Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 100: Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea

"Well," the Major snarled, "there’s a good reason we abandoned this place long ago, and that’s it right there. Did you come across many other tubiàn enroute to Packenham?"

"There are tubiàn croc’s in most of the waterholes and swamps. Dragons are roaming about. We ran into tubiàn spiders and some large birds; plovers and swallows. There are lots of them around, wherever you go. We were attacked most days. It was only a matter of time before we were overwhelmed by them."

The Major hawked and spat into his hand, rubbing it on his shirt sleeve.

"Well, unfortunately we have to go to Packenham and confirm they never left. Our Lord will never accept anything less. You return immediately and brief the Emperor. He’s waiting very impatiently for news. Show me now exactly where this snake attack happened, and the route you took. Mark up on this map any hazards you met along the way," the Major turned a map towards Bo and handed him a pencil.

It was late afternoon by the time the patrol disembarked and started their march across Phillip Island. Bo accompanied them to the field where they found the brumbies.

He wanted to make sure they didn’t get distracted and follow his tracks to the girls’ boat, which of course still floated in its original hiding place. Unfortunately, he had been there recently to transfer anything of use on Prince Zimo’s boat across to the girls’ boat. That boat would unravel his story like a cat on yarn if the tracker decided to follow his prints there.

Bo was very glad to see the back of Pittman as he traipsed his way back to the girls’ boat. That man was dangerous. He wished he could be there to protect Feifei...

He scratched a message into the rocks for them, then climbed aboard and sailed the craft into a nearby cove, that way if anyone followed his tracks there’d be nothing to see.

He knew that Han and the General would find and understand his message, which was in Hanzi characters.

It was almost dark by the time he returned to his sailing boat. He hoped the wind steering system was in good working order. It would be a struggle trying to sail this large vessel alone.

He climbed into one of the bunks, planning to rise at dawn and set sail.

He’d done what he could to only give away what he had to. He hoped it was enough to keep them alive.

----------------------

Alton and Delphi walked the perimeter they’d established around the base.

Maback and Miro followed them, and the leader of the dingo pack, who they now called ’Blue’, Bogden a shadow at Delphi’s heels as usual.

Winter had helpfully made the dogs collars in different colours to help the soldiers distinguish them.

"Miro, this is the line your team needs to man," Delphi showed him the boundary. "And Blue, we want a dog at each of these points too," she pointed to where she had in mind.

"Hopefully we get the best of both worlds," said Alton. "An excellent sense of smell and hearing from the dingos and the dragons’ tongue sensing for vibrations and tasting smells."

"Can you ask Han to set up some good old-fashioned trip wire alarms as well?" Delphi asked him.

"Hm. Good idea," he agreed. "He can link them to the silo’s sensor system, so we get an alert inside as well. Otherwise we’re at risk if a land force manages to take out the tubiàn before we notice anything."

"That seems unlikely, but you can’t be too careful. Miro, Blue, if men attack your team, send a dragon or a dingo inside immediately to let someone know."

The beasts stared mutely at them, but they’d spent enough time with them by now to know that they had at least a basic understanding of human commands. Exactly how complicated they could make them and still be understood, was a capability they were still defining.

Back inside the control room, General Meyer briefed Han on the trip wires.

Han was the most technically adept in the team, being a signals guy, and he was already working on the ham radio they would use for communicating with each other during their first mission.

"How are the radios coming along?"

"Almost done, General. I should be ready to train the team up on them tomorrow."

"Good man," the General patted him on the shoulder.

Delphi and Alton entered the war room, which was just off the control room. Bogden lay at the door and whimpered, as it was shut in his face.

For now, it was locked and off-limits to everyone except for them, until the mission strategy was finalised. Even then it would be briefed on a need-to-know basis.

Alton couldn’t help having indecent thoughts about what he could get up to in here with Delphi, but he was doing his best to refrain from acting on them to try and respect her role as the chief strategist.

She had made the room her own; there was a huge map of the Mainland on one wall, and a map of the Island on another. A 3D topographical model of the Island took up the centre of the room.

Delphi dragged Alton over to the model and showed him the path she had plotted for their first mission to the capital.

"This is the route I think we should take. It takes us through the dead centre where there are hardly any settlements, but we can also duck in here, here and here," she pointed to townships along the route, "and do propaganda drops in the cover of darkness. We’ll travel using the old tracks and bushwalks and avoid the roads as much as possible. The red pins are known military bases, so I’ve given all of them a wide berth."

Alton nodded, checking the intended path carefully.

"Yep. That makes sense." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"We can meet with anyone trustworthy on the outskirts of the townships. I’ve spoken fairly extensively with Feifei and Baer about the bomb."

These two were their explosives experts.

"They’ve both recommended the same trigger mechanism and components, which is good, there’s no disagreement between them. We can carry the ingredients on us without much danger and assemble it when we reach the capital."

Alton nodded with wary approval. "I don’t suppose it’s worth me trying again to convince you to stay behind, given your criticality to controlling the tubiàn?"

"You know I’ll never agree to send my girls out when I’m not there leading them, Alton. You’ll just have to keep me alive."

"That’s my number one goal." He wasn’t joking either.

"The girls don’t need to come either," he tried again. "We can handle it alone."

"You know you’ll need their honey trap abilities. We’ve already talked about this. What are your thoughts about the team picks?" Delphi asked him, changing the subject.

They had been assessing them for the past few days and were using a whiteboard in the room for spitballing.

"I think it’s Niko and Indy, Loveday and Baer as definites," Alton replied. "And you and me, obviously. Then I think we need to see some pair matches with Feifei and Wolf paired together against Lili and Cormac."

Delphi nodded. "I need Feifei there. But I agree that Han and Winter should stay here as quartermaster and tech lead. I think Magnus and Ruby are better here as well. Let’s see some fights tomorrow with some different combinations of Arrie, Wolf, Feifei, Lili and Cormac. Arrie might be the wildcard. She’s strong for her height, brave and feisty. Lili can be a liability. She’s a risk taker."

"Cormac will go postal if you pair Lili with another man."

"Even so," Delphi shrugged. "We don’t always get what we want."