04:00, Bokar Village, Transmecuria
Ilan Erditz sat in the darkened cab of the pickup truck and took two deep final pulls on his cigarettes before tossing it out of the open door. proceeding to crush the glowing remains of it under his booted as he swung himself out and into the field in which the vehicle had been parked. From the bed of the truck men were silently clambering down to the ground, a scene repeated across the fields surrounding the Utman village of Bokar.
Ilan picked up his radio "All detachments, give me your status." he ordered through the device the replies came swiftly confirming that his men were in position "Good. Proceed as we planned." he said before motioning for those in his presence to begin the advance on foot towards the huddle of dark buildings in the distance that formed the nucleus of the settlement so as not to alert the residents of their arrival. Bokar had been chosen for a specific reason, it was the home village of the terrorist who had attempted to assassinate the Chief Medaber and as such was determined to be the perfect target for driving home the message that from now on Utman violence would be met with serious reprisals.
Ten minutes later they reached the village where they quietly and stealthily made their way through the streets, keeping close to cover until they found their primary target, the family home of the terrorist himself. Turning to the radio again Ilan checked to make sure that the other teams had taken up their positions around the perimeter of the settlement.
Having confirmed this he ordered his men to proceed with their mission. They begun to hastily open glass bottles that had been filled with petrol and stuff lengths of rag into it, waited briefly for the material to soak up the fluid inside then lit them. At this moment two of his men used the butt of their weapons to smash the windows of the house with the others quickly throwing the now burning firebomb into the ground floor of the dwelling. The bottles shattered within quickly spreading fire throughout the ground floor while the noise of the shattering window served to wake the residents and neighbours who rousing from their initial confusion proceeded to begin screaming while Ilan and his men retreated into the shadows of a nearby garden.
Within a minute the shrieks and shouts spread out across the village waking all the residents, bringing many of them running out into the streets and towards to conflagration where already men were beginning to fetch buckets in hopes of aiding those inside who were now yelling for help from an upper story window having found their route out of the house barred by flames.
As this scene unfolded and a crowd formed a new form of panic swept across the assembly as men in military fatigues carrying automatic weapons began to emerged from the shadowy side streets of the village and move in towards them. A tense frightful silence fell over the crown as the Hand of Emet surrounded them, Ilan and his men also emerging from the shadows of the garden and moving towards the Utman.
"Who here is the Chief Elder?" he asked coldly.
An elderly man with a neatly trimmed white beard came forward "I am." he said "What is the meaning of this? Are you responsible for this?" he sputtered angrily.
"SHUT UP!" Ilan barked "I will be the one asking the questions here." he paced back and forth menacingly before the elder "Seven days ago a son of this village in an act of savagery attempted to assassinate Medaber Danoi Yishveliy. This shit hole of a village has a history of support for the ULO, a history of breeding terrorists and a history of protecting these animals from natural justice." at this point he walked up to the elder so that his face was mere centimetres away "I demand that you immediately hand over all ULO members and sympathisers to us now, do you understand me?"
The elder stepped backward, an expressions of shocked outrage spreading across his face, his position of authority in this village society having left him ill prepared to handle such a display of disrespect. "Who do you think you are to come here and speak to me like this!" he began before he was cut of as the butt of Ilan's weapon came crashing into his face. The elder spat blood and fragments of shattered teeth before reeling backward and falling to sit in a stunned heap on the ground drooling bloody ropes.
The villagers overcame their initial reaction in which they had recoiled in horror at the scene playing out before them quickly replacing it with outrage at the sight of this violation of their revered chief, a number of men surged forward in blind rage towards Ilan, only to jerk violently backward and fall to the ground as the deafening sound of gunfire accompanied the bullets slamming into their chests. Ilan's men kept their guns raised and pointing at the crowd which had once again recoiled in terror, this time fear apparently overwhelming their sense of outrage.
Now silent but for the blood curdling screams of those inside the burning house and the muffled sobbing of women in the Utman mass Ilan continued "So this is what is going to happen now. You are all going to go into your Shrine, we are going to search your houses and those of you who are found to be supporting the terrorist ULO will be found and dealt with accordingly." he cast his gaze menacingly across the crowd "If any of you wish to denounce the snakes among you, it will be counted in your favour." after waiting twenty seconds and being met only with sobs and silence he said "Very well." then turning to his men "Take them to the Shrine." As his men led them at gunpoint to the Utman house of worship the screams from within the house finally came to an end.
