The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Chapter 5: Blood Moon

With Narcist and Truk taking small teams of four, that left Lash with the bulk of the company they had brought from Brussels. Not having fought with any of them outside of the brief action at the siege of the Van Tallert castle, and the ambush at the Galway airport, there was a small part of his mind that questioned their capabilities. Thankfully as Qos Viran, he had plenty of opportunity getting dropped into a situation where he had to work with untested assets and uncertain conditions.

A low whistle pulled the team close just out of earshot of the front gate.

"We're going to do a standard probe here," he said, pulling out his tablet and quickly sketching the castle's perimeter. "We just need to make enough of a racket to pull those guards inside to us and give Truk and Narcist time to work. Ballan, take five and move here." He tapped a spot to the right of the main gate and up on the high ground overlooking it. "I want you to spray the gate from the side as soon as the shooting starts. Quist, you take five and move here." Lash tapped a second spot on the opposite side, both spots not directly across from each other to avoid the two teams firing on friendlies. "Hit the right-hand guard tower with a portable rocket launcher round to get their attention." He then looked over the remaining team members.

"Fordicht, you and the rest are with me. And I want you to hit the other tower with a second rocket round." Lash paused to slide the tablet back into his pack and look at the cluster of Ventru nestari. "Easy work here, meni druzhe. So let's keep it simple and direct. Any questions? Good. Go weapons free and radio silent." He then reached over to give Ballan, a French Ventru, and Quist, a German, taps on the shoulder to indicate they should pick out their teams. Which they did with quick points.

That done, Lash gave Fordicht, a square-jawed Ventru from northern Africa, a tap on the shoulder to indicate that it was time to move. Taking his rifle off safety, he then led the way, moving in a low, tactical crouch as they used what cover was available to approach the front gate as quickly and stealthily as they could.

Once they were in place, crouched behind some low stone walls that bordered the road that ran up to the gate. Lash silently counted to thirty in his head to give the other two fire teams time to get into place. Then he was rising slightly from cover to take aim at one of the human soldiers manning the mini-gun in the right-hand tower.

The human was a veteran, whoever he was, keeping as low as he could behind what cover the tower provided, putting the mini-gun between him and any assault coming up the road. Lash couldn't help but nod in appreciation. At least this would give them a challenge! Then he looked over at where Quist had taken up a position with his team to give a slow nod. Returning his attention to the soldier he had sighted in, he squeezed the trigger to signal the beginning of their maneuver.

The shot managed to sneak through the cover and smack the soldier on the side of his helmet, knocking him over. A heartbeat later the two rocket rounds darted through the air to destroy the elevated machine gun nests on either side of the gate. As the air echoed with the snarling bark of those explosions, the rest of his team opened fire on the gate, their attack pulling up the soldiers manning the positions on either side of the gate from where they had taken cover, the humans immediately counterattacking, spraying lethal lead all over the road like firemen hosing down a brushfire.

"Pick your spots," Lash heard Fordicht say in a rough voice tinted by North African flavors as the team alternated rising enough to fire and dropping back behind cover. "Short bursts concentrated on one target. Don't waste your ammo on the heavy armor."

Lash nodded in approval. Smart direction; the African had obviously spent some time in serious combat. And to their credit, the other nestari with them responded, keeping their firing restricted and restrained, targeting only what could hurt the enemy and keeping their rates down to conserve ammunition.