Killswitch Engage
Part II
Suppression
Part II
Suppression
March 22, 1977 - 13:00 hrs [UTC-4]
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Puerto Caballo
(10° 44' 31" N, 71° 38' 6" W)
Hernán Castro leaned heavily on his cane, which always appeared ready to break as his body's heavy bulk leaned to the right. Years of fighting enemies both foreign and domestic had left Castro, age 35, broken and scarred. Thousands of sleepless nights and thousands of kilometers of hard marching had aged his appearance by twenty years but no matter how tired, how weak, how sore, and how achy he was, today was the happiest day of his life. From the small, coastal community of Puerto Caballo in northern Maracaibo, Castro looked to the north as a freighter vessel, a roll-on/roll-off military type, steamed northward, towards the Gulf of Venezuela, towards the Caribbean Sea. He was flanked on either side by tall, dark-skinned men who hard faces and ramrod posture, each of them looking just as hard at the departing ship as he was. "Hoy es, sin duda, un gran día." [Today is certainly a great day.] He said, breaking the silence that had lasted for the last thirty minutes as the vessel moved slowly into Lake Maracaibo.
"La Layartebians están dejando, para bien" [The Layartebians are leaving – for good,] the man on his left, Raul Castillo answered. Like Castro, Castillo was a fighter and though he could walk and stand without a cane, he had plenty of scars himself and he never slept more than a few hours before he awoke in a cold, sticky sweat.
"Creo que estaré de vuelta." [I think they'll be back.] Cynical as always, Castro's younger brother, Miguel, spoke not for joy but of disappointment. These three men were leaders within the Eastern Venezuela guerilla forces. Hernán was high on the totem pole, Raul was not much further below, and Miguel was much less a fighter and more of a motivator. All three had seen battle but Miguel bore no scars from hastily removed bullet holes or grenade fragments like the other two men. His experiences had been at a distance and though he had shot – and killed- Layartebian troops, he was no fighter. His gifts were in motivating people to fight against the Western Venezuelans and their foreign allies.
In this regard, the trio of men was victorious. Gross trouble at home forced the Republic of Layarteb to call it quits in Venezuela. Intense fighting left nearly 25,000 Layartebians dead and over 20,000 wounded. Back at home, civil war had just begun and to the Republic's enemies in Eastern Venezuela, it could only be satisfying if the Layartebian people slaughtered one another wholesale. The Ro-Ro freighter departing was carrying the last Layartebians away from Venezuela. The Western Venezuelan government was holding on by a thin thread now that their biggest foreign backer was leaving them. Victory had come, in some major way, to Eastern Venezuela now that the Republic of Layarteb was leaving Venezuela.
"¿Y qué le hace pensar eso?" [And what makes you think that?] Hernán asked of his brother, not taking his eyes from the freighter.
"La Layartebians son una gente obstinada. Cuando la guerra civil, el gobierno se habrán ido. Un gobierno tan débil, inepto y corrupto como lo que tienen no pueden sobrevivir a esta guerra. La gente lo que se rompa en pedazos y el que sube al trono después no es un osito de peluche." [The Layartebians are a stubborn people. When their civil war is over, the government will be gone. A government as weak, inept, and corrupt as they have cannot survive this war. The people will tear it to shreds and he who ascends to the throne afterwards won't be a teddy bear.]
"Allí es hablar, y hablar," [There is talk, well mention,] Raul said, beginning, "que uno de los hombres que la guerra civil fue una de las principales, las fuerzas especiales Delta commando." [that one of the men leading the civil war was a major here, a special forces Delta commando.] Miguel's mention immediately tore both men's eyes away from the freighter and towards him. The Layartebian Delta Force was the most fearsome of all units in the military. Formed at the beginning of the war to conduct guerilla missions inside of Eastern Venezuela, they were horrendously effective. For every Delta commando killed, over two hundred Eastern Venezuelans had lost their lives. Bridges, trails, highways, and supply depots were their favorite targets and they knew no limits to how far into Eastern Venezuela they could reach.
Hernán walked with a cane because of them. It was some two years earlier. He was leading a company-sized element of guerillas near a supply route just east of the Orinoco River in the Bolívar state. His element had no reports of enemy activity and thus, security was light. They were noisy and careless. The company made a base camp during the first night and avoided lighting cooking fires for fear of Layartebian gunships, which operated during the night with thermal sensors. The next morning, three men were missing, taken during the night from their hammocks with no one hearing a thing. That was an ominous sign and Hernán ordered the company to pack up and move out immediately.
An hour after sun up, they were moving parallel to the stream when they found the first of their men, dead on a high-speed trail. Two men were killed instantly when a grenade, booby-trapped underneath the corpse and rigged for immediate detonation, detonated. Fearful of an ambush, Hernán and his men dug-in and waited but for three hours, the jungle around them was quiet. Finally, as the mid-day sun began to spike the mercury, the company moved out and headed back on their route. They got no more than one hundred and fifty meters before the entire jungle opened up around them. The Delta commandos had the discipline of gods, Hernán reported afterwards. They had waited, watching, their ambush prepared. They had not moved in all that time, had not given away their position, and they had not spooked.
The Delta commando for that hit them was a Mobile Guerilla Force, consisting of one hundred and fifty men – twelve Layartebian Delta commandos and one hundred and thirty-eight, highly trained Venezuelans. In the ensuing firefight, Hernán just barely got away with his headquarters element. Anti-personnel mines claimed nine of his men, grenades another fourteen but accurate, disciplined rifle fire claimed another one hundred and twenty men. Only seventeen men, including Hernán had escaped and it was during that escape that a 7.62-millimeter round from an M60 Light Machine Gun shattered Hernán's leg. Though he recovered, he never walked right again, reliant on his cane to do everything. The Delta commandos were the most fearsome men in the jungle.
Everyone knew what it meant if a Delta commando led the Layartebians to victory and took over the seat of government. The Delta commandos were vengeful and resilient. They rarely left their dead and when they did, it wasn't without expending a lot of ordinance in the process. Encircling them and getting inside of their artillery or air support safety zones was the only way to truly defeat them and even then, plenty of Delta commandos lied over the radio about their position and brought in bombs and gunfire within meters of their position, sometimes seriously wounding or killing themselves in the process but only in the most dire of circumstances. They had a near unlimited supply of ordinance at their disposal and the Eastern Venezuelans knew it. "Que Dios nos ayude a todos si ese es el caso," [May God help us all if that is the case,] replied Hernán as the statement hung in the humid air above their heads.
"La Layartebians están dejando, para bien" [The Layartebians are leaving – for good,] the man on his left, Raul Castillo answered. Like Castro, Castillo was a fighter and though he could walk and stand without a cane, he had plenty of scars himself and he never slept more than a few hours before he awoke in a cold, sticky sweat.
