Toy Wars (14 page)

“Request denied,” came the
quick
reply.
I watched as one of Six’s gophers, covered in dynamite, dug up from the
dirt
on the other side of the river and walked toward the nearest group of enemies.
Five dress-up dolls, with no weapons, followed, spreading out into a wide fan pattern.
A hail of fauna
bullets rained down on the furry digger and its fellow smart bombs.
A brilliant explosion blinded me from across the river.
I estimated nearly
two
hundred units had been destroyed by that one ploy, but it was something we couldn’t do forever.

“We cannot hold.
We must have some reinforcements or at the very least supplies.”

“Request denied.
No units or munitions
can reach your location
for at least four days.”
I guess there comes a time in every
T
eddy
B
ear’s life when it realizes that its Factory isn’t omnipotent.
It can’t solve all problems.
That was the moment for me.
I just wished it wouldn’t be in such a desperate situation.
This position would not hold four days.
I would be lucky to get it to last fourteen hours.
I didn’t acknowledge Six but instead started giving orders over a
SAN
that I established.
I could see only one way to keep from being
overrun in our current position
—
move
to another.

“I want a special detail, designate Alpha, of five
Tommy Tank
units and five
T
eddy
Bear
units preparing to leave with stage
one
overloaded ammo packs.”
A squad of each type pulled off their firing position and rolled toward the battered supply shack.
“Acknowledge when ready for additional orders.
Gophers and beavers, I want a bunker
of temporary blocks
built on the top of this hill
large enough for
one elephant and two teddies with double ammunition loads
.
When it is done, I want the riverbank and the entire side of this hill mined.
Go to it.”
Specific g
round crews broke off hostilities with their less effective carbines.

Dust began to fly as
units self-delegated
sub-tasks.
The debris of the construction actually provided
a bit of cover from the enemy bombardment of bullets and mortar rounds.

“All elephants shift fire loci to the nearest point on the opposite side of the river plus
10
meters.
Only fire if an opposing unit gets within
20
meters of the river.
To all other units:
No other fire is to be directed across the river.
Shoot any opposing unit
that
is on this side of the river or in the river.”
Our fire volume dropped considerably.
It didn’t stop the steady staccato beat from the other bank, nor the more than occasional thunk of rounds digging ineffectively into the
ground
near me
.
I hoped
their marksmanship remained
that poor until they bridged the river.

“
Nurse Nan
s: Insert order
—
p
riority two is to scavenge ammunition from dead and dying units.
Insert order
—
p
riority three is to prepare non
-
ambulatory units for movement.”

“Special detail Alpha ready,” I received over the net.
I placed the location where I had been ambushed into the memory banks of each of the Alpha units.
Half would occupy the sniper’s nest and the other half the rock garden I
’d taken cover within
.
I heard the empty sound of our mortars being fired.
I looked down to see a w
all of enemy units, mostly the white fluffy lambs that comprised shock troops, rushing the
bank of the river.
Dozens were literally blown apart
in a white cloud of destruction and h
undred
s
more
pulled back with some serious
ly
damaged in the rippling of multiple explosives
that
blossomed
among the fauna
in brilliant orange balls of flames.

And still they came.
Hundreds more died in the next volley.
And still they came.
Explosions in the river destroyed hundreds more
and shattered plastic motorboats
.
And still they came.
It was like trying to slay the Hydr
a
—
kill a head and two emerge
in its place.

“Bunker complete, mines emplaced,” came an echoing and obviously damaged voice over the net.
At the same time a map of all the mines on our side of the river popped up in my mind.

“All units prepare to fall back,” I said, relaying the mine location grid to all our units.
“I need a special detail, designated Bravo, consisting of one
e
lephant and two giraffe snipers to report to hilltop bunker with double ammunition loads.”
The giraffes were a last minute change and would be fine, size
-
wise, in place of the
t
eddies.
This team Bravo was yet another sacrificial group.
My mind was getting too filled
to carry additional
guilt, but I ordered it anyway.

I carefully made my way up to the hilltop bunker
. Constructed of
colorful blocks of ballistic materials
,
four feet long and two wide
, the bunker couldn’t be overlooked on the summit
. The
blocks with
eight convex bumps in the top snapped into the nearly hollow core
s
,
interlocking in an overlapping pattern
.
The roof, constructed of a similar material but very thin and long, held up a meter of earth as additional protection for those inside.

