Escape and Evade:
A few weeks later I was helping to set up yet another escape and evade
exercise in the forest. A few of the big old trees had started to change color -- the first signs of fall approaching. I had always loved this time of year.
If I hadn't helped to set up most the obstacles out there I would never have been able to see them. There were all sorts of barricades, traps, dead ends, everything imaginable to make things more difficult for those kids. And every single one of them was camouflaged so well that the normal human would have a great deal of difficulty seeing them. But for that matter, I could hardly ever see those kids when I watched -- they were just plain too good at this
game!
My favorite spot to watch these training runs (though it was a rare occasion that I had time) was up on a little hill, where there was a big tree with a low branch -- the perfect place for me to hoist myself up and watch. I was just climbing up to my spot when I heard Lydecker's voice on the wind:
"This will be their last run outside for the winter."
"Sir?" a questioning reply.
"You heard me. The doctors want more test results -- they'll be in classroom and on the indoor courses for the rest of the year." A very matter-of-fact tone.
"Is that wise, sir? We still have a good month before conditions worsen." 'Not wise to question...' I thought to myself.
"My orders stand, soldier." 'Ha -- I was right!' I thought, hearing the steel core in his voice. I could picture the glare that had come onto his face. He continued:
"Now, I want this to be difficult. Make this run tough. Very tough. No blank shots, no support, no breaks, no teams. Lets see what they do when pushed." His tone dared the TAC leader to question him.
"Yes, sir."
'Wonder how many will come back injured this time...' I mused. I wouldn't think about the other possibility. I knew the X5s would be 'in captivity' at the moment, spread out over the area in remote spots. I knew one of them was tied up in a cage, another was buried in a steel box. As for the rest, well, imagination should do the trick. Their mission was to escape whatever sort of captivity they were in and make it back to base without being followed. This, of course, meant evading the obstacles and traps, not to mention the miniature army of soldiers Lydecker always deployed.. 'They weren't kidding naming this Escape and Evade.' Another slight smile crossed my face.
Lydecker's voice came again over the slight breeze; he sounded closer. This time he was speaking into his trusty old walkie-talkie.
"All teams. Begin the exercise."
"Roger that."
Nothing happened for the first few minutes. Well, nothing that I could see or pick up on. I could only imagine how those kids were getting out of their captivity. The first signs of activity came northwest of my position: gunfire, then a cloud of smoke. I heard more firing from the southwest. A cloud of smoke rose from the center. Then things quieted.
Lydecker was easy to spot in his black leather jacket. He stepped into the clearing that surrounded my tree.
"Sir!" I called out to him softly. His head jerked quickly in my direction. He saw me and walked over, swinging himself up onto the branch next to me.
"Nice spot you've got here, Jones -- you can see pretty much everything." I nodded.
There was a rustling in the brush about 50 yards off to the west.
"X5-493." Lydecker whispered, indicating in his direction. I don't know how he knew that -- I certainly couldn't see the little soldier.. Lydecker made a quick hand signal. Another rustle, then silence.
"What'd you tell him?"
"Only that I was just observing and to keep moving. He's got X5-656 with him. They meet up fast." From his tone I could tell he was slightly impressed.
Another round of gunfire, this time from the northeast. I heard the snap of a young tree falling; some soldier had triggered one of the traps. Lydecker jerked his head east as more shots were heard, and he frowned.
"That's X5-452's area," he said under his breath.
Suddenly, it seemed like there was gunfire and smoke coming from everywhere. Small explosions burst and branches fell. The smoke blocked our vision and the shots rang in our ears. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. Silence. The smoke slowly drifted away on the breeze.
Lydecker looked sharply left. I could barely make out the sound of another rustling in the brush, this time only 20 meters from us. I could see Lydecker strain to see who was there. Personally, I couldn't see a damn thing -- whoever was there was way too good at concealing their self. Opposite that rustling, four regular soldiers stepped out. They were part of the 'opposition' the X5s were evading. They had also picked up on the rustling. One looked up and saw Lydecker and myself; Lydecker gave him the same hand signal he'd given X5-493. The four soldiers all trained their focus on the target.
"Whichever kid is in there, they'd better hustle and hustle fast if they're going to make it back," Lydecker stated, glancing back at the brush, "because if they don't, those boys over there will get them for sure." I crinkled my forehead; that didn't sound too good for the X5 in there.
A speeding blur of what appeared to be human form suddenly burst into the clearing, surprising the four soldiers, not to mention myself!
