Chapter VIII
2249
Garth
Sneak Attack
The next morning the marines were awakened at two o' clock. Before Garth knew it he was being flown by a shuttle to North County. Unfortunately, the fleet ran into trouble….
Crossing the border of an enemy territory is not easy. When the shuttles came within one mile of North County, they were fired upon from the border line. Jets also ascended and dogfights broke out. The shuttles were equipped with missiles as a primary weapon. While some fought in aerial battles, others used the shuttles' secondary weapon: a landscape bomb. It is a bomb that doesn't harm organisms; only nonliving things. They bombed the borderline to rid the battlefield of enemies besieging from the ground. They lost most ships that participated in dogfights and used all of their bombs. The ambush was originally perceived as a bombing attack, but, they would have to go on foot.
The enemy's base was obvious: a large, metallic fortress. The barb wire fence was blown up and colonel gave orders:
"Now divide into two groups. The captain will head one group, I the other. My (Garth's) group will find a way inside the fortress. The other will march around the perimeter of the fortress to distract the enemy. Let them see you, but not shoot you, captain." He turned his head toward his group. "Take no prisoners. Now everyone, move out!"
Getting inside was the fun part. They couldn't find a way in, so they eventually flew to the roof in shuttles. They landed on the roof and heard an alarm sound. Luckily, the enemy had only seen the decoy group, so they had no idea that they would come barging in. But they did, and they demolished everything in their way. The attack went as planned….Except for one thing…
Garth had finished with a chunk of people when he was captured.
"Hey, look, we caught a little shrimp!" there were two now.
"Err…I am not a shrimp!" protested Garth. "Hey, lemme go!"
"Fat chance! The thing we're gonna do to you is---" A blast occurred and blew a hole in the wall. Through the hole stepped the colonel.
"Drop the boy or you are both dead." commanded the colonel, pointing his guns at Garth's captors.
"Ahh! Let's get outta here!" one of them yelled. They threw Garth to the ground and sprinted out of sight.
"Why didn't you kill 'em?" Garth demanded fiercely, getting up from the ground and wiping blood from his face.
"The question is, why did you not kill them?" countered the colonel.
"Err…because I was in a full-nelson!"
"Well, I would have shot them…" a small grin played onto the colonel's face. "…if the gun was loaded.
"What!"
"I used those guns to take out the wall." the colonel explained, tossing his pistols to the ground.
"You mean it was a bluff? You gambled my life on a bluff?"
"Yes. Yes I did."
"Err…I can't believe you!"
"Ah, ah, ah! That is no way to talk to your colonel." sang the colonel. "Now, what do you say?" teased the colonel.
"Yes sir." grumbled Garth, thrusting his hands into his pockets.
"I can't hear you!" sang the colonel.
"Yes sir."
"That's the spirit!"