05:00
In the distance Ilan could hear gunfire as those men who had been assigned the duty of preventing escapes from the village having picked off those who had initially tried to flee were now moving between the outlying farmhouses and doing away with the residents.
In the village proper a search of the properties had led to the discovery of more residents hiding in various nooks and crannies including a large number of children. All had been taken and confined with the others in the village shrine so that now the makeshift prison was standing room only, the smell emanating from that building was particularly foul suggesting that some within had been unable to control their bodily functions whether through fright or simply deprivation of toilet facilities. This fact gave Ilan a perverse sense of pleasure, how they had so quickly resorted to the desecration of their own holy place confirmed to his mind their degeneracy.
"It will be daybreak soon" he said to his men "We are done here now, let us finish the task at hand." at hearing this two of his men approached the shrine door and began binding the heavily iron handles with chains preventing the door from being opened from the inside, at this moment one of his men spoke up.
"Sir the children in there, what about them?" asked the militiaman nervously shrinking as Ilan's penetrating glare fixed upon him.
"Do chickens hatch from snake eggs?" Ilan asked rhetorically "get on with your task or join them."
As Ilan and his men walked away from the village towards their waiting vehicles they could hear the collective screams of the hundreds trapped within the shrine as the building was engulfed in flames. As they reached the waiting cars he glanced at his watch 'good' he thought to himself 'we'll be back at camp in time for morning prayers'.
Missing Posts are in Spoilers Below
Ilan and his men were returning to their base in the hilltop settlement of Hir Shaleyl after another successful night time operation. After Bokar it had been decided to temporarily lower the severity of the attacks, that operation had after all been meant as a signal to the Utman of what they could expect in retaliation for any further atrocities they might have been planning, it had also had the desired effect of spreading fear and panic among the Utman population to the extent that in some villages up to a quarter of the population fled at the first suspicion that Hand of Emet were nearby. This had led him to pioneer new tactics with some pleasing results.
Tonight for example they had visited three separate villages, one of which, Tirat, was known to hold the home of a ULO regional organiser. In Tirat they had located the man’s home and one of Ilan’s men dressed in the drab woollen shawl that was common to the rural types tapped gently on the window of the servant’s quarter at the rear of the building near the kitchen, rousing him his sleep. After some gesturing the servant with a look of mild confusion and irritation rose and proceeded to go to the kitchen where he unlocked the heavy wood door that led from the food preparation area to the external veranda, the shawled figure was not to be seen. Opening the outer screen door and leaning out he called in a hushed tone: “Old man what is it you need? It’s late and my Master is asleep.” It was then that he noticed the shadowy figures standing either side of the door, in fright he hurriedly tried to shut the door but was too late; a booted foot had inserted itself between the door and its frame and with a heave the door was thrown open, the servant opened his mouth to scream for helped but to his shock only a rasping gurgle issued from his throat. He reeled backwards hands coming up to clutch at his throat, blood flowing hot and sticky between his fingers before he collapsed on the floor.
The militiaman wiped his knife of blood on one of the hanging teacloths on the kitchen wall before the men split up and fanned out through the house. Locating the bedrooms they entered silently, dispatching the occupants in the same way as they had the servant. Ilan had personally carried out the execution of the target. The ULO organiser had woken to find a hand clasped tight over his mouth, in the pale moonlight streaming from the window he could see a puddle of dark liquid soaking the sheets issuing from the throat of his wife who lay motionless. With dawning understanding he began to struggle frantically “Medaber Yishveliy sends his greetings.” Said an icy cold voice in his ear just before the blade of a combat knife slammed into his chest, he felt it be tugged out and heard the hiss and bubbling as his scream forced air out of his punctured lung before the blade was again plunged into him, he counted four before he lost consciousness, in total Ilan stabbed him eight times.
