Indian Territory

by Cliff Deane

  “Oh, Sergeant Major, have a large sign made up, saying

  ATTENTION: LANDMINES AHEAD. THEY WERE LAID BY THE MERCENARY FORCE CALLED THE BLACK KNIGHTS IN MAY OF 03. PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION; OR TAKE THE ROAD FROM BOERNE.

  I can’t say if it will help, but we can certainly hope that it does.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied the Sergeant Major as he left to sort out his two missions.

  Colonel Susan Levins came in from the Helipad, saluted and said, “Yes, sir, what can the Air Corps do for the Cavalry, today?”

  “Colonel,” said Levi, as he directed her to the wall map, “we need a quick recon, via Snake, along this route to let us know if it’s passable. If it is, we’ll bypass I-10 and do an end run around the I-10 to get us away from Steiner’s mines. How soon can you get a bird in the air?”

  “Sir, I’m scheduled for a milk run recon, and when Jones called for me, I had the ground crew get my bird wound up, so, I can be in the air in five minutes.”

  “Very good, Colonel, make it happen, and be careful. We can’t afford to lose the Commander of our Air Corps.”

  “Roger, sir,” smiled Susan, “on the way.”

  After Susan’s departure, Levi turned to Gus and said, “Air Corps?”

  “Hey, she’s the Air Commander, and I guess if she likes Air Corps better than Air Arm then I guess we have a new name. Actually, I like it better, too,” smiled Gus.

  The Sergeant Major chuckled and asked Levi if he remembered the day that he convinced Ralph Bassett to name the Defiance Militia, troopers instead of soldiers?

  Levi also chuckled and said, “Yeah, come to think of it, I do remember that. Okay, Air Corps it is.”

  “Mad Max 6: Thunder Drome 6: Crank ‘em up, the road has few stalled vehicles. I say again, the road is mostly clear. Over.”

  “Roger 6: We’re on the way, continue recon out to one-hundred miles. Over.”

  “Roger 6: Understand continue recon out to one-hundred miles. Over.”

  “Roger 6: Max 6. Out.

  Levi turned to Gus saying, “Well, all right, let’s kick the tires and light the fires.”

  A few moments later, Levi sat in his chair and thought; How many people will die because of Steiner’s landmines. Eventually, the word will get around, and people will not come this way. Damn, but I hope the sign saves some lives.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Savagery

  13 May 03, 1000

  Black Knight Convoy

  I-10 East of Ft Bliss

  The Point Vehicle of the Knights Convoy saw something odd in the road up ahead of his position. He ordered the driver to approach with caution as the Machine Gunner checked to make sure the weapon was loaded and ready to rock. An anger became rage when they drew close enough to make out that they were seeing the severed extremities of their comrades.

  The Sergeant made a quick call back to the Sergeant Major and informed him of their discovery. Within three minutes the convoy arrived on station and found the Point personnel providing security on each side of the road.

  The Sergeant ran to the Sergeant Major to report on his findings.

  Colonel Steiner arrived from the convoy center and walked with his Sergeant Major to the gruesome site blocking the road. The Sergeant Major ordered immediate flanking security to protect the convoy.

  The three men stood mesmerized at the result of this savage act. “Barbarians, who would do such a thing?” asked Steiner. “Wait, what is that in their mouths?”

  The Sergeant was directed to investigate; after realizing what he was seeing, he turned to Steiner and said, “Sir, whoever did this has placed the dead men’s genitals in the mouths of our friends.”

  Steiner turned to his Sergeant Major and said, “Get a detail to find the bodies, and bury them in a single grave, and make sure the burial is done with reverence.”

  “Yes, sir,” and turning to the Sergeant, Steiner told him to report to his 1st Sergeant for a burial detail, and to ask the Company Commander to join them.”

  Turning back to Steiner, the Sergeant Major said, “Sir, this is a potential game changer. We can either continue our mission to stay ahead of the enemy following us, or we can find these animals and give them a taste of their own barbarity. We have not seen such horror since our last action in Rwanda,” said the Sergeant Major.

