The sky was clear yet a meager amount of smoke was rising into the air. Raymond sat on an unclaimed rock on the base of Mt. Coronet. His airship had just landed a few moments ago and already his men were quick to establish a base of operations at the base. It was nothing fancy. No walls or fortresses were instantly created with a click of a button. The base had a tent in the middle acting as the seat of command. Scattered across the base of the mountain were men equipping themselves for the mission. Some were putting on body armor and others were loading various tools of destruction. Guns, Pokemon, whatever they were most comfortable with. Noble Team was composed of aces, veterans and aspiring rookies. Raymond did not have to babysit them on any level. He trusted them.
"Commander, the men are ready for the mission briefing when you are," Lt. Greene stated with a salute.
"Thank you. Be there in a moment. Just want to finish this cigarette," Raymond replied with a muffled voice as the burning stick of tobacco slurred his speech. Taking one last drag, Raymond tossed the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out till little more than ash and dust remained. Raymond slowly made his way to the tent, following Lt. Greene and pondering the finer details of the mission in his head. It was not that Raymond doubted the possibility of success but more of how Thrax would react to Raymond's plans.
As Raymond entered the tent, the main representatives (and some of their subordinates) from each of his divisions were there. They saluted him accordingly, but Raymond motioned them to be at ease. He handled his primary forces like family, trying to run his companies like Brotherhoods instead of military cells. "Good day gentle men and women. Enjoyed the flight, I hope."
"Not so much sir. I always get a little airsick," joked Lt. Carter of Noble Team, who often completed missions as air support. His young smug face smirked at his own joke as his black hair flew in the nonexistent wind. He was almost too pretty to be in the armed forces. He was a stark comparison to his fellow Lt. Greene, who was smaller and less eager for attention. Greene's short blonde hair paled in comparison to Carter's longer black hair which was well groomed and practically sparkled in the sunlight. Raymond smiled at the bad joke, and reached into his bag to pull of a sizable scroll. Spreading the scroll across the table in the middle of the tent, it was a large map of the surrounding areas.
"As you can say, I have identified several points of interest for this operation. Right here," Raymond said pointing at the center of the map with the mark 'A' making it easy for the men to say. "That is the objective, the top of Mt. Coronet. It is here where the so called Council of Elders are having a tea party. Down a bit, here at point B is the rendezvous point with Thrax's forces should anything have happened to deter his 'scouting' mission." Raymond turned his attention to two other points, D and E. "These two points will be used for some of forces to act as backup. But I'll get to that later."
"What about this point here, sir?" Lt. Carter asked pointing at mark 'C'.
"I was about to get to that, Carter."
Everyone gathered intently as Raymond hunched over the table, chewing on a pencil he grabbed nearby. "We are going to spilt into 3 groups. Carter, you will take a squad of 6 men and spilt them accordingly between points D and E. This will establish a perimeter. You will spy on the enemy and pursue any retreating forces should Thrax order an invasion. You will mostly focus on anyone who is flying. I already have a plan to pursue retreating ground forces. Carter, remember to order your forces to not attack any flying Pokemon, but to attack the trainers. We are likely dealing with legendaries that can fly, therefore our Skarmorys, Fearows, even your Honchkrow will be overpowered. By attacking the 'pilot' if you will, you will force the legendary to attempt to save their master and that will leave them open for all out attack."
"Roger that," acknowledged Carter.
"Lt. Greene, your division of Noble Team will join me at meeting Thrax at point B. Likely you and I will join Thrax in forming a strike team to move to point A, but that will be up to the Boss," Raymond muttered chewing on pencil to ease his nerves. It was the next part he was not so sure he should do. But he figured Thrax may enjoy the idea that Raymond would entertain.
"You okay?" Greene asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Raymond said, not making eye contact keeping his eye on the map.
"What about us, sir?" Sergeant Simmons asked with his gruff voice. Simmons was distinctly older than the other men in the room. His grizzled beard and bald head made him appear to be a true military man. He was also one of the shorter men in the room, but with his body armor equipped with several explosives on his belt made him no less threatening.
"Don't worry, Simmons. I didn't forget you," Raymond said like a mother would say to her son. "You probably have the most important job. You will move to point C which is about 200 meters away from point B. You will establish our second defense perimeter with the Golem Ring trap. You remember that one, correct?"
"The plan you used at Mt. Silver 6 months ago?" Lt. Carter blurted out. "You surrounded the enemy with Golems embedded in the caves and cliffs and as the targets walked by, your men ordered the Golems to use Explosion, injuring or killing him."
"That one, indeed," Raymond smiled. "Ideally, you will lie down 2 Golem Rings as close as you can to the top of the mountain without getting detected by the enemy. Stealth is key, Simmons."
"Roger that, sir. Anything else?" Simmons said.
"As a matter of fact, yes. On my command, should Thrax approve of it, you will use any remaining Golems then initiate the Golem Grenade technique."
"Golem Grenade?" One of the privates in attendance asked.
"You must be one of the new guys to Simmon's squad. Sergeant, educate the youngster," Raymond ordered.
"The Golem Grenade is our squad's signature technique invented by Raymond about a year back. We order our Golems to use Rollout to attack the enemy. This not only damages the enemy but forces them into a scramble and become disorganized. As our Golems either stop rolling out or are attacked by the opposing forces, we order them explode taking out as many enemies as possible in one instant strike," Simmons explained.
"In other words, we sent the Golems in to roll around and berserk and when they are finished, we use Explosion to take out the survivors," the private said attempting to process the information. Simmons simply nodded in approval with a hearty smile.
"The intention here is to scramble and disorient the enemy, hopefully splitting them up. The ones that fly away will be intercepted by Carter's men. The ones that run away on foot will be taken out by the Golem Ring. The rest will deal with myself and Thrax's strike team," Raymond summarized.
"Sir, how many Golems should I set for the Golem Ring?"
"You have 10 men under your command, right Simmons?" Simmons nodded in acknowledgment. "Each one should have about 4 Golems and 2 personal Pokemon for combat. So set about 30 for the ring and we will use the remaining 10 for the Golem Grenades," Raymond stated drawing dots on the maps for the rough locations. "I want 15 on the upper cliffs as close as possible, enclosing them into their meeting hole. The other 15 spread out on the cliffs and close up any nearby caves. Let's keep the battle out in the open so Carter can support us easily. Everyone clear?"
"Yes, sir!" The team responded.
"Alright, let's move out. Get in positions! We have little time to waste!" Raymond ordered with authority.
Some time later…
Raymond landed at the rendezvous point using his Charizard to land nearby and climb his way quietly. Lt. Greene and remainder of his Noble Team forces were close behind covering the flanks ensuring no sneak attacks.
"The eagles have landed. Watching the prey," Carter called on the radio.
"How's my stone castle coming along?" Raymond asked.
"Placing the rocks now. Give us some time. Enemy has no idea we are here," Simmons replied. "Our throwing stones are closing in now, however."
"Roger that. The King is smiling. Maintain radio silence as you move in," Raymond smirked.
Raymond looked around for the boss who he believed would of been here by now. So far, nothing. But he expected that to change. Though deep down, he knew at this point he wouldn't need Thrax. After this, all opposition would be dead.
"Give it time, sir," Greene patted on Raymond's shoulder. "Boss wouldn't go down that easily. He's too smart."
"Yeah…he is," Raymond muttered almost sounding disappointed.