The other two villages had been less violent affairs. In one they had destroyed a generator that was being used to power the local water tower and a medical clinic, for good measure they had raided the building’s stores for useful medical supplies and burned down the village school. In the other they had found that the village’s water supplies came from a manual pump. Splitting in to two teams they removed the handle and used thermite ignited on the pump head to destroy the pump’s inner workings while the other busied itself with dousing an olive orchard with gasoline which they lit just before departing for home. Across the valleys other units were engaged in a similar mix of tasks, the aim was to economically cripple the Utman and sufficiently frighten them to make them take flight from their homes. At present the main targets were villages that occupied the valleys between the scattered Lakhzov hilltop settlements. Driving the Utman out from this region had been deemed vital for creating a single defensive line prior to the push up towards Kinere which was currently planned for the spring.
Their convoy began to climb out of the valley hugging one of the steep hills on the approach to a cluster of Lakhzov hill villages known locally as ‘the five crowns’. To their left a slope led up towards one of the settlements, Hir Inban, while on the right of the road the terrain plunged down into the valley below, suddenly a bright flash followed by blast like a hammer rocked Ilan’s car. Ahead of him through the windscreen he could see the lead car be lifted in the air by the bomb detonation before slamming back down onto the road followed by the loud cracks of weapons fire from the surrounding slopes.
Ilan threw himself down onto the floor of the vehicle as bullets began to strike the vehicles. He radioed his men ordering them to take defensive positions followed by a call through to HQ requesting back up hoping that those detachments of Hand of Emet that were stationed in the five crowns had not been sent off on operations. Scrambling across to the opposite side of the car he opened the door and slip out using the vehicle for cover. Looking down the line of vehicles he could see that his men had already gotten in position, their weapons at the ready. Ilan began scanning the hillside looking for the source of the fire, occasionally one of his men would bob up above the cover of the vehicles and fire into the darkness at some estimated enemy position. One of Ilan’s men who had raised his head about the bonnet of a truck slumped down dead onto the road, Ilan swore while one of the men nearest the downed man quickly scurried towards him to check his pulse, before shaking his head mournfully and taking up his weapon retook his position.
It was then that Ilan’s radio crackled into life “Captain Ilan, what’s your status?”
“Taking heavy fire, at least one confirmed dead probably more.”
“Hold tight, Captain Tor is converging on your location from Hir Inban.” Shortly after this message came through Ilan heard a lull in the weapons fire followed by panicked shouts from above, the sound of a few shots being exchanged before the slopes fell silent.
“You can come out now Captain Ilan!” came a voice from the slopes.” As Ilan raised his head tentatively above the defensive line of trucks he saw in the pre-dawn light Tor’s men making their way down the slope, weapons pointing at ten disarmed Utman identifiable from the red armbands they wore as members of the Khaliniz Brigade. The walked sullenly with their hands on the back of their heads, upon reaching the edge of the road their captors ordered them to their knees. Ilan and his men emerged from behind the vehicles taking stock of the damage.
“Took you long enough didn’t it?” said Ilan approaching Tor “but thank Emet you were near.”
“Hardly an accident.” Replied Tor slightly sheepishly “we received a report from our contacts in the Prefecture that they had picked up on Khaliniz radio chatter about a planned operation to infiltrate Hir Inban and bomb the police station, we were waiting in ambush for them.”
“So why did they end up ambushing us instead?” asked Ilan
“Very good question.” Replied Tor “Let’s ask them shall we?” he turned to one of the kneeling men “You. Why the change of plan?”
“I would never tell you, you dog.” He snarled before spitting at the Captain. Tor looked unimpressed, sighed and in a single swift motion raised his hand gun to the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger, brain and shards of bone exploding out of the back of his skull in a shower of gore. He walked to the next in line and raised his weapon to his forehead.
“Why the change of plan?” he asked, his words laced with a tone that suggested he found having to ask tedious. This one having seen his comrade’s fate was more cooperative.
“We were delayed, and then when we saw the convoy we thought they were returning to the village. There is only ten of us, we know we couldn’t complete our mission if the convoy reached so we decided to set an ambush instead.” He rattled off anxiously.
“You see this is why you people will never win. No tactical sense.” Said Tor as he casually turned and walked to join Ilan, as he went he gave a brief hand signal at which the men guarding the Utman fired their weapons into the backs of their heads. “Let’s gather our men” he said to Ilan before turning back to his own men “as for these, take them down to the Utman village and hang them somewhere prominent.”