"Creo que estaré de vuelta." [I think they'll be back.] Cynical as always, Castro's younger brother, Miguel, spoke not for joy but of disappointment. These three men were leaders within the Eastern Venezuela guerilla forces. Hernán was high on the totem pole, Raul was not much further below, and Miguel was much less a fighter and more of a motivator. All three had seen battle but Miguel bore no scars from hastily removed bullet holes or grenade fragments like the other two men. His experiences had been at a distance and though he had shot – and killed- Layartebian troops, he was no fighter. His gifts were in motivating people to fight against the Western Venezuelans and their foreign allies.
In this regard, the trio of men was victorious. Gross trouble at home forced the Republic of Layarteb to call it quits in Venezuela. Intense fighting left nearly 25,000 Layartebians dead and over 20,000 wounded. Back at home, civil war had just begun and to the Republic's enemies in Eastern Venezuela, it could only be satisfying if the Layartebian people slaughtered one another wholesale. The Ro-Ro freighter departing was carrying the last Layartebians away from Venezuela. The Western Venezuelan government was holding on by a thin thread now that their biggest foreign backer was leaving them. Victory had come, in some major way, to Eastern Venezuela now that the Republic of Layarteb was leaving Venezuela.
"¿Y qué le hace pensar eso?" [And what makes you think that?] Hernán asked of his brother, not taking his eyes from the freighter.
"La Layartebians son una gente obstinada. Cuando la guerra civil, el gobierno se habrán ido. Un gobierno tan débil, inepto y corrupto como lo que tienen no pueden sobrevivir a esta guerra. La gente lo que se rompa en pedazos y el que sube al trono después no es un osito de peluche." [The Layartebians are a stubborn people. When their civil war is over, the government will be gone. A government as weak, inept, and corrupt as they have cannot survive this war. The people will tear it to shreds and he who ascends to the throne afterwards won't be a teddy bear.]
"Allí es hablar, y hablar," [There is talk, well mention,] Raul said, beginning, "que uno de los hombres que la guerra civil fue una de las principales, las fuerzas especiales Delta commando." [that one of the men leading the civil war was a major here, a special forces Delta commando.] Miguel's mention immediately tore both men's eyes away from the freighter and towards him. The Layartebian Delta Force was the most fearsome of all units in the military. Formed at the beginning of the war to conduct guerilla missions inside of Eastern Venezuela, they were horrendously effective. For every Delta commando killed, over two hundred Eastern Venezuelans had lost their lives. Bridges, trails, highways, and supply depots were their favorite targets and they knew no limits to how far into Eastern Venezuela they could reach.
Hernán walked with a cane because of them. It was some two years earlier. He was leading a company-sized element of guerillas near a supply route just east of the Orinoco River in the Bolívar state. His element had no reports of enemy activity and thus, security was light. They were noisy and careless. The company made a base camp during the first night and avoided lighting cooking fires for fear of Layartebian gunships, which operated during the night with thermal sensors. The next morning, three men were missing, taken during the night from their hammocks with no one hearing a thing. That was an ominous sign and Hernán ordered the company to pack up and move out immediately.
An hour after sun up, they were moving parallel to the stream when they found the first of their men, dead on a high-speed trail. Two men were killed instantly when a grenade, booby-trapped underneath the corpse and rigged for immediate detonation, detonated. Fearful of an ambush, Hernán and his men dug-in and waited but for three hours, the jungle around them was quiet. Finally, as the mid-day sun began to spike the mercury, the company moved out and headed back on their route. They got no more than one hundred and fifty meters before the entire jungle opened up around them. The Delta commandos had the discipline of gods, Hernán reported afterwards. They had waited, watching, their ambush prepared. They had not moved in all that time, had not given away their position, and they had not spooked.
The Delta commando for that hit them was a Mobile Guerilla Force, consisting of one hundred and fifty men – twelve Layartebian Delta commandos and one hundred and thirty-eight, highly trained Venezuelans. In the ensuing firefight, Hernán just barely got away with his headquarters element. Anti-personnel mines claimed nine of his men, grenades another fourteen but accurate, disciplined rifle fire claimed another one hundred and twenty men. Only seventeen men, including Hernán had escaped and it was during that escape that a 7.62-millimeter round from an M60 Light Machine Gun shattered Hernán's leg. Though he recovered, he never walked right again, reliant on his cane to do everything. The Delta commandos were the most fearsome men in the jungle.
Everyone knew what it meant if a Delta commando led the Layartebians to victory and took over the seat of government. The Delta commandos were vengeful and resilient. They rarely left their dead and when they did, it wasn't without expending a lot of ordinance in the process. Encircling them and getting inside of their artillery or air support safety zones was the only way to truly defeat them and even then, plenty of Delta commandos lied over the radio about their position and brought in bombs and gunfire within meters of their position, sometimes seriously wounding or killing themselves in the process but only in the most dire of circumstances. They had a near unlimited supply of ordinance at their disposal and the Eastern Venezuelans knew it. "Que Dios nos ayude a todos si ese es el caso," [May God help us all if that is the case,] replied Hernán as the statement hung in the humid air above their heads.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ | ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
February 22, 1983 - 05:10 hrs [UTC-4]
Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela
Comunidad San Valentin
(8° 7' 1" N, 63° 29' 30" W)
After three solid weeks of modern siege warfare, Cuidad Bolívar looked like an archeological dig site. Ruins replaced buildings and streets were barely passable even for bicycles. Movement was almost entirely by walking – and climbing. At forty-one, Hernán Castro had lived through not just one but now two wars in his home of Eastern Venezuela. The first war had been long and bloody, taxing on his will to fight and to resist but ever obstinate in his belief in Eastern Venezuela, he fought on, continuing the guerilla war against the Western Venezuelan government, even after the Layartebians departed. In 1979, his close confidante, Raul Castillo, a man who fought with him for years, was killed by an assassination squad from Western Venezuela, a highly trained unit that had been very effective post-Layartebian withdrawal, despite the lack of political will in Caracas.
Then, just last year, his younger brother Miguel, had been killed in an airstrike on a guerilla headquarters. Hernán largely suspected that the headquarters' location had been betrayed by a double agent. He remembered the afternoon that he, Raul, and his brother watched the last Layartebians leave Venezuela in 1977. His brother had said that the Layartebians would return and Raul had mentioned that a feared, Delta commando was rumored to be leading the anti-government troops. Both turned out to be correct and that Delta commando, a major, gave his first official speech to the Layartebian people on July 4, 1980. The Republic of Layarteb had been shattered and torn to shreds and over three million of them had died during the war but all it did was make them hardened.
The Republic of Layarteb was replaced with the Federation of Layarteb and his unnamed Delta major continued to hold the seat of power, making every guerilla and regular grunt in Eastern Venezuela very nervous. On March 1, 1981, that same major announced that not only was Eastern Venezuela a massive threat to the Western Hemisphere but so was Western Venezuela. Instantly, the government in Western Venezuela began to fear. When he vowed to return to Venezuela and conquer it in the name of Layarteb, preparations were made. Politicians put aside their differences and began to meet about a cohesive plan to stop the Layartebian threat. Some called it a bluff but most believed the major to be serious.
