“You’re welcome Boss.” Apache laughed.
I moved my scope onto the second Faquid and drilled him in the left eye, popping his head like an over ripe melon. I then shifted aim and took out another Faquid. That left only five alive and still fighting. An energy blast smacked into the catwalk under me weakening it. I tried to move but I fell through the hole. I dropped my rifle and was able to wrap my hands around the struts of the ladder. Energy blasts blew past my head hitting the hangers holding up the catwalk. I let go of the ladder and hung on with one arm as I drew my pistol. I never had a chance to fire on the Faquid ruining my day. Heaven had changed positions and switched to three round bursts from single shots. He fired on the area the shots were coming from and emptied his magazine. The shots that had been zeroing on me ceased. That was great, but I was still stuck hanging onto a failing catwalk and ladder.
My arms started shaking from all the effort it took to hold me in place. I looked around hoping I could find a place to put my feet but found nothing. My grip was slipping, and I knew that the forty feet fall to the ground was gonna hurt bad. It was then a hand grasped my wrist and the fingers tightened around me, digging into my flesh. The pain was excruciating, but it told me I had a chance to live. I looked up to find half of Heaven’s body hanging over the catwalk and down the ladder. His other hand grasped my other wrist holding me in one place.
Heaven gave me a wide grin and winked down at me. “What are you up to Boss?”
“Oh, just hanging about.” Heaven chuckled at my poor attempt of humor and tightened his grip. “Uhm Heaven, who is holding on to you?”
“I am holding onto his waist, his disgusting ass just inches from my face.” Came Apache’s voice from above.
“Hey Heaven, didn’t you have chili for lunch?” I joked.
“Two bowls Boss.” Heaven joked back chuckling.
“Keep up the jokes and I’m letting go!” Apache hollered back.
Heaven glanced around trying to figure out how he was going to save us both as his grip stayed solid around my wrists. I did the same thing and glanced around wildly looking for a place to secure myself. Nothing seemed stable enough though.
“Heaven, if it comes down to my life and both our lives, I order you to let me go.”
“I don’t believe my creator would appreciate that very much. I will do whatever it takes to save your life Boss. So, shut up already.” Heaven hissed through his clenched jaw.
Both of our arms were becoming tired and Apache had to be close to losing her grip on Heaven. I had tried to do a pull up to climb up Heaven’s body but lacked the strength. Heaven tried to do an inverted sit-up to bring me higher up, but he was getting close to his limits. It was then the ugly face of Bri appeared over Heaven looking down at our predicament.
“Anyone call for a tow truck?” Bri asked.
“First tell me how you got up there,” I called out.
“Let me get you and our friend Heaven up here first.” Bri squatted and reached down grabbing on to the drag strap of Heaven’s combat vest. The big man’s arms tensed as his veins and cords bulged out. He let out a bellowing roar that I swore shook the hangar and heaved. In a moment I found myself lying on the cold metal of the catwalk face down. I couldn’t believe that Bri had just dead lifted almost four hundred and fifty pounds of men and the supplies on us. I would hate for him to get mad at me. I would never win in hand to hand combat, I’d have to shoot him and get lucky to take him down. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the big man as he stood over me breathing hard, big sweat droplets the size of nickels on his bald head.
“You okay Boss?” Bri asked through deep exhaustive breaths.
“Yeah buddy I’m good. What about you man?” I asked as I sat up and looked up at the big man.
“Yeah. I’m fine, I’ve lifted more than that in the gym. Just need a second to catch my breath.”
Ten minutes later we were down on the floor Hangar helping with dragging Faquid bodies outside. As I worked with Heaven to pull what had been the lead Faquid out to the tarmac, Lieutenant Colonel Tasha Lowery came up and placed a hand on my shoulder. I dropped the legs I had been carrying and turned to her, wiping my hands on my pants to clear them of yellow plasma and body fluids.
