Strike Force 11

by Forest Getter

  “The coffee is fresh grab some and take your seats; we have a lot to go over. The Skipper is in medical he will make a full recovery. He will be back on duty tomorrow. PO Adams will be down for about a week; he needs a replacement arm. Several others took minor injuries, they should all be back on duty by now. We have a new enemy to add to our growing list of bad guys.” I said. Var brought up a picture of one of the dead gnomes on the holographic display built into the conference table. “These ugly bastards are gnomes they are known as the meanest mercenaries and assassins in the universe Lt Diaz has been gathering forensics from the gnomes, and I will let her tell us what she has discovered,” I said then turned the briefing over to Diaz.

  “You guys didn’t leave a lot for us to work with but from what we can tell they were after The Skipper, Go-go, and Kevlar. We recovered the remains of 11 gnomes, but it looks like there were a total of 15 of them with this group. Each one carried 500 gold coins so based on what we have found out by talking to Jamie, the bounty must have been around 5000 gold pieces for each of them. Each coin weighs about 1 ounce so in our currency that put the contract on each of them at around $10,000,000. The good news is that we recover 5500 gold coins that can be turned into extra funding for our unit. The Gnomes were all using weapons found here on Earth. The explosive used by the bomber did come from the Gate Jumpers world. The Geek Squad has the Command pad recovered by Senior Chief Ellis, and they will let us know when they have the data recovery from it. It did take some damage and will take at least a day, but they are sure they will crack it. We did discover that their skin is not naturally orange; they use some sort of dye to turn it that color. Other than the gold and their gear, they had no form of IDs. The bodies are at the morgue and waiting for an autopsy. We should have the results tomorrow afternoon.” She concluded.

  Cmdr. Dallas was the next to talk. “Those that were using offices in the admin building can work here in the hanger until basic repairs are done I will be talking with Admiral Pratt after this briefing to see if we can get some Seabees here to start on repairs once they let us know the building is safe we can move back in. I want two squads on patrol of the base at all times. Chiefs work out a watch rotation. Everyone is on maximum alert until. We will have Alpha Platoon and a Battalion of Rangers arriving tomorrow. Within the week we will have some armor here from Fort Benning. The Rangers and the armor will take up base security so we can focus on our mission. We will hold another briefing tomorrow at 1330,” with that Cmdr. Dallas dismissed everyone.

  37.

  Unexpected Ally

  After the briefing I grabbed Kevlar, and Var, “I know a good place we can set up a CIC and free up this space for those coming here from the Admin building, and I got someone the two of you need to meet.” I said to them.

  Holly and my security detail followed us to the APC sitting outside the hanger. We drove over to the Grinder and walked in.

  “Hey, Aunt Mary I am taking over your conference room as my CIC until we get the Admin building repaired if you don’t mind,” I said

  “Sure, but I am going to have to kick out the Monday night Dungeons and Dragons group while you’re here.” She replied as she looked up from behind the counter. “Who are your friends,” She asked.

  “This is Kevlar; he is the leader of the team that comes from the same world as the Gate jumpers. And Var he is part of the Elven Royal Guard. Kevlar, Var, this is Aunt Mary; she is the foremost expert in creatures from other worlds and the owner of the world’s best coffee shops,” I said. They both shook Aunt Mary’s hand.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet the creator of such wonderful brews. We don’t have coffee on our world, but I am sure it is going to be one of the first things we will want to import when we have a stable gate between our worlds.” Var said.

  “Why don’t you all go have seats, and I will make up an extra-strong pot for you all.” She said. A few minutes later, she entered the conference room with a tray of coffee.

  “I’ve reviewed the videos of the fights with the demons a little more, Next time you have to fight then go for an attack under the chin, a solid strike or a shot, there should take them out. You may even be able to stun them with a punch there,” Aunt Mary said as she set down the coffee on the table.

  “Well, I am hoping that I don’t see on again anytime soon,” I replied. Everyone laughed. “

  That’s for sure,” Kevlar said.

