LTCOL Teresa Roman had been sitting quietly beside her husband monitoring the operation. Knowing that things were about to become intense, she rose from her seat and placed a hand on Marcus’ shoulder. He glanced up at her for a moment and mouthed I love you! Teresa responded in kind, then planted a kiss on his cheek before exiting the ACV. Outside, she joined her squad of combat medics and they made their way towards the sounds of combat…where they knew they would be needed.
Back inside the ACV, the voice of Ken Halsted came through Marcus’ headphones. “Centurion, our satellite sensors are showing that the vehicle now driving onto the dam is your target. I repeat, the ‘prize’ is in the vehicle now driving onto the dam!”
Marcus keyed his mic and replied, “Centurion copies. All units, all units, this is Centurion! I am lasing our target vehicle. Check your displays for a positive identification. Let’s let him get into position before we close this trap! Helos, standby to spool up!”
The vehicle in question reached the center of the bridge and stopped. It sat there for a few minutes as the gunfire slowed then appeared to come to a halt. A ramp opened at the rear of the vehicle and seven personnel stepped out and took up positions around the rear of the vehicle. Once they seemed satisfied that it was safe, they signaled to those inside the vehicle. Four more men stepped from the vehicle and down its ramp guiding a long wheeled cart. A cylindrical device was strapped securely atop the cart.
Marcus checked his ACV’s sensors and the satellite feeds then commed his troops, “There it is, people! That’s the ‘prize’ we’re after! We go hot in one minute! Helos, when we open fire, spool up! Apaches, come in from the north and strafe the western-side of the canyon! Hit ‘em hard! Chinooks, bring in our reserves on the northwest and northeast landing zones! Frodo and Lu, my team and I will join you shortly! Dix, transferring this part of the op over to you!”
“Roger, Centurion!” responded Colonel Dixon. “Watch your arse! Okay, everybody…standby…NOW!” The ASGuard, National Guard, Mohave Sheriff’s Officers, and civilians opened fire upon the jihadi force on the dam once more. To the east, the ASGuard Apache and Chinook helicopters began to start up then launch into the night sky. Only one Chinook remained on the ground. But not for long, as Colonel Roman’s ACV pulled up momentarily. Its rear ramp dropped and Colonel Roman, Sergeant Major Cowen, and four ASGuard troopers raced out, crossed the gap between the two vehicles, and ran up the Chinook’s ramp into the helicopter! The CH-47 Chinook followed the other choppers into the sky.
From his vantage point on the eastern wall of the canyon, Colonel Steve Dixon commanded the defending forces. “Get ready to close the trap, ladies and gentlemen,” he called over his comm unit. “Barricades up…NOW! The cars’ll be next. Wait for it…wait for it…NOW! Blow the cars NOW!”
Down below, large round pylons rose from the top of the dam at each end. The pylons were operated hydraulically, were spaced about three feet apart across both lanes of the roadway, and would rise about four feet into the air. They had been installed years before as barricades to block traffic from crossing the dam. Now, it would prevent the vehicles already on the dam from driving off of it to the west or to the east.
The cars and trucks that the ASGuard troops had placed strategically along the roadway suddenly exploded as the ASGuard troopers detonated the explosives hidden within them. The explosions not only helped to take out many of the enemy soldiers within blast zones but also damaged a number of the IGC vehicles on the dam.
The ASGuard troopers did not detonate the vehicles closest to the nuclear weapon. They wanted the device intact if at all possible, not damaged or blown off the dam! With his night scope binoculars, Dixon could see the enemy troops near the nuke duck for cover behind their transport vehicle!
Dixon keyed his microphone again, “Strykers, knock out those enemy vehicles at both ends of the dam! Okay, Apaches, strafe ‘em on the east and west ends of the dam. Take out as many of them jihadis as you can! Everyone else...focus your fire on the enemy on the dam. Do not, I repeat, do NOT aim at the enemy troops near the nuke! And for God’s sake, as well as our own, do NOT hit the nuclear weapon!” Dixon switched communications channels then broadcast, “High Roller, you on the line?”