"What is she thinking! She'll get herself re-captured, or worse, shot doing that!" I glanced at Lydecker as he growled those words under his breath.
"She can't take those four out?" Lydecker raised an eyebrow at my question.
"Of course she can, she has the ability -- she's just never had the opportunity to even try. Besides, it's a risk to let them know who they can overpower."
The 'she' we were talking about had stopped moving. She had knocked all the guns away in her surprise entrance and was now standing in a defensive stance in the middle of the four soldiers, daring them to fight. I recognized her now.
"X5-452 certainly is a brave one," I mentioned. Lydecker just nodded,
watching intently.
Two soldiers attacked her at once. She jumped straight up, above their heads, letting them fall into each other. She landed, kicking another in the chest on her way down -- he flew back. The fourth soldier now joined the fight. The hand-to-hand combat lasted about five seconds. Damn, that girl had moves.
I watched, awed, as she ducked under punches, leapt over kicks, flipped, twisted, and rolled away from every attack, while her own punches and kicks made their marks. She hadn't even broken a sweat, from what I could see. She flipped one soldier over her back, using his body to knock another away. Pausing for a split second, I swear I saw a slight grin in her face. 'She's enjoying this' I thought to myself. Her final move -- she ran up the trunk of another nearby tree and back flipped over the last conscious soldier, landing behind him and executing a blow to the head. She stilled, surveying her handiwork, the neutral expression back on her face.
She sensed something; a heart beat perhaps, and dropped into a crouch, eyes up and intense. A small smile and her body relaxed, slightly. X5-734 appeared out of the brush, joining X5-452. They smiled, exchanged a few hand signals and promptly melted back into the brush from which they had come.
As it turned out, X5-452 and X5-734 were the first ones back, followed closely by X5-599. Within five minutes, they had all returned. Amazingly, only two were injured, and even they had managed to evade re-capture. 'Pretty impressive skill set' I thought, 'interesting how this was supposed to be the toughest E&E and those kids did better than they've ever done.' Lydecker must have noticed my expression as that thought crossed my mind;
"They rose to that challenge with flying colors." I nodded at the understatement, while thinking 'I wonder if they'll ever get to use those skills for real...'
A few weeks later I was helping to set up yet another escape and evade
exercise in the forest. A few of the big old trees had started to change color -- the first signs of fall approaching. I had always loved this time of year.
If I hadn't helped to set up most the obstacles out there I would never have been able to see them. There were all sorts of barricades, traps, dead ends, everything imaginable to make things more difficult for those kids. And every single one of them was camouflaged so well that the normal human would have a great deal of difficulty seeing them. But for that matter, I could hardly ever see those kids when I watched -- they were just plain too good at this
game!
My favorite spot to watch these training runs (though it was a rare occasion that I had time) was up on a little hill, where there was a big tree with a low branch -- the perfect place for me to hoist myself up and watch. I was just climbing up to my spot when I heard Lydecker's voice on the wind:
"This will be their last run outside for the winter."
"Sir?" a questioning reply.
"You heard me. The doctors want more test results -- they'll be in classroom and on the indoor courses for the rest of the year." A very matter-of-fact tone.
"Is that wise, sir? We still have a good month before conditions worsen." 'Not wise to question...' I thought to myself.
"My orders stand, soldier." 'Ha -- I was right!' I thought, hearing the steel core in his voice. I could picture the glare that had come onto his face. He continued:
"Now, I want this to be difficult. Make this run tough. Very tough. No blank shots, no support, no breaks, no teams. Lets see what they do when pushed." His tone dared the TAC leader to question him.
"Yes, sir."
'Wonder how many will come back injured this time...' I mused. I wouldn't think about the other possibility. I knew the X5s would be 'in captivity' at the moment, spread out over the area in remote spots. I knew one of them was tied up in a cage, another was buried in a steel box. As for the rest, well, imagination should do the trick. Their mission was to escape whatever sort of captivity they were in and make it back to base without being followed. This, of course, meant evading the obstacles and traps, not to mention the miniature army of soldiers Lydecker always deployed.. 'They weren't kidding naming this Escape and Evade.' Another slight smile crossed my face.
Lydecker's voice came again over the slight breeze; he sounded closer. This time he was speaking into his trusty old walkie-talkie.
"All teams. Begin the exercise."
"Roger that."