He was and two months – to the day – later, the Federation of Layarteb began to drop bombs on Caracas. The government in Western Venezuela lasted six months before they collapsed underneath the military might of the Federation of Layarteb. The same military might that had been used against the Eastern Venezuelans – with restrictions – had been unleashed against them without restrictions. Corruption and ineptitude that had reigned supreme for decades was their own undoing and by mid-1982, Western Venezuela ceased to be an entity. This didn't satiate the desire of the Layartebians and they pushed eastward, bringing their military prowess with such violence and such strength that the Eastern Venezuelans folded.
For the past three weeks, the end of Eastern Venezuela hung in the air as Layartebian troops attacked Ciudad Bolívar, the country's capital. The Orinoco River, which separated east from west, held back the Layartebian troops only because they wanted to be sure of Ciudad Bolívar's destruction before they crossed. That crossing was made on February 21 and for the past twenty-nine hours, Layartebian troops had been moving through the capital facing only sporadic resistance. The guerilla troops, who, for decades, valiantly defended Eastern Venezuela, had no more will to fight. They were broken and shattered and Hernán Castro, who had risen to the position of head honcho, knew that the end was hours – not days – away. He looked around the bare walls of his makeshift command center, the basement of a walled-in compound of structures, and leaned on his cane as he cried deeply. Tens of thousands of young, inexperienced boys, and tens of thousands of hardened, experienced men, had gone to battle over the past nine months per his orders and not returned. They had all believed that Eastern Venezuela would hold out, that victory would be theirs again but now victory was just a distant, harassing memory.
The war was over, the Federation of Layarteb had won, and Hernán ordered the command bunker abandoned. He gave orders to what troops remained, what troops he could reach, to put down their weapons and fold back into the civilian masses and into the jungles. They were not to give themselves up to the vengeful Layartebians but rather to fade into the confusion and chaos of war with hopes of fighting another day.
"Ustedes, mis hermanos heroica de la revolución, que han trabajado muy duro y que han luchado durante mucho tiempo. El enemigo ha venido de lejos a reprimir sus deseos y aplastar su fuego a la independencia y la libertad." [You, my heroic brothers of the revolution, you have fought hard and you have fought long. The enemy has come from afar to quell your desires and stomp out your fire for independence and freedom.] He had begun his speech, knowing that the Layartebian SIGINT platforms were probably eavesdropping on his channels, trying to get a fix. "Todos ustedes han hecho ya me siento orgulloso, si se ha realizado una revista para el campo de batalla o destruido un depósito. Todos ustedes son héroes de Venezuela y su gente, pero ha llegado el momento al heroísmo ya no es necesaria en la culata de un rifle o debajo del tubo de un lanzador de cohetes." [You have all done me proud, whether you have carried a magazine to the battlefield or destroyed a tank. You are all heroes of Venezuela and its people but the time has come when heroism is no longer needed behind the butt of a rifle or underneath the tube of a rocket launcher.]
"El heroísmo necesita ahora es en la moderación y en su disciplina. El enemigo está más allá de las puertas, que se están volcando en nuestras ciudades como cucarachas y aquellos que los sirven ya ha llamado para la entrega. Nuestro gobierno nos ha abandonado y, por lo tanto, no hay ninguna razón para luchar, sino para nosotros y para nuestra causa, pero no es el momento ahora. El enemigo es fuerte, son poderosos y están interesados en que cada uno de nuestros movimientos." [The heroism needed now is in your restraint and in your discipline. The enemy is beyond the gates and they are swarming over our cities like cockroaches and those who serve you have already called for surrender. Our government has abandoned us and thus, there is no reason to fight but for ourselves and for our cause but the time is not now. The enemy is strong, they are powerful, and they are keen to our every movement.]
"El tiempo ahora se pide para nuestro retiro. Depongan las armas y se pierden en las masas de civiles y en la protección de la selva. Huir del enemigo no a partir de la derrota o el miedo, sino de pensamiento estratégico. Nuestro tiempo, pero no es hoy, no es este mes, que no es ahora. Volver a las masas y evitar el enjuiciamiento. Escóndete en el enemigo y cuando llega el momento, voy a pedir a usted otra vez y nos matará al enemigo desde dentro, cuando la guardia está abajo, cuando su orgullo es alta" [The time now calls for our retreat. Lay down your weapons and disappear into the masses of civilians and into the protection of the jungle. Flee from the enemy not out of defeat or fear but out of strategic thinking. Our time will come again but it is not today, it is not this month, it is not now. Return to the masses and avoid prosecution. Hide yourselves from the enemy and when the time comes, I will call upon you again and we shall slay the enemy from within, when its guard is down, when its pride is high.]
"Vaya con Dios, mi guerreros." [Go with God my warriors.] He put down the microphone and gave the final orders. Everyone was silent but tears came down their collective faces. The Layartebians had won.
Then, just last year, his younger brother Miguel, had been killed in an airstrike on a guerilla headquarters. Hernán largely suspected that the headquarters' location had been betrayed by a double agent. He remembered the afternoon that he, Raul, and his brother watched the last Layartebians leave Venezuela in 1977. His brother had said that the Layartebians would return and Raul had mentioned that a feared, Delta commando was rumored to be leading the anti-government troops. Both turned out to be correct and that Delta commando, a major, gave his first official speech to the Layartebian people on July 4, 1980. The Republic of Layarteb had been shattered and torn to shreds and over three million of them had died during the war but all it did was make them hardened.
The Republic of Layarteb was replaced with the Federation of Layarteb and his unnamed Delta major continued to hold the seat of power, making every guerilla and regular grunt in Eastern Venezuela very nervous. On March 1, 1981, that same major announced that not only was Eastern Venezuela a massive threat to the Western Hemisphere but so was Western Venezuela. Instantly, the government in Western Venezuela began to fear. When he vowed to return to Venezuela and conquer it in the name of Layarteb, preparations were made. Politicians put aside their differences and began to meet about a cohesive plan to stop the Layartebian threat. Some called it a bluff but most believed the major to be serious.
He was and two months – to the day – later, the Federation of Layarteb began to drop bombs on Caracas. The government in Western Venezuela lasted six months before they collapsed underneath the military might of the Federation of Layarteb. The same military might that had been used against the Eastern Venezuelans – with restrictions – had been unleashed against them without restrictions. Corruption and ineptitude that had reigned supreme for decades was their own undoing and by mid-1982, Western Venezuela ceased to be an entity. This didn't satiate the desire of the Layartebians and they pushed eastward, bringing their military prowess with such violence and such strength that the Eastern Venezuelans folded.
For the past three weeks, the end of Eastern Venezuela hung in the air as Layartebian troops attacked Ciudad Bolívar, the country's capital. The Orinoco River, which separated east from west, held back the Layartebian troops only because they wanted to be sure of Ciudad Bolívar's destruction before they crossed. That crossing was made on February 21 and for the past twenty-nine hours, Layartebian troops had been moving through the capital facing only sporadic resistance. The guerilla troops, who, for decades, valiantly defended Eastern Venezuela, had no more will to fight. They were broken and shattered and Hernán Castro, who had risen to the position of head honcho, knew that the end was hours – not days – away. He looked around the bare walls of his makeshift command center, the basement of a walled-in compound of structures, and leaned on his cane as he cried deeply. Tens of thousands of young, inexperienced boys, and tens of thousands of hardened, experienced men, had gone to battle over the past nine months per his orders and not returned. They had all believed that Eastern Venezuela would hold out, that victory would be theirs again but now victory was just a distant, harassing memory.
