Chapter 3

The Body Guard's armoury wasn't really that small; it was about thirty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. Along one side of the room was racks of various types of assault rifles, and along the other side were the heavier and larger calibre weapons. Three heavy .50 calibre machine guns, some 7.62 mm General Purpose machine guns, about fifteen Minimi light machine guns, a range of sniper rifles, and ten light anti tank weapons. Grenades, knives and various other objects covered the table in the middle of the room.

The look on Matthew's face made it clear that the sight in front of his eyes, wasn't what he had expected, "These are weapons from sixty years into the future? They look more like standard weapons of this time." He had been expecting to see laser rifles and rail guns and such.

"As we said, the founder wanted things done in stages, as he did not want to completely flood the past with technology from the future. You have to remember that the time period we should of been going back to, was not this one. There would have been no Gilott invasion, so there would have been no need, at least immediately, for more powerful weapons," Gemma could not have failed to notice how disappointed he was. "We do have some more advanced weapons, but most of them are in the main armoury. Once our production section is operational, we will be able to produce certain types of weapons, but you need to remember that our strongest asset is the ability to create life forms."

Taking his eyes off the weapons for the first time since he had entered the armoury, Matthew turned to Gemma and asked, "How are we meant to defeat the Gilotts with these? During the early battles, whole tank divisions were no match for the Gilotts and yet we are meant to defeat them with assault rifles and a few machine guns?"

"They are enough for this battle, our strongest weapons are the Eves," was Gemma's reply as she turned away from him and started walking to the other end of the room.

"I think this is more like the type of weapon you were expecting," Gemma continued, as she opened another one of those doors that seemed to appear suddenly, however, this time it seemed to lead into a very small closet.

As Gemma turned back to face him, Matthew noticed that she was holding what looked like an assault rifle, just of a type he had never seen before. He had recognised some of the various assault rifles that filled the racks; most were M16s, SA 80s, and Steyr Augs.

"It's called a Type 200 Lasserator; a type of laser rifle. The only problem with it is that it's not a very effective killing weapon; it takes too long to kill someone with it. The effect of being hit by the laser is that your skin burns away and, if the firing continues, your flesh burns away until only bones remain. Sure, the pain the person or creature would be in, after being hit by it, would be immense, but there would be a chance that they could still return fire. Although it is great if you ever want to torture someone. It also has a short range of approximately one hundred metres. The reason we need this weapon is to use on the bodies of the Gilotts once we have killed them. So that it looks like an attack by other Gilotts, since we know that they have a weapon which would lead to similar results."

"Now you have seen the type of weapons we have available, why don't we go and plan this mission? Then we can come back and collect the weapons we need."

Entering the operations room would have left Matthew impressed, if it wasn't for the fact that he had been told that this base was from sixty years into the future. The technology looked advanced enough for the current year, but advanced enough for sixty years into the future?

The main features of the room was two double-sided, plasma type screens; which were hanging from the ceiling in the centre of the room. There was also a large, clear plastic cube that must have measured about four feet in each direction. While around the walls were various workstations.

Gemma mentioned, "This is actually the standby operations room. The main room is in an unpowered section of the base; however, this room is sufficient for the simple mission that we are going to carry out."

Matthew raised his eyebrows at Gemma's confidence. One of the most important things he had learned in the military was to never be over confidant. This had kept him alive on a number of occasions since the invasion.

"Before we start the planning, there is one question I've been meaning to ask. I have been awake now for at least fourteen hours, in that time I have been in battle and then on the move for something like seven hours, and yet I feel fully awake and full of energy and ready for this mission. How?"

"The environment and lights in this base helps your body and ours, to relax and replenish energy. We all still need to sleep, just you will find that you can be awake and alert much longer than you are used to. Now Sir, if you have no more questions we will get back to the mission." With those words the plastic cube started to fill with smoke, or at least it looked like smoke.

"This is the village where the Gilotts and the power source is located," Gemma started the briefing as the smoke dissipated, to be replaced with a realistic holographic view of a village and the surrounding area.

The village was located on the southeast bank of a small river, a few years ago it most likely would have looked like any typical small village in this part of the country. With ducks swimming in the river; a few children feeding them some bread, while their parents told them not to get too near the edge. Now everything looked different, there were no people nor any ducks; the place looked dark almost as though the buildings now only reflected dark dull colours. Checkpoints had been setup on the road that ran through the middle of the of the village from the southwest to northeast. Further along this road to the northeast, a small bridge crossed the river. Each of the two checkpoints were really nothing more than a wall constructed from sandbags, and each being manned (or was gilotted a better word?) by two Gilotts. The actual village itself, if you could still call it a village. Was just a collection of about eight remaining old stone buildings along the main road, and the ruins of destroyed buildings scattered around the ones still standing. Looming over these were three large wooden buildings that had been built to a size that was comfortable for the Gilotts to live and move around in.

