by Sam Schall
For a moment, all Ashlyn could do was stare at the major. Doubt warred with relief. She wanted to lead the smaller party, knowing it was the one way she could be sure everything possible was being done to not only save her family but also the others who lived in that building. But there was that confidence-shredding doubt, reminding her that she’d been on the sidelines for more than two years. Did she still have what it took to lead this sort of a mission?
More importantly, would any of the Devil Dogs follow her orders after everything that happened?
“Sir–”
“Ash, you can do this. All I want is your word that you won’t do something foolish like get yourself killed. Admiral Tremayne would have my hide and that doesn’t scare me nearly as much as what the Marines would do to me if anything else happened to you.”
“He’s right, ma’am,” Talbot put in. “With the major’s permission, I’d like to join you.”
“Thanks, Gunny.” Now she smiled slightly. She’d feel better with Talbot at her side. “Major, I’ll leave the assignments to you. You know your team.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment and forced down the pain. There had been a time when she’d known every Devil Dog. Maybe she would again, but she didn’t dare let herself hope – not yet at least.
“I know my team well enough to know they’d all jump at a chance to follow you on this mission, Ash.” He grinned. “I’m sure the gunny can help you if you want. But be quick about it. I want you in place ASAP.”
“Understood, sir.”
Less than ten minutes later, Ashlyn held up her right fist, signaling for the others to come to a halt. Crouching, she peered around the corner of the building, checking first the streets and then the area ahead. They were less than two hundred meters from Target Delta. But it was a long two hundred meters with little cover. So they had to move carefully to avoid tipping off the enemy.
“Suggestions?” she asked Talbot as they crept back from the corner.
“Put Sievers up high. He can take out anyone who happens to look our way.”
“Sievers?” As she looked at the sniper, she wished she knew him. The other members of her squad were men and women she’d served with before. But Sievers was new to the Devil Dogs. Both the major and Talbot had assured her he was one of the best, but he was still an unknown.
The man inched forward and scanned the area. Then he moved to stand with Ashlyn and Talbot. Scratching his chin, he thought for a moment before speaking. “Cap’n, I reckon I could find myself a perch and keep an eye on things, make sure none of them bastards gets a bead on you or the others.”
“Do it. Comm me just as soon as you’re in position.” She didn’t like not knowing exactly what he had in mind but she reminded herself he was a member of one of the most elite units in the Corps. Pawlak’s Devil Dogs had made a name for themselves during the first war and almost any Marine who tried out for Special Forces wanted to be a member. That had to count for something where Sievers was concerned.
“Once Sievers is in place, we move. We go in fast and hard. Don’t give the enemy a chance to contact their companions at the front of the building. I’d like at least one of them to stay alive long enough for us to question him, but don’t risk yourselves or the civilians to do so. Understood?” She looked at the rest of the squad and waited as they each nodded in return.
“Understood, Cap,” Talbot said for the rest of them. “What about entry into the building?”
“Let’s hope the civilians really are monitoring the back door and let us in. Otherwise, Dumont, you’ll have to work your magic.”
“Aye, Cap,” the small demolitions expert replied. “Just give the word.”
She nodded and turned her attention back to their target. The residential complex was new, at least new to her. The briefing information Pawlak had downloaded to her datapad confirmed that the complex had opened to tenants and select merchants less than a year before. That worked in their favor because it meant they had accurate plans for each floor. Even more important, at least to Ashlyn's mind, was the fact that the complex had been built with the realities of war in mind. The structure was reinforced to withstand anything short of a direct hit from heavy ordinance. It was obvious the attackers hadn't taken all that into consideration.
"Cap'n, I'm in place," Sievers reported over her earbud.
"Stand ready." She turned her attention to Talbot. "Gunny, let's move."
Talbot nodded and motioned to their point man. Sergeant Yancy Puckett shouldered his rifle and crept forward. At the corner of the building he paused. Ashlyn watched as his gaze raked the area between their position and the target. Then he gave a nod and started off, moving quickly and silently despite his battle armor.
Ashlyn waited as Puckett's partner followed close on his heels. They moved almost as one, betraying not only the fact they'd trained long and hard together but that they'd also seen more than their fair share of battles together. There was something about having to rely on your partner to make sure you both returned safely at the end of a mission that no amount of training could teach.
When the two were ten meters away, Ashlyn looked at the gunny and nodded. Talbot nodded in return and signaled for the rest of the squad to move out. Without waiting for the gunny, Ashlyn shouldered her assault rifle and started off. She moved quickly and as quietly as possible across the open area. Her eyes were locked on the assault vehicle parked less than ten meters from the rear entrance to the building. Their readings indicated at least half a dozen enemy were in place around the armored vehicle. She guessed at least one more was inside, monitoring communications. That meant they had to deal with the vehicle quickly, before whomever was inside managed to warn his companions or those attempting to breach the front of the building.
