This is the world where Lieutenant Percival was born in; a loyal, dutiful soldier of the 1st Library Defence Corps (1LDC), who continuously waged a defensive battle against the suppressive powers of the Global Censorship Initiative (GCI).
In 20xx, when moral panic among restrictive voices around the globe reached a global pandemic, the Global Censorship Initiative was launched and funded by power-hungry aristocrats, with tremendous reception from ultra-conservatives the world over. GCI launched Order 66, a massive campaign of 'book cleansing' or 'information cleansing', under the pretext of "championing the cause of God and banishing heretical materials for greater mankind".
20 years since its inception, countless number of books, a significant number being rare and priceless, were confiscated, marked for destruction, and burned to ashes. Many talented writers and even pro-book bloggers were held under indefinite detention without trial or summarily executed in cold blood.
Libraries the world over cried foul and rejected all demands by GCI to stand down. Knowing well the imminent threat of an armed response by GCI, the world's libraries formed the Coalition of Free Information (CFI) and began arming themselves as a means of standing up against the tyrannical GCI. Now, with armies of dedicated men and women, together with a military might rivalling a 3rd world army, this shall be a war unlike any other. The stage is once again set for Lieutenant Percival, hero of the Five Day War, to lead his legendary corps into victory once more.
*****
Percival and his men patrolled the interiors of the sun-lit library with diligence. It was a bright afternoon with a sunny weather and mild spring temperature, but barely an ideal time for picnic. Intel has pinpointed a possible library raid around mid-day, spearheaded by the elite 43rd Bookburners squadron. Books by Edgar Allan Poe and several children's fairytale are thought to be in their extermination list.
The library's architectural layout is simple enough: it's a moderately-sized library only one-floor high, with two indoor balconies left and right facing the library's center, where all books are located on the ground floor. There are also three outdoor balconies facing east, west, and south respectively. The rooftops are flat and not sloped, without any doors that allows access to it. The library's design encourages sunlight to penetrate through, evidenced by the number of glass windows. A few of Bravo's men can also be seen setting up Claymore mines around likely OPFOR entry points and oddly enough, placing desk lamps next to it.
1LDC's Strategic Operations Command had originally allocated 30 men for this mission, yet Percival requested only 12 men to accompany him, citing too much micro-management for a small-scale op might reduce their order and response efficiency. Knowing all too well of the Bookburner's rapid deployment, rapid entry tactics, a smaller, easier to manage squad might actually work better in countering them. His squad is divided into three fireteams: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie, each with four men. Alpha and Charlie are the assault group, while Bravo act as base guard.
As Percival's digital watch hits 1320 hours, a familiar sound of spinning rotor motion that grazed many modern battlefields became audible as it closes the gap of distance: it was a Blackhawk helicopter, ferrying inside the all-too-familiar Bookburner commados in their standard all-black uniform with gas masks, contrasting the 1LDC's olive drab uniform and MICH helmet with a mix of black hooded masks and ones without. The Blackhawk locked its position onto a good insertion site on the rooftop, hovering a few feet above. Bookburners began rappelling down, regrouping to their squad upon touchdown. It's a relatively small shock trooper squad consisting of just four men made for rapid entry, tasked with securing the blacklisted books. Having served its purpose, the Blackhawk left and flew southwest from where it came.
The squad's demolition expert proceeded first, placing two breaching charges on the rooftop, down below being one of the library's hall, with each resulting hole from the blast sufficient enough for two men to rappel through. The commandos divide themselves into two pairs, one man on the opposite side facing the other, and on the count of three, blew an opening on the rooftop. The blast shook the building's foundation, dropping pieces of broken cement and bricks to the floor; dust particles circled the blasted hole for a few seconds. They arrived just as predicted.
"OPFOR on the rooftop!" yelled one of the men in Bravo on the comm. radio.
"Smoke em', Jones," Percival gave his orders.
