny," Smitty said, then scanned the group, who were also grinning. "I like action as much as you, guys, but Jolie has us ten kilometers from our brothers and in the heart of the Sykath forces. This is no time for on-the-job training. That is better done when one is attached to a company."
"All right, I'll do it," I said. "Maybe a nap will help me think of something interesting to do." I lay down, got comfortable, and closed my eyes, knowing they would take care of posting security.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Planet: Leilid, Helter Skelter
I woke when I heard movement around me and looked at my TCom when I realized my platoon was preparing to leave. It was five minutes until eighteen hundred hours.
"I think it is safe to move now," I said, thinking it would take at least an hour to get close enough to observe the main Sykath camp. By then, the Tasmanians would have begun their planned attacks on the male glider riders. That may cause increased activity at the main camp and provide the Ghost Platoon an opportunity to cause its own chaos. "How do you want to proceed?"
"I know you don't like splitting the group, but three small groups would have a better chance of remaining undetected than a group of eleven," Todd said.
"I agree," I said, "but I want us in constant communications. The map shows the city streets running north to south and east to west. We will be moving east, to begin with. What about one click for clear, two clicks for Sykath in the area, three clicks for Sykath found you, and four clicks for Devils to me? The signal will be given by the lead scout at each north-to-south intersection. I will return one click to proceed, two to hold in place, or four to form on me." Looking around, the men had separated into three groups: group #1, Cedric, Jafar, and Isaac, group #2, Carl, Smitty, Pete, and Art, and group #3, Josh, Todd, and Van.
An almost perfect grouping with at least one bomb and sniper; however, group #2 didn't have a medic since group 1 had two because of me. I understood, although not happy about it. The group was making sure I had a medic immediately available. Smitty in group 2 and Mamba in group 3 indicated they would be the persons to signal at each intersection. Cedric, Isaac, and I followed Jafar as he headed toward the city's suburbs. I saw the other two groups spreading out as they also began moving. We saw few people, and most of the houses and apartments appeared vacant, and I received one click from both groups at the first fifteen intersections. After that, we saw no one for the next twenty. I called for a halt as the sun began to set. As it did, I saw lights ahead and was tempted to send "Slow" but knew my troops were all scouts and would know to be cautious. I pointed to a four-story building, and Panther nodded. Inside, I made my way to the fourth floor and found a room with windows facing east.