A single shot rang out from above and behind the half dozen armored Marines racing toward the residential complex. Ashlyn stopped for a split-second, her eyes sweeping first her people and then the enemy ahead. One corner of her mouth lifted slightly to see a light armored enemy trooper topple over ahead of her. Sievers was definitely as good as the gunny had said.
“Move!” she yelled as another head popped up from behind cover only to explode in a splash of red and grey as Sievers picked him off.
Idiots. You don’t come to a fight and not wear full armor.
“Take out that armored vehicle!” She watched as two of the squad peeled off. The lead man laid down suppressing fire for his partner as she zeroed in on the vehicle. The corporal shouldered her grenade launcher and fired. The sounds of the explosion filled the air and echoed off the surrounding buildings. If the poor sods inside the vehicle cried out before they died, no one heard.
Serves ‘em right. They should have kept better watch. Then they might not have been caught in that death trap.
As if suddenly alerted by the explosion that their position was compromised, the enemy turned away from the housing complex and began firing at the approaching Marines. The first two went down quickly, easy targets for Sievers and his sniper rifle. Another screamed in agony as Talbot swung his assault rifle in his direction and opened fire. Three more died quickly as the Marines continued moving forward, carefully choosing their shots.
Ashlyn held up a fist to stop her squad as the last enemy fighter dropped his rifle and started running away from them. Sievers’ voice came over her earbud, asking if she wanted him to take the coward down.
“No. He’s mine.”
She snugged her rifle against her shoulder and took aim at the retreating figure. The scope zeroed in on the target. Slowing her breath, she focused. Damn, what she’d give for her ocular implant to be online. For that matter, she’d really like to have been able to put in some target practice over the last two plus years. She hated relying on just the scope and her very rusty skills. But she had to do this. She had to be careful and hopefully she’d get lucky and they’d take him alive.
Her finger tightened on the trigger. There was a slight kick as she fired. She continued to wat
ch through her scope. The fleeing soldier – if he really was a soldier and she was beginning to question whether the attackers were soldiers or mercenaries or even something else – staggered, his arms flailing. Then, as if in slow motion, he took two more stumbling steps before falling face first to the pavement. A slight smile touched Ashlyn’s lips as she lowered her rifle. The shot might not have been as good as she would have liked and it had taken her longer than it should have to get the aim, but she’d done it without her implants.
Not bad for her first shot in more than two years and with an unfamiliar weapon.
Before she could say anything, Talbot dispatched two of the squad to retrieve the fallen man. Then he signaled for the rest of them to get under cover. There was no guarantee more of the enemy might not come around the corner at any moment to try to re-secure the position.
Ashlyn knelt behind the remains of the armored vehicle and watched, her rifle at the ready, as the two Marines dragged the wounded man forward. As she did, she commed for a corpsman to join them. Then she keyed in the code for Pawlak.
“Major, we’re in position. I’m keeping Sievers up top to cover us,” she reported. “No casualties and we have one prisoner. Shot while trying to flee.” She glanced at Corporal Dumont who was kneeling next to the wounded man. The demolitions expert nodded, his mouth grim. “He should be able to answer questions if we get a medic here to patch him up so he doesn’t bleed out.”
“Lt. Tredennick is on her way to you now, Captain,” Pawlak said. “Can you make entry into the building?”
Before she could answer, the rear door slid open. The Marines moved as one in that direction, their weapons coming to bear. As far as they knew, the building hadn’t been breached but they weren’t taking any chances. Then, even before the door was open all the way, a white piece of cloth was shoved through. That ancient signal of truce might or might not be a trap. Since they had yet to see who had thrown it, Ashlyn wasn’t about to risk any of her squad.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t above risking herself.
“Major, we have movement from inside. Someone just tossed out the proverbial white flag,” she reported.
“One of our people?”
“I don’t know, sir. I’ll report as soon as we have an answer for you.”
With that, she stood and stepped out from behind the wrecked armored vehicle sliding her assault rifle into its scabbard over her right shoulder. As she did, her left hand rested on the butt of the pistol at her left thigh. If it was a civilian trying to let them know it was safe to come in, she didn’t want to spook him into doing something foolish. But, if it was a trap, she wanted to be able to act before anyone got a lucky shot off at her.
“Step out so we can see you!” she called, motioning Talbot back when he started in her direction. “Gunny,” she said over the secure channel. “Stay there and keep me covered.”
“Captain, damn it, get back here!”
“Gunny, I’m the weak point in the team and you know it. I’m more than two years out of practice and my implants are offline. So cover my ass and make sure no one gets a lucky shot off at me.” She keyed off the comm and turned her attention back to the door. Then she frowned when no one appeared.
Damn it.
“Sievers, can you see anything?” she commed.
“That’s a negative, Cap,” the sniper replied.
“Tran, Dumont, go!”
She motioned the two forward and ducked back behind what was left of the armored vehicle. As she did, she nodded slightly to see the promised medic kneeling beside the wounded prisoner. With the medic was a member of Tsui’s unit. The burly Marine touched his battle helmet with his right hand in what could almost be called a salute – something that would most definitely be a breach of regulations. You never, ever do anything on a battlefield to single out for the enemy who your commanders are.