"Hell yeah!" responded Jones with enthusiasm.
Positioned on an indoor balcony, Jones shouldered his six-shot Milkor MGL-140 grenade launcher and fired a torrent of blinding smoke grenades as a welcoming reception. As soon as the Bookburners rappelled in, they were enveloped by thick smoke, forcing them to use infrared goggles as they descend. The smoke grenades served only as a clever diversion. Using infrared vision in mid-afternoon under strong-lit conditions made visual contact with objects difficult, conveniently landing themselves onto a floor wired with Claymore mines. The aforementioned desk lamps had their heat signature amplified with infrared vision, masking the Claymore's presence. When the smoke clears, the previous bangs of multiple small explosions confirmed where all the bodies were.
Within a short span of time, the second wave arrives in typical fashion, choosing an alternate insertion site to the east of the library, at the library's park. The Blackhawk landed instead of hovering above ground. Bookburner commandos numbering around ten men began pouring out. With lightning swiftness, six Bookburners established a secure perimeter around the park, using improvised hard objects and solid park decorations as cover. Another four made a slow, careful advance towards the library's east entrance. The Blackhawk left while the Bookburners were in the middle of establishing the perimeter. Percival immediately redirected his two assault fireteams to respond to the second wave. Bravo's orders remain unchanged as they continue to stand guard inside the library, patrolling the building's indoor perimeter and keeping the endangered books out of harm's way.
"Alpha, I want you to take position on the library's outdoor balcony to the East and establish an improvised DFP. Provide Charlie with all the cover fire it needs. I'll tag with you."
"Wilco!"
"Charlie, split into two and flank em' left and right. If all goes well, we'll envelope those suckers in a pincer."
"Affirmative sir! Go, go, go!"
With the orders given and firing positions established, a low-intensity firefight ensued between the determined 1LDC defenders and Bookburner zealots. 1LDC soldiers, mostly armed with FN F2000 assault rifles and equipped with Modular Tactical Vests have significant advantages in terms of firepower and protection. It's an 8 VS 10 situation, yet proper analysis of the situation showed the 1LDC as the likely victor.
The overall loadout of the Bookburners during this operation was of poor choice. Favouring speed and rapid entry, Bookburners prefer to keep things lightweight. As a result, CQB-oriented weapons, such as HK MP5 RAS and Benneli M1 Super 90 are favoured, while Class IIA body armors are commonly equipped. Although these are excellent loadouts for indoor firefights and rapid movements, open engagement at ranges beyond 100 metres are inaccurate and disadvantageous. In these ranges, rifle threats are more commonly encountered, rendering Class IIA as nothing more but paperweight. On the part of tactics and strategy, the loss of the first wave responsible for extracting the blacklisted books has changed the situation unfavourably on their side, losing them the tactical edge of creating a pre-emptive strike.
The original plan was to insert the first wave via the rooftop, infiltrate the library, secure the cargo and reach the extraction zone. Seconds apart was the second wave: its job is to land on the library's park and create a safe, defensive perimeter for the first wave to be extracted and sending another small four-men team to assist the retreating first wave. If all went well, the 1LDC would've been stuck under siege, unable to properly fight off a light force of shock troopers as they were occupied with engaging the larger wave of Bookburners taking position in the park, and thus limiting their combat potential.
The rapid, aimed shots from both Alpha and Charlie ripped apart bricks and masonry, while the best the Bookburners could do is return fire by shooting peas on solid walls without any chance of hit or penetration. Flashbangs are worthless in open-field engagements. The four-men support squad meant to assist the now KIA first wave were pinned down by hostile fire at every direction, unable to advance further into effective engagement distance. Their covers were mere fodders: 5.56 x 45mm NATO FMJ rounds perforate any solid objects, penetrating through Class IIAs and straight into their guts like hot knife to butter.
