by Cliff Deane
Some three hours later Levi awoke to find Susan holding his hand and looking down at him with a face filled with the emotions of relief.
*
24 May 0800
WH Conference Room
DC
Gus chaired the morning briefing and informed everyone of Levi’s condition and that he was expected to make a full recovery in about six weeks.
Word had gotten around of his improving condition, but all were happy to hear it officially from Gus.
“All right, let’s get down to business. Neal, how are our new security protocols coming along?”
Neal said, “Sir, we now have troopers positioned on the main floor of every building surrounding the White House grounds. We also are currently conducting an ongoing search of each of these buildings to make sure we don’t have any unwanted squatters.”
“Good, good,” said Gus, “hopefully our Sniper friend will not realize our precautions and try to re-infiltrate one of the buildings.”
“Yes, sir, that is our hope. Actually, in some small way I feel kind of sorry for that sniping bastard; because if he’s taken alive, I have a feeling he might fall down some stairs before he gets turned over to us.”
Continuing, Gus informed everyone that the new Mortar Crews would be joining the Task Force in the next two or three days and that the Sneaky Pete Insertion Teams would be another week.”
Gus told them that the TF would hold position for several weeks to let the Insertion boys give us some good Intel on Caliphate dispositions.
“We’ll be sending the insertion teams into Philadelphia, New York, Jersey City, Cleveland, and as far west as Dearborn, MI. We believe the Headquarters of the Caliphate is in Dearborn.
These teams will be gathering information on the locations of Mosques and their usage if any. Just around the Newark and NYC area, there are over forty Mosques. Though I doubt if many are still in use, it is our task to destroy each one of them. From what we have learned in DC, I expect places like Newark or NYC to be ghost towns, but we have to check them out.
In the meantime, while we are positioned here, we will begin the systematic destruction of every Mosque we find.
Neal, do you have any new info from Sayed?”
Captain Neal Page said, “Not much of tactical importance as the only assignments he had were Cleveland and DC. However, when I asked if he thought his family would willingly come out of Cleveland and possibly form a government in exile; he seemed to think that his father could be open to the idea. His response came across as kind of an almost definite maybe.”
“Good work Neal, keep after him and make it a point to keep us up to speed at each morning briefing.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was also decided to send out large patrols to scrounge for food, water, fuel and whatever else the Task Force might be able to use.
Gus had been in touch with Defiance, and they promised to have a significant amount of freeze dried foods available. Heavy resupply of foodstuffs would be available in a couple of weeks.
Food was still a major concern to the leadership cadre of the TF until the patrols began discovering food and fuel distribution centers. Even though most had been looted, the stored foods were so significant that there were still large quantities. The local gangs had fought over these caches until finally, only one gang could control any given distribution center. Once the Caliphate moved in, they killed the gang bangers and took over these facilities.
*
23 May 1500
High Rise Office Bldg, ¼ mile from WH
DC
Mohammed bin Saud, sat observing the activity on the White House grounds through binoculars. He had been making notes since he began his watch, four hours ago.
His friend, Abdullah bin Rafji sat on a couch reading his copy of the Quran.
Other than normal duties performed at any Fort, there was not really much of interest to report, so, Mohammed and Abdullah made things up to prove that they were on the job. They reported troop movements in and out of the WH grounds, the helicopter flights, then multiplied those counts by a factor of ten. They also added anything else they could think of to fill the pages of their notebook.
Mohammed heard a buzzing noise and placing the binos on the window ledge; he began looking for whatever was making that noise. After a few seconds, the noise faded away, and shrugging his shoulders, returned to his observations.
*
23 May 1500
WH Tactical Operations Center (TOC)
DC
“Hot damn; we got ‘em!
Sgt. Major, the FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) Radar on the WASP has located two men on the top floor at 730 15th St NW.”
“Well, hot damn sums it up well Corporal Olson.
Jonesy; contact the patrol in that sector to bring at least one back alive, if possible.”
“Roger, Sgt. Major, I’m on it.”
Oops!
Recon Patrol 6
“…Roger; Out.
All right, gather round boys, a WASP has picked up two men on the top floor at 730 15th St NW, let’s see, well shit, that’s only half a block from us.”
The Sgt. in charge of the Patrol laid out the plan for the assault and capture; then the team set out to bring ‘em in.
Step one required a recon of all entrances to the building to discover if those on the top floor had security on the ground floor. A close examination of the immediately surrounding buildings and the target revealed no backup.
The team entered the building and established a two-man Security Team to guard each entrance. This left six men to clear the building using the standard procedure for an urban warfare sweep of each room on every floor. Upon reaching the stairwell entrance to the target floor, they discovered that the security door had been pried open to allow the Caliphate soldiers to enter.
A careful inspection of the door was conducted to ensure that no traps had been placed; next, a small camera was inserted at floor level into the hallway to check for security personnel or traps.