Outside the Birza Labour Township
Erdilou Kacüp had been in his twenties during the '86 partition crisis and following the disastrous failure of the Utman military to repel the Lakhzov surprise attack on the young Utman state had joined the Khaliniz Brigades out of the conviction that doing so would be the only way to protect his people. History appeared to have proved him correct and although they had lost and been forced underground he had never given up his desire to see his country rid of Lakhzov domination. With the recent declaration of the new Utman State he had eagerly joined up to the reconstituted Brigades, this time being awarded a Field Captaincy in recognition of his past experience waging campaigns against the Lakhzov militias in the Utman Hill Country.
He had initially been frustrated by the lack of real action save for occupying government offices and infrastructure. Understanding that the government was attempting to negotiate a diplomatic withdrawal of the Lakhzov from their land he none the less ached for battle, to be able to subject the Lakhzov forces to the pain and humiliation that his people had suffered for the past three decades. Finally he had been given orders which did not simply involve guarding government offices, he had been tasked with liberating the Birza Labour Township.
From his position the other side of the valley he could make out the entire Birza township, a terrible mess of huts made from scavenged materials built on the side of a hill surrounding by a double barbed wire fence punctuated by the occasional watch tower. Behind this rose the chimneys of the Birza Foundry, thick noxious smoke belching from them and the small specks of people clambering around one that was under construction, the sight enraged him.
The Lakhzov government had always made out that the townships were part of a programme to aid the Utman rise out of poverty. Of course everyone had known exactly what the reality was, there wasn't a parent among the peasants who didn't fear that their son would be called up in the labour draft, for those who were taken were never heard from again. However despite knowing the nature of these places seeing the level of deprivation in person was painful.
Spying out the site using binoculars he noted that the number of guards was actually exceptionally low. Perhaps the government had never really expected much resistance from those incarcerated within, either that or they had been forced to withdraw the majority to guard higher value targets? whatever the reason it made his task here easier.
He gave his orders to his men, one small detachment would attempt to breach the perimeter fence nearest the military supply sheds as if attempting to raid the armoury. This would undoubtedly trigger perimeter alarms, in fact his plan counted on it. Once the Lakhzov guards responded to the alarm the detachment would withdraw and with luck the guards would pursue them at which point the rest of the force would storm the camp.
The plan was simple but had proved extremely effective, the guards had taken the bait and ten men had chased the five man detachment out into the surrounding country leaving a mere twenty behind to guard the camp dwellers. Erdilou had then led his men, who had hidden among the bushes of the surrounding scrub land, on a charge of the main gate attacking first with a hail of grenades and following up with his ninety men opening fire on the Lakhzov as they mustered in defensive positions.
Two of his men had fallen to the floor after being shot from a guard occupying one of the towers before they had been able to work their way towards the look out and neutralise the adversary. They had then marched triumphantly into the camp as the Lakhzov guards fled for their lives.
The occupants had at first been terrified at the sight of them, fearing that they were the Hand of Emet, until they had spoken to them in the Utman tongue. Realising that they were liberators many broke down in tears while others collapsed in fervent prayer of thanksgiving, the entire township was soon engulfed in an outpouring of raw emotions. Looking around Erdilou was suddenly overcome, he had liberated these people but now what? Their time here had been cruel, many of them were malnourished, many more were suffering from severe medical issues not to mention the mental scars, he stumbled backward as a withered filthy woman grabbed at him with an agonised howl. His men drew their weapons but he signalled for them to put them down "Put them down, she means no harm." the woman had sunk to the floor still clutching at Erdilou and was now sobbing uncontrollably.
"We need to call for reinforcements, and we need to get word of this out to the world. People need to know what was going on here." he said "For now let's try to get the most desperate cases out of here."
Erdilou Kacüp and his men were angry. Orders had arrived for them to cease engagements against Lakhzov military targets and this included the liberation operations against the labour townships of which Erdilou had so far conducted three.
The decision had been handed down to Erdilou along with fellow Captains from Commander Turdig the head of the Khaliniz Brigades, Provisional Minister of Defence and semi-official leader of the hard line faction in the government known as the Maximalists.
The Commander had recalled them all to headquarters for the briefing following what had apparently been a stormy Cabinet meeting in which the decision had been made to suspend direct attacks on the Lakhzov regular forces. This was, so it was argued, because the international peacekeeping team would provide a defence against Lakhzov attacks on the population and that any operations by the Brigades would simply help to lend credence to the Lakhzov diplomatic position.
