Both Ways (20181228)

CH76

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    Landager puzzled in the war room. Tavi was honest with himself, he was puzzled, too. 'It will be worth your while,' the Cane had said. What could he have possibly meant.
    "Find Pack Leader Lararl, and bring him here, please." Landager asked the room of officers. A couple subordinates ducked out to oversee the order being carried out. "Warmaster Nasaug, do you have any clue of what he could be talking about?" Landager asked.
    "I have no idea." Nasaug admitted. "Perhaps it is gold or some other valuable thing?"
    "I sincerely hope not." Landager said. "Sacrificing life to preserve wealth is an unimaginable waste. I would be very disappointed if that were the case."
    "Surely wealth cannot be the case. Perhaps it is some sort of weapon to be used against the Vord?" Tavi suggested.
    "I doubt it." Nasaug replied. "If they did, by chance, possess such a weapon, they would have certainly used it against us in our centuries of war. But, they haven't, so I will assume that it is not a weapon. Unless, of course, it has been developed very recently."
    "Excuse me, Commander." One of the officers interrupted. "We've just received a report of a group of fifty  Vord spotted headed West at the Maraul-Narash border zone. Air assets already en route.".
    "Copy, thank you." Landager responded before returning to the conversation."It appears we will have to wait to find out what is going in at the palace, then." Landager concluded. "Which in itself, is unfortunate. If we had only known sooner, we might have been able to prevent this situation entirely. I assume that this was carried out by an all Canim group, maybe even rouge warriors.... I am both intrigued and concerned."
    The door opened behind them. Tavi turned to see Lararl enter the room, a little apprehensive about being summoned to Landager. Neither the Commander nor Nasaug turned to face Lararl.
    "What is it?" Lararl asked as he walked toward them. Rather nicely, too, for a Canim. 
    Landager took a deep breath before answering. "A Cane, who identified himself as one of your honor guardsman, just informed us that a number of them are holding out in the palace. They suggested they are protecting, or searching for, something that will be 'worth our while.'" He said, without asking any questions.
    After a moment, Lararl felt compelled to ask it himself. "And now you seek answers." He mused to himself.
    "They are your warriors, are they not?" Landager said. "I ordered the evacuation of Shuar yesterday."
    "And I carried out that evacuation!" Lararl replied.
    "And yet, they are still there." Landager continued. "Why?"
    "They are protecting the palace, apparently." Lararl tried to dodge the question.
    "I know that. Why?" Landgaer insisted. 
    "I do not know." Lararl answered. "If they remained at the palace, they would be disobeying my orders as well as yours."
    "What do you have at your palace worth defending?"
    "We've evacuated the treasury, a good portion of the armory, all the valuable or cultural artifacts...." Lararl recalled. "There is no reason for them to be there, as far as I know." 
    "Commander," Another officer interrupted. "several locals in swamps in Eastern Maraul have reported they fled Westward from their homes during the night due to a large, seemingly unaware Vord force moving through the area. Battalion commanders are searching for the force using air assets, but request advisement on ground posture."
    "Consolidate the populous the best we can, and move them back to areas we can evacuate from. Remain focused on finding the Vord. Ensure our camps there have sufficient defenses, walls especially, to slow the Vord. Allow limited ground patrols in the areas immediate to the camps. Don't go venturing into the swamp until we know the extent of the threat." Landager rattled off. "Do we have any numbers?"
    "The Canim couldn't tell." The officer replied. "They just said it was a large force."
    "Okay. Tell the South ranges we're seeing increased Vord activity, and to remain vigilant for any Vord advances into their areas." Landager finished, returning to Lararl. "Back to the palace. What do you know?" Landager asked harshly.
    "About the situation? Nothing." Lararl asserted quickly.
    "Get with your officers." Landager ordered. "In twenty minute's time, I want something--anything--about this situation from your side. I hope you return less clueless than you are now. Go."
    Without another word, Lararl spun about and exited the room with a low growl.
    "I've realised something about you, Commander Landager." Tavi said with a slight smile. "You are far harsher on your peers than your subordinates."
    "Of course I am." Landager said. "I expect far more from, for example, a Pack Leader than I do for a Battlemaster. With rank comes not only responsibility, but also accountability. If you do not know what your subordinates are doing, are you even a leader?" He asked rhetorically. "I expect Pack Leader Lararl will find there has been some breakdown in communication. Somebody knows these guardsmen are gone, but hasn't informed their chain of command."