The hallway appeared to be clear. The Patrol Leader sent two men through the now open door, to carefully make their way to the room which held the hostiles. Two other men entered and made their way in the opposite direction.
Upon reaching the target door, the ROA troopers discovered that it stood open by approximately two feet. The troopers could hear the JJs (Jihadi Johnnies) discussing what was happening on the White House grounds.
Again, a small camera on a flexible shaft was inserted through the door to locate the JJs inside the room. One sat by the window looking through binoculars, while his partner lay on a couch with a magazine laid out across his face.
Using hand signals, the Corporal indicated his intentions; he then withdrew a flash/bang grenade from his vest. He pulled the pin, released the handle, counted to two before rolling the grenade into the room. Both troopers quickly placed their backs against the wall, closed their eyes, and covered their ears.
The detonation of a flash/bang grenade is not designed to kill its intended target, but the flash temporarily blinds or blurs the target’s vision, and the bang causes nausea and extreme disorientation.
Looking into the room, the troopers saw the two men on the floor in a state which allowed them no possibility of resistance. The remaining patrol members then began a rapid clearing of the remainder of the floor while the Patrol Leader quickly made his way to the target room. As he entered the room, he saw his troopers standing over two men dressed as Pakistani’s. They had been raised to a sitting position, and their hands were secured behind their backs. Neither JJ could hear and could only see a bright light. The man lying on the couch had heard the grenade, and as he turned toward it the magazine fell from his face, and he looked directly at the flash.
The Patrol Leader gave them five minutes to recover while he looked through their notes, written in Arabic.
Before the prisoners were taken from the room, each man was asked to identify which AK was his. The J
Js were then blindfolded and led back to the stairwell and taken down the stairs. Upon arriving at the top step of the last flight, the Patrol Leader asked their names; both men pretended not to speak English, but one seemed a bit more belligerent than the other. Mr. Belligerence slipped and tumbled pell-mell down the concrete steps. The Sergeant then removed the blindfold from the second man and again asked for his name.
The enemy soldier saw his partner lying in a heap at the bottom of the steps and could not give his name fast enough.
“Thank you,” said the Patrol Leader. “I have just one other question before we go down the steps.”
“Yes, what is it?” asked the prisoner.
The sergeant smiled and said, “Who shot the round that hit one of our troopers, yesterday?”
“HIM! IT WAS HIM!” shouted the prisoner, “I swear before God, it was him.”
“Thank you; I sure hope your rifle wasn’t the one that fired that shot…”
As one of the patrol members knelt over the body to check on the condition of the man who tripped, he looked up at the Sergeant and said, “Broken neck, among other things, he’s dead.”
He was left where he fell, and after they had stepped over the body, the blindfold was replaced over the eyes of the hostile.
While making their way back to HQ, one of the troopers whispered to the Sergeant, “Why is he blindfolded?”
The sergeant smiled and said, “To scare the crap out of him.”
The prisoner was chained to the table in a Conference Room and left alone for two hours. When Gus entered the room, and before he began the interrogation, he offered the JJ a bottle of water.
Gus was surprised at how cooperative the captive was, and he rather enjoyed the conversation. The interrogation lasted for only half an hour before Gus decided he had all of the useful information he was going to get from this young fool.
While the interrogation was in progress, both AKs were fired into a rancid piece of pork from one of the kitchen freezers. This was a nasty job, but Gus wanted to bullets to resemble, in structure, the round that hit Levi.
Once the rounds were recovered, and the pork was thrown back into the disgusting freezer, the bullets were taken to the Med-Lab where the two lead bullets were examined under a powerful magnifying glass to try and match them to the round which hit Levi. It was quickly discovered that the bullet which hit their General was fired from the dead Jihadi’s rifle.
***
Chapter 5
The Cantankerous Duo
2 June 0800
WH Helicopter Pad
DC
The next ten days passed without incident with active hostiles. The Mortar Crews arrived on 26 May and were given the mission of using the Mosques and any other Islamic building for target practice. After a week, the crews were becoming experts and were making many first round hits.
Ali Sayed had translated the notes taken from the JJs, and according to these notes, the Task Force had over five thousand troops. There was one curious note, however; a notation in the notes found it curious that this Army was wearing what appeared to be Iraqi uniforms.
The captured JJ was given a letter, which said;
The Jihadi was then released to carry the letter back to the Caliphate forces between DC and Dearborn. He received a one week supply of food, a sleeping bag, and a bicycle.
Sgt. Major Cobb wasn’t sure the JJ was all that happy to be reporting back to his bosses, and said, “If I was him, I’d shave my beard, dump the Paki duds and find some jeans and a t-shirt, then head my ass due west.”
Levi’s recovery was rapid, but not from his perspective. After only ten days, he was already giving Dr. Tom a difficult time with his demands to be returned to duty; and the Doctor was having none of his demands.
“General, your skull is thick, and yes, you are headstrong, but I am in charge here, and I’m telling you that a fractured skull does not heal in only ten days, so knock off the bitching…sir.”