M
y two snipers were just getting settled.
Giraffes have their sniper rifle integral to their neck.
All they have to do is lock their eyes in firing position and lower their heads.
It’s difficult for a
g
iraffe to miss its target
,
but they are scarce and have a very low rate of fire.
Nevertheless
,
they were invaluable in certain situations.

“I want fire on this side of the river only.
I want new bridge construction destroyed by mortar,” I directed verbally to the
e
lephant, which, typical of its pattern, had a mortar integral to its body.
“Snipers, I want bridging units and mine sweepers, only, to be fired upon.
When your positions are overrun, detonate all ammunition and self-destruct.”

“Affirmative,” they echoed simultaneously.
General’s soldiers, these units were
—
no
guff, no fear, only obedience.
They do what they’re ordered even if the known result is terminal deactivation.

“What are your designations?”

“Jeffrey 177 and 178, and our fellow elephant unit is Elly 5998
.
”

“Thank you.
You have performed well
,
”
I told them.

“All units fall back.
Form two
-
column
road
movement
. Every unit double up on standard ammunition loads
.”
As a regroup location, I added the field where I was ambushed.
I crested the hill behind everyone else and fell into line behind the paired lines of units.
We now numbered
906
.

I
disobeyed
my primary orders
by withdrawing from the hill. Hold and lose everything or
give way and hold the majority of my force together.
It was something I was designed to do
—
make dec
isions.
I just didn’t like either choice: give up on my orders or die.
In this case I chose to bend and not break. We could still hold, only not here. There existed a location where a handful of my units could hold off thousands, maybe millions.

Just as we lit off for our march, I heard mortar fire and mine detonations behind me.
I took a short look over my shoulder to see the sky lit up with pyrotechnics of all kinds.
Three units sacrificed to buy us the three hours we needed to make our escape.
Elly 5998, Jeffrey 177
,
and
Jeffrey
178
were performing
well.
O
nly I would remember
—
only
I would care
.
I would remember well.
Two hours
’
forced march later a
huge explosion turned the top of the hillock we
’d
abandoned into what looked like, for a brief moment, a new volcano forming.

Only two units faltered on the trek. Both units, one a teddy and the other a tank, probably should have been abandoned at the hill so badly damaged were the
ir
motive power. So far gone was the tank that its eyes didn’t even scan me as I approached. I personally deactivated each of the damaged units by pulling their main processor board. I couldn’t leave the task to anyone else. I made the decision, I had to perform the task.

By first light we arrived at the ambush field. Happily
,
my
IFF
glowed green in the locations I’d sent detail Alpha. Safer here than anywhere we’d been thus far
,
I ordered a fifteen
-
minute oil cool
down.
I knew we couldn’t hope to hold this open plain against an enemy
over ten times our size. We moved on toward our final destination
—
the train tunnel.

I could hold hundred
s of
times our number from going through that bore, or, as another option, I could lure the enemies into the tunnel and collapse it on both ends.
No more opposing units.

“Return to columns. Destination: tunnel.” We marched for several minutes before I
ordered
Alpha detail to follow behind as rear guard.
A small burden lifted from me as I knew I wouldn’t have to sacrifice those ten units.

Six hours later, within sight of our goal,
s
even hundred mechanical
-
plane-type
flyer
s swooped down and dropped their loads on us before even a single member of my troop noticed them.
I
marveled at the master stroke of tactical planning from our enemies.
E
xplosives created brilliant whips of flames and force cut through the nearly defenseless forward segment of our march.

Just as clearly as if it were written in the earth, I knew this attack
was meant to slow us down.
We lost nearly half our strength from that initial strike alone.
From one flank rolling in single file to disguise their numbers and reduce the chances of us noting their attack, rolled only the fastest of the enemy units.
Now discovered
,
the
Tommy Tank
s fanned out in a tidal wave of dust and mass.
Our rear line units all turned to bring weapons to bear on the oncoming enemy.

“Squads eight through twelve, concentrate fire on lead ground units.
All other units make best emergency speed to
tunnel
objective.
Anti-aircraft fire at will.”
I ran.
I’m not ashamed to say I think I ran faster than a roadrunner.
Fifteen agonizing minutes of chaos followed.
I only recall snippets of what happened.
My memories are filled with units being ripped in half by
flyer
machine
-
gun fire, my brethren bursting into flame as they
took impacts
by well
-
placed bomb
s
, a
Nurse Nan
hopping on one leg trying to carry a
t
eddy unit
that
had no head, and even one of an elephant unit with a huge
,
gaping hole in its middle and a leg sticking out at an unnatural angle, trying to hobble along.
I knew
from experience
how horrific a toll war could exact.