A woman’s voice came back over the new frequency. “This is High Roller,” answered Lieutenant Colonel Jessie Campos of the Nevada National Guard. “Whatcha got for us, Dix?”
“High Roller, you are free to fire; I repeat free to fire. Take out the enemy forces along Highway 93 west of the dam!” Dixon informed the commander of the Nevada National Guard unit he and Marcus had enlisted to aid with the defense of the dam. It had used up a lot of ‘markers’ they had with their military friends in the Nevada defense forces.
From the west, the large booms of artillery and tank rounds being fired could be heard! Explosions erupted on and near Highway 93 where it approached Hoover Dam. Some of the rounds exploded near enemy personnel or vehicles. Several actually struck some of the IGC personnel carriers and trucks, causing massive explosions that destroyed those vehicles and killed their occupants!
“High Roller, this is Dix! You’re on target, fire for effect! Give ‘em hell!” Dix growled into his microphone. Dixon was a soldier, born and bred for combat. “Keep it up, High Roller! The drinks’ll be on me next time I’m in Vegas!”
Campos chuckled as she responded, “You and Marcus were going to be buying the drinks anyway, Dix!”
Dixon laughed and replied, “That we were! Whoops! Got a battle to run so I’ll talk with you later!” He scanned the top of the dam again with his night vision binoculars. The enemy vehicles at both ends of the dam had been neutralized as had the enemy combatants with them. The nuke, its support team, and its vehicle were effectively trapped near the center of the dam! Dixon changed frequencies again. “Ground forces, move onto the east end of the dam and advance on the enemy! Centurion, this is Dix! You are a go! I repeat…you are a go! Good luck, ol’ buddy!”
Marcus responded with, “Centurion copies, rolling in!” He leaned forward and tapped Major ‘Frodo’ Hills on his right shoulder then pointed to the center of the dam. Hills nodded and turned the Chinook in the indicated direction.
Then Marcus moved back into the cargo bay of the helicopter to give the word to his troopers. Sergeant Major Cowen and another ASGuard trooper were prepping four lifting cables to be dropped through a hatch in the cargo bay floor. Three others were preparing ropes to be dropped out the back of the helicopter that would let them rappel swiftly from the hovering helicopter to the top of the dam below. With the lifting cables ready and under the able control of SGM Cowen, the fourth trooper joined his comrades near the rear ramp.
When they were ready, Marcus briefed them one more time. “When we go into hover over the target, the sergeant major and I will be firing down through the belly hole to make the enemy keep their heads down. There’ll be plenty of other people firing on the enemy as well, so hopefully you’ll be able to focus on your mission…get those cables hooked to the nuke’s cart and keep the enemy from unhooking it again!” The four men nodded and doubled checked their rappelling gear.
“Colonel,” said ‘Frodo’ over the Chinooks intercom, “we’re closing on the target; get ready!”
“Roger that, Frodo!” responded Marcus then turned and gave Cowen and the others a thumbs up! The four troopers moved to the lowered ramp at the rear of the Chinook and took their places. The troopers attached their harnesses to four rappelling lines and tossed the lines out of the back of the Chinook. Marcus and Cowen positioned themselves on the floor in prone positions on either side of the hole in the cargo bay floor. They pointed their M-4s through the hole and released their safeties.
Seconds later, the Chinook went into hover mode above the nuke’s position. The four troopers on the ramp stepped backwards and dropped down their ropes toward the dam’s surface, braking their descent only enough to prevent them from hitting the roadway too hard. One trooper had to use his rifle to
defend himself and his teammates on the way down his rope. His rounds struck one of the enemy soldiers in the face and the throat.
Marcus and Cowen fired their weapons down upon the enemy forces. As they did, Marcus noticed one darkly clad figure break from the group and race westward across the dam. At one point, the man stumbled and, in falling, slammed into the fender of a burning car. If someone had been standing near this man, they would have heard the sound of his skin of his right arm and the right side of his face sizzling as the heated metal burned his skin! The man screamed in pain, rose, and staggered away to the west. Mustafa Muhammad Al-Fakeeh stayed in the shadows as best he could and tried to make his way back to his fellow jihadis on the Nevada side of the Colorado.