Tasha snapped to attention and rendered a salute that I did not warrant. I was no longer in the military, but since she offered it, I felt obliged to return it. I snapped to attention like I did as a young recruit and brought my hand up to my brow. I held it there for a moment making eye contact with the strong woman.
I dropped my hand and then stuck it out for a handshake. “Colonel,” I said in way of greetings.
“Lieutenant Colonel actually,” she responded with a smile.
“Eh, I never was good at the rank thing.”
“Our friend Phyl has briefed me on your situation and mission parameters. I was hoping you would allow us to join in with you and your ragtag group of misfits.”
I cut my glance to the side taking in a smiling Phyl. I then met Tasha’s intense gaze and smirked. “What the hell, I always wanted my own airwing.”
“So, what do you have planned?”
“First, permission to land our thirsty bird?”
Tasha gave me a squinty look as she was trying to figure out what I meant. “What?”
I pointed over her shoulder at the black speck coming in fast from the North growing in size as it got closer. “It followed me home, can I keep it?”
Tasha studied the Apache helicopter as it slew sideways, and the pilot delivered a salute. The blades kicking up dust from its powerful wind. “Is that Bilbo?”
“It is.”
“I never thought I would see that stiff Brit tosser again.”
“Why's that?”
“He always seemed a little bit off, figured him for a deserter. I guess I was wrong,” Tasha pointed at Bilbo and then to an empty part of the parking ramp. “Let’s top off his tanks and get him reloaded. In fact,” she turned to her people. “I need to find out how many birds we have working right now, then get them ready to go.”
Her aides dispersed to follow her orders immediately. I went outside and gazed up at the beautiful sunset, enjoying the end of another day. We had delivered a huge blow to the Collectivus, we attained an attack helicopter unit with a Lieutenant Colonel who was fierce and loyal to her troops, and of course have my men and women from Malleus. I smiled knowing that we were about to start kicking the Collectivus’ ass everywhere we could.
Day 5
I woke the next morning back in bed. We had worked all night helping Tasha and her people at the air base preparing the Apache helicopters and securing the defenses. Once that was all done, a heavy lift Sikorsky helicopter transported my people and the Rhino back to my house. Bilbo, his helicopter, and another Apache came along as protection from Collectivus and their craft.
I sat at the end of my bed and took in the bruises and swollen state of my stump. I had been pushing myself further and further physically and was now paying for it. There would have to come a day where I would have to forgo my prothesis and spend the day on my crutches letting the stump recover. I hated doing that, but everyone in the house had seen me without the prothesis before and no one gave me sympathy for it. I hopped to the bathroom and quickly took care of my needs showering and applying a cream that helped bring down inflammation. I dressed in shorts and a grunt style black T-shirt that had an American flag made of different caliber rounds on the front and said Whiskery Tango Foxtrot on the back.
I grabbed my crutches from behind the door and made my way to the kitchen. I stopped in the living room as I came across two people cuddled on the couch asleep together. I took a closer look and identified them as Apache and Hase. Hase was one of our team leads of Malleus, but I hadn’t known he was back from his mission in Central America. The two had blissful looks on their faces, so I moved on and made my way to the garage. What I walked into, was organized chaos. Chun met me at the garage door with a wicked smile stretchi
ng across his mouth. He waved for me to follow him over to a large map someone had put on a wall.
“We have made more friends boss,” he handed me a spiral notebook.
I read the first page and identified codenames and radio frequencies for numerous groups spread throughout the West Coast. “How did this happen?”
Butch walked over and laid a massive forearm on my shoulder pushing me down on my crutches. “That kick ass Lieutenant Colonel you friended has been busy contacting other units that have been hiding from Collectivus. The last we heard we have about a thousand soldiers of various services and an underground think tank with a bunch of egg heads in it.”
I was thrown for a loop when I heard all that. I was only asleep for six hours, but things had changed so much. I stopped thinking and stared up at Butch. “When the fuck did you guys get back? Last time I had spoken to you guys you were tracking Collectivus and were going to start planning hits on them.”