The war was over, the Federation of Layarteb had won, and Hernán ordered the command bunker abandoned. He gave orders to what troops remained, what troops he could reach, to put down their weapons and fold back into the civilian masses and into the jungles. They were not to give themselves up to the vengeful Layartebians but rather to fade into the confusion and chaos of war with hopes of fighting another day.
"Ustedes, mis hermanos heroica de la revolución, que han trabajado muy duro y que han luchado durante mucho tiempo. El enemigo ha venido de lejos a reprimir sus deseos y aplastar su fuego a la independencia y la libertad." [You, my heroic brothers of the revolution, you have fought hard and you have fought long. The enemy has come from afar to quell your desires and stomp out your fire for independence and freedom.] He had begun his speech, knowing that the Layartebian SIGINT platforms were probably eavesdropping on his channels, trying to get a fix. "Todos ustedes han hecho ya me siento orgulloso, si se ha realizado una revista para el campo de batalla o destruido un depósito. Todos ustedes son héroes de Venezuela y su gente, pero ha llegado el momento al heroísmo ya no es necesaria en la culata de un rifle o debajo del tubo de un lanzador de cohetes." [You have all done me proud, whether you have carried a magazine to the battlefield or destroyed a tank. You are all heroes of Venezuela and its people but the time has come when heroism is no longer needed behind the butt of a rifle or underneath the tube of a rocket launcher.]
"El heroísmo necesita ahora es en la moderación y en su disciplina. El enemigo está más allá de las puertas, que se están volcando en nuestras ciudades como cucarachas y aquellos que los sirven ya ha llamado para la entrega. Nuestro gobierno nos ha abandonado y, por lo tanto, no hay ninguna razón para luchar, sino para nosotros y para nuestra causa, pero no es el momento ahora. El enemigo es fuerte, son poderosos y están interesados en que cada uno de nuestros movimientos." [The heroism needed now is in your restraint and in your discipline. The enemy is beyond the gates and they are swarming over our cities like cockroaches and those who serve you have already called for surrender. Our government has abandoned us and thus, there is no reason to fight but for ourselves and for our cause but the time is not now. The enemy is strong, they are powerful, and they are keen to our every movement.]
"El tiempo ahora se pide para nuestro retiro. Depongan las armas y se pierden en las masas de civiles y en la protección de la selva. Huir del enemigo no a partir de la derrota o el miedo, sino de pensamiento estratégico. Nuestro tiempo, pero no es hoy, no es este mes, que no es ahora. Volver a las masas y evitar el enjuiciamiento. Escóndete en el enemigo y cuando llega el momento, voy a pedir a usted otra vez y nos matará al enemigo desde dentro, cuando la guardia está abajo, cuando su orgullo es alta" [The time now calls for our retreat. Lay down your weapons and disappear into the masses of civilians and into the protection of the jungle. Flee from the enemy not out of defeat or fear but out of strategic thinking. Our time will come again but it is not today, it is not this month, it is not now. Return to the masses and avoid prosecution. Hide yourselves from the enemy and when the time comes, I will call upon you again and we shall slay the enemy from within, when its guard is down, when its pride is high.]
"Vaya con Dios, mi guerreros." [Go with God my warriors.] He put down the microphone and gave the final orders. Everyone was silent but tears came down their collective faces. The Layartebians had won.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ | ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
January 19, 1988 - 18:00 hrs [UTC-4]
Caracas, Venezuela
Santa Monica
(10° 28' 39" N, 66° 53' 34" W)
In the five years since the Empire of Layarteb conquered Venezuela, the entire country had changed massively. In an effort to win the hearts and minds of the Venezuelans, the Layartebians began reconstruction immediately. The widespread persecution of the Venezuelan people, which guerilla leaders and politicians had prophesized, did not happen. Instead, medical and food aid was given out without question and the Venezuelan people weren't required to bow to the Emperor's soldiers when they passed on the street. Life just sort of resumed the way it always did. Crime was made the number one enemy, not those who fought against the Layartebians and slowly, the military presence dwindled as the civilian government transitioned into its leadership role. Elections for Venezuelan representatives, majors, and the state's governor were all held quickly in May 1984 and much to the shock – and dismay – of the Layartebian people, the man elected the governor was a former guerilla leader from Eastern Venezuela. Nothing added up, and the Venezuelan people began to trust their Layartebian conquerors as crime and poverty ebbed.
The wrathful, vengeful Layartebian that the politicians and guerilla leaders implanted in the minds of the Venezuelans never appeared. Despite being conquerors, the Layartebian troops did not act as if they were and when Layartebian citizenship was bestowed upon all Venezuelans in early 1985 it was met with disbelief. Their culture was left intact, Spanish was adopted as a second language of the Empire, and the Venezuelan flag was allowed to fly underneath that of the Empire. For Hernán Castro and the hardcore, guerilla leaders and fighters who survived the Conquest of Venezuela with a dream to reignite revolution, finding willing participants was difficult. In the rural zones, where the guerillas were most favored throughout the years of fighting and turmoil, the guerillas were given no attention and forcibly expelled.
The "hearts and minds"campaign that the Layartebian government waged in the rural areas was a resounding success. Farmers kept their spoils and sold them for profit, rather than forfeiting them to the guerilla troops. Roads were built, electricity and running water were extended, and education came to even the most remote of regions. Opportunity flooded the country and the insurrection that Hernán envisioned was just not there. By mid-1985, he doubted that he would ever be able to initiate one and, in some small corner of his mind, that was okay. Still, for Raul, for Miguel, for the tens of thousands that died under his command, he still kept the fires of revenge and insurrection burning within him.
Then, opportunity struck in autumn 1985. The Empire of Neuvo Rica was floundering and their own demise was only years away. Drug cartels virtually ran the government and disenfranchised Neuvo Ricans found safety and solace in Venezuela, away from the Neuvo Rican drug cartels. They brought with them nationalist furor though and that sparked the nationalist inside of every Venezuelan, especially amongst the college-aged youth from the state's many cities. Throughout the winter of 1985 – 1986, nationalism rose and fermented. The Layartebian government, knowing that the subject was touchy, did not press the issue, instead letting it work itself out, which only encouraged its growth.
Hernán relocated to Caracas and began to make contacts in the spring of 1986. Slowly, he built a network of old, hardened veterans, and used them not to build an army but rather to ignite the passion of nationalism amongst the youth. They spoke of a time when Venezuela was split, when foreign dominance was not ruling over the country from 2,000 miles away. They spoke of a time when life was rougher – yes – but only because the Venezuelans were doing things the traditional way. They downplayed the benefits given to the country by the Empire as poison designed to neuter the people of their nationalist pride. They said that this was the beginning, that in years, the Layartebians would strengthen their grip by breeding the "Venezuelan"identity out of them.