  “Joseph sent me over the video of the dragon and wanted to know what I thought. I told him that if he ever makes it through, I would try nuking it from orbit just to be on the safe side.” She turned to look at Var and asked, “Did that come from your world?”

  “No ma’am, we think that several dimensional tears collided at the same point we got lucky we came out here instead of where the dragon was. It’s something we have never seen before.” Var replied.

  “Leroy said it was because they were trying to open the gate at the same time, he blew it up and the fact he had used extra explosives to make sure the gate was destroyed. The Epelts have been experimenting with new composite material from another planet to make the Gates stronger and harder to destroy back on our world, so he wasn’t sure if they had done the same here. He set the charge so it would blow the gate if it were the newer material. Because it wasn’t the excess explosive energy caused the tears.” Kevlar said.

  I brought up a picture of a Gnome on the Holographic Table.

  “Gnomes?” She said.

  “Yep, freaken Gnomes,” I replied, then I told her all about them, I then handed her two gold coins. “These came from the gnomes; they should cover the extra coffee you are going to need to get brought in. We have a battalion of Rangers and a division of Tanks arriving this week for added security and I know how you collect stuff like this,” I said to her.

  She looked at the coins and smiled, “I know just the place to put them and don’t worry, I will make sure the base has plenty of coffee,” She said.

  As often happens when I just start to enjoy a good cup of coffee, a call for me came over the battlenet from the front gate

  “Master Chief, Sgt. Major Jamie is here at the front gate with visitor and has requested that you and Kevlar meet him here to escort his visitor to a conference room.” The gate guard said.

  “Let’s go, people, Jamie has a visitor at the gate,” I said to everyone.

  We all loaded up and headed to the main gate. When we got within sight of the gate, I couldn’t believe my eyes Standing next to Jamie was what I could only describe as Papa Smurf. No, it really wasn’t Papa Smurf but how else would you describe a four-foot-tall gnome with light blue skin a white beard and a white had. I looked over to see Kevlar had drawn his pistol and was rolling down his window.

  I turned and said, “Hey don’t shoot the Gnome; he may be able to provide us with some intel.”

  “Oh, I’m not going to shoot the gnome I’m going to shoot Jamie he knows better than to bring strange thing back to the base,” He replied. He then stuck his head out the window and yelled at Jamie “I thought we talked about this,” just as he put a round into the ground next to Jamie’s foot.

  “Hey, you almost shot me, and besides this isn’t our base, so the rules don’t apply,” Jamie yelled back at him.

  Kevlar turned and looked at me and said, “Every time he goes out on patrol, he always seems to bring back a stray. Since it is your base, you had better say something to him before he comes walking back with a gator on a leash or something worse.” We all laughed. “Dude, I am not kidding; he will do it. I bet you a coffee he asked if we can keep the gnome.” Kevlar said.

  We parked the APC and exited it.

  As we walked forward, Jamie said, “Can we keep him he’s cute.”

  Kevlar turned to me and said, “You owe me a coffee.”

  Jamie then turned to the gnome and said, “Come on, little buddy, I will introduce you to everyone.” Kevlar facepalmed himself and shook his head. It took every ounce of my self-control to keep from la
ughing.

  “I am Dr. Larry R. Snarff.” The gnome said as he extended his hand to shake mine

  “Listen carefully, Papa Smurf, I don’t give a shit who you are. All I know is that a bunch of your kind just attacked my base and hurt some of my people. Your very lucky they didn’t kill any of them, or I would have already put a bullet in your head. This is the way this is going to work. I am going to have a couple of my guys take you over to integration to answer a few questions. The boys over there will use whatever means necessary to find out what you know. If you choose not to answer or lie to them, things will get very painful for you. After they are done with you, we will talk, and I will decide whether you are to become gator food based on how helpful you are and how much you cooperate with them. Am I understood?” I said to him.

