Back from holidays …..

“You got more ammo for that thing?” He asked as they got moving across the bridge.

“Some. There’s more in a truck at the back of the column. There is one of us snipers in each Company.”

He had the driver pull up once they crossed the bridge, and he got out and went over to examine the body of the strong mentalist. The fellow had dark hair and a handsome, chiseled face, even in death. His eyes were open, and he was otherwise unmarked, apart from the hole in the middle of his forehead that was leaking a little blood. The mentalist was dressed in a dark grey shirt, black trousers, tall black boots, and an elaborate black coat with a high collar. Even in death, the man looked arrogant.

Andrew shook his head and climbed back aboard the LAV and then looked ahead mentally, but there were no more Japs anywhere close. He surmised that it couldn’t be far from here to their main body and had the driver take it cautiously over the next few kilometers. The winding, narrow road served to encourage the driver’s circumspect approach for the next kilometer or so.

They had just passed the welcome to the Colac-Otway Shire sign when Andrew felt a mentalist ahead and signaled the driver to pull over. The LAV pulled over to the left-hand side of the road, while the vehicle behind pulled over to the right, and the rest pulled up behind. There seemed to be enemy troops on both sides of the road ahead, although most were on the right-hand side. The Captain dismounted and came over.

“What have you got, Harris?”

“I’ve got Japs on both sides of the road. The ones on the left just feel like ordinary troops, but the ones on the right have some mentalist capabilities mixed in, although I can’t feel a real mentalist being present.” He shrugged. “They’re just around the bend. In fact, I would say they’re just beyond that road sign. Either they haven’t detected us yet, or they’re trying to surprise us.”

The Captain looked down the road. “Stopping like this would tend to indicate we’re not going to be surprised easily.”

“You would think so, wouldn’t you, Captain? I have to say that they’re positioned like they’re in an ambush situation, and they don’t appear to be moving around much, which would tend to back that up.”

“Right. What do you suggest?”

Andrew scratched his head. “We can’t be that far from their main body, sir. I wouldn’t want to be fighting a lot of Japs strung out along the road like this. I suggest you deploy your troops on each side of the road, with most on the right, and then I will lead a squad down the road to attract their attention. Without a mentalist present on their side, I should be able to shield a whole squad easily. I can assure you that that’ll concentrate their attention, so it should mean that the flank attacks can go in without too much resistance.”