  “Yes,” said Steiner, who found it terribly difficult to control his rage. “I agree with the sentiment, I must say that nothing would give me greater pleasure than to remove their hands and feet, one knuckle at a time.”

  “Yes, sir,” said the Sergeant Major, “I know we both desire a horrific revenge, but we cannot allow ourselves to be caught by the enemy that follows us. If it is Thor’s will our pursuers will be coming on at a snail’s pace, but what if they discover an alternate route.”

  Steiner was beyond consolation, only his many years of combat leadership enabled him to maintain the outward composure that all commander’s must display at all times. He wanted nothing more than to reign down hell upon whoever did this, but hearing the logic of his friend, the Sergeant Major, Steiner realized that his options were limited to staying ahead of his pursuers.

  “Yes, Karl, I know you are right; we must continue. I also know that this will cause us to lose time while we are at Bliss seeking replacement LAVs.”

  “Yes, sir, but I feel I must say that it is likely that this is the work of a small military patrol.”

  “And what makes you think this is the work of a military force?” asked an intrigued Colonel Steiner.

  “Sir, on our trek across this land, we have never been attacked by any local force. Always before the locals have melted away into the forests. Herr Oberst (Colonel), I believe this is definitely either a paramilitary, or actual military regulars. I also think that it is more likely a renegade Mexican Army unit, or one of the large Drug Cartels, possibly even Zetas. Sir, if this is the case, well, I also suspect that they will be headquartered on Fort Bliss.”

  “Yes, yes and if we engage this new threat, will our losses allow us to fight off the enemy that is biting at our heels? We must not forget the advantages provided by their Gunships.”

  Steiner wanted to scream out his rage at the atrocity committed against his people, and at his inability to be able to do anything about it. Losing the fresh Infantry Fighting Vehicles would prove to be just one more nail in his Black Knight’s coffin.

  “Yes, Sergeant Major, I believe you are right. It is amazing that only just yesterday I was saying to myself that things were looking very good for us. But now, not so much, no?”

  “Sadly, sir I must agree. Now, with your permission I will see to it that every man in our force sees this barbarity before we bury them. I know it will make them angry that we will not be able to dish out any payback, but they do need to know what we are facing.”

  “Yes, do it,” said Steiner as he began to wander around the area. He wanted to find the actual combat site. To his dismay, Steiner found no evidence that his men had established a perimeter before bedding down. As he walked back to the road, he came across over a hundred shell casings amid recent truck tire tracks. Picking up one of the casings for a closer inspection, the Colonel noted that these were all 7.62 X 51 NATO rounds. Steiner was now convinced that his men were getting complacent, losing their combat edge. Yes, the Sergeant Major is right, every last man must see where casual disregard to danger will inevitably lead. This must not happen again.

  Steiner then made his way back to his vehicle to continue piecing together what had happened. He found it hard to believe, but the only conclusion he could come up with was that his men had been lax and failed to prepare a defensive perimeter. He also became sure that these Knights had been sleeping in the back of the trucks when they were attacked by a group using military grade weapons. Yes, the Sergeant Major was right, this was the work of one of the more savage Drug Cartels from Mexico.

  He tried to force the grotesque images of his slaughtered men from his mind’s eye, b
ut it was just not possible. I must find a way to compartmentalize this horror. I cannot afford to react foolishly. No, we must not tarry, perhaps we will find our vehicle replacements at a training center in New Mexico, but no matter, equipment or no, we cannot stop, no matter how much I want to spill their blood.

  After a few moments, Steiner was able to regain his mental equilibrium. What was done was done, and his Knights could not afford the time for revenge.

  Once the bodies of the Knights were buried, Steiner ordered the Sergeant Major to pull both the Point and Tail Gunner closer to the convoy. He did not want another ambush taking out any more of his precious personnel and equipment.

  As the Black Knights drew nearer to Fort Bliss, they began receiving small arms sniper fire from hidden positions deep inside buildings that lined the highway. After losing three LAV Commanders, Steiner ordered everyone to button-up and plow on through, bypassing Fort Bliss.