"As you can see the sensors are functioning and we can see exactly where the Gilotts are located. The only building that the sensors don't have a clear view into is this one here," She continued while using a laser pointer to highlight one of the buildings. "But we know from the sensor records of how many Gilotts have entered and left that building, that there are currently six Gilotts and two humans inside it. Also located in this building is the power source, which is why we don't have a clear view inside. The power source over powers the sensors."

"Two humans?"

"Yes Sir, they were taken into it two days ago. Of course we don't know if they are still alive. Assuming that the are alive, that makes a total of twenty-two Gilotts and two humans in the village at this time."

"As soon as we start attacking and if it really looks as though they might lose this fight, they will kill those two humans," Matthew thought out aloud; he hadn't expected there to be any humans in the village. "We have to make the safety of these humans a priority."

"Sir, we need to secure the power source, of course we need to do what we can to rescue the humans, but this needs to be treated as a military operation and the primary objective has to be that power source. I don't mean to sound cold hearted but we don't even know if they are still alive, we can't risk the outcome of the whole mission on finding out."

"I have watched too many people die from the hands of those Gilotts. If I now have any chance of maybe saving those two lives, then I'm going to do everything in my power to save them. That means the primary objective of this mission has to become the rescue of those humans," he told her in a slightly raised stern voice. He knew she was right about civilian fatalities not being allowed to risk a mission; having been told it enough times by his senior officers.

"The entire earth and human race depends on us winning these battles, so no matter how bad it sounds, we can't allow a few lives to jeopardise our winning." He had been told countless times, but there was no way he could now sit back and not do everything he could for those people in that village.

"Yes Sir, I understand your feelings, and please don't think that I don't share them. We just have to remember that in ever battle we are going to be involved in, that we can't guarantee the safety of all humans. However in this case, we will do everything we can to rescue them. It will make the mission more difficult but I still believe we will succeed.

"Thank you. So what's the plan?"

"Well, Sir, You are in charge, so it's up to you how we do this, but I would be grateful if you would let me give you my suggestions. As I really think you need to see for yourself, what our capabilities are and especially those of the Eves. No commander will know how best to use his forces unless he knows the capabilities of those forces."

"I agree, going by what I know of the Gilotts, to me this mission sounds impossible and I know I have just made it harder by insisting on rescuing the people in that building. So I would really like to hear your plan."

"My plan is; we have one main assault group of six Eves, split into two teams. Supporting forces will be three heavy machine gun sections made up of two Eves each and two sniper sections, one of these will again consist of two Eves. While the other sniper section will be Rebecca and one Eve."

"Rebecca?" he asked curiously.

"Yes Sir, she is our best sniper, and we are going to need her. As one of the snipers is going to have be positioned on this small hill, which is over one thousand five hundred metres from the village."

"We will also have a team of two Eves who will approach one of the checkpoints unarmed. Hopefully these will be taken to wherever the humans are being held, but we can't depend on that. Although at the very least they will create a diversion. To try to protect the humans as best that we can, one of the assault teams will be tasked with infiltrating into the building where they are being held. While the other team will take out any other Gilotts still in the village. The heavy machine gun sections will be deployed so that they can engage the checkpoints. We need to decide which checkpoint we should have two machine guns covering, and this will be the direction we try to make the Gilotts believe the main attack is coming from, thereby drawing their reinforcements towards it," Gemma told him, outlining her plan.

"It sounds like it could work as much as any other plan could. It's just that I have seen what these Gilotts can do," he replied, shaking the images of the horrors that he had witnessed out of his mind. "What will my role be in this battle?"

"I know it must be hard for you, but I need you to trust me about the Eves being a match for the Gilotts. As for roles, you and Samantha will make up the command section. While myself and Laura along with the remaining three Eves will form a second assault group to act in reserve."

"I think you need to be in the command section rather than myself. I couldn't command an operation such as this and hope for it to succeed. I don't exactly have a good track record when it comes to leading operations, you know. Out of my last four person team, I'm the only one who wasn't killed or captured." Just thinking about that failed mission was enough to drain the colour from his face. "I can be part of the reserve team."

"Sir, I have faith in you, and you are the commander of this base. As such, you are in charge and yes, you still have things you need to learn, but we believe in you. We already know you are the right commander for us. As for not having a good track record, I think the fact that you are the only one who escaped, shows that you are a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for." Gemma knew that it was going to take him time to get used to being in command of a base this size, but she also knew that he would make an excellent commander given time. Unfortunately, time was one thing they didn't have that much of, if they wanted there to be any humans left to save. " I know you are feeling guilty, but you have to snap out of it."

