Having established a foothold back on the surface of their world the people who had previously cowered in the dark with nothing to wear but the merest scraps of material to preserve modesty slowly emerged from the darkened cave. They squirmed under the sunlight and regretted not having sunglasses to protect their delicate eyes.
Koh Phangan rallied his troops together and posted look outs for the others. He ordered that the others that had been slain be quickly buried with no ceremony. Koh Phangan had no respect for his enemy but he was aware of health issues regarding rotting carcasses. Also once stripped of their high fashions the others looked too much like humans. Koh Phangan feared that such sights of similarity between them and the enemy might engender compassion. And that was the last thing that General Phangan needed at that moment.
The war meeting commenced. Koh Phangan laid out the plan using a stick to draw pictures in the dirt. The goal was to capture the imperial palace and capture the leader of the others and negotiate a truce. The plan was fraught with danger and unknowns. They had no way of knowing whether the others would negotiate once their leader was captured. It might be that they would sacrifice their leader and just charge, brooking no challenge to their dominion, offering no room for compromise.
Koh Phangan would lead a team of ten who would disguise themselves as others and then infiltrate the capital city. They would make for the great river running through the city and crawl along its bank until they found an entrance to a tunnel that went under the river and straight to the heart of the imperial palace. It was an old escape route that a King had built over a century ago. Few people knew of its existence; Koh Phangan was gambling on the others also not being aware of the tunnels existence.
Another team would mount a night assault on the main power station of the city. It was hoped that by knocking out the power the others would lose means of communication and be thrown into disarray.
Finally, a team would go to the beach and try to capture a foothold on the beach and put the people on boats so they could escape if the plan didn’t come off. It was a plan that was far from perfect but it was the best Koh Phangan could come up with.
As night fell, they headed out: three teams going in different directions. Koh Phangan would lead the assault on the imperial palace, Koh Tao would head the attack on the power station and Koh Samui would do battle at the beach. They had but few weapons and but few clothes, and no garments of excellent cut and design. What they did have was a grim determination to see the job through. They had a duty to their own kind. They must either succeed or die trying to succeed.
It took 3 hours for Koh Phangan and his elite of Than Sadet troops to creep through the forest at the edge of the city and edge around the numerous sentries that the others had posted. When they neared the entrance to the tunnel, Koh Phangan was relieved to discover that there were no guards next to the harmless culvert that marked the entrance to the underground tunnel to the Imperial Palace. He and his men moved silently to the culvert and within minutes of searching they had found a rusted metal grill. One of the Than Sadet tried to open the grill but it wouldn’t move. Instead they heard the rattle of a chub padlock. Damn. Koh Phangan was stumped. If they shot off the lock they would surely raise the alarm and all would be lost. He hastily whispered to his men if any knew the art of picking locks. They all replied in the negative. Koh Phangan risked shining a light on the problem. What he saw was a chain and padlock holding the two parts of the grill together.
“We need a chain cutter, sire.”
“Indeed we do, brave Haad Yao. Where do you propose we get one?”
“I know of a blacksmiths near here, where I apprenticed many years ago. The goodly smith had a pair of cutters just ripe for this job, sire. With your permission I will go seek them out.”
“Very well, Haad Yao. Take with thee Haad Thian and Haad Rin. If you are not back before the black out, God willing, that Koh Tao will effect, we will shoot off the locks and go hither.”
“Sire”. The three warriors left silently.
Koh Tao did not go without complication either. His was a risky mission because the power station was at the north of the city in a once populous area. There was no telling how many of the others may be quartered near the power station or what manner of guard may be protecting the vital utility.
As his men approached the northern quarter they were spotted by two others in designer boiler suits and hand printed bandanas. Lucky his brave phalanx of Sairee rushed the two others before they could raise the alarm. But not so luckily one of them pulled a knife and badly injured Mae Haad. The young man got stabbed in the gut and lay bleeding profusely in the moonlight. Koh Tao quickly issued orders to drag the two dead others into the shadows. Koh Tao risked entering a house. It was deserted. They put Mae Haad on a reclaimed oak table and searched the house for something to wrap the wound with. They found a pair of Pierre Cardin shirts in a bedroom on an upper level.
Meanwhile the others were stripped of their boiler suits and bandanas and two of the Sairee donned the outfits. They were proud of such natty fashions and also confident that such garbs would help them to pass more easily through the city.
Koh Tao needed every man he could get so they left Mae Haad in as much comfort as they could and went back into the moonlit streets. The two brothers Jansom Bay and Mango Bay lead the way since they had the threads of the others. They would have more chance to get closer to the others they encountered before anything suspicious was noticed.
Using such a ploy they moved quickly. On the way they cut the throats of 2 more others who were dressed in buckskin waistcoats, silken doublets and check golf pants. In no time two more of the Sairee were also excellently and cunningly bedecked in wondrous fashion.
At last Koh Tao had the power station in his sights. They halted in the shadows of a miller’s thatch eve and waited for Koh Tao’s orders.