The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (87 page)

  “Captain Burton, please come to the Conference Room immediately.” Captain Maxwell said over the intercom.

  “What did you want to see me about?” Mad Dawg asked when he got to the Conference Room.

  “Please sit.” Omori instructed him.

  “What we are going to tell you is considered Top Secret and cannot leave this room.” Lenkov ordered Mad Dawg.

  “I understand sir.” Mad Dawg responded.

  “Do you know what lacrima mortis means?” Omori asked.

  “Yes, it Latin for tear of death. Why do you ask?” Mad Dawg responded.

  “Do you have any idea as to what a Lacrima Mortis Plasma Gun is?” Omori asked.

  “No ma’am.” Mad Dawg responded.

  “Those three structures in Ishtar’s atmosphere is part of the Lacrima Mortis Plasma Gun. It’s using both the planet’s magnetic field and the gas within it’s atmosphere to create a massive plasma gun.” Lenkov said.

  “How powerful is it sir?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “We don’t know. There was nothing in the intelligence report that mentioned how powerful it is. But there is one way for us to find out.” Omori said.

  “It needs to shoot at something. Something very large. A moving target.” Lenkov added. Mad Dawg knew what he meant and it felt like someone just punched him in the gut.

  “Just give me a bottle of brandy and we can call it square.” Mad Dawg said slightly under his breath. He knew that they were going to use his ship as target practice and if the shoe was on the other foot he would have done the same. It deeply sadden him to know his ship is going to be destroyed.

  “Done.” Lenkov responded.

  “There is something else that you should know about the LMPG.” Omori said.

  “What is it ma’am?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “Although the stealth base can activate/deactivate the LMPG, the same can be done in one of the core tunnels. Any attempt to deactivate it can be overridden by the other. We can’t leave until the LMPG is permanently disable. Or at least the transmitter for the core tunnel is knocked out.” Omori said.

  “I understand. What do you want me to do?” Mad Dawg said.

  “Do you feel up to the challenge of taking out the transmitter for the core tunnel?” Lenkov asked.

  “Yes sir.” Mad Dawg responded.

  “We have no Intel on where the transmitter is, so the Communicational Array in the core tunnel must be destroyed at all cost. Or at least acquire the Intel as to where the transmitter is.” Lenkov said.

  “I don’t mind taking it out sir.” Mad Dawg said.

  “Come to the bridge when you are ready to say goodbye to your ship.” Omori said.

  After Lenkov, Omori and Captain Maxwell left, Mad Dawg, still deeply sadden at the thought that he was fixing to lose his baby girl, left a few moments later. He stood quietly on the bridge, drinking from the bottle of brandy as his watch Omori start the engines of Galactic Prime to prepare it to travel away from Golden Hyperion. Before Omori gave the command for Galactic Prime to begin it’s last voyage she looked at Mad Dawg who shook his head. He just couldn’t send his ship on a death voyage. When the ship was within range of the LMPG the gun fired one shot which destroyed Galactic Prime. Up to 80% of the ship was vaporized and that told everyone, including Mad Dawg, that the LMPG was fully capable of destroying The Hammer of Doom killing all on board.

  “Give me everything that I need… and I WILL make certain that that second transmitter as well as what is in the core tunnel is destroyed. By any means necessary.” Mad Dawg said with deep hatred in his eyes for what just happened to his ship. He will kill Captain Dawson and finish off the rest of the EOD forces (minus The Hammer of Doom) on Golden Hyperion.

(4)

  Captain Dawson finally met up with the rest of his personnel at A10-36D. They were holed up in a parking garage and each of them knew that The Hammer of Doom would not appear overhead (after it dipped below the horizon) for another three and a half hours. Although that did not give them much time to rescue their captured comrades and then secure the base, it did give them enough time to rescue them and then to leave and find a safe secure location. Dawson was counting on taking prisoners and that would be his shield from The Hammer of Doom firing at the base once, he’d hope, that it is taken. But just in case he couldn’t take any prisoners, Dawson calculated that he could still find a safe secure location.