“Corporal Gould, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on the LT and prisoner.”
“Good.” She nodded. “Dumont?” she commed.
“All clear, Cap.”
Ashlyn moved carefully out from behind the wreckage, Talbot on her heels. As she moved toward the door, the rest of the squad ranged around them. No one was taking any chances.
Good. That was good. She didn’t want to lose anyone now.
“Major,” she began as she once again opened a comm channel to him. “We are about to make entry.”
“Leave the channel open, Captain. We’ll hold position out front until you have secured the building and have started the evac.”
“What the hell was that?”
He raced to the window looking down on the area behind the complex. Plastering himself against the wall, he carefully peeked out. Smoke rose from below. The sound of gunfire, faint but there, reached him. As it did, his mouth drew tight. That had been their first warning something was happening and they’d almost missed it because it had been muted by the almost perfect soundproofing of the building. The same damned soundproofing that had almost cost them everything by not letting them know earlier they were the target of an attack.
Now he watched in disbelief as a squad of Marines moved forward, their assault rifles making short work of the attackers. A bittersweet smile touched his lips as he recognized the unit markings on the battle armor of the nearest Marines. The Devil Dogs. Well, if anyone could get through the attackers and help evacuate the occupants of the complex to safety, it was the DDs. But they weren’t the same DDs he’d known.
Hell, it wasn’t the same military he’d known although, thanks to the last election and some changes at the top, it would be again.
He hoped.
But he didn’t have time to worry about that now. He had more than a hundred people – men, women and children – to keep safe. At least there was a large number of both former and active duty military, as well as military dependents, living in the complex. It was amazing how many of them had, at a minimum, either their old service weapons, hunting or sports weapons. Others, like he and his wife, had what could only be termed a small arsenal at hand. It hadn’t taken them long to get everyone armed and into position to hold the building until help came.
Fortunately, the attackers hadn’t been very good at their jobs. All it would have taken was a carefully placed blast to the rear doors to get in. The front, with all its crystalcrete, might hold against small arms fire but a direct hit from a grenade launcher or something similar would breach the building. That was why he’d stationed snipers on the upper floors. Between them and the firebombs some of the others had made, they’d managed to keep the enemy from moving in too close.
But why had the enemy targeted their building and why hadn’t they made a more concentrated effort to make entry? It didn’t make any sense.
“Abe, what now?”
He turned and smiled slightly at the brunette who was now plastered to the other side of the window frame. She wore the light armor of a Marine and her assault rifle was slung across her back. She had secured on long bladed knife to her right calf and past experience tom him she had at least two more secreted on her person somewhere. Then there were the two pistols, one at each thigh. No one looking at her would mistake her for anything but a well-trained Marine, ready for anything the enemy might throw at them. There might be a few more wrinkles on her face and some gray in her hair, but it was hard to realize they’d been together for more than thirty years. First they’d been partners on the battlefield. Now they shared their lives. How easy it had been for them to fall back into old habits when the first shots rang out more than three hours earlier.
Thank God.
And thank God she hadn’t left her armor and weapons behind when they came to the capital more than a week ago. She might not be on active duty, but she still insisted on carrying her gear with her wherever they went “just in case”.
There had been a time when he would have done the same. But that had changed more than fifteen years ago. By then, their four children needed at least on
e parent home, or so he and his wife believed. Fuercon had been at war and and neither of them wanted to risk leaving their children orphaned. He knew his wife’s career potential outweighed his own. He had left active duty, exchanging his battle rifle for stock quotes and investment prospectuses.
“It looks like we’re about to get reinforcements.” He nodded out the window to the squad of Marines. “Have Herve open the back door. Tell him to toss out a white flag. Then he’s to fall back to the secondary position. I don’t think this is a trap, but let’s not get careless now.”
“All right.” She glanced out the window, her expression troubled. “I’ll go down and make sure everything’s okay. If it is the Marines, I’ll bring the CO up and we can figure out how best to get our people out.”
He didn’t like it, not one bit. If she went downstairs, she’d be closer to the enemy and that meant closer to danger. Then he shook his head, memory of other times he’d felt this way coming to mind. They had been younger and still in uniform. She’d been headstrong then. But she’d also been smart enough not to put herself in danger’s way without a damned good reason. He had to trust her now as he had then.
Besides, she’d be able to handle just about anything that might happen. Two years beached had done little to take the edge off of her abilities as a marksman or tactician. She might not have a duty assignment at the moment, but she had kept her abilities honed as she waited for the day she’d once more be called up for active duty.
“Do it.” He ducked under the window and moved to her side. “Just be careful, Liz.”
She nodded, gave him a quick hug and then turned, pulling her rifle from the scabbard slung across her back. The years and the four children she’d born hadn’t robbed her of her ability to move quickly, gracefully and silently. He had to believe it hadn’t robbed her of her ability to stay alive.
He sighed heavily and then moved away from the window, activating his comm-link. “What’s the status out front?”
