by Ben Winston
"Wow, you've been doing your research; I appreciate the extra information. I'll have to call the Admiral and ask him if he wants us to clear the whole country or just this province for now," Cindy replied.
The Lieutenant grinned at her. "I've done no extra research, Colonel; I grew up about sixty miles from here. Most of what I've told you is common knowledge to the average citizen, the rest… Well, I've kinda been looking for a way to help these people since I got recruited. The issues here are not just Colombian, the whole region is affected. Their are a lot of issues in this region; the drug trade is only the most publicized.
"People here are poor and hungry. Children have no promise of a better future and that creates strife. Industries must be found to replace the ones that are entrenched, Until that happens, there will always be problems here." He paused. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to begin preaching."
Cindy waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it; you care about the people here. That is as much an aspect of our duty as weapons proficiency. But, the day is wasting and we do have a job to take care of. How has he attacked so far?"
"He's hit the northeast and west sides of the shield. Nothing stronger than mortars, RPG's and heavy machine guns though. He did try to dig under the shield on the west side. I do know he has at least one small attack-helicopter but he hasn't used it on us yet," the Lieutenant replied.
"What are the heavy machine guns?" Cindy asked casually.
"A couple of man=portable mini-guns and some vehicle mounted .50 caliber guns. Sensors haven't detected anything threatening," the Lieutenant said. "That little gunship of his might have something a bit bigger though. I do know it has missiles too, just not what kind yet."
"Doesn't really matter, if we get hit by them, we'll get back off, dust ourselves off and go tell him how pissed off it made us," Cindy replied grinning. "We're going to use part of your protected area here as a transfer point. As we arrest people, we'll send them back here. The Marine shuttle will then start hauling them to jail."
"One last thing, Colonel. Many of the people in that militia and other that are working for him are only there to try to feed their families. They do know what they are doing is wrong, but the alternative is starving," the Lieutenant said. "Please try not to hurt them."
"I have all the data from the site computers, Cindy. You can launch any time," Lissa said.
Cindy nodded acknowledgment to her. "Lieutenant, did you get the area shelters finished?"
"Yes Ma'am. We've even got the weapons and armor facility ready to go, we just don't have anyone to use it on," the Lieutenant replied.
"Good, so your construction drone is idle. I want you to build a small Marine depot for five hundred Marines that will be sealed into their armor. Lissa try to give him a hand with the design. I'll get approval from command for this, but let's try to keep the militia here to protect the people. If this works out maybe we could do it at the other facilities in the region. After the coming battle we can let them out of their armor and go from there," Cindy suggested. "But those folks will have to follow our rules, not a drug lords."
"Does the standing order for the drug lords and their people still apply?" The Lieutenant asked.
"What's the order?" Cindy asked.
"If they show up at one of the shelters, they are not to be allowed to leave again until a Marine unit or approved civil authority arrives to collect them," the Lieutenant replied.
"I didn't know that. I would imagine that order still stands then. Let me go call the boss and get this going, then we'll deal with Senior Santiago," Cindy replied.
Cindy could tell that Ian's day had not improved when she spoke to him. He agreed with her plan and said she could go ahead with it, but to be prepared to change it if the Council over-ruled him.
Before she returned to her team, she sent a quick message to Jenny about Ian. She was a little surprised when Jenny called her back immediately.
"Yeah, he's not having a good day. Our guests kept him up late. He overslept and was hit with some pretty nasty stuff when he did get to the office. I'm working it out with Alex to make sure he has a very relaxing lunch," Jenny grinned. "Alex said she would try to make sure he didn't work late tonight as well."
"Good luck with that; he seemed pretty stressed after finding out about those Imperial ships. You know he's going to be obsessing over this," Cindy replied.
"We're going to have to make sure that doesn't happen. I'd planned on talking to Beth about keeping a close eye on his health during this. She's already threatened to drug him if starts neglecting himself again."
