Abide With Me

The Grotto

Flight Lieutenant Parakeet consulted Madam War Guna Dena and put together a Recce team:

Main Lookout: Seahawk Sgt. Sharpeye,
Additional Lookout: Seahawk Sgt. Pouncer.

Patrol Leader: Lieutenant Osprey,

Recorder: Sgt. Macaw, Paceman: Corporal Peregrine,

Security 1: Gyrfalcon Sgt. Tom,
Security 2: Gyrfalcon Sgt. Jerry,
Cover Trail: Corporal Camouflage Nighthawk.

Satisfied with the technical strength, speed and composition of the Recce team, Flt. Lt. Parakeet reported to the Chieftain using the Mud Crab Network communique.

As dusk fell, the Recce team birds took off in separate directions and unobtrusively converged at one of the older adits of the Utkarsavat Patal. Seahawk Sgt. Sharpeye and Corporal Peregrine entered the darkened adit, their nocturnal senses primed and ready. After checking out about three Li of tunnels, they signalled the rest of the team, who entered the tunnels and promptly disappeared; at least that's how it appeared! Dressed in combat camouflage, the team resembled smoke and patches of stony earth, indistinguishable from their surroundings, unless they moved. Lt. Osprey raised a wing tip and bunched his feathers into a closed fist: the Commando signal for ALL STOP! Immediately, the team froze.

Tilting his head, Lt. Osprey signalled 'Listen'. 

Sgt. Macaw cocked his head and said
"Water, North, 100 paces!"

The team took flight, keeping low to avoid Arachnid Traps, navigating twists and turns using NightVision, Avian Radar and their keen sense of smell. The Recce team, after a good 20 minutes of subterranean flight, arrived at a grotto. The Grotto was deep underground but had several skylights, discerned by Lt. Sharpeye, who spotted pinpricks of starlight in the gloom. Gyrfalcon Sergeants Tom and Jerry, both rugged combatants, shouldered their weapons and slipped unnoticed along the walls of the grotto. 

Sgt. Macaw:

"Water, dead ahead, 15 feet!"

Cpl. Camouflage Nighthawk, bringing up the rear, switched to Point and silently, seamlessly took wing, his wing tips skimming the water's surface, yet not causing ripples!

The water body was actually an underground river - icy, fast, noisy and smelly!

Cpl. Camouflage Nighthawk circled back and signalled. The Gyrfalcon  Sgts. Tom and Jerry took flight and flanked him. The trio soared high above the river in three diverging directions, turned and swooped, plunging into the fast-flowing river, with little more than a plop! After a short underwater dash, each one re-emerged a little way downstream and once again lifted into the air so quietly that no one was the wiser! They regrouped and soon, Sgt. Macaw had a report ready:

"Attn: Chieftain, BTN. Ampara!

Undesirables: 1 Guard Captain, 6 Assistants - scattered along 3 Li of river course.

110, repeat 110 Hostages: DaNi 17, Otters & Beavers 67, Humans-26. High-Value Target - 01- Royal DaNi. Plus 1 non-hostage Beaver, likely collateral. Hostages physically debilitated, possibly mentally and emotionally compromised, visible restraints on able-bodied."

Seahawk Sgts. Sharpeye and Pouncer landed just then and added on:

"Grey cloud formation, elevation one hundred metres above river surface, electrical activity observed. Responsive electric signal from large DaNi captive's head!"

A specially coded clam carried the report ASAP down the river. Two Nightjars would act as decoys to offset enemy surveillance. The Chieftain would receive the report within the hour!