The Winter Tyrant-Chapter 37: Moons out, Goons out

Dean sat in his bedroom, looking over the footage obtained by cameras and drones. In the middle of the night, the raiders had undertaken a retrieval operation.

He was tired, operating on four hours of sleep over the course of the last forty-eight hours. And he wasn’t the only one.

Currently he had about fifteen "soldiers" to rotate through patrols. Each of which was expected to be on high alert and to respond to any incursion made at any time.

Until now, Dean had been holding a line of defense. Operating patrols, and building fortifications in the day with limited manpower.

Meanwhile, the enemy rested at night and aggressed during the day. Probing defenses and gaining actionable intel on Paradise Falls and its layout.

At this point, there were only two paths forward, and Dean knew it. He could continue to defend and bleed the enemy dry until they either dispersed or negotiated an armistice. Or he could lead a night raid and catch the enemy with their pants down, so to speak....

Dean looked over at his helmet that lie on his dresser next to several drones. The helmet’s shroud currently had FPV goggles mounted on it. But that wasn’t the only thing that could be mounted there.

He walked over to a nearby rigid case and opened it. Revealing several pairs of night vision binoculars and a thermal clip-ons next to them. It had cost him tens of thousands of dollars to acquire so many sets.

But... if he were ever going to use them, now was the time.

Dean swiftly detached the FPV goggles and laid them down to the side before attaching a pair of night vision goggles and their thermal clip-on onto the shroud.

He then got on his radio and sent out a command. "This is Archon-actual, I want all units to converge on the agora ASAP. And bring your equipment with you, over and out."

Dean didn’t wait for a response, he simply geared up and walked out his door headed to the community center.

---

The community center, also known as the "agora" by Dean and his militia, was located at the front of the neighborhood, near the "display homes" and the front office of the HOA as it had once exited.

This meant it was naturally one of the primary targets for fortification in the neighborhood. Work over the last few weeks had been in targeted areas such as this.

The Agora and the surrounding area acted like a classic gatehouse. It had been fortified with bastion barriers, sand bags, camouflage netting and static weapon emplacements. One of Dean’s fireteams was constantly on duty here as sentries.

Another fortified area was Dean’s house and the immediate surrounding homes, which were currently used to house the families of his militia.

They received priority food, water, and heating. And naturally, this section had been incorporated into a central "keep" infrastructure.

There were other entry points that were also focused on fortification, but construction resources and manpower were currently limited. It would take time to turn all of Paradise Falls into a properly integrated "Polis." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

With that said, Dean met with the boys in the Agora. Each was dressed in full kit. He had gathered them all for a singular purpose, one which he revealed by opening the cases he had brought with him.

The boys stared in astonishment at what they were looking at. They had only ever seen such things in movies, video games, and perhaps the occasional combat footage. But these were slightly different.

The binoculars and thermal clip-ons were painted snow white and wrapped in a thermal reduction camouflage vinyl, its pattern identical to the equipment they wore.

Dean handed the goggles out to his chosen personnel, he looked over at Daniel and the others in Phalanx-Alpha with approval as he began to speak.

"I have chosen you boys as the vanguard. I’m not going to lie to you what we’re about to do is going to be extremely dangerous. Until now, we have had the advantage of defenders. But we’re about to go on the offensive. The objective isn’t to eliminate the enemy outright while they sleep. That would simply be too dangerous."

Daniel nodded his head in agreement, while the leader of Phalanx-Beta, a boy named Todd, shot him an envious gaze. All the while Dean continued.

"No, our objective tonight is to infiltrate the enemy’s camp and sabotage their supplies. An army marches on its stomach, and we’re going to poison the field. The enemy fears the dark, they can’t see through it, and they can only rely on flashlights and flares to maintain control. But we own the night... So, I’m going to give you all a brief crash course on how to setup your helmets for proper night vision use, and then we head out. The rest of you will maintain the perimeter. We should be back before the dawn breaks."

Nobody needed to say a word while Dean helped Daniel and his fireteam properly adjust their helmets for night vision use, and then they set out into the snow.

---

Dean had accurately assessed the situation. It didn’t take much, if anything the enemy’s poorly planned first assault confirmed the level of threat he was dealing with.

An ad hoc nomadic raider group formed from aggressive civilians, and former criminal elements. Their training was minimal, and their understanding of tactics improvised.

And when he and his Phalanx approached the perimeter of the enemy camp; any doubt or suspicion he may have had towards potential hidden competence was removed.

The enemy’s numbers were cut in half during the first assault. And they were clearly acting impulsively. Those who weren’t asleep huddled around fires further inside the camp. Not expecting anyone to attack during the night when the night was at its coldest.

They drank, smoked, and chatted, acting as if they were celebrating a victory rather than maintaining a perimeter.

Dean gazed upon the scene and scoffed while shaking his head and whispering beneath his breath.

"So undisciplined...."

He had not spared the expense on his equipment, gen three, white phosphor, and thermal clip-ons. It was practically a superpower compared to the naked human eye.

And when he flipped his goggles down over his eyes, it marked the moment the operation began.

"Moons out, goons out...."