"I hate to say it, but it might come to that," Cindy replied. "He's damn good at what he does; but he'll let something like this kill him if we don't stop him."
"We'll thanks anyway for the heads-up. Will you be home tonight?" Jenny asked.
"I don't think so, maybe tomorrow or the following day. This little mission could get pretty involved, really quick."
"Just be safe down there and come home soon. We all miss you when your out," Jenny replied.
"Maybe not for much longer. Ty wants me to retire from active missions and become his operations officer. I haven't decided if I want that yet," Cindy replied. "I was planning on talking to all of you about it; it would mean less risk to me and more time at home with you guys and the kids. I just don't know if I'm ready for a desk job yet."
"Yeah, you do like to be active. What would happen to your team if you accept?" Jenny asked.
"Sam or Sasha would be promoted to Major and the team would adopt a new member. We're currently over-strength, but Shannon has always been a temporary addition so a replacement would be needed," Cindy replied. "I love talking to you Jen, but my team is waiting, I gotta go."
"Okay hun. Be safe!" Jenny replied and closed the channel.
When Cindy got back out to her team, she saw that the Lieutenant was huddled with Lissa off to one side. She waved her team together, including the Marines officer and senior sergeant.
"Okay kids… and you too Sergeant O'Dell," Cindy began and winked at the older NCO, who was all of twenty-seven years old. The man grinned back at her. "I had an idea to basically conscript Santiago's militia into a local defense force. The Admiral liked the plan and gave us the green light, but reminded me the civilians haven't approved. So, here's what's happening:
"As planned we capture and bring the prisoners back here. Ell-tee Marco is going to be building a small base for about five hundred Marines locked in their armor. We give the militia the choice to either stay here and help us protect the civilians of the area, or got to the holding facility to await trial. Only the militia fighters are to be offered this; everyone else goes to lock-up."
She paused and changed mental gears. "Our original orders were to arrest everyone involved in this cartel, but that's changed. We grab everyone up to the regional level. The coming battle is too close for us to mess with the federal boys yet. Command would rather leave the criminals in place so the people have someone in charge during the fight."
"Colonel, why would command favor adding these criminal's private armies to the defense plans? Aren't those people criminals too?" the Marine Lieutenant asked. "Will we be staying here to train them and keep them under control?"
Cindy shook her head. "No, training will be done by the suits and their existing officers will be tasked with riding herd on them. Keep in mind that most of those men are only trying to feed their families. Yes, they are aiding and abetting a criminal organization, but what choice do they have? There are no jobs here, there's even less of a welfare system because the country can't afford it. Hell, the President only makes fifteen-thousand dollars U.S. per year!
"I'll admit, there are real criminals in this bunch. Dependant on their guilt, they will be offered the job. Officer Shannon will try to screen them before we leave here."
"Gee, thanks Boss!" Shannon teased back.
Cindy winked at her. "The Regional Superintendent will be coming with us, we won't know about his s
taff until we get there. We will miss a few; but that's not our goal this time. We are really only sending this idiots a message. So, once the arrests are made, the people are cleared out, we level the mansion, warehouses and labs, then find and raze the fields. Any questions?"
"It's a long held belief that most of these animals keep a large amount of cash and other valuables in their mansions. Do we search for that before we destroy the mansion, or just say to hell with it?" O'Dell asked.
Cindy frowned. "Search. I'm not so worried about the cash, but I'd hate to destroy irreplaceable art or other objects. If you find the cash, we'll turn it in to command. After all, it really isn't worth anything to us. Guns, ammo and explosives, feed to the drones. I'd prefer not leaving that stuff lying around for any kids to pick up if you know what I mean." She paused. "When we leave here, I want no trace that there was ever a drug lord in the area. Understood?"
"Yes Sir!" everyone replied.
"Alright," Cindy grinned. "Final prep, we're leaving in a few minutes. Dismissed."