  As the convoy neared the Fort Bliss turnoff Steiner’s Sergeant Major called via radio to tell him that the fire was intensifying.

  “Sir,” said the Sergeant Major, “we have just lost one pickup to enemy fire. It is also possible that we could lose our ammo trucks. Do you have new orders?”

  “Yes, I do!” and he ordered everyone to unbutton and place suppressive fire onto every building the convoy must pass. This tactic ended, for the most part, the enemy fire, however, this also used a significant portion of their precious ammunition, and Steiner agreed with his Sergeant Major that he may lose his ammo trucks.

  He became so enraged that he decided that this enemy, which is here, in the now, must be destroyed. He thought, so much for a quick passage around Fort Bliss. All right, you miserable bastards, you want a fight, then you shall have a fight! The Black Knights will have their revenge as we watch the red blood of our enemies’ soak into the sand. I just hope we can take some of the leadership alive. They will, of course, not be happy to be alive in the Hours before their deaths. We will have our revenge, and I will keep any prisoners alive for as long as possible, even if I must give them blood transfusions to keep them from dying.

  Steiner ordered a continuation of his convoy beyond the turnoff to Fort Bliss. At five miles west of El Paso, the enemy had ceased their attacks. He then ordered a halt to movement and called for the Company Commander, and the Sergeant Major to meet at his LAV for a planning session.

  The three men climbed into Steiner’s LAV, and on the wall, was a map of El Paso and Fort Bliss, courtesy of the Welcome to Texas Information Center.

  Steiner ordered the Company Commander to send a six-man patrol back toward El Paso and bring back some prisoners. “I want them alive; understood?”

  “Yes, sir, I will see to it immediately,” replied Captain Werner

  Steiner excused him to pass the mission on to the 1st Sergeant of A Company who was waiting just outside of Steiner’s Light Armored Vehicle.

  Upon his return, the three men began to hash out a plan to take Fort Bliss and utterly destroy this savage enemy with even greater barbarity.

  “I will show them savagery, African, Rwandan Hutu style savagery,” said a dark and grim-faced Rolf Steiner. “Before they die, they will know true barbarity.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The Patrol

  13 May 03, 2100 Hours

  Staff Sergeant Nat Turner

  Senior Sergeant Nat Turner’s history was not uncommon in Steiner’s Mercenary Force. Turner was a tall, strongly built black man from Chicago who fled the government housing blocks that saw his friends and neighbors gunned down on an almost daily basis.

  At eighteen he became a Private in the United States Army. It did not take him long to realize the possibilities presented to him. Immediately following his eight weeks of Basic, Nat moved on to the Infantry Branch School. The young Private had a penchant for understanding tactics to such a degree that he graduated number one in his class. Just before graduation, now Private First Class Turner applied for Jump School in the hope of joining the 101st Airborne Division to allow him to draw a supplemental pay increase called Jump Pay. The 101st was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. Six months after joining the Screaming Eagles, Private First Class Turner was promoted to Corporal and placed in command of a Fire Team.

  Turner quickly realized that being an Army Ranger meant faster promotion and the potential for more exciting duty. Ranger School is very difficult, yet, he excelled in every aspect of the training. He anticipated serving with the 75th Ranger Battalion and was so assigned upon his graduation at the top of his Ranger Class. This achievement catapulted him to another promotion to Buck Sergeant, which added a third stripe to his collar pin.

  Sergeant Nat Turner spent a year with the 75th Ranger Battalion when he was called to the 175th Ranger Battalion Headquarters for a meeting with the Commander of the Special Forces School. Sergeant Turner was most pleasantly surprised to discover that he was being recruited to undergo Special Operations Forces training. He knew that upon graduation, he would see yet another promotion as soon as he had the appropriate time in grade. The Green Beret School became the fifth military school which saw him excel to become the Honor Graduate from the Special Operations School at Camp McCall. Sergeant Turner was then assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, then stationed in Germany. It was there that fate took a hand in the life of, now Staff Sergeant Nat Turner. He faced yet another test of his abilities when he was assigned to the European Language School. Here Nat quickly became totally conversant in dialects of the Bantu, and the Nilotic tribal languages.

