The Other Side of the Coin

By: AliasCWN

The base was quiet as the various soldiers retired for the night. A long line of tanks sat unattended after their crews had serviced them in preparation for the next day. A new offensive was planned and the tanks were part of a build-up of armor scheduled to lead the attack.

Guards moved slowly between the rows of tanks, checking shadows to ensure that no intruders had access to the equipment. The sliver of moon cast small shadows, just enough to give the sentries an extra challenge.

That challenge was met and called as four darker shadows stealthily crawled toward the tanks. The leader raised a fist to halt their forward progress. All four froze as the sentry turned a corner and walked toward them. They hugged the ground, still as the vegetation around them, their uniforms blending perfectly with the sand beneath them. After the sentry passed the leader turned his head to nod at the others. They continued their careful crawl toward the tanks.

Once among the vehicles the four men split into two teams, each group going in a different direction.

The leader and his companion slithered under a tank and froze again as the sentry made an appearance. Unaware of their presence, the guard continued on his way without pausing. One of the men pulled an explosive charge out of a bag and rolled onto his back to attach it to the underside of the tank. The second member of the team rolled under the next tank to repeat the action beneath that one.

On his next round the guard stopped at the end of the row and looked around. His attention was focused on something at the other end of the row.

The leader watched the guard as he stared at the tank further down the line. Tensing, the guard continued to stare at whatever had caught his eye. With a barely perceptible nod of his head, the leader urged his companion to eliminate the sentry.

As the shadowy figure crept soundlessly toward the preoccupied sentry, a cat rushed out from between some of the tanks. A second cat followed on its heels and a fight ensued as the two felines came together in the open path.

Rushing forward, the sentry yelled at the fighting animals to 'break it up and move on'. As the human rushed toward them the cats jumped apart, watching the sentry's approach. With one final hiss the larger of the felines raced for the darkness of the open desert. The second cat paused to glare at the guard before he too raced away.

Quiet once more reined among the armor as the sentry watched the cats disappear. With a chuckle and a shrug, he returned to patrolling the rows of tanks.

The dark shadow ducked under a nearby tank and waited, poised to strike if the guard were to turn around. Luckily for him, he soon disappeared along the line of vehicles.

The leader pulled another explosive from his bag and attached it to the undercarriage of another tank. His companion rejoined him and they systematically finished their assigned task.

Meanwhile the third and fourth men were planting charges on the tanks at the other end of the group of armor. Working silently and as quickly as they could, they soon emptied their bags of explosives.

The four men met once again in the middle. Satisfied that they had accomplished all that they could for the night, they withdrew toward the open desert and the wadi where they had hidden their transportation.

A guard drove them to seek cover once before they were able to get clear. Once back in the open, they rose to their feet and, ducking low, ran from cover to cover. They still had to be careful not to allow any of the guards to spot them. There was just enough light from the moon to make that a possibility.

Finally the wadi came into view and they could see the dark shrouded form of her vehicle. They relaxed their vigilance and lowered their weapons, whispering among themselves as they crossed the final distance. They exhaled in relief to be done with the nerve racking chore that they had been assigned. Propping their weapons against a rock, they pulled on the netting that draped the vehicle's frame. The netting slid free easily, dropping onto the ground at their feet. All four men jumped back, surprised at what they had revealed.

A dark shape rose up off the floorboards of their vehicle. The rifle in his hands pointed directly at them. As he ordered them to surrender, three more figures stepped out of the darkness with rifles as well. Knowing that they had no choice, the four saboteurs raised their hands. They were quickly searched and bound.

This time when they entered the base there was no need for stealth. The guards at the gate stopped the first vehicle and spoke to the leader. MPs were called to help guard the prisoners and men were sent to search the tanks for suspected explosives. A message was sent to the commanding officer to let him know of the suspected sabotage.

The Captain arrived in his office looking disheveled and sleepy. "This had better be good." He growled at his aide as he sat at his desk. "What is this all about?"

"These four men were caught just outside the base returning to their vehicle. They had empty bags hanging at their sides. It's possible that they planted explosives in the tanks at the edge of the base."

"Has anyone checked the tanks?"

"There are teams going over them as we speak Captain. If they planted times explosives there may not be time to disarm them."

Just then there was loud explosion from the area of the parked armor. The Captain threw the prisoners a glare as he listened for more explosions. The four prisoners remained silent, their faces impassive. The MPs stepped closer to them as if expecting them to make a break for it.

There were no more loud noises; the night remained quiet except for the sounds of men investigating the first noise. Looking at the prisoners, the Captain could not see any emotion on their faces. With a shake of his head he ordered the MPs to remove the prisoners.

The Captain watched them leave before turning toward the four men still standing before him.

"How did you know they were here?"

"We were coming in and just happened to notice their vehicle hidden in the wadi. We usually check them on our way in. We were checking it out when we spotted them returning. All we had to do was wait until they came to us. We had the guards at the gate send for the MPs and the bomb guys."

"I only heard one detonation; maybe they didn't do much damage. I want a report as soon as possible on the damage."

A knock on the door revealed an officer reporting on the results of the search of the tanks.

"They had the charges set to explode when the tanks moved. They would have taken out the tanks and the crews at the same time. We accidently armed one when we removed it so the bomb guys took it out into the desert and blew it up. We've completed our search and we're confident that we got them all. I've ordered the guards doubled on the tanks for the rest of the night. It's a good thing someone saw them in time."

"All right." The Captain nodded. "Keep the guards clear of the tanks just in case you missed any."

"Yes sir."

"Sergeant," Captain Boggs paused to yawn, "my thanks to you and your men. If you hadn't stumbled onto them they could have done a lot of damage."

"Just doing our job. I hate night driving but I have to admit, it paid off big tonight." Troy explained as he hid a yawn of his own. "We were so close that we decided to keep going so we could sleep in our own beds. If we're done here Captain, we sure could use some sleep."

"Go ahead Sergeant, now that we have your German copies locked away, the MPs can handle it from here"

"Not copies Sir," Moffitt added with a smile. "More like the other side of the same coin. They used our tactics to do something we would have done under the same circumstances only we would have set the timers shorter so they wouldn't have time to disarm them."

"In that case Sergeant," Captain Boggs laughed, "I'm glad they aren't more like you."