  His face paled, and he softly said, “Yes, sir.”

  I had the gate guard call the brig and have them send transportation over, and I sent a message for Ensign Miller to go handle the integration when he arrived the next day.

  I turned to Jamie and said, “You’re responsible for Papa Smurf for as long as he is on my base. Make sure he is taken care of and not harmed as long as he is cooperative. If he gets out of line, you will be the one feeding him to the gators.”

  We all loaded back up in the APC and headed back to The Grinder as the Base police hummer pulled away with Jamie and the Gnome.

  “I swear I thought you were going to rip the little bastards head off with your bare hands back there,” Var said to me.

  “I wanted to and was hoping he would give me a reason to put my K-bar through his skull, but I am hoping we get some useful intel from him even if it is some insight into how they think and how their society works. But it was hard to keep focused with the smurf theme song running through my head.” I said.

  “What are Smurfs?” Kevlar asked.

  Rather than try to explain, I brought up a video from the internet of the Smurf’s theme song. A roar of laughter came up from within the APC, and Holly nearly ran off the road.

  When we arrived back at The Grinder, I walked up to the counter and ordered a medium quad Mocha Latte and gave it to Kevlar.

  “Here’s the Coffee I owed you,” I said to him.

  “What is this wondrous concoction?” He asked me.

  I explained it to him and asked if anyone else wanted one. Both Holly and Var said they did so I ordered three more and then we all went into the conference room. It was then that three guys from the Geek squad showed up with a truck full of equipment. John had sent them here to turn the conference room into a fully functioning Command in Control Center (CIC). By this time, it was 1700, so we decided to head over to the Chief’s mess for some chow.

  After dinner, Holly and I headed over to medical to check on the Skipper. He was awake and eating his own dinner.

  “So, you had to go and get yourself blown up. GI, Joe.” I said to him.

  “You haven’t called me that in a while.” He said to me.

  “Well, Profit told us what you did, and he said he is going to kick your ass for it when you get out of here. The SECNAV decided to promote you for it.” I said to him.

  “Well, crap. Are you saying that I am an admiral now?” He replied.

  “Yep and the King of the elves not to be outdone made Go-go here and admiral in the elven military,” Holly said.

  The Skipper laughed so hard he almost popped a stick.

  “Ouch. That hurt, you’ve got to be kidding me Go-go’s an officer now. Did hell freeze over or something?” He replied.

  “No, but we are holding Papa Smurf in our brig,” I said to him.

  He laughed even harder and gave out another cry of pain. It was then that Melissa came in and check over the Skipper to make sure he hadn’t re-opened any of his wounds.

  “You need to settle down, or you’re going to tear open one of your wounds, and I will have to make your friends leave,” She said to the Skipper then turned and winked at me.

  “You’re kidding me, right?” He asked. I pulled up a picture of Papa Smurf on my command pad and showed him. It was a repeat of previous events the Skipper laughed then cried in pain. Melissa, Holly and I laughed.

  We spent the next hour filling the Skipper in on the day’s events

  “Alpha Platoon and the Rangers will be arriving around lunchtime tomorrow. We will also have an armor unit from Benning here by the end of the week. Our satellite software should be updated within the next couple of days. With the Rangers pulling security we will be able to move on the next target. Admiral Pratt is being read in on our operations so that he can provide support for us.” I told the Skipper.

  “He is recovering fine I will release him for duty in the morning,” Melissa said.

  “I will let Profit know so he can have a clean uniform brought by to you, Admiral. We will formally pin that star on you at morning muster.” I said then saluted him.

  “Ok, goodnight you two see you in the morning.” He replied.

  The following day at morning muster I had the honor of pinning Admiral stars on the Skipper. Then everyone was dismissed. The Skipper moved into The Grinder with me while the admin building was under repairs.

  38.

  Papa Smurf

  “What do you say we go have a talk with Papa Smurf?” The Skipper said to me.

