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Flames Along the Border


New Edom
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Change is sometimes a blur of time. When I remember the grey dust blowing in the fields where golden grain should have waved, the bleeding bare feet of the women and the wailing in the streets that haunted my childhood, I think of the Edom that was. Now I look upon the metal cities run by forests of factories and pipe, see the harbours full of concrete piers and towering cranes, and do not recognize the land of my birth. The bells calling to prayer are muffled by the sounds of trains and the hum of power lines. 

 

In the old days, before Valyria came with great ships and planes bringing goods and mysteries, our nation stood alone. Now the bowls are filled, the books are read, the screens are monitored, the goods flow, and men and women monitor robot arms in factories that stretch from border to border. 

 

But nothing in this life is free. Everything must be paid for.

 

Port of Sterry

 

 

Elements of the Royal Halberdier Regiment started to disembark from the Super Cargo Ship that the regiment used for transport, rolling vehicles down ramps onto the pier and lifting materials by crane. Major Uriah Nicanor was barking orders on the mouthpiece of his satellite communication system, dictating instructions on what task force to be loaded on which three smaller cargo ships that will bring them to port and disembark. In some ways this gave Colonel Abishai Hagar, the regimental commander, temporal vertigo. When he was young, the country was still struggling out of the early 20th Century. Whistles and flags were still used for battlefield communications. Since joining the Alliance, everything had changed. 

 

Unfortunately, due to misunderstandings in the manifest papers, the first to be brought to the port are the administration battalion which is the Headquarters battalion. Fifty large deuce and a half  cargo combat trucks, fifty full size Land Rover 2  multi-purpose, four wheeled combat vehicles, fifty Cadillac Gage Commando multi-purpose combat vehicles, and a hundred Fennek combat cars were the first to touch the soils of . The personnel of the admin battalion followed, the men piled in the vehicles as the drivers took both the vehicles and its occupants near the gate of the port, ready to be deployed to their designated Supply Depot and Headquarters area.

 

Major Nicanor was  the one in charge of the Headquarters battalion, a great administrator and a wise tactician, he knew when to fight and when not to. He saluted and Hagar returned his salute. Each man was wearing the same brownish camouflage battle fatigues with a tan kepi, body armor around his upper torso, a service pistol holstered on the right side of his pistol belt, a binocular slung around his neck, and a  submachinegun slung on a carry sling around his back.

 

“Good work, Uriah,” Hagar informed him. Hagar was a rather stern looking man, with aristocratic and serene bearing. He watched as junior officers and NCOs attached to the regimental support battalion scurried to and fro making sure all was in readiness. Occasional shouts, berating, slapping and loud yells accompanied this activity. Hagar ignored it; as long as nothing was breaking and there was no actual chaos, he let his subordinates manage things. 

 

A modified command combat truck parked next to the main dock's office started to become a gathering place for Halberdier Guards  battalion, artillery battery, and task force commanders. After all the regiment's personnel, vehicles, and equipment have been unloaded, Colonel Hagar called in a general call for the commanders. Inside the command combat truck is a large situation room complete with the equipment needed to strategize a tactic for a campaign. He sat sat on the head of the situation table waiting for the final arrival of all his commanders within the regiment. His aide-de-camp and the Regimental Sergeant-Major sat on either side of him. Each smoked a cigarette but was otherwise quiet.

 

The officers began to pour inside, sixteen task force commanders, three artillery battery commanders, and eight headquarters support section commanders all who were the rank of captain took their respected seat. Next to arrive are four battalion commanders, a headquarters battalion commander, and an artillery commander all are the rank of major came in, taking their seat at their respective areas. Their kepis had been placed with their personal gear and they now all carried helmets under their arms.  Hagar stood up, at which they came to attention, and he scanned their faces, which attempted to be expressionless, but nevertheless he was keenly able to read the hidden tics and giveaways of their faces. He also knew secrets and scuttlebutt from his network of spies within the regiment. One might have been placed under his command solely due to favours from on high; another had problems such as drinking or gambling that might affect their performance, another might be a spy from the Chiefs of Staff or the Ministry of Police. He had done his best to weed out those who might undermine his command or the ability of the regiment to perform. Difficult now to do anything other than make the best with what he had. 

 

There was always another watching to replace you. Always another eager to see you fail. Or others who misguidedly supported you but did wrongly in doing so. Only God’s will and what he had wrought with this unit lay before him now. 

 

He put aside his cigarette and beckoned for a captain near the door to shut it, and as the younger man did so Hagar, with a wave of his hand, showed a table display of the operations theatre.

 

"Gentlemen, we shall soon cross the border into Oklastan.  As you all know we are required to do our duty to our King, and bring Valyrian civilization to all corners of the globe.” HeI highlighted the central and a stretch of territory on the eastern part of the country, the shaded area resembled a triangle, "This gentlemen, is the triangle of terror and we will operate within this area. The First Battalion Combat Team will take the north end, Second Battalion Combat Team will take the center, and the Third Battalion Combat Team will take the south end, while the Headquarters Reserved Elements will be tasked to provide convoy escort and protection for our supply route from the supply depot to the operations areas. Now: the Iron Battalion will be tasked to be the reserve strike force, to be anywhere and everywhere it is needed. That means all task force commanders will be semi-independent with this campaign, the only time that each force will link up is when there will be a major offensive against a substantial force. Major Aristarchus will still remain in control of all three artillery batteries  that will be detached to each area of operations to support the Battalion Combat Teams."

 

“The forces we are facing do not have air or sea power, and therefore are limited in their range of reconnaissance and attack,” Hagar said. “But they do have the advantage of tanks. Remember that we shall be avoiding facing them over open ground. Pay careful attention to the maps and our intelligence.”

 

"The first thing we will do is break out from the port and with all possible speed, arrive at the designated operations area. Start up the patrols by Task Force, seek out the enemy, destroy it, and keep doing it until they feel the pressure," Hagar instructed the officers. "Battalion Commanders, all of you need to be mobile and never set up a permanent headquarters for the enemy to target and hit. We need to be fast, swift, and stealthy. The element of surprise will be our ally in this campaign. Are there any questions?"

Heads were shaken. The senior battalion commander, Major Pahath-Moab, shook his head. He was one of the good ones, this young major, but also very ambitious, always watching like a hawk for the old man to slip up. He came from an ancient, proud family and was known for his swift actions and courage. “We are ready, Colonel. We only await your word.”

 

“Then go with God,” said Colonel Hagar.

Edited by New Edom
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