  As soon as The Hammer of Doom disappeared below the horizon Dawson and his personnel left in several APCs and three tanks (Dawson left in a car). Most of his men were in a Heavy APC. A Heavy APC puts emphasis upon firepower and thus has less personnel. Some has called it “a tank with more people in it.” The rest of Dawson’s personnel was traveling in a APC. Dawson was quite confident that his former base with all of it’s prisoners released, the enemy taken prisoner, would be under his control before the end of the day. But as confident as he is, he still won’t enter the base. Nevertheless, he will be close enough to see the action.

  “Sir, The Hammer of Doom is no longer in orbit over us.” Dawson’s driver informed him.

  “Tell them to begin the attack without delay. Remind them that they are under strict orders to take prisoners.” Captain Dawson said, trying to maintain control since he was under the influence of pain medication.

  “Yes sir.” The driver responded. He then gave the order over the com system.

  Dawson had his tanks move around the base firing at any strong defenses until they moved into the position that he wanted. One tank to move to Dawson’s left side, one to his right, and one behind the base (rear flank). Dawson wanted them to destroy any defenses and then blast a hole in the base so that the APCs could go through. It was clear from the beginning that Dawson seriously underestimated his enemy. The tanks on the left and right flank was destroyed and the third tank managed to destroy a small section of the fortification. What Dawson didn’t realize was that Lenkov took advantage of the terrain and wanted that to occur since the ground there was ten feet below the ground level of the base. The part of the base that faced Dawson had trenches that could stop a APC in its tracks. Although it couldn’t stop a tank, Dawson could see that it had too many anti-tank defenses. Dawson could only attack from the left, right and rear flanks which is what Lenkov wanted.

  “Sir, we lost two of our tanks.” The driver informed Captain Dawson.

  “Which ones?” Dawson asked. He was a bit annoyed by their early destruction.

  “Left and right flank sir.”

  “What about the third tank?”

  “One moment sir.” The driver said as he asked the tank driver. “He’d managed to punch a hole in the outer defenses and is waiting further orders, sir.”

  “How big is it?”

  “One moment sir.” The driver said as he asked the tank driver. “Just big enough to allow three APCs to go through side-by-side.”

  “Good. Have half of our APCs to go through it with the tank leading the way. Have our Heavy APCs to attack both left and right flank. Have the rest of our APCs to wait until the Heavy APCs bust a hole in the outer defenses, and then with the Heavy APCs leading the way, have our APCs go in.” Captain Dawson ordered his driver.

  “Yes sir.”

  Captain Dawson may have studied Lenkov’s infamous defenses, but not all of them. The rebels on Valkyrie did not have high-tech weaponry but they did have a much larger number of fighters. So Lenkov put emphasis on EOD high-tech weaponry. Lenkov knew that history dictated that a enemy with superior numbers could be overcome with high-tech weaponry. The enemy must therefore default to using ingenuity to defeat the high-tech weaponry as well as using the terrain against the enemy. Lenkov master that tactic on Valkyrie. Using EOD high-tech weaponry when the rebels didn’t have any high-tech weaponry, and using ingenuity and knowing the terrain when the rebels captured EOD high-tech weaponry. Lenkov knew how to balance the usage of the two tactics. Dawson never studied Lenkov less famous battles where he used ingenuity to overcome captured EOD high-tech weaponry. If he did, then he would realize why he needs airpower.

  Captain Dawson once heard Lenkov say something and though nothing of it. By the end of the day Dawson would finally understand what he meant, but it would be too late for him. All Lenkov said was, “Those who do not listen to their enemy, will fall by their enemy sword.” Dawson also heard Lenkov say, “Those who know everything about their enemy, is the enemy.” Because Dawson didn’t understand what Lenkov meant he dismissed it and never gave it much thought. The first quote meant that those who do not learn from their enemy, will make the mistakes of their enemy. Dawson does not realize that he is fixing to make the mistake of the rebels on Valkyrie – putting full faith and credit into high-tech weaponry without truly understanding the enemy. The second quote meant that no one can ever know everything about one’s enemy, so it becomes critical to fill in what one does not know with as much as possible. Yet another mistake of Dawson.

