Republic of Than Dat
May, 1993
Commander Jamie Maclaren led his group of Action Force personnel into the operations room of the Than Dat Navy headquarters with a determined stride. The leader of Q Force was intercepted near the door by a man wearing what looked like a French Navy uniform, but which Maclaren, also known as Leviathan, recognised as the Than Dat uniform of a commander.
“Good day, Commander,” the local said pleasantly in slightly accented English. “I am Commander Villers, Naval Intelligence. This way, please, the Admiral wishes to meet you.”
Leviathan nodded and followed the other man, with his retinue in tow.
As the group made their way through the operations room, Leviathan noticed there didn’t seem to be many admirals around. The group finally reached a large table with a map of Than Dat on top; several small model vessels and aircraft decorated the map. On the wall behind the table four monitors showed the same map, with the vehicles moving in crudely animated computer graphics. Standing beneath the monitors was a short, avuncular looking man of Southeast Asian ethnicity. The rank insignia he wore identified him as an admiral.
“Good day, Commander,” the admiral said. “I am Admiral Den, commander of the Than Dat Navy. Allow me to introduce my divisional commanders; Captain Dai, head of Naval Intelligence; Captain Trang, head of Naval Aviation; Captain San, head of logistics.”
Each of three officers on Den’s left nodded in turn. Dai was a short, wiry looking man with greying hair. Trang was of medium height, but muscular. He looked like a boxer, Leviathan thought. San was a taller, European-looking man with thinning hair. Den indicated the two men on his right.
“Captain Kim, commander of the frigate squadron and Captain DesJardins, commander of the torpedo boat squadron.”
Kim was tall for an Asian, whip-thin and had a scar on his left cheek. DesJardins was even more European looking than San. He had close-cropped blonde hair and looked like he wouldn’t take any messing from anyone.
Leviathan must have looked surprised as Admiral Den smiled before saying, “I suppose you’re wondering why we have captains in positions most navies would give to flag-officers?”
Leviathan nodded, “The thought did cross my mind, Admiral.”
Den smiled again, “Than Dat is a small country as you know, Commander. We do not have a large navy. Two squadrons, one of French frigates and one of torpedo boats. Our naval aviation wing comprises three squadrons; one of search-and-rescue helicopters, one of anti-submarine helicopters and a squadron of maritime patrol planes. We are not an adventurist power, we’ve never wanted to do anything more with our military than simply defend our borders.”
Leviathan nodded, respectfully, “I understand, Admiral.”
Den continued, “Since our forces are small, it was felt when we established the navy after our independence from France that only one admiral was necessary. Our divisional commanders are captains and our ships are commanded by Commanders or Lieutenant Commanders.”
Leviathan nodded once more as Den paused before going on. “Lately the only need we’ve had for a navy has been in trying to combat the smugglers based in the Song Lon river delta region. But now Cobra has appeared, like the snake they name themselves after. They have struck at our offshore oilrigs and our naval bases near the delta, and two oil terminals. Our patrol boats cannot stand up to their firepower and our frigates cannot pursue them into the river delta. That is why we have asked for Action Force’s assistance.”
Leviathan straightened to an even more rigid pose than he had been in, “Action Force stands ready to assist you, Admiral,” he said, his normal Scots accent disappearing in his formal words.
“At ease, before you sprain something, Commander.” Den laughed, “There is no need for such formality.”
Leviathan relaxed. “May I introduce my senior personnel for this operation?”
Den nodded, so Leviathan went on, “Q Force Aqua-trooper leader Shark; Broadside, commander of Q Force’s Killer WHALE detachment; SAS Force frogman leader Barracuda; SAS Force Boat Patrol leader Stakeout and commanding SAS Force’s Silent Attack Kayak group, Beaver.”
Each of the men nodded respectfully.
“Pardon me,” Dai spoke up, quietly, “What is an aquatrooper?”
Shark stepped forward to Leviathan’s left shoulder. “Aquatroopers are the naval infantry arm of Q-Force,” he began. “Each member of the squad is recruited from a special operations navy diver unit. They are trained in amphibious combat operations including use of small-boat raider craft, Sea Lion submersible chariots, Stingray sea-sleds and the Devilfish speed boat. They are also qualified to operate the weapons of the Killer WHALE hovercraft and Swordfish assault boat. The aquatroopers are trained in boarding hostile vessels or captured vessels as well as conventional infantry tactics. In short, they are trained to operate in, on or under water in nearly any capacity as well as on land.”
Dai frowned, “So what is the role of the SAS Force frogmen?”
Barracuda stepped forward next, standing on Leviathan’s right as Shark stepped back.
“The SAS Force frogman squad are recruited from elite combat diver teams as well, however whilst they are trained in SCUBA and close-circuit diving and the Stingray seal-sleds like the aquatroopers, they are not trained in the use of the Sea Lion chariots or Devilfish boats. They are, however trained in helicopter-assault tactics for boarding naval vessels and on land. The SAS Force frogmen are also airborne qualified for high-altitude, high-opening; high-altitude, low-opening and low-altitude low-opening parachuting. They are also trained in the use of small raider boats, such as the flat-bottom skimmers employed by Boat Patrol.” Barracuda paused briefly in his recitation to glance at Stakeout before concluding, “In short, the SAS Force frogmen are sea-air-land qualified.”
Stakeout strode forward to stand where Shark had. “Boat Patrol troopers are recruited from Naval Special Forces units as well. Whilst we do have close-circuit and SCUBA qualification, our speciality is in operating small boats such as Zodiac rigid hull inflatable boats or the Rigid Raiders we currently employ. The Boat Patrol members are also airborne qualified, but our main role is in littoral waters combat.”
Beaver moved up next. “SAS Force Silent Attack Kayak squad is trained in the use of RHIBs and rigid raiders like the Boat Patrol, but we specialise in the employment of kayaks for silent approaches to targets. We are also airborne qualified and frogman trained. The principal difference between Boat Patrol and the kayak team is that Boat Patrol are the hammer to hit a target, we are the scalpel.”
Stakeout looked at Beaver with a mock frown, but the Canadian merely smiled.
Captain Dai nodded thoughtfully, “So, overlapping expertise but distinct roles within your forces. I understand.”
Admiral Den tapped the table to draw everyone’s attention.
“If we can get back to the point..?”
Everyone stared at him, politely.
“What watercraft have you brought with you and how many men do you have?” Den asked. “We were not informed by your commander.”
Leviathan nodded, “We’ve brought three Killer WHALE hovercraft, a pair of Devilfish speedboats and four each of the SAS Force rigid raiders and silent attack kayaks. In addition, we have four Q Force modified Hawk helicopters and two Skystriker fighter jets for air support. We have thirty-two personnel on hand for this mission. Our submarine, Nautilus, is also operating in the Gulf of Thailand to provide us with support if needed. Nautilus is currently at sea with her ‘blue’ crew under Commander Dive-plane.”
Den frowned, “Her blue crew?”