Book 1 - Sand
Part 2
This thread is intended to be paired with Voyage of the Homebound (1.2)
Sunday, February 5th, 2023
Shuruq, Daabab 17th, 412
The docks were especially busy today, with all the weapons coming in for the defense of Aldaar. WEGEC had tried to set up a blockade, but given both international and Mirhaimian law - suffice to say it had been less than effective. Azniv was standing with her aide, a pretty young boy named Zayn Malik, running through the list of things.
“Rifles?” she asked.
“Check.”
“Gunpowder?”
“Check.”
“9mm rounds?”
“Buckets.”
“Shotguns and shells?”
“You know it.” Azniv looked at him over her sunglasses.
“AT mines?”
“They’re on their way. Should be here within the hour.” Azniv walks over to a table laid out under a sand-colored army tent, with Zayn close behind. There’s a map of the city on the table, with small plastic figurines littered across it; the air smells salty, and she can hear the cries of seagulls in the air.
“Any word on our request for AA to the Federation?”
“Not yet, ma’am, but we’re on it when there is.”
“Perfect.” Azniv sighs, and looks at the map. “Zayn, where are you from?”
“The Kamii. To the northeast.”
“Not a city boy, huh?” Azniv chuckles. “What made you decide to leave it all? To come here, to the city, and work for this government?”
“Umm… I, I guess I just…” he pauses. “I guess I just thought it was the right thing to do. The tribes, you know, we don’t like to get involved in you guys’ affairs much, but… what you’re doing here? It affects all of us.” He smiles, sweetly, remembering home. “My mom, she didn’t want me to go, y’know? But… I told her I’m doing it for my little brother, so he doesn’t have to grow up in a world where we have to ever be scared. Because that’s what these people want - they want us to be scared, so we do what they ask, so we become who they ask.”
“That’s very noble. When’s the last time you talked to your family?”
“About… four months ago, now.”
“Well, listen. Come Alnahda, I want you out there with them. And until then… help me make sure we’re still here when you come back.”
“Understood. Ma’am!” Zayn stands stiffly and does a formal salute, and Azniv smiles.
“At ease, soldier,” she says while trying not to laugh. “Alright, so, what can we do?”
“Well,” Zayn starts, now thinking hard. "We can’t prevent them from landing, that much is for sure. Luckily, what AA we have - both the Federation’s and our own (which is technically Mirhaime’s that we stole last time) will be able to cover any airdrop spots, meaning we just need to worry about the coast. And the only place where a coastal landing is viable is either here in Mukarras, or in Khisib - besides, they don’t need to do an amphibious assault anyways, because we have no real navy for them to need to destroy first. So, that means as long as we can keep them in Mukarras and Khisib, we should have a fighting chance.
“I agree. Khisib can be lost strategically, I think - evacuate the city beforehand, and bomb the roads on our way out. Hopefully, the conflict will be done before they can either repair them or walk to Mukarras; we know from our last encounter that their vehicles aren’t suited for off-roading.”
“But they are suited for urban warfare perfectly. I assume you have a plan to make sure they can’t take Mukarras? Something to do with those?” Zayn points at a ship which has just entered port.
“Well, of course.”
“Where were you thinking of putting them?”
“Nowhere.”
“I’m sorry?” The two look at each other for a second, Azniv with a sly grin on her face.
“You heard me. We aren’t going to use them - not very many, anyways.”
“But… but why? And how?”
“Well, we don’t want to go around blowing holes in our streets, do we? Unless… no, that’s a terrible idea.” Azniv had briefly thought about creating a construction business to deal with the aftermath, but that seemed too war profiteer-y even for her. “But we can make sure they know we have them. Maybe detonate one soon, get a Mukarras Times story out of it. Put some on the piers right before so they hit them when they land.”
“But then how do we deal with their armor after that?”
“Well, they’ll be so cautious of the nonexistent minefields that if they even use their armor, they’ll be second-guessing every route they take. From there on, we can use small explosives to take them out. We have the materials for IEDs, and those 16-gauges can actually be turned into improvised mortars.”
“I don’t want to know why you know that,” Zayn says, to which Azniv just smiles.
“And, if we want to, we can even steal some of their armor; at that speed we should be able to ambush it with small arms fire. We know the city better than they do, after all.”
“Do you have a plan to actually push them out of the city?” Azniv remains silent for a long second. “Ma’am?”
“Yes. Yes I do.” And with that, Azniv walks out, leaving a bewildered Zayn to continue the preparations.