That night at Cass and Elena's was the last night we've had that's been peaceful. This past month since then, it's been constant attacks from the Erl's army all along the borders of the countries he's invaded with his forces.
John's and my own forces under us have been working overtime trying to rescue people trapped in the areas within those countries that have been trying to make it pass the borders.
So many at first were coming, then slowly they began to trickle down. We had been sending drones out since no more calls were making it out from people inside the borders. We found out that the Erl's forces had gone out and destroyed the cell towers, cut major communication lines, anything to contact the outside world to those countries was obliterated.
If it wasn't for the drones, we wouldn't know much of anything going on. The destruction of some of the communication towers affected our drones capabilities from sending back video and audio, but the satellite GPS in them let us know where they were. We were already having our tech team make drones to boost our signals for less delays and interference with our spy drones. It would also help anyone who still had a cell phone that was working to get a call out.
Yet the Erl's forces took advantage of our lack of offense and pushed forward, invading the neighboring countries. From Togo, they invaded and gained Benin in just over a day and night. They had taken Ghana into their control just a few days later. Even with Thietian's family forces to try and hold the lines, the Erl's forces kept pushing forward.
While Ghana and Benin were being invaded, Venezuela was invaded. Brazil had everything plus help from countries farther below it to keep it's borders safe. They were evacuating every populated area close to the borders to any of these countries, soon any neighboring country was doing the same.
Right now Thietian was in a meeting with the countries leaders as they discussed the next course of action to prevent the Erl's forces invading anymore countries. Panama was holding the lines well, but needed reinforcements to rotate men out so they wouldn't become exhausted. Countries didn't want to send too many of their own troops in fear of needing them on their own borders. Thietian and his families forces were already stretched out all over the world where there was heavy fighting.
John and I were training recruits out of the refugees and civilians who wanted to fight that the governments wouldn't take for whatever reasons. Even we had to turn some away, but for most of them if we couldn't have them fighting we put them to work in the tech labs, communications, or surveillance labs. So many were retired or past their prime for the normal combat standards, but we didn't care if they were physically fit and passed vision and hearing tests we would put them into the ranks. Some were grateful to be able to fight, most were content with just doing something to aid the cause.
Some of the officers from countries we sent our troops to were complaining about receiving older troops to aid them, when they wanted younger troops. Some were claiming we were playing favorites between them, which was laughable.
After the last meeting, I was asked to try to be more diplomatic. Even though I was right to tell them all to open their eyes and send more troops from countries farther away. They could send them now to help hold the lines farther away or hold on to them as a last defense when no one else was there to send help to them.
Granted, I did pick up one of these pricks by his shirt collars and force him back in his seat when he tried standing and getting in my face to argue with me. There was no way, I was going to let this asshole think I would put up with his condescending and bully tactics to try and get more troops to his country that was still safe from being invaded at all at the moment.
While they heard the message and it may have got through to some, Thietian asked me to go train more recruits for the next few days while he continued to choose diplomacy instead of letting emotions rise to the point of physical altercations.
So right now, I'm going through a VR simulation with some of the recruits. I asked the programmer to kick it up a few degrees for me to really get a feel for their ability to cope under pressure. I also told her to have me be a wild card, to be part of team or something else. She gave me a wicked smile and just nodded before I gave her a thumbs up and went to get suited up.
"Okay everyone listen up!"
I stroll into the locker room where everyone is geared up and ready to enter the VR simulation once the areas mats and safety equipment is put into place.
My unexpected arrival causes a few to jump in surprise and others to just look curiously at me as they still move to stand at attention and salute me.
"At Ease! Today is going to be a normal day! Just because I am here for today's VR course does not mean that anyone needs to feel like they should shine as an individual. You are still to act as a team to get your objective completed. The only difference from a normal VR day is... I'm here."
I received some confused looks with that statement. Before anyone could ask about it though the red light came on. Our VR environment was ready to go.
Helmets went on and immediately we're put into a 360 degree environment .
You can feel the breeze through a broken window.
You can smell the ocean breeze that's close by.
I see the rest of squad for the VR simulation is in the room with me.
We check our selves and make sure our suits and vision is correct, our helmets on tight. After a minute a computer generated voice comes over our coms.
"Your assignment is to find and free the enslaved hostages at the dock yard approximately three miles from your location. Heavy enemy forces are present in this area. Splitting into smaller teams is not recommended. Your commanding officer for this exercise is, Second Lieutenant C. Tarchen, and they will be making the decisions from here on out. Good Luck."
The voice ends and we're given an interactive map we can pull up on our individual screens that will give us a rough layout of the streets and buildings from a down ward view. It's marked in areas that have the highest concentration of soldiers and possible patrol routes. I look and see three possible routes that we should take.
Before I take the map down, I get a flashing red message alert on my screen.
I quickly open it up and read it to myself.
*Major General Sin*
This is your kick it up a notch as requested. We have a turn coat in our ranks. You are that turncoat and must find ways to disrupt and make the objective unsuccessful, without being found out by other squad members. No one is aware of this order. If you fail to act on your mission goals, the rest of the team will fail and not know the reason why. If you are successful in disrupting the mission and lose half of your team members or lose half the hostages, without being detected, they'll have failed their mission. If you are able to lose part of the team and/or hostages, but are found out is the only way that the mission will be considered successful for the squad.
Good luck!
I smirk quickly and remove the message and turn to Second Lieutenant Tarchen for orders. She spreads the map out for all of us to see in our vision and begins to look at possible routes. She starts mapping possible routes, marking areas that we know will have patrols and cut us off or will put us in a dead end unable to get to the docks.
She starts to mark possible routes and then asks for any input from us. I keep quiet and just await orders. With three squads present, she's tempted to split us up into three squads but the reminder that smaller squads are not recommended, she is thinking two will have to do it.
"Major General Sin, do you have any suggestions?" She turns to me putting me on the spot.
I look at her thoughtful and turn to this map, keeping my face devoid of thoughts and emotions.
'How can I accomplish my mission?' I think looking at the routes.
"Just because the computer suggests smaller teams are not recommended, doesn't mean that the only way to do this is by splitting up into two groups. Say we do split into three, one squad can flank through these buildings to get to the docks and as long as you're smart avoid the patrols. The next could go through your second appointed route, but the third shouldn't do this route."
I point out one that looks very promising at first glance but I see the flaws in it.
"What's wrong with this route, sir?" Tarchen asks.
"This area and this area," I circle two areas he's overlooked as I explain, "they are not buildings like you assumed, they're green areas. Parks with structures built on them, for picnics, but they offer no cover. You can tell by the green edges and they way the green curves and darkens. I would suggest a third team go this route."
I start marking a third route that curves around the map areas outer buildings that has little to no patrols. It would meet up with another route right by the docks. The only problem with my route is that we'd go right by a large concentration of soldiers next to the docks. Which could be tricky not knowing the state of the buildings we'd be going through. This would also make it easier to have 'accidental' losses.
She agrees to my plan and puts me in charge of one squad, her in another, and then a guy for the third squad.
My squad is to take the outskirts route that I suggested, Briggs the male squad leader will be taking the route that is the easiest. Tarchen will be leading her squad through the area with patrols to avoid and that meets up with ours in the building by the docks.
We gather into our teams and start out the door, starting the programs boundaries and the simulation.