    "Perhaps they are afraid to." Nasaug commented. "Canim typically are hesitant to present their superiors with damning news. They would rather attempt to fix a situation themselves than be viewed as a failure by their leadership."
    "Interesting perspective." Landager replied. "My view on leadership is communication. How can a military be effective if nobody keeps each other informed? I believe strongly that if the situation is anything but nominal, you shouldn't have to ask down the chain. Let's say you are orchestrating a defense. Your radios are silent, then suddenly one of your FGO's informs you there has been a breach in a sector. You didn't even know the enemy had been encountered yet because a CGO thought they could handle the situation themselves." Landager shrugged. "I'm not saying they can't. I will empower them to operate as they wish, within my constraints, of course. If, in that instance, the CGO had just reported they had contact, it would be entirely different. Even better would be have included  'strong enemy presence here' and 'we're losing ground and need help.' From my time in the military, I can easily say that the most effective militaries are those who know how to communicate, and can keep all levels of leadership informed. Not only informed, but informed in a timely manner as well."
    "How does the Vord do it, then?" Tavi asked. 'they have no radios, vehicles, nor any mounts to ride, even!"
    "From what I've seen, and what the science and research division has discovered, it is safe to say they are some sort of hive mind." Landager explained. "In essence, it is a collective consciousness that allows them to operate in the manner that they do. It is incredibly capable on the strategic level, but limits operational flexibility on the tactical level. We have not, however, determined the exact capabilities of the Vord, yet, which is part of the reason we are moving at such a slow tempo. We are unsure of how to actually hurt them."
    "Save for denying them expansion." Tavi corrected. "Destruction of force does not phase them, only the occupation of territory can stop them."
    "I somewhat disagree." Landager contested. "While taking land is a great way to strike at them, Canea is a large continent. As I said, we don't know the limits of their capabilities. It is possible that if even one warrior gets away, conceals themselves in a cave someplace, that they could survive, grow more warriors, and resurface after some time. We must be certain that our destruction of them is effective as well as permanent."
    Tavi thought to himself about the possibility that Landager was correct about the Vord. When Tavi accidentally awakened them years ago in Alera, they were just a small, remote force. What if they were to go through all of this effort to destroy all but one singular warrior, and have the Vord attack again in a hundred years' time? A more trouble thought would be where that warrior would hide. Landager was right, Canea was a large continent. However, a trip Eastward across the sea lay an entirely different continent where the Vord came from. Or, at least that is what the Canim intelligence pointed to, and Tavi concurred.
    "We've got a helo down over Narash!" An officer exclaimed. "An H-T-47 Fierce, part of a hunter-killer duo, crashed to the North of the Vord formation it was attack. No EMAS, RESCAP is set up, and rescue is on its way."
    "Was it a malfunction?" Landager asked. "Did their wingman see anything?"
    "The crew announced they 'were hit' before radioing their distress." The officer reported. "I'll ask what was seen now."
    "Commander, an army sized Vord formation has been spotted moving North into Shuar." Another officer informed. "Attack aircraft routing to interdict now."
    "Proximity to ground forces?" Landager asked.
    "Ten miles." The officer answered. "Nearest forces: A camp just outside the Shuaran wall. Standard assortment of units as well as coalition forces."
    "Understood. Transition to a defensive posture in Shuar, with the exception of the city Shuar." Landager ordered.
    "Sir, we have contact with the crew of the downed helo. They are both ok and are mobile. Pilot said, 'dual flameout after air collision.' With what unknown, wingman didn't see impact."
    "It had to have been the Vord." Landager reasoned "What was his altitude?"
    "Asking." The officer replied.
    "Effective immediately, aircraft attack floor is 100 meters." Landager announced. "The Vord may have some sort of ground to air or air to air capability. Brief all aircrews."
    "Commander, ground forces in Maraul have made contact with multiple squad size Vord elements. No large enemy forces found yet."
    "Understood, thank you." Landager replied.
    "Sir, the Third Directorate liaison requests your attention." An officer said. "Says it is important."
    "I am busy at the moment." Landager said.
    "Sir, RESCAP elements in Narash reporting an army sized formation following the small group they were tasked to destroy. Additional aircraft redirected to attack."
    "Okay, everybody!" Landager regrouped his staff. "We have full Vord offensive on our hands!" He pointed to the large display, highlighting the enemy formations. "We have presumably three army groups. North going through Shuar, East going through Narash, and West going through Maraul. Our posture for Canea is now defensive. Finish up whatever is going on in Shuar city and retask those forces. Be vigilant, and we can contain the threat. Let's do this!"