Chapter 11
Recon
Yuxue (Aguanieve), Baiyu County, Shanbeixi Province
There was a ridge of low mountains that were closer to hills than anything. Yasuko didn't know how tall something had to be to be considered a mountain. Anyway, on one of the peaks was the communications relay tower, part of a fenced compound with an array of solar panels and several small buildings. Usually a tower like this would be lightly staffed, but they had an entire company of local troops with their tents and some temporary watchtowers.
Yasuko was with Lowen, Bantu, Kan and Weiss a few peaks over watching all this. Lowen handed her the binoculars and asked her, "What's your take on all this Yasuko?"
The binoculars were quite high tech. She could zoom in so close she could see the pores on the face of one of the guards on a watchtower. It took the guesswork out of what she was seeing.
"Oh, they're definitely expectin' us," she said. "Well, I mean, they've probably got troops deployed at every tower within a thousand klicks a' where you guys crashed. Standard company, 'bout 200 men. Four platoons, two up an' two down at a time. They've got a three-man fireteam on each of those towers. Gunner on a Type 132 light machine gun, sniper with a Type 87 anti-materiel rifle, an' one more with a regular Type 72, spotter, I guess.
"We've got rovin' patrols inside the wire. Three-man fireteams. Two with Type 72s an' one with a Type 132. Doesn't look like they've got anythin' heavier than those Type 87s, maybe 'cause they don't wanna risk damagin' the equipment."
Lowen asked her, "Are you going to tell me how it is that you know all these things?"
Yasuko glanced back to the others, then went back to looking through the binoculars. Maybe it'd be okay to tell them.
"'Bout two months ago I got an assignment infiltratin' the Regulars," she said. "I was given a crash course on soldierin', so that's why I know their SOP, equipment an' stuff."
"Are there many girls your age in the Regulars?"
"Ain't any girls that I know of."
"Then how did you—"
"It's a long story."
"Why would they send a girl to infiltrate an all-male unit?"
"Because he wanted me to do the job."
"Who's he?"
Yasuko just gave him a look.
"You don't mean the pretender?"
"He was gonna make it my last job," Yasuko said. "Only I didn't have the good sense to die after he hacked my arm off, shot me with a grenade an' sent me for a lil' skydive off the damn flying fortress with no parachute."
"How did you survive all that?"
"Jus' lucky, I guess."
"God..."
Yasuko decided not to comment that God hadn't been much help. Or had He? Was this all part of that working in mysterious ways thing she'd hear people talking about? She supposed it didn't really matter unless Sturla dropped dead from a bolt of lightning or something convenient like that.
Lowen told Kan, "Get on the horn with Wei. See if he's found a ingress point."
While Kan was on the radio, Yasuko saw a rickety truck making its way up the winding mountain road to the tower.
"I think we got somethin'," she said.
"What is it?"
"We'll jus' hafta wait an' see."
Yasuko watched the truck come up to the front gate. The guards did a quick walkaround before waving it on in. Once the truck was parked and paisanos started unloading these steel pans did it become clear what it was there for.
"It's a chow run," she said. "They must be gettin' their food from town. They've got locals bringin' it in."
It came to her just like that.
"That's it. That's our way in."
"Won't they recognize the people delivering their food?" Lowen asked.
"Maybe, maybe not," Yasuko replied. "They don't usually deploy Regulars near their homes. Don't want 'em switchin' sides if they've gotta put the hurt on the paisanos. Yeah, there's a risk, but it's our best shot."
"Even if we get in, what then? How are we going to access the tower?"
"Well, let's see how long they stick around."
And so they waited and watched as the paisanos got set up and served the troops one platoon at a time, then loaded up and went back the way they came.
"How long was that?" Yasuko asked.
"Forty-one minutes since I started counting," Lowen said. "We'd be pushing our luck with an hour at most."
"An' we gotta get through the guards before we can even think a' gettin' in the tower..."
Once again, an idea came to her in an instant flash of inspiration.
"I got it. We poison the chow. That'll take out most of 'em an' give us a shot at that tower."
"Poison them?"
"Yeah. We'll see what they've got in town an' I'll whip somethin' up."
"You're telling me you're an expert in poisons too?"
"I don't know 'bout 'expert', but I know a thing or two."
"You never cease to amaze me, Yasuko."
"Flattery'll get you nowhere, Lowen."
"I don't know if I'd call it flattery."
Yasuko turned to Lowen and gave him a wry grin.
"What's the matter? You scared a' me, Lowen?"
"I'm starting to think I'd be fool not to be."
He didn't know the half of it.
* * *
They decided to continue their stakeout of the tower facility to get a better handle on the troops' schedule. It got miserably cold after sunset and Yasuko's body was aching terribly for lying on the rocky ground for hours on end. She tried not to let her discomfort show, but apparently she wasn't doing a very good job of it.
"You don't have to be out here, you know," Lowen said. "I could have Leichtmatrose Wanna take you back to camp."
"What else am I gonna do?" Yasuko asked.
"Get some sleep for one thing."
"I can sleep when I'm dead."
"That'll come all the sooner if you don't rest like you should."
Yasuko rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, thanks, Dad."
"How old are you anyway?"
Yasuko had to think about for a moment.
"Seventeen, I think. I forgot when my birthday's supposed to be. November, maybe. Might've been when I was recoverin' from the las' time Sturla beat the shit outta me."
Yasuko noticed Lowen's jaw tightening out of the corner of her eye.
"Did he... did he beat you often?"
"Jus' when didn't do what he told me to do."
She glanced at Lowen.
"Aw, don't be givin' me no pityin' looks, Lowen. I ain't a kicked puppy."
"It's dishonorable to beat a woman, and a child at that."
Yasuko chuckled to herself.
"Dishonorable... I could write a book... an' I've only known that bastard for half a year."
"It certainly seems that we will be doing this planet a service by deposing this animal."
"Hopefully nothin' worse follows."
"When we have put down the pretender and his cronies, His Majesty will appoint a proper planetary governor to ensure order and security for his subjects. Rest assured of that, Yasuko."
That wasn't nearly as comforting as Lowen probably intended for it to be. The Imperials weren't likely to be worse than the Celestials, though. That's what she told herself. It was the only way she could keep going along with them.
Anyway, they had a plan and now all that was left was to put it into action. It'd be a gamble for sure, but there were no safe bets here. She'd take her chances, like she always had. It'd worked out great for her so far, right?