Butch moved his arm off my shoulder and worked his way over to a couch and plopped down in it. Chun motioned me over to him. “Well Boss, we have already completed our planning on Collectivus targets. I called in but was told you were on a mission. So, I brought the guys together and we voted to come back here to finish our planning. As we got back, I heard about your little adventure and our new air wing. I called in to the Lieutenant Colonel and she started filling me in on what support she could provide us and then surprised me with who she had been able to contact.”
I walked over to the map and read the notes taped onto each contact point. It seemed we had two national guard units filled with weekend warriors. We also had what would seem like a civilian militia that had formed made of hunters and preppers. Now those were my kind of people, they were the kind of men that knew what waging a guerilla war was all about. They didn’t have a command structure or ROE, Rules of Engagement like professional soldiers did.
I made my way over to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup. I took my first sip and enjoyed the burn as it warmed me up. I wobbled over, using my crutches and holding onto my coffee cup as I worked my way to the table near the radio. I set my cup down and started going through Chun’s plans. I was resting on one crutch leaning into it, when the radio in the corner of the room burst into static for a second and then a fear-soaked voice came through.
“To anyone out there, this is Think Tank Epsilon. We are under heavy attack by the so called Collectivus. We need help immediately!”
I turned to the radio as Hashkeh grabbed the mic. “How are they attacking? Over.”
“We are underground in a bunker; they have been hitting the upper structures with those weird flying craft. I can see from the wireless cameras we have setup outside the structure that there is a sizeable force of ground troops set up just inside the tree line.” Large explosions could be heard over the radio.
“Roger all. Barricade the best you can, we are on our way. Over.”
I looked down to my missing leg and prosthesis and then over to my team. “We don’t have a moment to lose. Chun, radio the airbase and alert the Lieutenant Colonel of what is going on. We need Apaches in the air and beating feet to the think tank,” I turned to Butch. “Butch, find Cupcake and get the Rhino Runner ready to move out.”
I turned on my crutches and took off for the house to grab my leg. I knew the men would do their jobs, that was the last thing I was worried about. I stopped in the living room where Apache was already up and putting on her leg. She took in my crutches and lack of a leg and gave me an understanding smile. I hobbled to the bedroom and grabbed my prothesis. I quickly strapped it on and tightened the straps. My leg had not had time to recover from the overuse the previous day and pain radiated from my bruised stump, but I chose to ignore as I have in the past. I stood up and gained my balance before changing into my Duluth firehose cargo pants. I changed my shirt to an Under Armour compression long sleeve shirt and shrugged into my armor and combat vest. I picked up my HK416 and jogged outside to the Rhino. Everyone who was at the compound were geared up and waiting to board. The Rhino couldn’t hold us all though. I quickly picked out the people going and got them loaded up. After they loaded, I found there were no more room for me.
“Cupcake get the fuck out of here; those people can’t wait. I’ll find another way.”
Cupcake didn’t have to be ordered twice. He shifted the Rhino into gear, revved it to the redline, and sped away in a cloud of dust. I turned finding Apache, Johnson, Athena, Bri, Heaven, and Hase standing around fully kitted up and ready to go.
“Hold on guys I am going to go wrangle us up a ride. I wonder if Uber is still in service.”
I strode into the garage and picked up the radio. “Apache six come in. Over.”
“Apache six, go ahead. Over.” A woman’s strong assured voice came through the speaker.
“Think you can arrange a ride for five to the think tank?”
“No problem, we got ourselves five Blackhawks now. I’ll send one out right away. Over.”
“I kindly appreciate it. Do we have any assets in the air yet? Over.”
“Roger, seven Apaches are in the air. Over.”
“Outstanding! ETA on Blackhawk? Over.”
“They just took off give them ten Mikes for the trip. Over.”
“Roger ten Mikes. Over and out.”
