Kara Discovered: Episode 10, A March Begins
Jeffries tell his men what they will be up against.
Once positive that no man was falling out, Jeffries continued, “I saw three different species. I did not get a good look at any of them, but some of your teammates did. The largest group are a dark brown, three meters tall, fur covered bipeds, closer to bears than apes in look and for that matter, movement. They carried staffs, but are not strong or skilled. You have all been trained on how to fight a person with a staff bare handed. I can testify that it works just as well against them as anyone else not expecting those maneuvers. Three of us got our hands on staffs and kill several of them each.”
He paused to let that sink in. Surprised that no one gasped at his admission that he had killed, he went on. “As far as we know, there was only one of the next. He is the dangerous one. He took out all three of us that had staffs using a staff himself, killing Sergeant Michelle in the process.”
Once again, Jeffries paused to let it sink in that they had lost someone in their platoon and death was now a real possibility. “He is short. Less than a meter and a half tall, tan, with fast, jerky movement. Your teammates swarmed him so I could come get you. He may have been injured. But it is possible it was slight, and he recovered.”
Looking to where he thought the man was, Jefferies went on. “Cho, your squad goes first. If you encounter him, javelins will rain down on your position. You must keep him occupied and distracted.”
Cho’s voice was grim when he replied, “Understood, Sir.”
This was insane. He could not believe that he had just ordered men to commit suicide. Even more shocking was that he didn’t fall out when told what he was being tasked with.
“Other than the third is a bipedal lizard, there is little I can tell you. There are few of them. They didn’t fight, and they kept themselves apart from the others. I don’t know their capabilities in combat. That said, if we do not encounter the small tan dwarf, we will not use javelins. You are too blind to use them well and there will be a chance of killing the people we are there to rescue using them.”
Some of Wilson’s people started handing out spare canteens now coming though the gate.
When they finished, he shouted, “Move them out, Top. We follow the track I made coming back.”
He was glad his Top could bellow with the best of them and didn’t have to rely on an amplifier to be heard. “Cho, take the lead, by the route step, March!”
To his surprise, Major Wilson and his senior lieutenant, Towns, saluted his men as they left.
Damn these glasses. They were not clear enough that he could see their expression as he passed.
Never the less, he returned the salute.
Then he was beyond the gate camp perimeter.
There could be no doubt that they were coming out after them.
“Cho, keep up a running commentary on everything you see.”
“Yes, Sir,” came the reply, then creative descriptions of sand started.
After a time, Cho called out. “To my right, Sir. I see scraps of cloth and other artifacts.”
He suppressed his temptation to order a detour to see if there were weapons his men could use. “Ignore them. They may not know we have improved our vision, and I don’t want to give it away yet.”
“Yes, Sir, I will keep that in mind.” His tone changed. “You heard the Lieutenant, squad. Don’t let on we can see father than before.”
Twice the distance that the scraps had been at from the gate, Cho called out, “Contact, Sir. Enemy on left and right. We’re walking into a trap.”
“Carry on soldier,” called out his Top. “We have them right where we want them.”
