Every group needs a plan of attack…..even if it is against one of their own.
"So you'r some kind a expert on 'the military mind' now?" the group's safe cracker said with a sneer.
"No", Actor responded. "But I am an expert in discerning motivation and determining what may drive a person to do the things he does." And he wouldn't have become the best con man in the business without that expertise.
"Alright, mister 'expert'", Casino acknowledged the claim with a curt nod, hooked his leg over the arm of the chair and leaned back. "So why don't you explain what makes the Warden tick?"
Actor considered his answer for a moment. "I do not believe the Lieutenant has a 'death wish', as you have so often claimed Casino. I believe that his impulse to protect others is merely strong enough to override his own instinct for self-preservation. He also has a very strong sense of duty."
Casino gave a snort. "Yeah. And his 'duty' is to get him and us killed."
"Of course it isn't", Actor parried, ignoring the sarcasm. "His duty is to accomplish his mission. If that requires a sacrifice, then he will make it. We saw that when he accepted our part in getting General Karltonbruner out of Italy and then chose to remain with us." The group's second in command leaned an elbow on the table, warming to his subject. "As a soldier the Warden's objective is to accomplish the task set for him by his superiors. At the same time he must deny the enemy access to his own resources."
"So he blows 'em up", Chief observed from his usual position near the window.
Actor tipped his head in Chief's direction to acknowledge his input. "Exactly. Or he steals them. But part of the 'resources' are troops, so he will disable or destroy those troops by whatever means he has available to him. At the same time he must conserve resources for his own side. He will do whatever he can to keep the enemy from taking over supplies that might aid them and do whatever he must to see to it that his own troops…
"Hey! Like us?", Goniff chimed in.
"Yes, 'like us'," Actor mimicked the little thief but Goniff didn't seem to notice. " … his own troops survive."
Casino thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, but he's a 'resource' too, isn't he?"
"Indeed. And that causes emotional conflict… He has to weigh the value of his own life against that of others."
Goniff squirmed into a more comfortable tangle on his cot. "Well, but, he's got the trainin', doesn't he? So that means he'd be worth more to the brass than us…"
Actor shook his head. "But he does not see it that way. While he will go to whatever lengths he must to protect a superior officer from capture or harm, and he will reluctantly, send soldiers under him into harms way, I believe he looks on the four of us more as civilians. And to him civilians 'outrank' military assets."
Chief worried the twig he'd been chewing on for a moment. "That's why he wouldn't blow up that train car on the last job?" And that had caused them more than a little trouble on the last mission. "'Cause there were so many civilians on it?"
"Precisely. In times of war civilian losses are to be expected. It is referred to as 'collateral damage'." Actor raised the cup to his lips and took a reluctant sip of what was trying to pass for coffee today now that supplies and money were running low. "Some officers find it much easier to accept those losses than our Lieutenant Garrison does."
"You mean, some officers like Reynolds", Chief observed from his window.
Actor shrugged. "I believe it is possible that he may have changed his opinion about us."
Chief turned away from the glass and stared at his Italian teammate for a moment. "Don't bet on it."
"So why's the Warden keep saying 'We are all expendable….'then?" Goniff parroted the phrase in a fair rendition of their commander's voice and won a laugh from the scout sitting in the window.
"Jeeze! If what the 'expert' here is feedin' us is true, that's just the company line!"
Chief slid off his perch on the windowsill and came to stand near the other three men. "It's more 'n that."
The others waited for him to finish his thought.
"That's just his way a sayin' we're all in this together." The young man shrugged. "That's all."
Casino gave a laugh. "Yeah, like 'fine' really means,' I'm dyin' over here'!" The safecracker climbed out of his chair to come and stand in front of the con man, fist propped on his hips. "Okay, wise-guy... So we need the Warden to not get himself killed, because if he does we go straight back to the joint. How do we manage all a his instincts and impulses and stuff?"
Actor smiled up at the man. He'd been using this technique in a limited fashion himself, almost from the beginning, it was time for the others to know the secret. "By using them against him, of course."