They would say that the Empire's leaving the culture of the people intact was by design. Rather than yank it out of them at once, which no one would tolerate, they would do so over two, three, ten generations until the Venezuelan culture was extinct. They called the lack of military oversight in the country a sign that the Empire wasn't focused on them. The Empire was fighting its own wars for Conquest in North America and Venezuela was just a vassal state to them. Once war was over, Venezuela would be exploited for its people and its resources and then discarded when there was none left. The youth were enflamed by these stories and these prophesies and Hernán had his insurrection brewing by summer 1987. Nationalism continued to grow within the 15 to 25 age group and guided by the warriors and the guerillas of old, an insurrection was put into planning with old, wise, scarred, 46-year old Hernán Castro at its helm.
Throughout the autumn and winter of 1987 and into the winter of 1988, fervent and zealous young nationalists were given training and taught in the ways of guerilla warfare. They were shown how to use firearms and how to maneuver through streets and all underneath the watchful eyes of the Empire of Layarteb, which was too distracted with conquering North America. Caches of arms were built and the experienced, hardened guerillas of age old waited for the right moment, keeping the zealous youth at bay for the time being, which seemed more taxing than any patrol against the Layartebian troops had been. By December 1987, Hernán had the full structure of the guerilla organization in place. He placed another old confidant, Victor Ruíz in charge of managing the different groups. In order to make the attack effective, Hernán had instructed the guerillas to form cadres and cells in various cities around the state and to operate with some sort of loose ideology. Contact with the main cadre in Caracas would be done sporadically at first.
Ruíz gave Hernán frequent reports and they were always promising but Hernán approached them with caution and still wondered if the task was worth it. "O simplemente nos ira un oso…" [Or will we just anger a bear…] He would frequently say when his "generals"gave him optimistic updates.
Ruíz was about nine years younger than Hernán was. He had been part of a special counter-Delta unit formed by the Eastern Venezuelan military. They trained harder than any other force in Eastern Venezuela and their main goal was to keep the supply and infiltration routes open and to stop the interdicting Delta commandos. The unit performed exceptionally and though they drew more resources than most units did in the Eastern Venezuelan military, they were still working with limited resources unlike the Delta commandos. Still, they interrupted and stopped plenty of Delta infiltration missions and captured what few bodies the Delta commandos left behind. Their tactics were copied from those of their enemy and discipline was key. If one of their own was found to be undisciplined, he was bounced from the unit immediately. The slightest infraction meant expulsion and if they were in the field, the squad commanders – since they operated in squads of 20 men or less – had full permission to kill the offender. Ruíz had worked his way up from a machine gunner to a radioman to a squad leader and on one mission, one of his green riflemen squeezed off a burst of gunfire against an animal some fifty meters away.
The animal was unharmed, as all of his shots went high. The report of the gunfire echoed throughout the jungle, alerting a Delta commando team, which evacuated from the hostile zone without contact being made. Ruíz killed that inexperienced rifleman with his knife and left the body, booby-trapped for the Layartebians to find, which they never did. After the Layartebians left, Ruíz continued to fight against the Western Venezuelan military but in June 1979, while on a mission, one of his men had tripped an anti-personnel mine. Never one to lead from the rear, Ruíz lost his right foot in the explosion and two fingers on his right hand. He recovered, received a prosthetic foot but he never fought again.
On this cool, January evening, Ruíz's bones were aching from the numerous wounds he had received throughout his military career. He hobbled into the elevator and took it to the ninth floor. He was alone in the elevator and on the floor and he hobbled further to apartment 903, knocked on the door in no unique way, and waited for it to be opened, which it was ten seconds later by a young boy with a spring in his step. "Señor, en favor de sentarse." [Sir, come in please sit down.] The young boy said. He couldn't have been more than sixteen years old and Ruíz did so silently, sitting down on the couch opposite a coffee table where fresh coffee was steaming in a pot. Hernán entered a minute later, moving slowly with his cane.
The two men embraced, shared a moment of silent, and began to consume the coffee before either of them said a word. It was an old ritual, dating back decades to a time when they were in the jungle, praying for their dead. "Por lo tanto viejo amigo, ¿qué actualizar ¿tiene para mí esta semana?" [So old friend, what update do you have for me this week?] Hernán asked of his general. "Los guerreros callarse?" [Are the warriors keeping quiet?]
"Sólo apenas están a punto de reventar. Sigo asesorando a los tenientes y los capitanes para mantener sus pasiones reprimidas sólo por ahora. Les vamos a dar rienda suelta en el momento justo." [Only just barely, they're bursting at the seams. I keep advising the lieutenants and the captains to keep their passions stifled just for now. We will unleash them when the time is right.] Replied Ruíz as he sipped more coffee.
"Y cuando lo que se cree que es?" [And when will that be do you believe?] It was a hard question to answer. Ruíz didn't want to move too soon but he knew that the warriors wouldn't be able to stay calm for long. It was a hard balance. They didn't have the discipline that his generation had when they fought the Layartebians. They were eager, almost too eager, and in some ways reckless.
"Dos meses, no más, no menos." [Two months, no more, no less.]
"Entonces debemos ir en los preparativos finales, que tendrá al menos siete semanas, no nos da tiempo de sobra." [Then we must go into final preparations, it will take at least seven weeks, giving us no time to spare.] Hernán answered, pleased that the time was drawing so near. "Dos meses," [Two months,] he repeated to himself over and over again. "¿Crees que lo lograremos? Que vamos a encender las pasiones dentro del pueblo venezolano y el imperio de nuestra tierra?" [Do you think we will succeed? That we will ignite the passions within the Venezuelan people and drive the Empire out of our land?]
Ruíz hung onto the question for a minute before he answered. "Creo que podría ser capaz de sacar esto. Militarmente hablando, estamos fuera baleado y superado. Pero tenemos orgullo nacionalista dentro de nosotros, y eso es algo que puede avivar en las generaciones. Si los jóvenes son rebeldes lo suficiente como para que se unan a nosotros, a continuación, el mensaje puede llegar a todos los demás. Nuestra generación, recordaremos el tiempo y tal vez algunos de los combatientes que han dejado de lado su fervor para el nacionalismo será reactivada. Nuestros padres y nuestros abuelos se ve esto y recuerdo un momento antes de este. Los jóvenes claman por algo, de ser parte de algo. Podríamos sacarlo pero debemos ser cautos y prudentes." [I think we might just be able to pull this off. Militarily speaking, we're out-gunned and outnumbered. But we have nationalist pride within us, and that is something we can stoke within the generations. If the youth are rebellious enough to join with us then their message can reach everyone else. Our generation, we will remember the time and perhaps some of the fighters who have put aside their fervency for nationalism will be reignited. Our parents and our grandparents will see this and remember a time before this. The youth will clamor for something, to be part of something. We could pull it off but we must be cautious and careful.]
"¿Cómo?" [How?]
"No podemos marginar a nadie, ni un solo grupo. No podemos permitirlo. Uno puede tener influencia sobre el resto." [We cannot alienate anyone, not one, single group. We cannot afford it. One could can hold sway over all of the rest.]
