The Black Guard

by C. R. Daems

  "I will honor the contract if you will appoint someone in authority to provide me with whatever I decide necessary to counter the threat, and you may have to pay a premium to the Jax for additional support."

  "Thank you, Captain Sapir. I accept, but your troops…" she said, leaving the sentence hanging—many will die. Ironically, that had been part of her concern with her troops having to face a superior force.

  "Without the information you gave me, our losses might have been great, and although we are mercenaries, those troops are my family and each life important. Knowing the situation, we can perhaps surprise the UF and minimize our losses. And if the UF escalate their response, we might get more Jax involved." Not long afterward, a servant announced dinner. The conversation during dinner was light. She talked about her country and was interested in my life in the Guard. I left feeling better about the contract and upcoming confrontation.

  * * *

  Early the next morning, a middle-aged man entered the compound in a dark gray uniform and asked to see me. A high ranking officer judging by the four stars on his epaulets, and long in service judging by the medals on his chest and patches and symbols on his sleeves. His gaze critically appraised me as I approached, but he smiled when I neared.

  "Good morning, Captain Sapir. I’m General Zogby. Imum Kelebek has asked me to help you in any way that I can. I have to admit that I was upset when she decided to bring in foreign troops to protect our prisoners. The Suryah military is willing to die to protect our country and its sovereignty, so it felt like she lacked faith in us. But, as usual, the Holy One is right. We are not a military state as is the UF. Many would die, and in the end, we would lose the prisoners." He grinned. "However, our Supreme Leader did not say we couldn’t support you if you wished."

  "Even if their military is better equipped and trained, surprise will be their most effective tactic. So it’s our task to anticipate their response and provide a surprise of our own. To do that, I will need: to understand the capability of their military so I will know what we will face, a tour of the surrounding area to understand the terrain, and some help with supplies we didn’t bring."

  He laughed. "I look forward to helping you, Captain. What if we start with a tour of the area around the compound?" he asked. When I nodded, he waved me to the four seat skimmer he had arrived in.

  "Sergeant Srour, give us a slow, three-hundred-sixty tour of the area starting about a kilometer from the compound." He looked to me and I nodded. The compound was a stone’s throw away from a one hundred meter wide river on the west side, and clear to the road, about ninety meters, on the south side. On the north and west the compound bordered a rural community of isolated single story houses. The first were located around three hundred meters away.

  "Does the river provide access for the UF?" I asked.

  "No, the Tar River connects to our neighbor, Lesoto. The UF are on another continent and will have to strike from one of their warships. They will come in from the west. It’s approximately three hundred kilometers from here to the ocean."

  "Will you have warning when they enter Suryah airspace?"

  "Unlikely. They know where our radar installations are located and will avoid them."

  "To avoid them, they will have to come in from specific directions," I said, wondering at their options assuming they wanted the element of surprise.

  "Yes." He frowned in thought. "Two, I’d say. We maybe could give you five to ten minutes warning." He smiled, stroking his full beard.

  "And I’d like to quarter my troops out of the compound—"

  "Why? How are you going to protect the prisoners?" He scowled at me.

  "Surprise, General. We must surprise the enemy if we are to win. That compound would be like hunting in a zoo. I’m going to need welding equipment, explosives, loud speakers…" I went on to explain my list of requirements. He left smiling. I called the Crouching Tiger and was connected to Colonel Berger.

  "Colonel Berger, I’ve talked to Imum Kelebek, who brought me up to date on the situation. The situation is as we suspected and, therefore, likely we may need further Jax support. She has agreed to pay for the cruiser to remain on standby and to pay for any additional support that is necessary."

  "Good work, Sapir. I’d hate to see another Lanzhou. What do you need?"

  "I believe I can handle their initial assault to free the prisoners. I’d only be concerned about some kind of a retaliation strike. In fact, if you and the captain agree, I wouldn’t mind your monitoring the traffic from their warships. I’m informed that is their most likely launching pad."

  "I’ll check with Captain Blatt and get back to you." He clicked off, and I called a meeting of my team.