Before this, no one had, even an inkling that Dr. Tom could be just as bull headed as Levi. He had, however, already decided that Levi might return to limited duty in another three weeks.
Gus gave the doc an atta’ boy!
Susan and Kate had returned to Lejeune where Susan resumed her duties as Commander, Flight Wing. Kate reported as Katherine Jarvis, age eighteen. She took and passed the pre-flight aptitude test with very high scores.
Katherine had changed her hair to a dirty blonde color, and everyone who did recognize her was not surprised that she had excelled at the aptitude test. They were also counseled to keep their mouth shut. Many of the original troopers were a bit insulted at being told to keep quiet. The loyalty they had for Levi made that order totally unnecessary. What surprised them was that she was willing to leave Levi’s side.
Gone was the sweet little Katie and the Kate with the leave me the hell alone attitude. Katherine Jarvis demonstrated an entirely new persona; focused and dedicated.
Over the recovery time for Levi, Susan made several trips back to DC on weekends, and if Katherine had no assignments, she would accompany Susan, ostensibly to get additional stick time.
The first time Levi saw her in uniform, he wasn’t sure, at first, that he was actually seeing Kate. She both looked and carried herself as an adult. Levi smiled and asked if she was a chameleon.
Susan laughed and told him that she just might be.
Kate would complete her initial flight training and would receive assignment orders, as a 2nd Lt. in the Army of the ROA a week after the anticipated Task Force Levins move to engage Caliphate Forces in Pittsburgh.
The Insertion Teams had arrived on 30 May and had quickly departed on their assignments. The Jersey Team was expected back on 27 June. Movement was slated for 4 July 0001.
Training and PT continued daily. Combat training was directed primarily toward Urban Warfare.
The first diesel tanker trucks began arriving on 26 May, and there were now forty full tanker trucks ready for movement. The Northeastern portion of the late U.S. was rife with fuel storage farms.
The Mechanized Battalion was scheduled to complete training on 12 July. Gus wanted to wait, but he felt the troops were getting stale with garrison duty.
Gus had hoped to find small enclaves of civilians in DC, but the areas, in and around, DC were now empty of human habitation.
The first small communities they encountered were small groups of farmers who had banded together to share crop diversity and security. They had agreed to pay taxes to the Caliphate in exchange for being left alone.
The arrangement made with the ROA included the garrisoning of a forty-man platoon to provide not only protection but also fuel, in exchange for feeding the garrison and providing 10% of their annual crop production to the ROA. While these communities were not yet considered to be a formal part of the ROA, they were declared to be a protectorate.
This template became the standard offer to all communities seeking an ROA presence. The benefits of these treaties seemed fair to all and come Fall would help to ease the food concerns of the Army.
President Bassett sent out negotiating teams to continue the expansion of the ROA along a path approximately twenty miles wide and following the Army’s progress. The downside was that the bureaucracy of the ROA continued to grow at a pace matching its expansion.
*
27 June
WH, DC
The Insertion teams from both NJ and NYC returned on the same day and were directed to brief the Army’s Command Staff on their findings.
Levi had been released from the hospital and placed on limited duty by Dr. Tom. Levi’s back still caused him some pain, as the location of the bullet’s entry made it uncomfortable for him to sit against a chair’s backrest, and his putzing around made it impossible for the sutures in his back to keep the wound closed. Dr. Tom finally decided just to keep the hole covered and let it heal without stitches; this resulted in Levi having a 3/8” diameter depression on his back. Levi thought he mi
ght one day have a tattoo added at the bullet’s entry point, depicting a bullet penetrating a steel plate. The rear of the bullet would also be visible.
On 27 June he and his Senior Staff sat and listened to the briefings.
The NJ Team related that the Caliphate’s presence tended to run along the border between the urban and farming areas. Their strength consisted of roughly three hundred soldiers.
“Only three hundred?” asked Captain Page. “This war is going to go well if we only find them in those numbers.”
Levi and Gus were not quite so happy at this news, and Gus said, “Captain, I think you are missing a potentially very important concern, here. If we keep running into such small garrisons until we reach Dearborn, how many Jihadis, do you think will be waiting for us there?
Neal looked pained and embarrassed as he said, “Oh crap; sorry sir, I mean, well, holy crap.”
Everyone in the room chuckled, and the NJ briefer was directed to continue.
The local populace was forcibly disarmed by the Caliphate, and ordered to turn over 50% of their crops. The Team Leader felt that as New Jersey had always been a “Gun Free State” the surviving farmers had very limited resources to defend themselves which led to their forced admission into the Caliphate.
The ROA was welcomed, as liberators in every small community they found, as the scouts spread out into the countryside. They were also more than pleased to have their taxes reduced from 50% to 10% on their crops along with feeding the nearby garrison for the protection they would receive. This formula proved to be a win/win all along the line. One approving farmer told the ROA patrol that 10% was reasonable because if it was good enough for God, it should be good enough for the government.