"Sí, debemos asegurarnos de que no. Los guerreros no puede hacerle daño a un solo venezolano, no importa qué su afiliación. La Layartebians no promulgar disposiciones contra nosotros, tras su conquista y mirar el efecto que ha tenido. Sin ese orgullo nacionalista del Neuvo Rican inmigrantes, nos quedaríamos sin nada de nuestra parte. No tendríamos nada, no nos sería posible." [Yes, we must ensure that we do not. The warriors cannot harm a single Venezuelan, it does not matter what their affiliation is. The Layartebians did not enact provisions against us after their conquest and look at the effect it has had. Without that nationalist pride from the Neuvo Rican immigrants, we would have nothing on our side. We would have nothing, we would not be ready.]
"No, no pero hay un grupo que no tenemos capacidad en contra. Los campesinos de las zonas rurales. Parece que el Layartebians han hecho demasiado bien para recordar la rebelión." [No we would not but there is still one group that we have no capability against. The peasants in the rural zones. It seems that the Layartebians have done them too well to remember the rebellion.]
"¿Quién hubiera pensado que el Layartebians, con su poderío militar, las fuerzas arrolladoras, y blitzkrieg doctrina habría sido capaz de jugar una campaña efectiva en conquistar a la población rural no menos." [Who would have thought that the Layartebians, with their military might, overpowering forces, and blitzkrieg doctrine would have been able to play an effective campaign in winning over the rural people no less.]
"Ninguno de nosotros habría imaginado. Los dirigentes políticos de la República era demasiado débil, demasiado inepto, corrupto y también. Es evidente que hemos ganado porque no queremos ganar." [None of us would have guessed it. The political leadership of the Republic was simply too weak, too inept, and too corrupt. It is obvious that we won only because they did not want to win.]
"Una pesadilla de mina, una vieja pesadilla de mina." [A nightmare of mine, an old nightmare of mine.] Replied Hernán and he told Ruíz of nightmares he had when he was fighting in his youth, about how he feared a change in the political leadership that would ignite the passion within the Layartebian people.
Ruíz listened quietly and when Hernán was done, he finished his coffee and spoke, "Siempre he temido por mi mismo. Cuando el Layartebians izquierda, yo estaba muy contento. Yo sabía que la victoria era el nuestro, que la caída del gobierno occidental dentro de unos meses, pero que fracasó en, apenas, gracias a la Neuvo Ricans y otros benefactores. Cuando el Emperador ganó, y me di cuenta de que era un gran Delta, me acordé de un tiempo cuando me encontré con él en el campo de batalla. Él estaba al mando de una compañía entera de su móvil los hombres guerrilleros. Con él fueron los más terroríficos Layartebians me he ido. Capturaron cuatro de mis hombres, cuatro!" [I always feared it myself. When the Layartebians left, I was overjoyed. I knew that victory was ours, that the western government would fall within months but they floundered on, just barely, thanks to the Neuvo Ricans and other benefactors. When that Emperor won, and I saw that he was a Delta major, I remembered a time when I met him on the battlefield. He was in command of an entire company of their mobile guerilla men. With him were the scariest Layartebians I can ever remember. They captured four of my men, four!] Four prisoners being snatched was something of a legend within the Delta Force history. Outside of that, only one other raid snatched more, with five. One of those five was so badly wounded he died three days later in the hospital.
"Cuatro?" [Four?] Hernán said in disbelief.
Ruíz only nodded his head, "Nos hemos librado sólo porque se escaparon. El fuego era intenso. Hemos tenido toda una empresa lanzada contra ellos y ellos contra nosotros. Tenemos tan cerca como diez metros de su posición, de diez metros. A continuación, los ataques aéreos. Que violó todas las normas. Ellos trajeron sus bombas por cien metros de distancia, detrás de la mayoría de nuestros hombres. Fragmentos rompió en pedazos; nunca olvidaré cómo sus cuerpos estaban rotos. Aún así, el Layartebians excavados en y en las bombas, napalm, cañaverales, dentro de cincuenta metros! Los suicidas son hombres. ¿Te lo puedes creer cincuenta metros? ¿Qué exactitud que tenían." [We escaped only because they escaped. The fire was intense. We had an entire company thrown against them and them against us. We got as close as ten meters to their position, ten meters! Then the airstrikes came. They violated all of their rules. They brought their bombs down one hundred meters away, behind most of our men. Fragments tore them to pieces; I will never forget how their bodies were torn. Still, the Layartebians dug-in and brought in more bombs, napalm, incendiaries, within fifty meters! They were suicidal those men. Can you believe fifty meters? What accuracy they had.]
Hernán finished his coffee and continued to listen. "Se retiró al amparo de la oscuridad después de un día entero de batalla. He perdido el noventa y tres hombres ese día; era una batalla dura. Matamos sólo once de ellos, cuarenta heridos, tal vez cincuenta." [They withdrew under the cover of darkness after an entire day's battle. I lost ninety-three men that day; it was a hard battle. We kill just eleven of theirs, wounded forty, maybe fifty.]
"Batallas contra los comandos Delta se asentó, injusto para nosotros pero nos replicó, ¿no?" [Battles against the Delta commandos were pitched, unfair to us but we countered, did we not?]
"Lo mejor que pudimos. En '76, que eran eficaces pero de igual manera nuestras tácticas alterado, por lo que la suya. Eran muy rápidos, de la luz, y no tengáis miedo de ensuciarse las manos. ¿Cómo se puede luchar contra un enemigo como que?" [As best as we could. By '76, we were effective but just as our tactics altered, so did theirs. They were quick, light, and not afraid to get their hands dirty. How do you fight an enemy like that?]
"Al igual que estamos haciendo en el día de hoy, se puede luchar contra él desde dentro de él." [Just like we're doing today, you fight him from inside him.]
The wrathful, vengeful Layartebian that the politicians and guerilla leaders implanted in the minds of the Venezuelans never appeared. Despite being conquerors, the Layartebian troops did not act as if they were and when Layartebian citizenship was bestowed upon all Venezuelans in early 1985 it was met with disbelief. Their culture was left intact, Spanish was adopted as a second language of the Empire, and the Venezuelan flag was allowed to fly underneath that of the Empire. For Hernán Castro and the hardcore, guerilla leaders and fighters who survived the Conquest of Venezuela with a dream to reignite revolution, finding willing participants was difficult. In the rural zones, where the guerillas were most favored throughout the years of fighting and turmoil, the guerillas were given no attention and forcibly expelled.
The "hearts and minds"campaign that the Layartebian government waged in the rural areas was a resounding success. Farmers kept their spoils and sold them for profit, rather than forfeiting them to the guerilla troops. Roads were built, electricity and running water were extended, and education came to even the most remote of regions. Opportunity flooded the country and the insurrection that Hernán envisioned was just not there. By mid-1985, he doubted that he would ever be able to initiate one and, in some small corner of his mind, that was okay. Still, for Raul, for Miguel, for the tens of thousands that died under his command, he still kept the fires of revenge and insurrection burning within him.