Cowen pressed the button on the winch controller to lower the four cables. They stretched further and further from the belly of the helicopter. Marcus saw his four troopers touch down on the roadway and cast off their ropes. They were trying to grab the lifting cables when one trooper took a hit and collapsed. One of the remaining troopers grabbed two of the cables and made his way towards the nuke and its cart. The two other ASGuard troopers each caught a cable and moved towards their objective. One by one, they attached a hook at the end of a cable to a tie-down ring. When the last connection was made, one of the troopers flashed his flashlight towards the Chinook!
SGM Cowen hit the button that engaged the winch and the cart and nuke began to rise slowly into the air. Before it had risen more than a couple of feet, Marcus saw his three standing troopers each take an incoming round and fall. Marcus tried to shoot the attackers but they were well concealed. He rolled onto his back and yelled over the intercom, “Go, Frodo! Go!”
The sounds of the CH-47’s engines grew louder and the helicopter shook as the pilots gave it more and more power. The helo rose into the air…the nuke going with it! Neither Roman nor Cowen noticed another darkly clad figure run toward the suspended weapon and make a leap into the air…catching one of the cross braces on the bottom of the cart. Very carefully, the man pulled himself up until he could get better hand and foot holds on the cart.
With Cowen monitoring the hoisting of the nuclear weapon, Marcus rolled to his feet and went forward to speak with the pilot and co-pilot. “Lu, you got the GPS coordinates for the nearer of the deep, narrow canyons we found on the satellite pix?” Marcus asked Major Mingus.
“Yessir!” Mingus replied. “Already punched ‘em into guidance and we are on our way!”
Marcus spared a moment for a smile and said, “Excellent, Lu! Frodo, get us there as fast as you can!”
Major Hills nodded as he replied, “Roger that, colonel!” He and Mingus adjusted the night vision goggles attached to their helmets to help them see better in the darkness beyond their windshield.
Cowen continued to raise the nuke until it was about five feet below the Chinook’s belly. He shined the beam of his flashlight down towards the cart and checked the tie-downs to be sure they were secure. Satisfied that they were, Cowen began to inspect the cables inside the Chinook and then checked the winch attached to the cargo bay’s ceiling supports. The cables and winch were fine, so the top soldier paused to look towards the front of the helicopter.
What Cowen didn’t notice was someone was now on top of the nuclear weapon. The dark figure stood up slowly and reached silently through the belly hatch. He grabbed Cowen’s ankles suddenly, yanked hard; causing the sergeant major to fall forward. Cowen couldn’t get his hands up fast enough to break his fall so his helmet hit the deck first, leaving him stunned. The man pulled himself the rest of the way into the helicopter. Before Cowen could regain his senses, the man rolled Cowen onto his back and slugged him hard across the jaw; knocking him unconscious!
All of this had gone unnoticed up to this point by Roman, Hills, and Mingus who were focused on the helicopters instruments and the minimal visibility out the windshield. With the noise of the aircraft drowning out the sound of his movement, the man moved stealthily forward along the left side of the cargo bay trying to stay in Marcus’ blind spot.
At that moment, Marcus turned slightly to his left for just a second and thought he saw something move to his left. Marcus shifted to the right as he continued to turn and was surprised to see Phil Caldwell standing almost next to him r! Caldwell had his compact automatic weapon drawn and pressed against Marcus’ abdomen at a point where his flak vest was thin!
“Don’t move, Roman!” Caldwell shouted loudly enough to be heard over the sound of the Chinook’s engines and rotors. “You pilots, turn this eggbeater around and head back to the dam. We’re gonna put that bomb back!” He reached into one of the many pockets on his black camouflage uniform and pulled out a small black box. Splitting his attention between the ASGuard troopers and the black box, Caldwell punched several buttons on one side of the box, paused for a second then pressed one final button.
“There,” Caldwell said, “I’ve set it for 15 minutes. We have enough time to set it back on the dam and get away before it blows. Of course, when I say we, I mean me! Roman, I’m gonna dump you and your damn ASGuard crew on the dam with the bomb! Now, pilots, let’s get a move on!” Caldwell returned the black box to his pocket.
