Shadows by William A. Webb

Author:William A. Webb [Webb, William A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond Terra Press
Published: 2021-05-24T22:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

Chapter 10

Winds atop the plateau filled the air with dust and bits of dried vegetation. For Tanavuna’s men, it was a daily occurrence, and they knew how to deal with it. The younger men formed a semi-circle facing away from the gusts, using their bodies as shields for the older men who formed a second semi-circle. All of them had pulled up their face coverings to protect their eyes until the gusts died down.

As the fighting tapered off in the city below, Tanavuna couldn’t sit still. Instead, he paced, frequently asking Major Moorefield’s radio man if Captain Cutter had called. The man answered “no” every time and pointed out that a call from the platoon leader would probably come using the platoon’s radios.

Kesteluni’s spirit called to the young hetman; he could feel her nearby, and he knew that if he dashed down the stairway into the maze of tunnels dug into the plateau, his men would follow. His impulse was to do just that. Waiting as part of a coordinated effort was not how his people reacted when danger threatened. But Major Moorefield had warned, during the briefing on his part in the mission, that charging into an unknown combat environment would only get his men killed; he needed to let the assault troops open the way first. So instead, Tanavuna paced, waited, and cursed.

The smell of burnt gunpowder on the breeze, combined with the sounds of battle echoing through the stairs leading down into the rock of the plateau, did nothing to alleviate Tanavuna’s worry. If anything, it made it worse. He had decided to lead his men into the tunnels anyway, orders be damned, when Captain Cutter finally called.

“Desperado Six’s team has done all they can, Shadow Five,” Cutter said. Tanavuna heard tension in his voice. “They’ve secured all known exits from the city and pushed forward as far as practical. Opposition is disorganized and temporarily suppressed. Desperado Six is sending a runner to lead you to our forward positions.

“He will show you the entrances from the plateau that command believes lead to the Inner City. There’s also a breach in the wall and a few other potential entry points. Use them or not; it’s up to you. Not all are secured, and we can’t say what’s waiting on the other side. Have you devised a plan of entry?”

Tanavuna hesitated. Six months of intensive training in the Offworlders’ way of war had been enough to instill more than basic small unit tactics, but there was still so much to learn. He didn’t dare admit he only knew one way to go about his mission: go with all of your men and overwhelm the enemy. Except that wouldn’t really work in a system of tunnels and passages against an unknown number of enemies. Only then did his desire to rescue Kesteluni dampen enough for him to realize what was expected of him.

Even though Cutter wasn’t physically there to witness his nervousness, Tanavuna licked his lips before answering.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.