  While on a Special Operation in Kampala Staff Sergeant Nat Turner’s life took another turn that completely altered his future. It was in the capital city of Uganda that Turner caught the eye of the infamous Mercenary, Colonel Rolf Steiner.

  At that time Steiner was assembling a Special Missions Force for the Ugandan Government to quell an uprising in Central Uganda’s coffee and cocoa regions. Though Turner was posing as a civilian coffee and cocoa buyer from the US. Steiner was an old Africa Hand and his Intelligence Network was second to none throughout the continent of Africa.

  Steiner’s research on Turner found no vices or holes in his past that could be exploited. As far as Steiner was concerned, Turner was perfect. It took the Mercenary leader three months to form a friendship with Staff Sergeant Turner. Finally, just before Turner was due to re-enlist in the US Army, Steiner made him an offer that would increase the young man’s earnings by a factor of ten, with a promise of increases during his tenure as one of Colonel Steiner’s Senior Sergeants. He decided to utilize his acquired military skills to make some real money. After four years of service to America, Turner became a mercenary on Colonel Steiner’s inner circle.

  Merc Patrol

  5 Miles West of El Paso

  Colonel Rolf Steiner had never been defeated in his years of combat in Africa. As a result of both his victories and the evenhanded way he treated his subordinate mercs, Steiner was revered by his command and Senior Sergeant Turner had, in recent years become totally committed and utterly loyal to his commander.

  Senior Sergeant Turner volunteered to lead the patrol to capture, at least two of the savages that had so horribly violated the bodies of his peers.

  Once the patrol was on the outer edge of El Paso, Turner ordered the two Spanish speakers assigned to this detail to lay back approximately two-hundred feet from the main body of the patrol. Turner knew that the enemy must surely have Listening Posts (LPs) stationed along his route, and his experience told him that the enemy would watch as the patrol passed by, then send one man back to their command post to report. The follow-on force would then capture anyone remaining in the Listening Post. Having no radios, the only way to make a report was to send a runner.

  As Senior Sergeant Turner anticipated, the patrol eased passed an enemy LP (Listening Post), who noted the direction and composition of Turner’s patrol of four men.

  The follow-on patrol members, using their Infra-Red optics, located in their Night Vis
ion Monocles, easily spotted the runner as he attempted to slip away; they also noted the position of the LP.

  Using his squad radio, Corporal Romero reported the runner to Turner, who quickly captured him, while Romero captured the two other men still in the LP.

  Using stealth techniques of the Special Forces, and his combat experience, Romero and his partner Corporal Sanchez managed to approach the LP from the road. The two men were directly behind the two Zetas in their fighting position when, in Spanish, Romero said, “Ola, Buenos Noches, have you seen anything, yet?”

  The two men jumped from fright, then thinking the voice in the dark was friendly turned around smiling, well, until they saw the rifles pointed directly at them. Their hands went immediately into the air, both men swallowed hard before saying, “Ola, Señores, we surrender.”

  Romero then said, “Bueno amigos, now empty your pockets and drop any weapons onto the ground. One careless move and you are already in your grave.”

  The two men immediately dropped their weapons and emptied their pockets. They were further ordered to climb out of their hole and, with hands raised they were to stand facing Romero and Sanchez, who reported to Turner that their mission was complete with two prisoners. The captured Zetas were secured with strip ties, then taken back to the Knight’s bivouac site.

  Turner’s men had also completed their capture of the runner and were likewise returning to the encampment.

  Steiner directed that he would see the prisoners one at a time, while the others waited outside, though well within hearing distance.

  The first man brought before Steiner stood in the center of a large sheet of plastic and spoke in Spanish. The Colonel asked if he spoke English and the man said, “No Habla, English.”

  On Steiner’s desk lay a pair of handheld pruning shears. “Sergeant Major, please remove the left hand of this prisoner. The Sergeant Major ordered two guards, selected especially because they were good friends of the men whose bodies had been mutilated before being murdered by the Zetas.