The Raptor teams had been issued new, hover-rails in place of the old land rail. It was basically the same machine except it was now on a heavy duty hover-car frame. The since this would be a far-flung mission, the Marines had a couple of their anti-grav armored personnel carriers. The would be used to take the troops to where they needed to go, and haul the prisoners back to the compound. As Cindy moved over to speak to Lieutenant Marco one last time, she saw that the Marines were loading up, and her team had already gotten strapped in.
"We're about to head out. Everything coming together, Ell-tee?" Cindy asked.
"Yes Sir, Officer Lissa and I were just working out a few details for the base. The holding area will be finished by the time the first prisoners get here, but the base will take most of the day to get built." He shrugged. "It should work out just fine."
"Excellent, then we'll be going. Time to ruin a drug lord's day," Cindy said, grinning.
Cindy's team and the Marines put in a long day. Santiago's organizations spanned most of the province and the team had to do a lot of traveling. The militia did try to fight them, but to Cindy, the effort seemed half hearted, as if the soldiers already knew the outcome of their fight. Hell, most of them probably did; they'd been trying to get into the defense compound for a week and had done nothing but waste a lot of ammunition.
A lot of the men simply dropped their weapons and sat on the ground with their hands behind their heads. They hadn't even needed to be stunned. O'Dell and his Marines treated the men well, and made sure they had everything they needed before leaving them at the holding area.
That situation changed drastically when they approached Santiago's main compound. The guards here were not the normal locals hired as militia for the drug lord, these men were just as bad, and in some cases worse, than Santiago himself. He had murderers, child molesters, kidnappers, and every manner of evil thug imaginable working directly for him. These were the men Santiago used when he needed to hurt another drug lord, or force a politician to work for him.
Cindy told O'Dell that none of these men should be offered the Marine job unless cleared by Officer Shannon. With the first bunch of militia captured, it had been assumed that they were the folks Cindy had mentioned; locals hired by Santiago as additional security. For the most part, that had been true. But it was painfully clear that these men were not the same. More than once Cindy wanted to just kill them all and be done with it.
About half way through the 'battle' for the compound, Lissa reported that Santiago had ordered his men to surrender but they had refused.
"Fuckin' great! That means we need to get in there and protect that asshole from his own men!" Cindy said. "Sergeant O'Dell; continue the assault, but if any of them get hurt I might get mad at you. Remember, there are civilians in the compound, which means the dumb fucks will try to take hostages. Sam, we need to be in the mansion; secure and protect Santiago for extraction. Ignore everything else; mission has priority."
"Understood Colonel; last one to slap a shield generator on the drug lord has to buy dinner!" Sam replied.
"You're on! O'Dell, see if you can get someone into the labs and get the civilians to shut down anything that could be dangerous and put the rest to sleep," Cindy ordered.
"We're on it," O'Dell replied.
The mass driver weapons on the rails had been reprogrammed to fire stun pellets. The tiny projectiles could still cause a small amount of damage, weren't considered lethal. The small pellets popped when they hit anything harder than air, and released a small amount of sleep gas and a taser pulse. The gas was also conductive and helped the pulse knock the target out. The two rails shot from the cover of the jungle surrounding the compound and dropped everything in the main courtyard in front of the mansion.
Sam and his gunner jumped out and ran into the big building. Cindy pulled up next to him, but she and Shannon used their jump packs to enter the building on the second floor. They charged through the open patio doors to find a women and a young boy pointing assault rifles at them. Off to one side and behind a crude barracade was Jesus Santiago and another young woman.
"Juanita, Alejandro! Stop, out down your weapons!" Santiago ordered in Spanish. That was when Cindy noticed Santiago had been shot in the leg. The girl with him had been trying to stop the bleeding.
As the women and boy lowered their weapons, Cindy called. "Target secured, but he's been shot. His family appear to be with him. Four prisoners total."
"Damn!" Sam replied. "I was really looking forward to that dinner!"
