Ch.2 "Kill or be Killed"
It took a little less than twenty minutes to reach the edge of the western canyon wall. Vicious signaled his men to hold their position, which was at least twenty feet away from the edge of the canyon wall. Vicious crawled to the edge of the canyon and retrieved his "OPEU" (Optical Perception Enhancer Unit). He scanned the encampment for any signs of enemies. There was at least ten guerillas out and about the camp, the rest of them were probably in the large tents scattered across the center of the canyon. Vicious smiled.
"This should be easy." He said to himself. He signaled for his men to come to him. They approached him cautiously, Vicious signaled for them to hold their position. He turned around and faced them, examining each of them. Every single one of them had the same sparkle in their eyes, the determination, and the will to live no matter what obstacles stood in their way. Vicious smiled mentally. War would break that; war would break all that and more.
"The enemy is trapped. Their only possible means of escape is through the exit or the entrance of the canyon, which are guarded by four of your comrades. The enemy will be desperate, and desperate men have been known to hold their own against entire armies. We have the advantage of surprise, but they have the advantage of numbers. I have seen each of you in action, and I am confident in your abilities. One of you is worth at the least, five of them. Two of you working together are worth far more than that. It is important to have individual strength, but teamwork is essential for this operation to succeed." Vicious paused and examined his men once more. All of them were listening and watching him intently, hanging onto his every last word... trying to find some means of comfort, some promise of tomorrow. Vicious would give them no such promise.
"Some of you will die. Some of you will live. Your fate is in your hands. If you give it your all, and fight with your body, soul, and mind you will most likely live. If you fight, but hold back because you feel sorry for the enemy, you shall die. There is no honor among renegades, these men we are about to fight have slaughtered innocents without a second thought, and they will not hesitate to slaughter you as well." Vicious paused then added in his steely voice, "On the battlefield, it is kill or be killed." All of his men nodded gravely.
"The plan of action is as follows: we set up the pulley system then each of us makes a leap of faith from the top of the canyon to the bottom of the canyon. Hopefully we make to the ground undetected. If not, we will try to get on the ground as quickly as possible then open fire. Remember, we are outnumbered. The only way to successfully eliminate this encampment and the inhabitants therein is to take them out one by one. Each of your rifles are equipped with a silencer, we cannot afford to risk an all out assault, try to remain undetected."
"Are we going to be assigned teams?" A soldier asked.
"No, form your own teams." Vicious said flatly. The soldier nodded and exchanged glances with two other men. The remaining three nodded to one another, the formation of the two teams was in complete silence.
"Sir, which team will you be joining?" Another soldier asked. Vicious closed his eyes.
"My own." He said coldly. The soldier nodded solemnly. Gunshots echoed throughout the chilly air, Vicious smiled at the sound.
"Set up the pulley system, we strike now. The element of surprise has been taken from us. Prepare yourselves, for we are about to enter into the depths of hell." Vicious said, his hand on his blade.
"Come death, so I may defy thee once more." Vicious whispered to himself as the pale moon began to shine its eerie light on the desert planet of Titan.
It took a little less than twenty minutes to reach the edge of the western canyon wall. Vicious signaled his men to hold their position, which was at least twenty feet away from the edge of the canyon wall. Vicious crawled to the edge of the canyon and retrieved his "OPEU" (Optical Perception Enhancer Unit). He scanned the encampment for any signs of enemies. There was at least ten guerillas out and about the camp, the rest of them were probably in the large tents scattered across the center of the canyon. Vicious smiled.
"This should be easy." He said to himself. He signaled for his men to come to him. They approached him cautiously, Vicious signaled for them to hold their position. He turned around and faced them, examining each of them. Every single one of them had the same sparkle in their eyes, the determination, and the will to live no matter what obstacles stood in their way. Vicious smiled mentally. War would break that; war would break all that and more.
"The enemy is trapped. Their only possible means of escape is through the exit or the entrance of the canyon, which are guarded by four of your comrades. The enemy will be desperate, and desperate men have been known to hold their own against entire armies. We have the advantage of surprise, but they have the advantage of numbers. I have seen each of you in action, and I am confident in your abilities. One of you is worth at the least, five of them. Two of you working together are worth far more than that. It is important to have individual strength, but teamwork is essential for this operation to succeed." Vicious paused and examined his men once more. All of them were listening and watching him intently, hanging onto his every last word... trying to find some means of comfort, some promise of tomorrow. Vicious would give them no such promise.
"Some of you will die. Some of you will live. Your fate is in your hands. If you give it your all, and fight with your body, soul, and mind you will most likely live. If you fight, but hold back because you feel sorry for the enemy, you shall die. There is no honor among renegades, these men we are about to fight have slaughtered innocents without a second thought, and they will not hesitate to slaughter you as well." Vicious paused then added in his steely voice, "On the battlefield, it is kill or be killed." All of his men nodded gravely.
"The plan of action is as follows: we set up the pulley system then each of us makes a leap of faith from the top of the canyon to the bottom of the canyon. Hopefully we make to the ground undetected. If not, we will try to get on the ground as quickly as possible then open fire. Remember, we are outnumbered. The only way to successfully eliminate this encampment and the inhabitants therein is to take them out one by one. Each of your rifles are equipped with a silencer, we cannot afford to risk an all out assault, try to remain undetected."
"Are we going to be assigned teams?" A soldier asked.
"No, form your own teams." Vicious said flatly. The soldier nodded and exchanged glances with two other men. The remaining three nodded to one another, the formation of the two teams was in complete silence.
"Sir, which team will you be joining?" Another soldier asked. Vicious closed his eyes.
"My own." He said coldly. The soldier nodded solemnly. Gunshots echoed throughout the chilly air, Vicious smiled at the sound.
"Set up the pulley system, we strike now. The element of surprise has been taken from us. Prepare yourselves, for we are about to enter into the depths of hell." Vicious said, his hand on his blade.
"Come death, so I may defy thee once more." Vicious whispered to himself as the pale moon began to shine its eerie light on the desert planet of Titan.