High command must be desperate, thought Kra’er as he walked back to his position in the base. To decide to actually go through with that plan… He shook his head as he thought about the briefing he’d just been given.
All soldiers not on duty at that time had been called to their respective meeting places. Kra’er’s commander had given the briefing. “Tonight we will be attacking the humans. It will begin by blacking out the base. At 0000 local time we will leave our base to cross the no-man’s land to the human base. Those on guard in our base will begin immediate deactivation of all electrical equipment. We will be taking nothing more than our combat suits with us. At 0030…” The commander took a deep breath. “Air command will fire an EMP over the middle of no-man’s land. We should be just outside the human lights by then. In the confusion we can attack. Our claws and teeth will outmatch them, as the have no natural defenses! We will slaughter them until they break and run, then we will slaughter them more! We will chase them off of this miserable planet!”
Everyone cheered.
Kra’er thought about it as he waited for midnight to arrive. They had been on Valca for a very long time, almost a local year. The stalemate had been going on since almost as long as they had been on the planet. The Cantal base versus the Human base. The war against the humans depended on this planet, as it was a crucial nexus leading into human territory. And the locations of the bases were on a plain up in a mountain pass, crucial for the control of the planet. Many things would be decided there.
The Cantal had the advantage over the humans when you discounted all of their technology. The Cantal were feline. Many Cantal had taken offence to the comparison to the human’s pet cats, until they learned about the larger felines, or big cats as the humans called them. Being compared to a lion or a tiger wasn’t as bad as being compared to a siamese. The humans, however, had lost the few natural weapons that they had to begin with. They used power armor, which would be locked up after the EMP. Those that managed to get out of their armor would be cut down by the advancing Cantal. Kra’er was mostly concerned about EMPing their own equipment. It’s the only way, he told himself. The human’s anti-air defences were far too good for even an attempt at flying over their base, let alone setting off any bombs above it.
Midnight, local time
Kra’er stood in formation with the rest of his platoon. It was a dark night, so dark that even a Cantal had trouble seeing. The humans, with their useless night vision, would not be able to see at all. That was why they had set up spotlights around their base, so they could see anything coming. The command to start moving was given. Slowly, silently, the Cantal army crept accross the plain to the other base. As the first ranks came near the outer edge of the human spotlights there was a bright blue flash overhead. Even though they were expecting it, many Cantal flinched. A moment later the lights went out, then the sound of the EMP going off hit. “CHARGE!” And they charged. Over the noise of Cantal running Kra’er could hear the confusion of the humans. And then cutting through the noise was a human voice, shouting “FIX BAYONETS!” Other voices took up the cry. Kra’er wondered what it could mean. He had a minor understanding of the main language of the humans, but he didn’t understand those words. They didn’t fit with any commands that he assumed would be issued in such a situation. There was no time to wonder what strategy the humans may be trying as he reached the fortifications and started to scramble through to attack.
Once Kra’er was in the base he paused to get his bearings and to take stock of the situation. War was always chaos, but this was more chaotic than any battle he’d ever seen. Surprisingly, the humans hadn’t run as expected, but were standing their ground. A closer look showed that they were swinging… things around to fend off other Cantal. Were those their guns? A human lept at Kra’er, swinging her gun at him. Kra’er barely managed to dodge the attack, but managed to get a closer look at his opponents weapon as he did so. Is that a knife attached to it? He swiped at her with his claws, but missed. To his amusement his opponent bared her puny teeth, as if to intimidate him. He bared his teeth back, and roared. The human didn’t react, which surprised him, but he had no time for thought as she attacked again. Kra’er had always been told that the Cantal had superior reflexes to the humans, but she was fast. She seemed to dance around him as he tried to simultaneously avoid the knife on the end of her gun and slice her open with his claws. Neither of them managed to touch the other one for several seconds, when suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his leg. Desperately he leapt towards her, but the wound on his leg was more serious than it felt, and it collapsed beneath him. The human moved in for the kill.
[HUMAN-CANTAL WAR UPDATE BROADCAST]
Today we are happy to report that the stalemate at Tora Pass on the planet Valca has been broken! At 0030 local time the Cantal air force detonated an EMP above both military bases in the pass, knocking out all electronics. Immediately afterwards, the Cantal army attacked. This would have ended in disaster had our base not spent the past year working to overcome the physical disadvantage by training with weapons such as bayonets and fists. General Folcon projects that Valca will be secured within a local month, though as usual he cautions that nothing is certain in war.
We will continue to provide updates as the war continues. Fred Bilgarter at United Earth News out.