Shannon quickly took the weapons away from the two defenders and but gave them personal shield generators. Cindy moved over to Jesus and the girl.
"I would guess you know why we're here then, Senior Santiago," Cindy replied in Spanish.
"Si, At first, I thought it was the Americans, but when I saw who it was, I ordered the men to surrender. They wanted to die fighting, so they ignored me," the man replied.
Cindy chuckled. "They are going to be very disappointed in both of us then. We are not killing them only putting them to sleep. When they wake up, they will be in cuffs and waiting for transport to prison." Cindy reached out and put a shield on the girl before doing the same with Santiago. "These are personal shields. They will prevent a bullet from finding you, although it would appear that you already have one."
Cindy had her suit scan the wound on the man's right leg. The wound wasn't life threatening, but would need to be treated soon. Cindy got her first aid supplies out stopped the bleeding and dressed the wound.
"I am Colonel Cindy Williams of the Terran Defense Forces. Sir, you are now under arrest for assaulting our defense installation. We have also been asked by Interpol and other law enforcement agencies to detain you for trial. Under our laws you have the right to be treated fairly and will be protected to the best of our ability while you are in our custody. Everything you say and do from this point forward is being monitored and recorded, and can be used during trial proceedings.
"An advocate will be available to you to ensure these rights are upheld while you are in Terran custody. In light of the circumstances of your situation, your family is also being taken into protective custody. That status can and will change if it is found that they are guilty of any crimes as well. Do you have any questions you would ask regarding these rights as I have described them to you?"
"Not right now, can I ask questions later?" Jesus asked.
Cindy nodded. "You may for the duration of your time with us. Senior Santiago, I do not have a pain killer to give you. When it comes time to move you, I'll stun you and carry you out of here. Please don't offense; it is simply the quickest and safest way to get you back to the compound for treatment."
"You will treat Papa's wounds then?" The girl asked.
Cindy nodded. "While you are under our care, you have the right to free medical treatment. When we get back to the compound, your Papa will be treated and his wounds healed."
"Thank you for p
rotecting my Family, Colonel," Santiago said and leaned back.
Cindy nodded and stood and pointed to the women. "Your name is Juanita?"
"Si Colonel," the woman replied.
"If you have any family heirlooms or keepsakes that are precious to you, I would recommend getting them. We have orders to destroy the entire compound; this mansion is included in that," Cindy explained.
"Colonel, under the mansion, in the basements, you will find a great many disturbing things. IN order to maintain control of the men I have working for me, I had to allow them certain freedoms. Some of them…" Santiago shook his head. "No, I would say none of them were good. The basements were for my men. I know a lot of bad things went on down there, but I did not want to know the details."
"Colonel, he's telling the truth. He doesn't approve of what went on down there, but felt it was a necessary evil to maintain control of his men," Shannon said. "Once the Marines find that place, we might have trouble keeping the men from here alive long enough to reach trial."
"What a mess. Make sure they have medics with them, and lets get this over with," Cindy replied.
TDF Star Dancer
Equatorial Orbit
Earth, Sol Sector
The day after sending the Prometheus out to destroy the scouts in Tau Ceti, Admiral H'joles called Ian back with the bad news. Fleets had begun departing the Grimaria system. The real clock was now running.
Ian called the Secretary General and to ask when the meeting was scheduled.
"Currently, it's on the schedule for nine tomorrow morning, eastern time. Has something else happened?" The Secretary General asked. "You look worried."
Ian gave him a sad smile. "Alliance Command just told me that the Imperial fleets have begun leaving their staging point. Based on exit trajectory, fleet size and apparent fleet structure, Alliance Command gives it a ninety-six percent probability they are coming here. In twenty-two days, they will drop out of hyper-space at various points in the sector within twelve light-hours of their targets. At that point, the fight will be on. This is no longer a possibility, Sir; it's happening."
