16 April 2016 - 2:00 pm

Mental Battlefields: Challenge #3

Start here before doing this challenge.

We’ve considered those in charge of our warring armies. Now let’s take a look at those lower on the food chain: those closer to the front line.

With two forces lining up and tense about what’s about to happen, timing is going to be crucial. Both are racing to get ready, both are jostling for their best strategic position. No-one wants to miss something happening and risk being caught with their pants down, or asleep, or looking the wrong way. One side might be counting on a feint in order to make their real move. This all makes intelligence about each other’s movements of vital importance.

Both sides are attempting to spy on the other. They might have scouts out in the field, trying to sneak close enough to find out what’s really happening. They might have someone trying to hack into enemy communications and decode essential transmissions. They might have a probe skirting enemy territory, sending back videos of the encampment. This is going to depend on the era you’re writing about, their available technologies, and the nature of the battlefield between them. Your scout might be an actual person on the ground, creeping through undergrowth and eavesdropping on perimeter guards, or they might be an intelligence analyst, processing captured data back at base. It might be something in between. It might even be a mole in the enemy camp, trying to get a vital update out to their true masters before it’s too late.

Decide who your scout is. Decide which side they’re scouting for, and who they’re spying on. What led them into this position? The entire battle could pivot on this person and their skills: if the enemy gets the drop on them in this final battle, it could all be over as soon as it starts. How are they handling the pressure: with practised ease, or are they starting to crack? Somewhere in between?

Think about the tools at their disposal and what they’ll need to do to get the information they’re after. Are normal methods going to cut it this time around, or are they going to have to try some extraordinary measures? Be creative; have your scout think outside the box. Now is the time to pull out all of the stops, to go that extra figurative mile.

Now consider what it is the scout finds in this last push. What is it they’re after, and why is it so important? What they come across may be a feint, it may be real, or it might be a mix of the two: that’s up to you.

Tell us the story of this scout and that extra mile. Tell us what they find, and if it’s what they were looking for. Tell us about their efforts to get the information back to the leader who desperately needs it.

Do they make it? Does the information get to where it needs to be? Does the scout make it out alive? Tell us the fate of this scout and their mission.

Challenge #3: Intelligence Test

Next up: Challenge #4

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