VIP Escort
“Wait and see what they do first.”
“There’s two groups lurking by the woodland routs, a third by the pond rout.”
The five other members in my VIP transport team quickly assessed the current situation as we planned our rout. Already we had switched up uniforms with the VIP to make him blend in, now we had to move.
After quickly determining that the two woodland routs were tactical suicide, (5 VIP escorts vs. 8 assassins), we quickly launched to the pond rout.
Knowing our movements would soon be spotted our formation glided along swiftly. Crunch, crunch, crunch; asphalt and boots ground together as the six man caravan moved past our first bottleneck—a large brick house right on the rout.
“Target front!”
Quickly I glanced through the undergrowth in time to see a potential assassin fall back from his position along the pond rout.
“Look sharp. Excalibur, watch the bank along the pond, Bob cover that log pile, Alex, watch the VIP.”
The target in front must have been a scout for as we moved forward he slid back from tree to tree. Knowing we are entering the next major bottleneck my eye’s dart around behind large trees, rock piles, brush…there!
“Target front right.”
Sure enough, two assassins were quietly waiting till their decoy led us around the corner. Luckily we spotted the ambush in time. Excalibur and I made quick work of the targets.
“They’ve figured out our rout. We’ve got movement on our flank!” Striker’s info pressed a new urgency up us.
“Come on, let move out!”
With known assailants behind us and unknown dangers before us we entered the open corn field.
“Keep the VIP back from the edge of the woods.”
Bob and I scanned the nearby brush and trees through our rifle sights, searching for any signs of potential danger.
“Target ahead…two of them!” Bob yelled.
Another scouting party or a trap? The perspective assassins fled before our hail of bb’s into the woods.
“We’ve got to make for the other corner of the woods before they can re-group and plan” Striker noted.
“Right, get ready to run team…move out!”
Excalibur and I took the lead laying some fire down on the enemy just in the woods. They fired back. I could hear their guns, but we were out of range - barely. I was the first one to make it to the tree line. I moved swiftly, searching for threats while looking for a defensive postion. Excalibur was still engaging the two enemies. He was exposed and on their front…I was on the side. I lined up my read dot and let a for short bursts fly.
“Target down!”
The other had retreated—presumably toward the main body of enemy forces. By now the VIP and rest of the team had made it into the woods.
“We’ve got to move quickly.”
“Right. Excalibur, take right flank, Striker, left”.
We approached a fort complex. I continued in the lead position while Bob and Alex followed behind with our VIP. Pre-occupied with the complex, I was suddenly jolted to attention by Strikers harsh whisper to the left.
“Pst, four targets in the open field…”
Knowing that Excalibur was checking enemies on the right I glanced left. There, marching through the open where we had been just minutes before, was a squad of the VIP hunters.
Things were getting tough. I knew there are at least ten enemies at large. Four were (unknowingly) moving up our left flank to our rear. One was on the far right. I strongly suspected an unknown force directly in front of us. We are getting boxed in. Worse, we were getting spread out. The VIP was still far behind with Alex and Bob. I knew yelling orders would blow our position, but we had to re-group and move…fast!
“Come on, move up, move up!”
Now the four hunters were on our rear. Excalibur and Striker held them back while the VIP and escorts moved forward.
For my part I charged forward to all the forts, quickly sweeping and clearing them.
“All clear.”
Now I was whisking down hill. Shots were coming at us from behind. The VIP, Alex and Bob caught up while Excalibur and Striker supported our rear. Ahead, shadows moved on the opposite hill—the rest of the killers.
“Common guys keep going!”
“Targets front!”
As we past the tree house I paused to cover it while the rest of the team zipped by. Our primary destination was right ahead.
“Go, go, go!”
I covered the rear while the rest of the team lurched forward once again.
Crash! Snap! Leaves swirled about in a regular hurricane as twenty boots thrashed them right behind us. Occasional shots still rang out. We made it to our primary destination, but pushed on for the secondary.
Exhausted, the team pulled themselves together for one last push. Assassins were charging across the field. We opened fire.
“Target down!”
“Good work. Just another hundred feet guys!”
I could see the hills peppered with enemies as we reached the safety of our final destination. We collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. We had succeeded. Our VIP was safe. Mission accomplished.
TACTICAL REVIEW:
What worked for the VIP team:
Sharp eyes, good team-work, constant progressive movement. The key for a successful VIP team is that they are just that…a team. They must work together, communicate and assist. But even a good team can get slaughtered (it’s just harder). It’s also extremely important to divide and confuse the enemy as much as possible. Because we constantly kept moving we were able to out-maneuver the hunters. I have lead VIP teams before where we took heavy losses and barely survived because we were able to move just fast enough. Look sharp, work together, keep moving, stay alive.
What didn’t work for the Assassins:
First, there were three opposing groups of four. While they might work together to kill the VIP, after that there would be in-fighting. Secondly, there was a lack of communication. Thirdly, they were unable to get a solid lock on or position until the very end. Had the VIP team stopped at any point they would have caught up and overwhelmed them.
Work together, anticipate the VIP rout, bait in the VIP team, go for the kill. Stay on top of where they are. Know major choke points. Have a good system of communication with your scouts. Stay quiet, succeed.