  "I apologize, but there will be no masquerade costume party this time," I said to smiles and snorts. "But we are going to have a surprise party."

  "I love surprise parties," Sergeant Haber said. "Sir."

  "General Zogby is securing us quarters off this compound—"

  "Pardon, sir, but isn’t that going to make it difficult to protect the prisoners?" Lieutenant Elijah asked.

  "If you were the UF, how would you go about freeing the prisoners?" I asked and waited.

  "Sir, I would come at night with helicopter-like attack ships and troop-carrier aircraft, blow the crap out of the barracks…" Sergeant Geller said.

  "Like hunting tigers in a cage," Elijah said softly to nodding heads.

  "First, duty. Ironically, we are not contracted to protect the prisoners. We are contracted to keep them from escaping—alive. Tradition says we fight to the last man or woman if necessary. I’d prefer we preserve the Black Guard image and kick ass and go home alive."

  "Yes, sir!" the group shouted as one.

  "So I’m having the Suryahians modify the compound so our prisoners can’t leave without a lot of time consuming help—and our permission.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Faithful: The Assault on OCC-7.

  Imum Kelebek kept me up-to-date on the status of the discussions with the UF as the work on the compound proceeded. The first five days the UF discussed possible solutions whereby the prisoners could be released. Kelebek was willing if they would admit they had been in the country illegally and had been inciting unrest and violence against the government. The UF insisted they were just visiting friends and hadn’t intended to break any laws. For the next five days they accused the Suryah of intentionally targeting UF citizens for harassment because of their religion.

  During that ten days, General Zogby had managed to acquire four houses for my team within a kilometer of the compound, equipped the compound with loud speakers and cameras, moved the prisoners so that there was an empty cell between each, and rigged explosive charges inside the empty cells and in the control room. And I had secured additional weapons from Colonel Berger.

  "Lieutenant Ceder, Elijah, I want two twelve hour shifts. On each shift, four inside the compound supervising meals and other activities, and four in the cars Zogby has provided, covering the perimeter of the compound. The team not on duty will be on alert with their ground-to-air missile launchers and military grade weapons. The team on alert will have ten minutes to be in position. Any question?" I asked, feeling as ready as possible.

  "Why ten minutes, Captain? I thought Captain Blatt had agreed to monitor the UF warships and give us warning of any incoming aircraft," Sergeant Mintz asked.

  "If he does, that would give us an hour to get ready. In that case I will send word and will expect you in position in thirty minutes. But if the UF doesn’t cooperate and chooses a different method or approach or the crew on the Crouching Tiger fail to notice their approach because it’s staged over a day or two, or… I’m hoping in that case General Zogby’s teams will alert us. But given their locations we can’t expect more than ten minutes’ warning." I paused to look around the room. "These are not local rebels and their weapons are going to be bigger than ours. Surprise is our only chance of avoiding ’taking no prisoners.’"


  "I think we prefer duty, sir," Senior Sergeant Zinn said to nodding heads.

  * * *

  Twelve days after the talks began, the UF claimed to have proof that the Suryah were torturing the prisoners to obtain false confessions and were in violation of international law. In fact, the prisoners had been treated well. I knew because I visited the compound and the prisoners each day, and the Guard was served the same food the prisoners ate. If an attack was coming, I decided it would be soon and contacted Ceder and Elijah.

  "I believe we are getting close to some kind of an UF response. The rhetoric has escalated in the last two days to imply they have no choice but to act to save the prisoners from the inhuman treatment of the Suryah."

  "What kind of proof?" Ceder asked.

  "They claim they have witnesses who saw the prisoners being beaten, going without food and water for days, and kept in cells without bedding." I said, repeating Kattan’s summary of the last meeting.

  "Well, we don’t have to worry, Captain. It’s obviously some other prisoners they are talking about," Elijah said, restraining a grin.

