“Gentlemen,” Tom said, rising from his seat, with everyone quieting, not just the ‘gentlemen’ addressed. “I have been asked to give a brief overview of today’s battle. You will all be receiving a full electronic copy for review, but given our guests and our dependents, it was thought that a live annotated version would be helpful.”
There must have been some signal that Illoia didn’t see because the lights went out and the walls lit up, with a schema she recognized from other military briefings: the local area, including their entire front area, along with parts of the two neighboring.
“As you can see, our barracks are here,” Tom said, pointing and having the computer project an arrow. “Several things happened here recently.”
“The first was over the last few weeks, I have been taking our entire century out for training maneuvers, along with all of our dependents. These maneuvers would have been observed at least in part, and they would have seemed odd… what with their almost daily nature and the addition of the dependents, which augmented the apparent number.”
“Secondly, we ran a drill in this area,” he said, pointing, “where one of my companies cut down a whole swath of trees, and then were ‘attacked’ by a group from a neighboring company.”
“Then we cut down an entire different swath of trees, and a whole company spent an entire day preparing the site. Just for a barbecue, but…”
“Then the governor arrived, with his escort, and came down…”
“Picture this from the aliens’ perspective. To their mind, something was afoot, and something unknown, something not previously seen. Their routine was disrupted.”
“Meanwhile, I had asked Leader Eukles to prepare a response. Eukles?”
Eukles stood and came slowly to the front. “As Tom mentioned, he asked me to prepare a response. He told me that it was very likely that the aliens would try to… would react. The most likely response was a reconnaissance in force, but a full-blown attack was also a definite possibility.”
“In that light, we asked several units to hold themselves in readiness, and indeed we went further than that. I moved my century here…” he said, pointing to a spot near the front line. “We requested that the front-line units go on watch and sleep…”
“Which change,” Tom interjected, “would also have been noted by the aliens.”
Top Ranker Barcis had prepared defenses, but we added to them.” Eukles went on. “We unpacked and brought forward reserves of drones. We arranged with the navy,” he said, nodding at a Naval officer sitting nearby, “To have ships ready for in-atmosphere work. And we moved a drone coordinator set up to the front, right here.”
There was a pause as the audience looked at all of these units, with their various markings.
“You can see,” Tom said, “how all of those things led the aliens to become even more ‘nervous’. Many of them would have been at least in part visible. A certain number of them together, and they would have been forced, by their physiology, to react.”
“Which they did, and we had our troops on alert for this reaction. Top Ranker Barcis? If you would handle the next part of the battle, please.”
Top Ranker Barcis came forward, looking very nervous.
“The first thing we really noticed was the launching of three EMPs right here,” he said, and the screen lit up in that area. “For those of you without a military background, EMPs are often used to help in the initial stages of an attack, giving an attacker a few seconds where many weapons won’t work.”
“The work that had gone into the planning for this, however, including the fact that they were on watch and sleep, meant that our troops in this area had a high proportion of KE weapons… which do work despite and EMP but are heavy, bulky, and run out of ammunition very quickly, so are not issued in large numbers during normal operations but can be critical when facing an attack…”
Article 17
Article 17 is a military science fiction story with aliens and romance. It is set in a future reminiscent of Napoleon era Britain. The war was going very poorly until the military installed a dictator. This story follows one of the dictator’s great men: Cladin Tomirosh, Leader, and thrice decorated hero.
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Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.
If I don’t write you back it is almost certain that I didn’t see it, so please feel free to comment and link to your post. Or if you just think I would be interested in your post!
If you get lost, check out my ‘Table of Contents’ which I try to keep up to date.
Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books are published by Wise Path Books and include the children’s/YA books:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid: A Christian historical fiction chapter book about four orphans who go to live with their aunt on a dairy farm.
The Bobtails and the Cousins: The sequel to Preacher’s Kid. The aunt has married, and the cousins come to visit. Meaning town kids dealing with chores and manure and…
The Bobtails go to France: The sequel to cousins. The Bobtails, and Preacher’s Kid, get to take a trip to New York, London, Paris, and a small town in France. To get some cheese.
and
No Ordinary School: A brilliant but socially clueless boy gets recruited for a special school. Where he makes a lot of money, gets a girl, and solves a mystery.
As well as GK Chesterton’s wonderful book, “What’s Wrong with the World”, for which ‘Arthur’ wrote most of the annotations.
Arthur also has a substack, and a website. On the substack you can listen to some of his published books. Free.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
Other Stories
Article 17 is not my only story on Substack. I have another light dystopia, or cultural sci-fi. And a Sci-Fantasy, with elves and dwarves. And a Morality Play, ala Aesop’s Fables.
Contract Marriage Intro
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11 SEPTEMBER 2023
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
The Oracle at Toko-Ri
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1 MAY 2023
Next Post →
Prologue IP0
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11 AUGUST 2023
Island People is a young adult fantasy book centring on a young prince. The book starts with his kidnapping and follows his adventures as he not only escapes from his kidnapper but gains critical allies and friends.
Without a Word
Without a Word is a historical fiction story set in 1808 and follows the struggles of a young woman, betrothed against her will to an older man. A Christian woman, and a man of very questionable morals.
Without a Word attempts to contrast Biblical advice against the advice of this age, even the advice of the church. It concerns a young, immature woman growing in her own Godliness through her obedience to an ungodly man. And who knows, perhaps she shall even win her husband.