The news had gone down poorly with the assembled Captains expressing their outrage in no uncertain terms, at one point during the ensuing discussions the mood seemed to be drifting towards the notion of mutinous defiance of the government edict and only the strength of respect they held for Turdig, and the Commander’s willingness to concede a liberal interpret of the edict allowed him to retain control of the situation.
He had made clear to them that while he would not tolerate a flagrant violation of the terms of the government’s decision, that there was scope for the continuation of operations. The focus would now shift towards attacking Emetist positions in the region, guarding vulnerable villages and waging a war of attrition against the Lakhzov economic exploitation of their land.
In practice this latter category involved sabotage of infrastructure, particularly railways and in the week since the decision Erdilou’s men had ambushed three freight trains by creating obstructions on the tracks and subsequently looting the stopped trains. Today they had set another ambush parking a tractor across the tracks to force the train to a stop, however as they began to approach the train they heard the whip crack of weapons fire and saw clouds of dust kick up near their feet where bullets had struck.
As they retreated for cover it was obvious what had happened. The Lakhzov had quickly noticed the shift in tactics and grasping the unwillingness of the Brigades to engage with their regular forces had assigned soldiers to guard the trains travelling through the province.
Erdilou was furious as he was given no choice but to order his men to withdraw. This situation was ridiculous; the directive not to engage had clearly come from Uttaman and the Shanata Party heads. The former he considered weak and too willing to pursue compromise in his misguided belief in the possibility of a diplomatic victory; the latter group he viewed as being little more than traitors. Almost immediately they had started to display an unseemly lack of courage in the face of Lakhzov opposition and a growing aversion to violent confrontation. The Lakhzov economic blockade and rise in hand of Emet attacks had seen them begin to waver. On top of this the recent announcement by the Kadassa regime that an amnesty would be granted to Shanata members and their party allowed to stand in elections if it were to swear allegiance to the Lakhzov constitution had triggered open discussions in the less radical wing of the party about the possibility of abandoning the struggle for independence in favour of the old party line of increased autonomy.
Back at camp and with the fury of his men on full display he came to accept that soon there would have to be a reckoning. The road to Utman freedom lay through armed insurrection; no other means would achieve it and yet while Utman suffered and died under economic blockade or toiled as slaves in forced labour camps the supposed leaders of the Utman independence movement were selling their future for a hopeless dream. Yes there would soon be a reckoning in which all obstacles to their liberation would be swept aside, a final volcanic upsurge of the bottled rage and frustration of the decades, a great and holy fire that would consume Lakhzov tyrants and Utman traitors alike. This moment was approaching fast, he could feel it in his bones, it was a truth that seemed to scream out from the very depths of his soul.
The men of the Khaliniz Brigades had been aware of the outcome of the latest government meeting before they had even received official word through their command structure. The Captains had been in a meeting with Commander Turdig which had begun shortly after the cabinet meeting had concluded when the news had come out in the media, the Shanata Party were abandoning the struggle and had officially announced their departure from the government to run in the Lakhzov elections. As the story broke on televisions and radios a collective murmur of indignation had spread among the men, this was not just a minor set back, the actions of the Shanata threatened the whole Utman national project; clearly the question of where to go from here was what was currently being discussed by the Captains.
When eventually Erdilou Kacüp returned to his men some hours later they rose to their feet and crowded expectantly around him desperate to hear the news.
"I suppose you have all heard what has happened. I suppose you also appreciate what a serious threat this poses to what we are attempting to achieve here." he stated gravely "It is the opinion of Central Command that this betrayal can not be allowed to pass without a price being exacted, to do nothing would be to essentially hand victory to the Lakhzov. The Shanata have made their choice, by deciding to prop up the Kadassa regime and support continued Lakhzov domination of our lands they have set themselves against the Utman people." The men stirred excitedly and a babble of noise began as they began asking questions to which Erdilou raised his hand for silence at which a hush fell across the room "It goes further than this however. It is also the opinion of Command that position taken by Uttaman and the moderates will have inevitable, fatal consequences for our national movement. To have invited foreign troops to come to police us, to divide us in to small enclaves and enforce customs checks on us all but stifles the hope for our future; Uttaman is sacrificing our only prospect of freedom for the false promise of a diplomatic resolution.