  “The guards call me already this morning, and they asked if they could gag him. They claimed that they were the ones being tortured. Are you sure you want to go see him? I here he claims to be some sort of psychologist.” I said.

  “Really this should be fun but grab a taser just in case,” The Skipper said.

  We grabbed coffees, loaded up, and headed out to the base brig. When we arrived, we found Jamie and the security people standing out in front of the building drinking coffee.

  “Admiral, Master Chief, it’s good to see you here. If you don’t get your crazy smurf out of my brig soon, one of us will kill him. The blue bastard will not shut up. We can’t take much more, we came out here to get away from him. I want to take him to the roof of the control tower and drop test him,” Chief Redd of base security said to us when we exited the APC.

  “Well, let’s go meet him and see what he has to say,” the Skipper said.

  I just shook my head and double-checked my taser to make sure it was fully charged. Chief Redd walked into the brig with us and escorted us to Papa Smurf.

  “My name is Admiral Hicks; this is Master Chief Getter, who are you, and why are you here?” the Skipper said.

  “I am Dr. Larry R. Snarff, and I am here seeking protection for my brothers. I think that they may want to kill me more than they want to kill you and your people, and they are being paid to kill you. There are a total of twenty-five of us that came through the gate. There are 13 of them still out there, and they are the best of the team; the ones you fought were just fodder. Right now, they are going to be equipping with some of the most advanced weapons in the multiverse. And they are reviewing the data they collected during their first attack and planning to come in here and kill everyone. They will be prepared to blow up the entire base if that is what it takes. Because the nearest working gate is in a place called Swaziland so it will be another two weeks before they have all their gear here and are ready to attack. I am sure the father is on his way to the gate to get the gear and the rest of the team.” Papa Smurf said.

  Just then, Skipper’s phone rang. “Give me a moment while I take this call.” He said to Papa Smurf and stepped out of the room to take the call. After a few minutes, he came back in the room and said to me

  “We have helicopters inbound from Mobile, Al. Admiral Pratt is sending 3rd FORECON Marines to assist us in our mission. He said they were the closest Special forces unit he had. He said they were under our full command. He also said to let you know he would be here for the wedding.”

  “Ok, I will let Holly know he will be here; she is working with Melissa and Alley on the wedding plans and I will have Anderson meet the Crayon eater
s when they arrive,” I replied.

  The Skipper turned and looked at the Gnome “I will have someone bring you food and a drink, later today someone will be here to finish questioning you if you cooperate things will go smoothly if you don’t’ well then this is goodbye.” He said.

  Papa Smurf started to talk when I turned and shot him with the taser, He shook violently the collapsed on the ground.

  The Skipper turned to look at me, and I said: “Oops, my finger slipped.”

  I slid the cartridge off the taser and dropped it on the floor.

  As we exited the building I turned and looked at Chief Redd and said “I had an accidental discharge of my taser you will need to have someone remove the barbs from the gnome”

  He snickered and said, “Yes Master Chief I will get a medic over to take a look at him”

  We loaded up into the APC and headed back to The Grinder.

  39.

  Force Recon

  I picked up my phone and called the Gunny, “Hey Gunny we have a group of 3rd Force Recon headed here from Mobile, thought I give you a heads up that you would have to be sharing your crayons.” I said to him.

  “Damn Squid, when will my boys be arriving and who’s there Co?” He asked.

  “They will be arriving around lunchtime, and their CO is Major Harm. You know him?” I asked.

  “Yea his real name is Major Harmon Cooper, but they call him Major Harm because of the wake of the disaster he often leaves behind when he and his boys are done. He is one crazy SOB. They will fit right in around here.” The Gunny replied.

  It was 1100 when the Marines arrived the Skipper was on a call with Admiral Pratt, so Holly and I went to meet them.

  “Major Harm. How the hell are you?” I said as the Marine Commanding Officer approached me.

  “Go-go they told me you were down here. I heard you squids needed some real men down here to protect you.” He said to me.