Major Hills turned and looked at his commanding officer. Marcus nodded his head then staring intently at Hills in the dim light, rolled his eyes to the left and then upwards. Hills got the message. He moved his control stick to bank the helicopter to the left then shoved the stick over hard. The helicopter dipped suddenly to the left causing Caldwell and Roman to stumble toward the left side of the cargo bay. Then, Hills yanked back on the stick and the nose of the Chinook leaped upward.
Marcus used the sudden movements to pivot slightly and fall towards Caldwell, trying to knock the man’s weapon from his grasp before he could fire it. Marcus almost succeeded; getting a grip on the weapon but Caldwell’s finger tightened on the trigger. Fortunately, in moving, Marcus was no longer in the line of fire. Unfortunately, Major Luella Mingus and her controls were!
Two bullets struck Mingus in the neck just above the collar of her flak vest. Three others hit console in front of her. Mingus slumped forward across her control stick shoving it forward. ‘Frodo’ Hills fought to regain control of his suddenly dropping helicopter.
Marcus was able to get Caldwell’s weapon away from him and throw it towards the rear of the cargo bay. The two men became locked in a wrestling match as the helicopter danced around the sky. Their fight moved deeper into the cargo bay as each tried to pin or knock out the other.
Hills was finally able to pull Mingus’ limp body away from her controls. With only seconds to spare before the helicopter would have crashed into a wall of rock, ‘Frodo’ pulled back on his stick and kicked in more power on his collective controls. The engines and rotors screamed but the nose of the helicopter rose once more. This motion caused Roman and Caldwell to slide further back into the cargo bay towards the open rear hatch.
Major Hills turned the Chinook northward and headed once more for the canyon they wanted to drop the nuke into. Now if we only have enough time to get there, Hills thought. Or maybe one like it! Hills began scanning for another deep, narrow canyon.
In the cargo bay, Cowen had begun to regain consciousness. With all of the Chinook’s shifting around, he had slid across the bay’s floor and became entangled in some cargo netting stowed under the web seats along the left wall of the cargo bay. Cowen shook his head to try to clear it; then realized that only made things worse! Fighting an urge to vomit, the sergeant major rolled across the cargo bay floor towards the belly hatch. Need to make sure the nuke is stable, he thought.
Reaching the hole, Cowen looked out. The bomb was swinging about but still seemed to be securely attached to the helicopter. Even with blurry vision, Cowen was able to make out a series of red lights on a display on top of the bomb’s casing. Oh, shit! It’s a timer…and it’s counting down!
Marcus and Caldwell chose that moment to roll over Cowen. The sergeant major took one or
two punches from Caldwell that were meant for Marcus. Cowen pushed himself up in an attempt to roll Marcus and Caldwell off. He was partially successful; getting them off of his torso and onto his legs. Cowen got one leg free and tried to kick Caldwell in the head but caught him in the gut instead. Caldwell grunted and released his hold on Marcus.
The ASGuard colonel pressed the advantage and got Caldwell in a choke hold. “Tobias, he had a control unit in his lower right coat pocket. Try to get it!” Cowen reached into that pocket and gripped the device; pulling it from Caldwell’s coat. He examined the device then tried to deactivate the timer. It didn’t work! He tried again…no luck!
“Colonel, it won’t let me turn off the timer!” Cowen reported to Roman.
Marcus thought for a moment then replied, “Will it allow you to increase the amount of time remaining?”
Cowen looked closely at the face of the control unit in the cargo bay’s dim light. There were up and down arrows next to the timer display. He looked up at Roman, shrugged, then pressed the up arrow. The timer added one minute to the countdown. Cowen smiled and punched the button again and again. When the timer showed an additional ten minutes had been added, the button stopped working.
“Colonel, I think they put in a default that won’t let me adjust it anymore! We’ve gained ten more minutes but that’s it!” Cowen shouted over the sounds of the engines and rotors. Marcus nodded then hollered back, “Go tell Frodo to put the petal to the metal! We need some place we can dump this nuke…fast! While you’re up there, check on Lu!” Cowen nodded and moved quickly to the front of the helicopter.
The Arizona State Guard Trilogy Page 51
