“You have an admirer,” Josephine whispered in his ear.
“I always thought I looked my best in the moonlight,” Richard replied sarcastically. Josephine squeezed his hand for a second, and then lessened her grip after she made her point.
“What? You don’t like a little competition from the other clans?” he joked.
“Keep it up, and the Augs will be the least of your worries,” Josephine replied. Richard shook his head and then gazed off into the darkness. Their banter was a brief respite from the daunting task that lay ahead.
When the lead tanks reached a small ridge overlooking Two Medicine River basin, Captain Walker came on the radio and told the other drivers to stay back a few hundred feet. After a few minutes, Richard climbed out of the cart and went over to the edge of the overlook.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“There is a group of enemy tanks coming our way,” Captain Walker replied as he handed Richard his night vision binoculars.
Richard peered through the lens for a moment and then passed the device back to him. “That’s a lot of tanks,” he remarked.
“Yeah,” Captain Walker sighed. “Have the troopers unhook the carts from the rest of our battalion and tell them to move to the front of the line. I want everything ready.”
“Okay,” Richard replied as he ran back to relay his orders.
“Take all of the carts off the tanks… quickly, we don’t have much time!” he yelled as he ran from tank to tank.
“What’s happening?” Josephine asked as he ran past her.
“There are a couple dozen enemy tanks coming our way. Tell everyone to get out of the carts and help the troopers unhook them from the tanks.”
“Okay,” Josephine replied as she rushed down the line opposite of Richard. A flurry of activity ensued, and within a few minutes all of the carts had been detached from the tanks.
“Cover your ears,” Captain Walker shouted over the radio as the last tank joined the ranks. A split second later, a thunderous succession of booms erupted from the ridgeline, shattering the cold night air. A moment later, explosions ripped down the line of advancing enemy tanks, destroyed roughly half of them. “Charge!” Captain Walker’s voice resonated over the radio, as he and his men raced down the hill to intercept the remaining Augs. At first it was easy to tell the enemy and rebel tanks apart, but after several rounds of firing, the lines blurred in the hazy moonlight. Tanks from each side broke off in different directions, only to be illuminated briefly when they fired, or were fired upon. After several more tanks were destroyed, Captain Walker ordered the remaining tanks to return to the ridgeline. No one asked what the score was, but it was clear that the Augs had lost that battle. What was also clear, was that only twenty rebel tanks returned to the ridgeline. After they reattached the carts, the rebels piled back in, and they continued south.
The next town on the map was Dupuyer, and as before, Captain Walker sent a few tanks ahead of the main group to flush out any Augs. Once they passed through the town unabated, the second group entered the town. As they raced down main street, the rooftops lit up with flashes of light as the rebel carts came under fire. Richard pushed Josephine down on the floor of the cart and covered her with his body as a pulse rifle blast whizzed overhead. A moment later, he felt a shockwave of heat and pressure ripple across his back as the rear portion of the cart was blown apart. The rebel tanks behind them immediately returned fire, leveling several of the buildings along both sides of the town.
“Are you okay?” Richard yelled out as his ears rang from the various explosions.
“Yes… but damn it Richard, you could have been killed trying to protect me!” Josephine scolded as he helped her get down from the damaged cart.
“I’m fine,” Richard replied as he removed a couple of wood fragments from his shoulder before they climbed up into the next passing cart. Once they were seated, Richard keyed up his radio.
“Captain Walker, please come in, this is Richard.”
“Go ahead,” he replied.
“When we get clear of this town, can you take a moment to circle back so I can talk with you for just a moment?” Richard asked.
“Okay,” Captain Walker replied.
A few minutes later Captain Walker came up alongside Richard’s cart and poked his head out the top.
“What do you need?” he asked in a gruff voice, indicating he didn’t want to chat for very long.
“I fear these ambushes are demoralizing the soldiers… everyone wants to fight if we have a chance, but if we’re sitting ducks… well, you can see the problem.”
“I’ll level the buildings as we pass through the next few towns,” Captain Walker offered. “Is there anything else?”
“No, that was my main concern,” Richard replied.
Captain Walker nodded and then dropped back into his tank, returning to the front of the convoy.
When they came to within a few miles of the small town of Fairfield, Captain Walker spotted a single Aug standing in the roadway waving a white flag.
“Keep everyone back,” he radioed. “This could be another ambush.”
The convoy slowed way down, while Captain Walker cautiously raced ahead to intercept the Aug. When he came within a few feet of the creature, he opened the hatch and said, “What do you want?” in a harsh and demanding tone. The Aug did not reply, but instead he set an envelope down on the ground before disappearing into the darkness. Captain Walker carefully climbed out of his tank and retrieved the letter. Inside there was brief note stating: “To the leader of the humans: Any further advance towards our holy city will be considered an act of war. Our Supreme Council is willing to offer you and your companions amnesty if you return to your camp to the north and remain there for the rest of your natural lives. Any further aggression or attempts to propagate will be met with deadly force.” Captain Walker finished reading the letter and then returned to his tank. Then he drove down the road towards the main group, until he reached Richard’s cart.
“They sent you a love letter,” Captain Walker joked as he handed it over to him. Richard held the letter up in the moonlight and read it aloud. When he was finished, he looked around the cart to gauge everyone’s reaction to it.
“It’s a death sentence for our species,” an older man remarked. Richard waited for anyone to object to the man’s statement, but as he glanced from one rebel to another, he was met with silence.
“Are we continuing on?” Captain Walker asked. Richard looked over at Josephine and she affirmed the others’ decision.
“Carry on,” Richard said as he put the note in his pocket.
Captain Walker nodded and returned to the front of the line. The rest of the convoy quickly resumed its course, and within a matter of minutes, the southern horizon lit-up with pulse cannon fire. The rebel tanks returned fire and continued their advance. Round after round was fired back and forth between the two forces as they closed in on each other. Captain Walker’s men were clearly out maneuvering the Augs, and as the tide turned, the remaining enemy tanks retreated.
“Why are they attacking us in little bits?” Richard asked as Captain Walker circled back to check on the armada.
“They’re testing us to learn our tactics, and they’re chipping away at our numbers before we reach Great Falls,” he replied angrily. “I’m doing my best, but with each skirmish, I lose a few more tanks!”
“I know,” Richard replied apologetically. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No, I just hope we still have some armor left when we get there,” Captain Walker remarked, before dropping back into his tank. Richard didn’t know what to do. Turning back was no better an option than continuing on, and either choice was going to result in the loss of life.