Chapter 105 (1/2)
Genii forward position
With vehicles under camouflaged netting the reinforced Genii mechanized battalion sat in the wood line. Deployed to the southeast of the Daganian capital this battalion was intended to act in a gatekeeper capacity. Should the Lantean's attempt military intervention the job of these men was to stop them in their tracks.
Since their arrival little had been seen, but much had been heard. A constant roar of aircraft passing overhead at high speed had permeated the encampment. With vehicles concealed the men were safely ensconced in their dug in fighting positions. These fighting positions were little more than foxholes cut into the Dagan soil, with overhead protection coming from fallen trees placed atop. The constant enemy of each soldier was boredom. Hearing the noise of aircraft and the hollow booms of explosions in the distance each soldier yearned to see action, but most doubted that action would find them. Sitting atop their fighting position the unit commander talked with a young soldier new to the unit.
”How many flying craft do the Lantean's have Sir” asked the young soldier named Panol.
”They have very few, not more than a few handfuls boy” replied Kos, the unit's commander.
”The noise they produce is impressive” said Panol.
”They can make all the noise they wish, but noise means little in war. It is the strength of ones fighting spirit and training that counts most” replied Kos.
”Do you think the Lantean's will dare approach our area” asked Panol.
”Look around you son. We're sitting here with fighting vehicles and eighteen hundred men. Our enemy is not known for doing anything with a great number of men. It is their custom to use teams of four men to carry out their missions. What chance do four men stand against our eighteen hundred? None” exclaimed Kos.
”I've heard whispers of the Lantean's defeating the Wraith every time the two meet. If that is true should we not be worried” asked Panol.
”Rumors and conjecture nothing more than that boy, you have my word. I challenge the ancestors to send these Lantean's to face us in combat and see what we are capable of. It is they who should fear us, not the other way around. Like cowards they will not dare fight us on the ground as men. Instead they hide behind their technology and attack us from the air. You have nothing to fear from them” exclaimed Kos.
”Commander Kos, do you see that dust cloud moving this way? I've seen similar clouds of dust like that when our vehicles exercise together in mass” said Panol.
Looking at the dust cloud in the distance Kos picked up his binoculars and tried to find the source of the disturbance. Seeing could only be vehicles, but ones he was unable to make out due to their distance his blood ran cold.
Maneuver Group One
The combined forces of Eagle, Fox, and Grim Troops deftly maneuvered over the Dagan landscape. After a brief stop to refuel the maneuver group resumed their advance at a leisurely thirty five miles per hour. To the men in their armored vehicles the advance reminded those with more time in service than their juniors of the advance across the desert of Iraq towards Baghdad. Alerted by information transmitted from the ground controller to each vehicle's IVIS the men of Maneuver Group One knew that enemy contact was moments away. Any moment now they would get visual confirmation of what their information sharing systems already told them was out there.
Two miles in front of the advancing wedge of M-8 Buford tanks, Stryker's, and Bradley fighting vehicles were two M-3 Bradley Cavalry Scout Vehicles. These scouts were lightly armed and functioned as the eyes of the oncoming herd. Peering through the digitally enhanced optics of the commanders targeting sight one of the scout vehicle commanders spotted a halftrack in the distance at the edge of the wood line.
”Contact! Enemy vehicles in the wood line! Wow their camouflage is horrible. Didn't anyone tell them that a top cover doesn't stop ground vehicles from seeing you” asked the vehicle commander rhetorically.