  * * *

  The UF delegation walked out of the meeting the day after the Suryah refused to release the prisoners. Nothing happened that night or the next. I spent each morning in meditation preparing myself for the day ahead. I sought peace of mind, neither expecting, wanting, nor fearing an attack. Afterward, I toured the compound, reviewed our preparations, and visited each member on duty. I rested during the afternoon, and spent the night at the compound, feeling that was the most logical time for a rescue attempt.

  I was in the control building when my Mfi flashed red and Captain Blatt’s face appeared on my screen.

  "Good morning, Captain Sapir. I believe it’s party time. Our radar shows two small aircraft accompanied by three large ones just crossed into Suryah about five minutes ago, and another four just left the UF carrier which has been moving into position off the coast for the last two days. My operator estimates the first wave, probably attack aircraft and commandos, will arrive in about forty-four minutes. I would guess the second wave is your prisoners’ ride home."

  "Thank you, Captain Blatt. Sorry to get you out of bed at this hour. But some of these local yokels love surprise parties."

  "That’s good then, I understand the Black Guard throw some good ones." He laughed. "Have fun, Sapir." He clicked off, and I hit my alert icon.

  "Company in forty minutes," I said. "Corporal Toch, disable the control panel." That would effectively preclude the cells doors from being opened without explosives. "All personnel, to your assigned positions outside the compound." I followed Toch, Ganz, Polak, and Zinn out the front gate and locked it. Now only the prisoners were in the compound. As the four ran off, I trotted over to a vehicle, parked next to one of the single story houses and entered the backseat.

  "Good morning, Captain," Sergeant Geller said from the driver’s seat. "Orders?"

  "None, we’ll wait to see how rowdy our guests are going to be before we call the police." I said and sat back content to wait and see. Twenty minutes later my Mfi buzzed and General Zogby’s face appeared.

  "Captain Sapir, ten minutes. Five attack aircraft approached from the west in corridor two. Good Luck."

  "Attention Guard. Ten minutes approaching down corridor two. No firing until I signal start. Let them have a little fun before we call the police." I watched as acknowledgments registered on my Mfi.

  The two attack helicopters, looking like giant mosquitos without legs, appeared first. They approached surprisingly silent, moving slowly into position about fifty meters above the ground and just outside the perimeter fence. They began firing at the barracks. In the first few seconds, glass and window frames were shattered and giant holes appeared in the roof as shingles tore loose. Then parts of the roofs caved in as the wooden beams and cement walls weakened from the thousands of bullets slamming them. Within less than two minutes, the barracks had been reduced to rubble and the firing stopped. On cue, three attack shuttles approached, hovered, and disgorged their commandos—fifteen in each.

  I clicked an icon of a missile launcher, and a second later the five planes exploded almost simultaneously as multiple missiles scored direct hits. My troops with the hand-held missile launchers were within a hundred meters of their targets, too close to miss and too close for any antimissile system to respond.

  I clicked on a microphone icon, which activated the speakers in the compound. "This is Captain Sapir of the Jax Black Guard. The compound is surrounded, so you cannot leave alive without my permission. I’d suggest you drop your weapons and surrender… or die heroes along with the prisoners you came to rescue. Because if you choose to fight, I will trigger the prisoners’ building which is wired with explosives, and the resulting blast will kill everyone in the compound. You have ten minutes to choose." I had just finished talking when my Mfi buzzed.

  "Captain Sapir, I’ve been told there are three shuttles coming up corridor one."

  "Thank you, General." I clicked my Mfi onto our general channel. "Team, the prisoners’ ride home will be here in ten minutes. Fire on my command." Looking through my binoculars, mass confusion reigned within the compound. Many were swiveling around, weapons held ready, looking for their enemy, others trying to find cover—away from the prisoners’ building—and a small group huddled in conference. Soon the three shuttles approached from the southwest. As they slowed, I pressed the missile-icon on my Mfi and a second later the three exploded. I clicked on the microphone-icon.

  "Time’s up. Drop your weapons and raise your arms over your heads… or say your goodbyes to your comrades." If we had to kill them, it would be messy, since I didn’t intend to blow up the prisoners.

  One-by-one they dropped their weapons and raised their arms.

