Latent Prowess: Order of Scion Book 1 by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC
Published: 2024-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

There are no rules to war, but there are principles that the most successful commanders knew to adhere to, such as not splitting one’s forces, or avoiding conflict on two fronts simultaneously. Another commonly quoted rule was to hope for what you think the enemy will do, but plan for what they are capable of doing. It was the type of principle meant to keep a person from getting caught unaware. But it was impossible to plan for what an enemy was capable of if you simply didn’t know them well enough. Hence, another common axiom in military circles was to know your enemy.

General Mercer didn’t know the Lymies. He didn’t know what they wanted or what they were willing to do to get it. He didn’t even know what they were physically capable of. All he knew was that several hundred were headed for Alpha Colony. Although they didn’t have contact with the other groups, it was believed similar groups were marching toward the Charlie, Epsilon, Golf, Hotel, and Indigo colonies.

“They’re doing what?” General Polk shouted.

“Flying sir,” Captain Marcs explained. He was red-faced, his brows furrowed angrily with the satellite phone still pressed to one ear. “Evidently, they spun up some type of web that caught the wind and carried them into the air.”

“That’s impossible,” General Polk said.

He was red-faced too, but his lips were pale, and General Mercer noticed the man’s hands were trembling. It seemed obvious that the four-star general was in over his head. Caught unprepared, and his mind unwilling to deal with that fact, he was on the verge of total collapse. It was time for General Mercer to take charge.

“Do we know how fast they are moving?” Stanley Mercer asked.

“Negative,” Captain Marcs replied.

Mercer looked at Major Swift. “Did you know about this?”

“No,” she said. “But some arachnids are known to have a similar ability.”

“Can they control it?” Mercer asked.

“I think we have to assume that they can,” Swift said.

“Colonel Banks, what’s the assessment from the other colonies?”

“Depending on the effectiveness of our weapons,” Jerome said, “Odds are good we’ll be overrun.”

“No!” General Polk shouted. “We can’t let that happen.”

“We aren’t giving up, but we need to evacuate the civilians,” General Mercer said. “Lieutenant Tosh, give the order for full colony withdrawal. Major Fey, do we have any aerial assets?”

The woman shook her head. “We’ve lost signal from the drone bombers,” she said.

“They were destroyed, sir,” Captain Marcs said. “Leo team is reporting that the Lymies detonated the bombs while they were still on the drones in mid-flight.”

“So they recognized the danger,” General Mercer said. “Which means they are very intelligent. Colonel Banks, give the order for all SSO teams to pull back. We’ve got to guard the civilian evacuation.”

“Wait!” General Polk said. “You can’t give that order. You’ll be countermanding the entire battle plan.”

“The plan is finished, sir. You must see that.”

“I see nothing of the kind.”

“They’ll fly right over the SSO squads,” Mercer said. “Ground artillery will be useless while the enemy is in the air.

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