When all the firing ceased, nine of the Bookburner commandos lay dead; five of them seemingly died while taking cover, underestimating the destructive potential of SS109 rounds. Among the dead, one survivor was found severely injured and taken in as prisoner of war. No casualties were sustained on the 1LDC's side. Overall, 13 Bookburners were killed. Everything was over in less than a quarter of an hour.
A few hours had passed and right on time, additional reinforcements and medical teams arrived in four Radpanzer Condor APCs, scrambling to their intended position upon disembarking. Percival took a seat on one of the bench in the park, while medical personnel walked past him with bodybags. He gazed his eyes upon the endless horizon of bright-blue skies, lighting up a cigarette trying to take it easy after a battle. He quietly remarked to himself rather cynically, "what? Another victory, again?” Indeed, he had high expectations for a difficult battle, but these so-called commandos were more like fresh recruits than trained professionals. Perhaps the GCI doesn’t put high priorities on securing the blacklisted books. Then again, his involvement in Russia on November last year made small-time operations such as this a child’s play.
The moment of tranquillity was short-lived when it was broken by the arrival of a friendly Mil-17 helicopter, sent to pick him up for debriefing and further updates. Percival took his eyes off the skies, threw his cigarette to the ground, and boarded the helicopter in silence, without even talking to his men before leaving. His war is far from over.
----------
NOTE
The Librarian is essentially a homage to Toshokan Sensou aka Library War, albeit grittier. I wrote this during Creative Writing class for an activity in which you must take a stereotype character (e.g: African-American rapper, grumpy old man, boring librarian, etc) and put them in unique situations where they behave outside of their common character trait. The one posted here has been extensively edited with more contents and additions.
Lieutenant Percival is a reference to Arthur Ernest Percival, Lieutenant General of the British Army during the Battle of Malaya. He lead the mass surrender of British soldiers in Singapore, one of the worst disasters in British military history. Quite an ironic choice for a 'brave war hero'.
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Order 66 is a contingency order given by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to Darth Vader along with his 501st Clone Trooper Legion to exterminate all Jedis. This event is also known as the Great Jedi Purge.
I spice up the story with common real-world issues that normally plagued us on a global scale (moral panic) as well as a few local-centric ones (banning of books, detention of bloggers/writers); a minor touch of faux-blockbuster at the start with a typical Hollywood movie slogan. The action sequences are influenced by Call of Duty 4 as well as a few Tom Clancy novels.
Glossary
5.56 x45mm - standard NATO rifle cartridge. A popular calibre with many NATO countries or countries abiding NATO standards, it was first introduced during the Vietnam War
Class IIA - the most basic protection level offered by ballistic vests. This class would normally stop penetration by calibres of 9mm and .40 S&W
CQB - Close Quarters Battle
DFP - Defensive Fighting Position
Fireteam - small-sized military unit based on the need for tactical flexibility in infantry operations
Flank/flanking - an attack on the sides of an opposing force
Flashbang - aka stun grenade. A non-lethal grenade that emits a bright flash and loud noise, subduing any human in its vicinity for a few seconds
FMJ - Full Metal Jacket: a bullet encased in a shell of copper alloy or a steel-alloy shell. This shell can extend around all of the bullet, or often just the front and sides with the rear left as exposed lead. The jacket allows for higher muzzle velocities
KIA - Killed in Action
Modular Tactical Vest - abbreviated as MTV, it's an improvement over the previous Interceptor body armor (the current standard body armor of the US military). It features better comfort, mobility and safety
MICH - referring to MICH TC-2000 Combat Helmet, replacement for the old PASGT Combat Helmet. MICH features decreased weight while at the same time offering better protection, comfort, and less obstruction to the soldier's vision
OPFOR - Opposing Force
Pincer - both of the opponent's flanks are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion
Shock Trooper - troops intended to lead an attack
Squad - a small military unit usually led by a non-commissioned officer
Wilco - Will Comply, used to indicate agreement and compliance
No comments:
Post a Comment