Protectors: A Military Science Fiction Space Opera (The Chaos Shift Cycle Book 3) by Cameron TR

Author:Cameron, TR
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MD Press
Published: 2017-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Indraat Vray reclined behind the desk that once belonged to the leader of the colony. In a loose semicircle around her, the leaders of her ground forces stood at parade rest.

She sat quietly watching them for several minutes before nodding her head toward her second.

Tareel cleared his throat and spoke, “We’ve brought this installation under our control and chased the humans out of it. We discontinued our pursuit due to the high number of casualties we accepted during the battle. Our troops have spent the night resting and securing our perimeter.”

“To what do we attribute this attrition?” Indraat asked the room.

One of her commanders, seemingly braver than the others, spoke up in reply, “The enemy prepared the battleground well. They had set up protected lanes of retreat, and an unexpected number of heavy weapons along them. Despite that, the losses within my squad, at least, were of an acceptable level.” Several of his comrades scowled at him as Indraat nodded.

“Anybody else?”

Nobody broke the silence.

“I’ll tell you why we lost. We continually underestimate the craftiness and lack of honor of this foe. We must remember that they’re more similar to vermin than to our people. We unconsciously expect them to be like us. This is our error.”

Her second took over, “We discovered a device with a cache of improperly erased data. Our experts are working to break the encryption and reveal its secrets, so that our time here will be as short as possible.”

Indraat resumed speaking, “We’ll use this facility as our operating base until the humans are eliminated. The walls are being reinforced, and our supply chain is being brought forward. From here we will launch the attack to finish the humans on this planet once and for all.”

“Do we have a plan, Squadron-Captain?” asked one of her subordinates.

“We do. The enemy has retreated to a natural cave built into a massive hillside. It is an eminently defensible position. A captured solider who wasn’t properly searched for transmission devices has provided us with extensive information, and we’re aware of their defensive plans.”

Indraat blew out a breath. “As much as I want to be rid of these humans immediately, I’m not going to underestimate them again. The attack will be delayed until additional forces arrive. I’ve already ordered ships from orbit to the surface for this purpose. Once we’re fully reinforced, we’ll attack along multiple fronts. Advance teams will make a speed run to flank the humans from the sides and above. The rest of our forces will travel along the approach they expect. Once we have their attention, the flanking forces will attack and clear the way for the main body to sweep in and end the humans.”

“What’s their situation where heavy weapons are concerned?” another squad commander, one of the more cowardly ones, asked.

“The spy revealed they have several, all of them positioned to engage our forces at maximum range. Our flanking maneuver should allow us to remove those early in the battle.”

“Forgive my impertinence, Squadron-Captain, but is

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