Six to four to two

In the historical section of The Ark Lords, I wanted to demonstrate how Jack Henry was not only a hero and a martyr but also a master military strategist. Think about how quickly he used the element of surprise to whittle down the size of the enemy. They had come onto the campus with four military transports and maybe 35 soldiers. Teams A and B destroyed the rear two transports leaving only the front two. Red's team killed the 10 soldiers remaining up on the surface leaving only six to sneak down into the bowels of the Tevatron and retrieve the virus weapon. They went from overwhelming odds to being outgunned without even knowing it. Here is how Jack Henry's troops finished the job:

     Down below, the Ark Lords used their night vision face shields to advance down the corridor, toward the tunnel labeled Meson. Their radios were not on. They were unaware of the melee that had broken out topside. They moved quickly but cautiously. According to their instructions, the vessel they sought was contained in a sealed compartment at the end of the left-most tunnel. When they made it halfway down the tunnel, the situation suddenly changed. A volley of quarrels clanged off their armor. Looking around, they spotted the shooters, crouched among the conduits and casings mounted to the ceiling. They aimed their weapons and effortlessly dispatched the resistance fighters with just a few shots from their laser pulse rifles. It almost seemed laughable that these stupid farmers would try and take them on with just bows and arrows.
     As they were firing their weapons, three of Jack Henry’s men who had been hidden behind the huge equipment that lined the walls, snuck into the open. They fired their M4 rifles at the spacemen’s legs and arms. Several were struck. Two fell. The rest raced ahead. The one Ark Lord carrying the flamethrower turned and incinerated the three men behind him with no more feeling than roasting a bug. After their screams stopped, he hurried down the corridor to catch up to his comrades. The Ark Lords were now down to four. From one perspective, they were in a bad way. If the stupid farmers were in the tunnels, armed with semi-automatic rifles, they were going to have to get in, get the prize and get out fast. On the other hand, they were wearing body armor and their laser pulse rifles could puncture anything.

At this point, there were only four of them. They had three laser pulse rifles and one flamethrower. They were still convinced they had superior firepower. Boy, were they wrong. You'll see that tomorrow.