Nothing happened for the first few minutes. Well, nothing that I could see or pick up on. I could only imagine how those kids were getting out of their captivity. The first signs of activity came northwest of my position: gunfire, then a cloud of smoke. I heard more firing from the southwest. A cloud of smoke rose from the center. Then things quieted.
Lydecker was easy to spot in his black leather jacket. He stepped into the clearing that surrounded my tree.
"Sir!" I called out to him softly. His head jerked quickly in my direction. He saw me and walked over, swinging himself up onto the branch next to me.
"Nice spot you've got here, Jones -- you can see pretty much everything." I nodded.
There was a rustling in the brush about 50 yards off to the west.
"X5-493." Lydecker whispered, indicating in his direction. I don't know how he knew that -- I certainly couldn't see the little soldier.. Lydecker made a quick hand signal. Another rustle, then silence.
"What'd you tell him?"
"Only that I was just observing and to keep moving. He's got X5-656 with him. They meet up fast." From his tone I could tell he was slightly impressed.
Another round of gunfire, this time from the northeast. I heard the snap of a young tree falling; some soldier had triggered one of the traps. Lydecker jerked his head east as more shots were heard, and he frowned.
"That's X5-452's area," he said under his breath.
Suddenly, it seemed like there was gunfire and smoke coming from everywhere. Small explosions burst and branches fell. The smoke blocked our vision and the shots rang in our ears. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. Silence. The smoke slowly drifted away on the breeze.
Lydecker looked sharply left. I could barely make out the sound of another rustling in the brush, this time only 20 meters from us. I could see Lydecker strain to see who was there. Personally, I couldn't see a damn thing -- whoever was there was way too good at concealing their self. Opposite that rustling, four regular soldiers stepped out. They were part of the 'opposition' the X5s were evading. They had also picked up on the rustling. One looked up and saw Lydecker and myself; Lydecker gave him the same hand signal he'd given X5-493. The four soldiers all trained their focus on the target.
"Whichever kid is in there, they'd better hustle and hustle fast if they're going to make it back," Lydecker stated, glancing back at the brush, "because if they don't, those boys over there will get them for sure." I crinkled my forehead; that didn't sound too good for the X5 in there.
A speeding blur of what appeared to be human form suddenly burst into the clearing, surprising the four soldiers, not to mention myself!
"What is she thinking! She'll get herself re-captured, or worse, shot doing that!" I glanced at Lydecker as he growled those words under his breath.
"She can't take those four out?" Lydecker raised an eyebrow at my question.
"Of course she can, she has the ability -- she's just never had the opportunity to even try. Besides, it's a risk to let them know who they can overpower."
The 'she' we were talking about had stopped moving. She had knocked all the guns away in her surprise entrance and was now standing in a defensive stance in the middle of the four soldiers, daring them to fight. I recognized her now.
"X5-452 certainly is a brave one," I mentioned. Lydecker just nodded,
watching intently.
Two soldiers attacked her at once. She jumped straight up, above their heads, letting them fall into each other. She landed, kicking another in the chest on her way down -- he flew back. The fourth soldier now joined the fight. The hand-to-hand combat lasted about five seconds. Damn, that girl had moves.
I watched, awed, as she ducked under punches, leapt over kicks, flipped, twisted, and rolled away from every attack, while her own punches and kicks made their marks. She hadn't even broken a sweat, from what I could see. She flipped one soldier over her back, using his body to knock another away. Pausing for a split second, I swear I saw a slight grin in her face. 'She's enjoying this' I thought to myself. Her final move -- she ran up the trunk of another nearby tree and back flipped over the last conscious soldier, landing behind him and executing a blow to the head. She stilled, surveying her handiwork, the neutral expression back on her face.
She sensed something; a heart beat perhaps, and dropped into a crouch, eyes up and intense. A small smile and her body relaxed, slightly. X5-734 appeared out of the brush, joining X5-452. They smiled, exchanged a few hand signals and promptly melted back into the brush from which they had come.
As it turned out, X5-452 and X5-734 were the first ones back, followed closely by X5-599. Within five minutes, they had all returned. Amazingly, only two were injured, and even they had managed to evade re-capture. 'Pretty impressive skill set' I thought, 'interesting how this was supposed to be the toughest E&E and those kids did better than they've ever done.' Lydecker must have noticed my expression as that thought crossed my mind;
"They rose to that challenge with flying colors." I nodded at the understatement, while thinking 'I wonder if they'll ever get to use those skills for real...'