It is therefore the decision of Central Command that both the Shanata and Uttaman's moderates need to be decisively defeated before we can lead our people to victory. Start getting ready, we head out in two hours."
00:00, Central Transmecuria
Erdilou's men had eagerly begun preparing and having received their briefing went about their task. The operation was a coordinated sweep to be carried out simultaneously by all Khaliniz divisions across Transmecuria. As the clock hit midnight they their made their move; the first target was the local Shanata Party leader, Ardis Mandikou a man who had won the seat in the previous election and would undoubtedly be the candidate this time around. The men arrived at his house in a pleasant suburb of the town and forced their entry, breaking the front door and charging into the dwelling. They proceeded to tear through the property kicking open the doors to the bedrooms, in one screaming children huddled in the corner, a boy and a girl grasping each other in terror. In another an elderly woman confined to her bed by age and infirmity was whimpering pathetically. Finally they located the master bedroom in which their target had jumped out of bed and was attempted to arm himself as they entered "STAY STILL!" they bellowed at which the man froze before recovering his senses.
"Who do you think you are bursting in here like you're the Hand of Emet" he roared more confident in his safety than he should have been.
"Shut up traitor!" shouted one of Erdilou's men as he approached and struck the man in the stomach with the butt of his weapon. Mandikou collapsed in a heap on the floor where the men proceeded to kick him, while his wife wailed the other side of the room.
Mandikou, but this point completely incapacitated, was unceremoniously dragged through the homestead and out in to the street where a crowd of neighbours had begun to amass roused by the noise. The family had also been marched outside by the remaining soldiers where they stood together in the front yard of the house huddled together, Mandikou's wife wrapping her arms around the children in an ineffectual attempt to comfort them.
Erdilou approached the man who had been unceremoniously dumped in the road and gave him a swift kick before turning theatrically to address the gathered mass of people. "Mandikou has betrayed us all, him and his friends in the Shanata Party have sold our struggle to the Lakhzov for the promise of personal comfort." he fixed the man with a hateful glare before continuing "Despair not though for the Khaliniz will not fail in our promise to protect our people from our enemies; even those who disguise themselves as friends. As we speak, across our territory our men are moving to secure our divine mission of liberation from those like this animal who seek to harm us from within." at this he gave a hand signal and his men advanced towards Mandikou, binding his feet to a thick rope before tying the other end to the rear of their truck.
The wife realising their intention instinctively lurched in panic towards the scene only to be forcibly restrained by one of the militiamen. There was a sputter as the engine of the truck turned over before roaring to life, the truck immediately accelerated dragging Mandikou behind it, The truck drove at speed around the block of housing three times before stopping again outside the house, the bloodied mutilated body of Mandikou lay unrecognisable and broken.
A horrified screaming went up from the children and women outside the house with the mans wife collapsing in faint at the sight.
Public Announcement from the
Central Command of the Khaliniz Brigades We the Khaliniz Brigade have long fought for the future of the Utman people. We have sacrificed our livelihoods, families and lives to the holy and noble cause of Utman freedom.
It was with much distress that we witness the attempts by Racip Uttaman and the Shanata Party to effectively sell our future for their own material comforts. We have heard the cries of our people, the indignation and rage that these betrayals have generated among our oppressed brothers.
We have therefore taken action to ensure the security of our independence, an independence that Uttaman announced but did not have the courage to put in to effect. As of this morning we have taken full control of the Provisional Government and are in the process of securing our revolution against its enemies, both foreign and domestic.
Until such a time as our independence is entirely secured government decision will be made by the newly formed Emergency Committee of the Utman Republic. The Emergency Committee has held its inaugural meeting at midday today and issued the following edict:
All treaties and agreements made between the Utman Liberation Organisation, the Utman Provisional Government or any agent purporting to act on their behalf is rendered null and void with immediate effect.
Consequently the agreement to the presence of international forces within our sovereign territory is hereby rescinded. The presence of any foreign military personnel within our territory will be considered an act of war and dealt with accordingly.
A lot had happened in the week since the capture of Kinere Airport. Khaliniz Central Command had met for an emergency session where the situation had been assessed, the conclusion was as expected; the seizure of the airfield had been a setback not only for their ability to import materiel but observers reported work underway to repair the damaged runway, clearly with the intention of creating an air bridge. Should this be accomplished the peacekeeping force would be able to rapidly build up their presence on the edge of Kinere and allow them to move to capture the de facto capital of the Utman State from Khaliniz grasp.