  I clicked on the general channel. "Lieutenant Elijah, your teams stay where you are. Lieutenant Ceder, your team approach with caution. Kill anyone who looks like a threat." I exited the car and approached the front gate as Private Krebs stood unlocking it. Sergeant Haber and Corporal Alpert waited with her. I entered the compound with Haber following, leaving Alper and Krebs to secure the gate if necessary. At the same time, Senior Sergeant Zinn entered with Corporals Polak and Toch through the back gate. Lieutenant Ceder and Sergeants Ganz and Cerff remained on guard. I had only taken ten steps when a third of the invaders dove for their guns and the officer in charge brought a laser out from behind his back. I slapped my Mfw, dropped onto one knee, thumbed for projectiles, and fired for his face as the bulkiness of his uniform suggested he was wearing protective gear. His head seemed to implode inside his helmet, and he was thrown backward into several men with rifles in hand. Bodies collapsed simultaneously as the Guard opened fire.

  Only seconds later, the firing stopped. Pride in my team washed through me at the job they had done. Fourteen invaders lay dead, but not one of the invaders who had stayed with his arms raised had been shot.

  "You have no honor," a man with salt-and-pepper gray hair said as I approached the survivors. "Killing prisoners and this slaughter of unarmed men."

  "Name?" I asked.

  "Senior Sergeant Williamson."

  "The rules are simple, Sergeant. Follow our instructions, or we kill you." His protest was absurd but I empathized with the pain of standing among fallen comrades. War was ugly and stupid and without honor, I conceded, and out of my control. I could do nothing but my duty to the Jax and those under my command. Right or wrong, they were my family.

  "Lieutenant Ceder, escort our prisoners of war to their new quarters," I said, clicking on General Zogby’s number.

  "General Zogby," he answered, looking worried.

  "The raid is over for now. We have thirty-one prisoners."

  "How… bad?" he asked, showing real concern for us.

  "Thanks to your help, we suffered no losses. I’ll keep the prisoners unless you want them, as they are prisoners of war."

  "I would like to talk with them, but you keep them."<
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  * * *

  General Zogby arrived just before noon with Imum Kelebek and an escort of six royal guards.

  "Welcome to Compound 7, Imum Kelebek, General Zogby. I’m afraid our guests made a bit of a mess," I said, feeling pleased none of my team had been seriously injured—two had hand-sized bruises from projectile hits to their protective gear during the brief firefight.

  "You had no injuries?" Kelebek asked in disbelief as she surveyed the area. The barrack was a pile of rubble and parts of aircraft lay scattered in and around the compound for a hundred meters.

  "An ancient Chinese philosopher once said, ’All warfare is based on deception,’" I said. "This time we were the sneakiest."

  "And the best prepared," Zogby added.

  "Could you join me for dinner tonight, Captain Sapir? I know you haven’t wanted to leave the compound prior to the anticipated rescue attempt, but now…"

  "It would be my pleasure, Imum Kelebek," I said, even though I doubted the UF had given up. But it would take a few days for them to digest what happened and decide on a new plan.

  "Eight p.m. then," she said and spent the next hour touring the area and inspecting the prisoners.

  * * *

  "Well, Captain Sapir, what do you think they will do next?" Kelebek asked. We sat in the same room with a similar tray of snacks sitting on the small tables next to where we sat.

  "That will depend upon you," I said, sipping the spiced drink I had been served. It was different from anything I had ever had before, and I quite enjoyed it. It tasted like milk, sweet, with strange spices.

  "Me?"

  "Yes, you embarrassed the UF, and they must retaliate or look weak."

  "But how can I stop that?"

  "That Chinese philosopher also said, ’Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.’" I smiled. "Have me as a guest at the next session. I will assure them they can’t retrieve their citizens or soldiers. Then you can in your benevolence agree to release them if the UF sign a document apologizing for the illegal entry of their citizens and the unauthorized action of one of their military commanders. That will allow them to avoid saying they authorized either action, avoid a trial and international attention, and get their people back. And you look to have been dealing from a position of strength."