With a small smile and in a quiet voice he told her, "Thank you." He didn't know why, but he really was starting to trust these people and actually believed that they had a chance of defeating the Gilotts. Gemma certainly sounded, to him at least, like she knew what she was talking about.

"I still would rather you be in the command section and running this battle," he added.

"I'll swap with you, and then Laura can take command of the assault team," Samantha told Gemma.

"Agreed, so now lets go and prepare."

There was at least three hours of daylight left when the group of twenty-four women and one man were transported to approximately two miles south of the village. It had been decided that they could afford the energy that a transport would use. After all, as long as the mission didn't go wrong, their power problems should be over.

The dark cloud in the distance looked like it would bring a storm later that night, but for the next couple of hours the rain looked like it would hold off.

Matthew wasn't sure if it was just his memory playing tricks on him, or if there really were more storms since the Gilotts had invaded. It was almost as though even the weather had gotten depressed and had given up.

The terrain to south and southwest of the village was mostly flat grassland; however, there was a small forest about half of a mile from the village that would provide them with cover. Which was a good thing, considering how the group didn't exactly blend into the background.

"I really should have picked more practical clothes for them," Matthew thought, as he looked at the women walking beside him, going towards battle wearing short dresses, two-inch heels and stockings. Twenty of the females were wearing black dresses, while the other four, each wore a different colour dress. The group really must have looked like the most unlikely combat force in history. Not that any of the women looked in any way upset or bothered about what they were wearing, although they might have been slightly happier if he had let them gone naked.

The Eves, as the security personnel were now being called, had no problems carrying the heavy loads of ammunition and weapons. One of them looked as though she was just carrying a toy gun, as the heavy machine gun in her hand swung along with her stride.

The view of the village through his binoculars appeared to be just like it had in the hologram. Matthew wondered why the Gilotts would have set up a supply depot in such a village, there really didn't look anything special about it and it was miles from anywhere.

Most of the Gilotts in the village were believed to be unarmed, except for those manning the checkpoints and possible those inside the building with the humans. Since the main military forces of the world had been defeated, most Gilotts now went around unarmed. Their strength generally made weapons unnecessary. The few times that the Gilotts still carried weapons, the most common weapon that Matthew had seen them carrying, was a small laser pistol which inflicted similar effects to the laser rifle that Gemma was carrying. Its purpose being to inflict pain and incapacitate humans rather than to kill them.

With the order, for everyone to move into their positions, given. The sniper team, who were going to be covering the southwest part of the village, made their way into the forest looking for the best location. Using branches and leaves to conceal the colour of their dresses. The .50 calibre, semi automatic Barrett rifle could put a bullet through a target over 1800 metres away.

While Rebecca and the Eve, who was acting as her spotter, made their way to the small hill to the southeast of the village. This would give them a clear view of most of the village, but at a distance that looked like it could be close to 2000 metres, they were at the limits of the rifle's range.

The machine gun sections had also made their way to their positions, two sections making their way slowly to within approximately 1000 metres of the southwestern checkpoint. The other section making its way up, along with the two diversion Eves, to engage the northeast checkpoint. The last group to reach their positions were the six infiltrating members of the assault team, who had made their way upstream of the river.

Gemma reported, "All units are ready, Sir; the assault team is in the water and on their way, and the two diversion Eves are awaiting your orders."

His orders were simply, "The mission is a go." Rarely did such simple words have such major importance. As it was these very words spoken on this day- the tenth of may, two thousand and five- that started the first battle of the new war to free the earth. Although the look on Matthew's face showed that he still wasn't sure about their chances in this battle, never mind the war.

"Sir, I believe I can assure you that this battle will be won without too many problems, unless suddenly, some reinforcements arrive for the enemy. It's the bigger war that I can't be so reassuring about," Gemma said; as she reached out and touched his shoulder. She wasn't sure the second part of her sentence would have been too comforting to him, but she had to be truthful with him.

"What if reinforcements do arrive? We haven't really planned for that," he thought out aloud, as he realised that in the future they needed to plan missions more carefully. For the first time in years there was a chance, no matter how small Matthew thought it was, that the Gilotts could be defeated. He had to make sure he didn't blow that chance by rushing into battle without careful thought and planning.

"There are no other Gilotts within 30 miles of here, and no Gilomobiles within 50 miles. It would take them at least one hour for any reinforcements to reach here and we are jamming all of the radio frequencies they are known to use. We have the anti tank weapons in the event that any Gilomobiles do show up," Gemma tried to reassure him.

Gilomobiles was the common name given to the vehicles that the Gilotts used. They were unlike any vehicles that most people would have imagined an advanced race of using, in that they did not hover, they did not fly, they were just over sized boxes on wheels.