  Captain Dawson, however, did hear Lenkov say two things that Dawson understood quite well and it convinced him that one day Lenkov and Omori would one day betray the EOD. “No nation can survive when men of conscious rebel against it,” and “The surest pathway to defeat your enemy is to be the enemy.” What Dawson didn’t realize is that if he’d asked for further explanation Lenkov would have told him that those, like himself, who are ruthless, are not considered “men of conscious.” And the second quote? Did it ever occur to Dawson that neither Lenkov nor Omori considered the EOD to be their enemy at first? Apparently not. But by assuming that both of them were a potential traitor to the EOD, Dawson spent most of his time looking for any acts of treason, not upon studying Lenkov’s tactics. If he did the outcome on Golden Hyperion could have turned out differently.

  The Heavy APCs on the left flank had no trouble in getting through the outer defenses. They were able to eliminate the outer auto-guns and then pushed into the base. All of them came across Lenkov low-tech ingenuity base defense. Those defenses were nothing more than a trench that could stop a APC dead in it’s tracks. The trench was filled with gasoline and was covered with a thin concrete slab that could allow a person to stand upon it, but a APC would break through it. But the type of concrete that was used was a combustible type. When a APC broke through the slab, a Marine that is skilled in archery would fire a flaming arrow into trench setting it on fire. For the rest of the Heavy APC drivers it confused them as to where they should go. Although the fire could not destroy the Heavy APC, it did meant that the troops inside had to go over the APC, which, in return, meant that the guns on the APC could not be used. In some cases the crew of the APC was killed. In other cases the crew was killed and the APC was destroyed. In other cases the defenders were killed. Regardless, Dawson attack upon the left flank failed miserably.

  “Sir, our assault on the left flank has failed. They’re reporting that they broke through, and that the traitors are using trench traps to stop our APCs.” Dawson’s driver informed him.

  “What about our right flank?”

  “They’re reporting that they are unable to breach the defenses, sir.”

  “Then tell them to move to the left flank and attack from there.”

  “Yes sir.”

  What Dawson didn’t realize is, that is another one of Lenkov tactics. One flank is too strong while another one is weak, but not too weak. Lenkov knew that when a enemy sees one of their assaults on a enemy flank has failed, but they managed to break through the defenses, while the enemy other flank is holding strong against all assaults against it, the temptation to abandoned the assault upon the strong flank and attack the weaker flank is too strong to resist. This is part of Lenkov’s trap, for it forces his enemy to waste time on a strong defense.

  The last tank had no trouble entering the base, but it was destroyed as soon as it fully entered the base causing a traffic jam with the rest of the APCs. It was extremely hard for those APCs to enter the base after that. They had to move the tank out of the way, the enemy had the high ground, they had to find a position to move to in order to allow the rest of the APCs to enter the base, they had to provide cover fire for their crew when they left the APC, trying not to run over their wounded comrades (some of them were run over), and finally trying not to get their own APC destroyed. By the time they finally secure the area most of the APCs were destroyed or heavily damaged, and the crew had to take up a defensive position because of it.

  Before the situation with the Heavy APCs assault upon the left flank was resolved, Captain Dawson’s captured personnel rushed and killed their guards. Before they got to the lobby in the building that they were being held in, a group of Dragon Clones and Marines came in and was promptly overrun and was killed. Dawson’s men then quickly realize that there was only one way in or out of the lobby and it was guarded by a Dragon Clone sitting in a gun turret on both the left and right side of the entrance to the building, and by a group of Dragon Clones in a bunker that was in between the two gun turrets with a large window that faced the entrance of the building. Despite that, Dawson’s men still overran them and manned the gun turrets and bunker in order to protect the wounded who was placed in the lobby. Of Dawson’s 713 personnel who was captured, only 158 was still able to fight and the rest was either dead or wounded. The 158 escapees then ran right into Lenkov’s trap for them should they manage to escape. And this time it would be friendly fire that will kill most of them.