All had agreed that this could not be tolerated and much attention had been turned to recapturing the position. There had been a deadlock over how best to achieve this; some suggested using the safety of the prisoners they had captured during the retreat as leverage while others suggested a more direct shock assault to reclaim the airport.
Two days in to the argument with the sense of looming disaster growing they were apprised of an unexpected development. Taking advantage of the Lakhzov troop withdrawals they had begun raiding poorly guarded military facilities in an attempt to gain access to heavier arms. So far this strategy had not provided them with much as the Lakhzov had clearly been relocating stored weaponry out of the conflict zone; however the latest raid had handed them a valuable prize.
The Commanders had come personally to view the weapons that had been captured from a Lakhzov convoy heading out of Vilniz. A couple of non-descript crates have been opened revealing the contents, in the large box were a series of artillery shells while the other smaller contained an equal number of canisters each marked with a serial number, a skull and crossbones symbol and labelled methylphosphonyl difluoride. A militia member who had, before the war, been a chemist explained to them the mechanics of the weapon, how the shells contained a mixture of isopropanol and Isopropylamine that when combined with the agent in the canisters during flight of the shell would generate sarin. The Commanders were delighted eyeing their new weapon with a malevolent eagerness that suggested they had already decided how they would use it.
Kinere International Airport
Erdilou’s men had taken up positions in the woods surrounding the airfield. Surveillance had suggested that the peacekeeping forces had nearly completed repairs to the runway, with a lack of heavy arms it had been decided to take a more creative approach to the situation.
With only a stock of outdated man portable anti-air launchers they were hopelessly ill equipped and unlikely to successfully shoot down any incoming plane or helicopter from the peacekeeping countries; however some bright spark in military intelligence had devised a rather cunning plan.
Knowing that sentinel aircraft were being used to provide recon for the ground forces a method of spoofing a signal from a mobile SAM had been worked out. The problem had been that the MPADS gave of a brief EM signature when they were switched on and when they locked on to a target which could be easily identified whereas mobile SAM systems gave a more consistent signature. The trick was, it seemed, to turn clusters of the hardware they had on and off in quick succession, the signal could then be mistaken for that of the more consistent mobile SAM, the use of tree cover would prevent the optical confirmation by the sentinel making the ruse possible.
The hope was that the fear of a mobile SAM in the area would prevent air approaches until the threat was neutralised buying them time. It was likely that if faced with such a threat that troops would be dispatched to hunt the location of the ghost vehicle in order to provide manual targeting for a neutralising strike, this would provide them with the opportunity they needed to strike themselves.
Erdilou had his misgivings about the plan, but he had been pleasantly surprised when he saw a detachment of men leaving the airfield and fanning out into the surrounding woods. He ordered his own men to avoid contact with them and to continue leading them on a wild goose chase with the spoof signal, in the meantime he had his men infiltrate the airfield under cover of darkness laden with explosives, this time they would blow a hole so deep in the runway that it would be taken out of service for weeks, they also decided to target the landing light rig to further complicate future landings.
Hir HaShirin Pass
Captain Fattam had been tasked with closing the B12 route that wound through the Hir HaShirin Mountains and was one of only two passes that led directly to the Somerset border. This, he had been told, was to prevent the arrival of reinforcements once it had become clear to the peacekeeping mission that creating an air bridge via Kinere Airport was going to be difficult.
The operation was easy enough, the road at this point was narrow and hugged the side of the mountains as it wound its way up the pass; simple mining charges were all that were needed to render the round unpassable for months. These detonated throwing out a cloud of debris and dusts followed by the deep trembling of the earth as tons of rock slid down the side of the mountain carrying the road away with it, the dust eventually cleared to reveal a wall of boulders piled high blocking the road. It would take months of work with heavy machinery to clear a path. Further along the range the same process was being carried out on the other pass.
For good measure they would repeat this at several points along the route. If they made it all but impossible for the peacekeepers to actually get materiel and personnel into the country then there was every hope that they could ultimately succeed in securing control of their land and forcing Lakhzovia to negotiate on Khaliniz terms.