Steel Dragoons - Part 2.

- Part 2 -

Intelligence had reported only a violent lightly armed force but as Alwyn scouted around he quickly realized that their reports were less than accurate. For on thing, he had already felt the thunder like echos of mortar fire slamming into buildings and streets. And he knew it wasn't from ADU forces. How could they have missed mortars?

"Locating possible mortar positions," he reported through his comm. He knew if he could at least locate them then he might have a chance to neutralize them before the squad deployed. If he didn't then that meant his squad could be sitting ducks, and that was something it was his duty not to allow.

Mortars didn't have the range of heavy cannon, so they couldn't be too far away to be hitting near enough to him. And to be effective they would definitely have to be concealed in some manner that still enabled them to fire. Alwyn scanned his surroundings, then checked his displayed map of the area. There had to be something that fit, and if it was him - there. Right, there; four central buildings formed a square perimeter. Each one had an upper level with just enough exposed area to mount mortars while allowing them all to enforce overlapping crossfire.

Alwyn zoomed in to be sure and marked each mortar on his display. "Requesting tactical artillery strike on the following targets." He knew he could have tried to remove the individual threats manually, but that was a calculated risk that his odds didn't favor. Even at a distance he ran the risk of alerting the other three positions and possibly drawing too much fire. Then his squad would be without eyes and ears in advance of them and well, it's dangerous walking into to anything blind.

One thing that still troubled Alwyn though, if these radicals were capable of deploying mortars both without being detected as well as in such an effective formation then what were they dealing with? Now wasn't the time to stop and contemplate matters, right now he had to investigate what other surprises were in store inside that defensive perimeter. Already on the move, Alwyn noted all four marked positions destroyed simultaneously. It was a wonder what even light mass drivers could do to a target considering the distance.

"What other surprises do you have in store for me I wonder?" Alwyn asked himself.