Then, opportunity struck in autumn 1985. The Empire of Neuvo Rica was floundering and their own demise was only years away. Drug cartels virtually ran the government and disenfranchised Neuvo Ricans found safety and solace in Venezuela, away from the Neuvo Rican drug cartels. They brought with them nationalist furor though and that sparked the nationalist inside of every Venezuelan, especially amongst the college-aged youth from the state's many cities. Throughout the winter of 1985 – 1986, nationalism rose and fermented. The Layartebian government, knowing that the subject was touchy, did not press the issue, instead letting it work itself out, which only encouraged its growth.
Hernán relocated to Caracas and began to make contacts in the spring of 1986. Slowly, he built a network of old, hardened veterans, and used them not to build an army but rather to ignite the passion of nationalism amongst the youth. They spoke of a time when Venezuela was split, when foreign dominance was not ruling over the country from 2,000 miles away. They spoke of a time when life was rougher – yes – but only because the Venezuelans were doing things the traditional way. They downplayed the benefits given to the country by the Empire as poison designed to neuter the people of their nationalist pride. They said that this was the beginning, that in years, the Layartebians would strengthen their grip by breeding the "Venezuelan"identity out of them.
They would say that the Empire's leaving the culture of the people intact was by design. Rather than yank it out of them at once, which no one would tolerate, they would do so over two, three, ten generations until the Venezuelan culture was extinct. They called the lack of military oversight in the country a sign that the Empire wasn't focused on them. The Empire was fighting its own wars for Conquest in North America and Venezuela was just a vassal state to them. Once war was over, Venezuela would be exploited for its people and its resources and then discarded when there was none left. The youth were enflamed by these stories and these prophesies and Hernán had his insurrection brewing by summer 1987. Nationalism continued to grow within the 15 to 25 age group and guided by the warriors and the guerillas of old, an insurrection was put into planning with old, wise, scarred, 46-year old Hernán Castro at its helm.
Throughout the autumn and winter of 1987 and into the winter of 1988, fervent and zealous young nationalists were given training and taught in the ways of guerilla warfare. They were shown how to use firearms and how to maneuver through streets and all underneath the watchful eyes of the Empire of Layarteb, which was too distracted with conquering North America. Caches of arms were built and the experienced, hardened guerillas of age old waited for the right moment, keeping the zealous youth at bay for the time being, which seemed more taxing than any patrol against the Layartebian troops had been. By December 1987, Hernán had the full structure of the guerilla organization in place. He placed another old confidant, Victor Ruíz in charge of managing the different groups. In order to make the attack effective, Hernán had instructed the guerillas to form cadres and cells in various cities around the state and to operate with some sort of loose ideology. Contact with the main cadre in Caracas would be done sporadically at first.
Ruíz gave Hernán frequent reports and they were always promising but Hernán approached them with caution and still wondered if the task was worth it. "O simplemente nos ira un oso…" [Or will we just anger a bear…] He would frequently say when his "generals"gave him optimistic updates.
Ruíz was about nine years younger than Hernán was. He had been part of a special counter-Delta unit formed by the Eastern Venezuelan military. They trained harder than any other force in Eastern Venezuela and their main goal was to keep the supply and infiltration routes open and to stop the interdicting Delta commandos. The unit performed exceptionally and though they drew more resources than most units did in the Eastern Venezuelan military, they were still working with limited resources unlike the Delta commandos. Still, they interrupted and stopped plenty of Delta infiltration missions and captured what few bodies the Delta commandos left behind. Their tactics were copied from those of their enemy and discipline was key. If one of their own was found to be undisciplined, he was bounced from the unit immediately. The slightest infraction meant expulsion and if they were in the field, the squad commanders – since they operated in squads of 20 men or less – had full permission to kill the offender. Ruíz had worked his way up from a machine gunner to a radioman to a squad leader and on one mission, one of his green riflemen squeezed off a burst of gunfire against an animal some fifty meters away.
The animal was unharmed, as all of his shots went high. The report of the gunfire echoed throughout the jungle, alerting a Delta commando team, which evacuated from the hostile zone without contact being made. Ruíz killed that inexperienced rifleman with his knife and left the body, booby-trapped for the Layartebians to find, which they never did. After the Layartebians left, Ruíz continued to fight against the Western Venezuelan military but in June 1979, while on a mission, one of his men had tripped an anti-personnel mine. Never one to lead from the rear, Ruíz lost his right foot in the explosion and two fingers on his right hand. He recovered, received a prosthetic foot but he never fought again.
On this cool, January evening, Ruíz's bones were aching from the numerous wounds he had received throughout his military career. He hobbled into the elevator and took it to the ninth floor. He was alone in the elevator and on the floor and he hobbled further to apartment 903, knocked on the door in no unique way, and waited for it to be opened, which it was ten seconds later by a young boy with a spring in his step. "Señor, en favor de sentarse." [Sir, come in please sit down.] The young boy said. He couldn't have been more than sixteen years old and Ruíz did so silently, sitting down on the couch opposite a coffee table where fresh coffee was steaming in a pot. Hernán entered a minute later, moving slowly with his cane.
The two men embraced, shared a moment of silent, and began to consume the coffee before either of them said a word. It was an old ritual, dating back decades to a time when they were in the jungle, praying for their dead. "Por lo tanto viejo amigo, ¿qué actualizar ¿tiene para mí esta semana?" [So old friend, what update do you have for me this week?] Hernán asked of his general. "Los guerreros callarse?" [Are the warriors keeping quiet?]
"Sólo apenas están a punto de reventar. Sigo asesorando a los tenientes y los capitanes para mantener sus pasiones reprimidas sólo por ahora. Les vamos a dar rienda suelta en el momento justo." [Only just barely, they're bursting at the seams. I keep advising the lieutenants and the captains to keep their passions stifled just for now. We will unleash them when the time is right.] Replied Ruíz as he sipped more coffee.
"Y cuando lo que se cree que es?" [And when will that be do you believe?] It was a hard question to answer. Ruíz didn't want to move too soon but he knew that the warriors wouldn't be able to stay calm for long. It was a hard balance. They didn't have the discipline that his generation had when they fought the Layartebians. They were eager, almost too eager, and in some ways reckless.
"Dos meses, no más, no menos." [Two months, no more, no less.]
"Entonces debemos ir en los preparativos finales, que tendrá al menos siete semanas, no nos da tiempo de sobra." [Then we must go into final preparations, it will take at least seven weeks, giving us no time to spare.] Hernán answered, pleased that the time was drawing so near. "Dos meses," [Two months,] he repeated to himself over and over again. "¿Crees que lo lograremos? Que vamos a encender las pasiones dentro del pueblo venezolano y el imperio de nuestra tierra?" [Do you think we will succeed? That we will ignite the passions within the Venezuelan people and drive the Empire out of our land?]