I turned to find my people staring at me. Apache strode in front of them all and pinned me with her gaze, hands on her hips. “Okay so you have a Blackhawk coming in to take five out, yet I count seven of us including you. Who is staying behind?”
I pointed to Bri and Athena. “You two are staying back and guarding the home front. We need to reach out to Malleus’ home base and have some more people sent out here to help with our defenses. I hate leaving only two behind.”
Athena gave me the finger, turned and walked outside the garage. Bri shook his head in mock anger as he followed his wife out. I would deal with their anger when and if we got back from the rescue mission. Right then the sound of whooping helicopter blades broke the silence.
“Wow that only took five minutes. I guess the pilots are in a hurry,” Apache turned and pushed her way outside. The rest followed.
I lingered in the garage by myself looking around. I picked up my backpack and headed out the door. As I marched out to the driveway a powerful gunship-configured MH-60L DAP Blackhawk helicopter appeared over the house and landed on the front lawn of my ranch that equaled two acres. I jogged across the lawn and climbed in last after my team. As we lifted off, I slipped on a headset with a boom microphone on it, the crew chief handed me.
“Pilot, what’s our ETA till we reach the think tank?”
“The Apaches are already there and are preparing their attack. I am gonna firewall the throttles, we should be there in fifteen minutes.”
“I am not sure the facility will be there in ten minutes Pilot.”
“Got that sir, I can get there faster but will need to throw safety out the door. That means we need to fly up high where the enemy will see us coming.”
“Like Mike Rowe says. “Safety third”,” I called back.
“Roger that. Loved that guy’s show Dirty Jobs. Hang on back there we are going up and pushing the engines to their stops.”
I reached up and took down a cord secured to the chopper and clipped it onto my safety harness built into my combat armor. I sat down at the edge on the open side door and dangled my legs outside. My HK416 sat in my lap connected to its sling, my finger sat alongside the trigger guard. I slipped into my head preparing myself for the fight we were about to be dropped into.
Five minutes into the flight and the pilot called back over my headset. “Hey Dan, the Apaches are making their attack run. We are not very far out; I could drop us down into tree cover and then move you in once they are done or let you fast rope down behind the Collectivus enemy lines. What do you want to do?”
“Wait one,” I called out on the headset. I pulled it off and screwed in the earbud of my team radio
. I was hoping the Rhino Runner was nearby. “Rhino come, in Rhino.”
“Dan, Rhino. You’re coming in loud and clear little buddy. Over.”
“Whatever Cupcake. What is your, posit? ETA? Over.”
“We are going as fast as the Rhino can go. We are on highway 236, should be there in five. Over.”
“Excellent, I’m going to have our Blackhawk set us down behind the enemy line, hurry your ass up.”
“Roger, pedal is to the metal and we are moving as fast as a cheetah on meth. Over.”
I shook my head over Cupcake’s imagery and slipped my headset back on. “Pilot, drop us here could you?”
“Roger there is a small clearing up ahead.”
“Roger don’t try landing. We are going to fast rope out the door. Stay in the area for a pickup.”
“You got it sir.”
The crew chief retrieved two humongous duffel bags and pulled them out from under the bench seating. He zipped them open and took the carabiners out and clipped them to rings in the floor of the Blackhawk. He waited till he heard a go from the pilot and then kicked a duffel bag out each side of the copter’s open side door. I reached into my pack and retrieved my leather gloves reinforced with Kevlar palm pads. I slipped them on and worked my fingers till they fit perfectly. I grabbed onto the rope closest to me and dove out of the helicopter. I used my hands and my feet to slow my fall. As soon as I was a foot off the ground I let go and moved forward on my feet away from the rope. I snugged my HK416 to my shoulder and worked on securing our landing zone as the rest of my team landed on the ground around me. As the last person, Johnson landed the ropes fell from the chopper as it lifted higher and slewed to the side and over trees as it picked up speed and disappeared. As we gathered in a group the Rhino burst through the tree line and stopped fifteen feet from us.
Quantum Theorem Page 12