Ruíz hung onto the question for a minute before he answered. "Creo que podría ser capaz de sacar esto. Militarmente hablando, estamos fuera baleado y superado. Pero tenemos orgullo nacionalista dentro de nosotros, y eso es algo que puede avivar en las generaciones. Si los jóvenes son rebeldes lo suficiente como para que se unan a nosotros, a continuación, el mensaje puede llegar a todos los demás. Nuestra generación, recordaremos el tiempo y tal vez algunos de los combatientes que han dejado de lado su fervor para el nacionalismo será reactivada. Nuestros padres y nuestros abuelos se ve esto y recuerdo un momento antes de este. Los jóvenes claman por algo, de ser parte de algo. Podríamos sacarlo pero debemos ser cautos y prudentes." [I think we might just be able to pull this off. Militarily speaking, we're out-gunned and outnumbered. But we have nationalist pride within us, and that is something we can stoke within the generations. If the youth are rebellious enough to join with us then their message can reach everyone else. Our generation, we will remember the time and perhaps some of the fighters who have put aside their fervency for nationalism will be reignited. Our parents and our grandparents will see this and remember a time before this. The youth will clamor for something, to be part of something. We could pull it off but we must be cautious and careful.]
"¿Cómo?" [How?]
"No podemos marginar a nadie, ni un solo grupo. No podemos permitirlo. Uno puede tener influencia sobre el resto." [We cannot alienate anyone, not one, single group. We cannot afford it. One could can hold sway over all of the rest.]
"Sí, debemos asegurarnos de que no. Los guerreros no puede hacerle daño a un solo venezolano, no importa qué su afiliación. La Layartebians no promulgar disposiciones contra nosotros, tras su conquista y mirar el efecto que ha tenido. Sin ese orgullo nacionalista del Neuvo Rican inmigrantes, nos quedaríamos sin nada de nuestra parte. No tendríamos nada, no nos sería posible." [Yes, we must ensure that we do not. The warriors cannot harm a single Venezuelan, it does not matter what their affiliation is. The Layartebians did not enact provisions against us after their conquest and look at the effect it has had. Without that nationalist pride from the Neuvo Rican immigrants, we would have nothing on our side. We would have nothing, we would not be ready.]
"No, no pero hay un grupo que no tenemos capacidad en contra. Los campesinos de las zonas rurales. Parece que el Layartebians han hecho demasiado bien para recordar la rebelión." [No we would not but there is still one group that we have no capability against. The peasants in the rural zones. It seems that the Layartebians have done them too well to remember the rebellion.]
"¿Quién hubiera pensado que el Layartebians, con su poderío militar, las fuerzas arrolladoras, y blitzkrieg doctrina habría sido capaz de jugar una campaña efectiva en conquistar a la población rural no menos." [Who would have thought that the Layartebians, with their military might, overpowering forces, and blitzkrieg doctrine would have been able to play an effective campaign in winning over the rural people no less.]
"Ninguno de nosotros habría imaginado. Los dirigentes políticos de la República era demasiado débil, demasiado inepto, corrupto y también. Es evidente que hemos ganado porque no queremos ganar." [None of us would have guessed it. The political leadership of the Republic was simply too weak, too inept, and too corrupt. It is obvious that we won only because they did not want to win.]
"Una pesadilla de mina, una vieja pesadilla de mina." [A nightmare of mine, an old nightmare of mine.] Replied Hernán and he told Ruíz of nightmares he had when he was fighting in his youth, about how he feared a change in the political leadership that would ignite the passion within the Layartebian people.
Ruíz listened quietly and when Hernán was done, he finished his coffee and spoke, "Siempre he temido por mi mismo. Cuando el Layartebians izquierda, yo estaba muy contento. Yo sabía que la victoria era el nuestro, que la caída del gobierno occidental dentro de unos meses, pero que fracasó en, apenas, gracias a la Neuvo Ricans y otros benefactores. Cuando el Emperador ganó, y me di cuenta de que era un gran Delta, me acordé de un tiempo cuando me encontré con él en el campo de batalla. Él estaba al mando de una compañía entera de su móvil los hombres guerrilleros. Con él fueron los más terroríficos Layartebians me he ido. Capturaron cuatro de mis hombres, cuatro!" [I always feared it myself. When the Layartebians left, I was overjoyed. I knew that victory was ours, that the western government would fall within months but they floundered on, just barely, thanks to the Neuvo Ricans and other benefactors. When that Emperor won, and I saw that he was a Delta major, I remembered a time when I met him on the battlefield. He was in command of an entire company of their mobile guerilla men. With him were the scariest Layartebians I can ever remember. They captured four of my men, four!] Four prisoners being snatched was something of a legend within the Delta Force history. Outside of that, only one other raid snatched more, with five. One of those five was so badly wounded he died three days later in the hospital.
"Cuatro?" [Four?] Hernán said in disbelief.
Ruíz only nodded his head, "Nos hemos librado sólo porque se escaparon. El fuego era intenso. Hemos tenido toda una empresa lanzada contra ellos y ellos contra nosotros. Tenemos tan cerca como diez metros de su posición, de diez metros. A continuación, los ataques aéreos. Que violó todas las normas. Ellos trajeron sus bombas por cien metros de distancia, detrás de la mayoría de nuestros hombres. Fragmentos rompió en pedazos; nunca olvidaré cómo sus cuerpos estaban rotos. Aún así, el Layartebians excavados en y en las bombas, napalm, cañaverales, dentro de cincuenta metros! Los suicidas son hombres. ¿Te lo puedes creer cincuenta metros? ¿Qué exactitud que tenían." [We escaped only because they escaped. The fire was intense. We had an entire company thrown against them and them against us. We got as close as ten meters to their position, ten meters! Then the airstrikes came. They violated all of their rules. They brought their bombs down one hundred meters away, behind most of our men. Fragments tore them to pieces; I will never forget how their bodies were torn. Still, the Layartebians dug-in and brought in more bombs, napalm, incendiaries, within fifty meters! They were suicidal those men. Can you believe fifty meters? What accuracy they had.]
Hernán finished his coffee and continued to listen. "Se retiró al amparo de la oscuridad después de un día entero de batalla. He perdido el noventa y tres hombres ese día; era una batalla dura. Matamos sólo once de ellos, cuarenta heridos, tal vez cincuenta." [They withdrew under the cover of darkness after an entire day's battle. I lost ninety-three men that day; it was a hard battle. We kill just eleven of theirs, wounded forty, maybe fifty.]
"Batallas contra los comandos Delta se asentó, injusto para nosotros pero nos replicó, ¿no?" [Battles against the Delta commandos were pitched, unfair to us but we countered, did we not?]
"Lo mejor que pudimos. En '76, que eran eficaces pero de igual manera nuestras tácticas alterado, por lo que la suya. Eran muy rápidos, de la luz, y no tengáis miedo de ensuciarse las manos. ¿Cómo se puede luchar contra un enemigo como que?" [As best as we could. By '76, we were effective but just as our tactics altered, so did theirs. They were quick, light, and not afraid to get their hands dirty. How do you fight an enemy like that?]
"Al igual que estamos haciendo en el día de hoy, se puede luchar contra él desde dentro de él." [Just like we're doing today, you fight him from inside him.]
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