by J. G. Martin
“I don’t remember any distractions being mentioned.” Tom pointed out.
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.” The man answered evasively.
Tom gave Sasha a look and a nod and she burst forward onto the driver. She had his throat slit and the vehicle stopped before he knew what happened. She thrust his body out of the SUV and slid over so Valderra could take the wheel. He consulted his GPS and turned back to address his commanding officer.
“Sir, he was taking us on a roundabout route to the airport. We should have been there ten minutes ago.” Valderra informed Tom.
“I knew it was too easy.” Tom snarled. “Get us to the airport ASAP. Don’t stop for anything. Jamal get up on that gun, I think the airport might be hot when we get there.”
The Free Staters would regret double crossing them, Tom growled to himself. They may not have the Stryker anymore, but his team was heavily armed and more than capable of taking care of themselves. The minigun on the roof that Jamal was now manning was still a big deterrent. Fortunately, he had taken the precaution of locking out the Strykers’ controls. The militia wouldn’t be able to bypass that until they were long gone.
This mission had to succeed. If he didn’t get the hacker back to headquarters then his career was over for sure. He would be lucky to not be sent to the Abyss, the notorious prison for political prisoners and maximum security threats that no one ever came back from. General Ross had warned him after the debacle at the village in Colorado; this was his last chance. The General couldn’t protect him anymore if he failed here.
Tom had been undergoing a difficult debrief when the call had come in. The Boise Free State had the hacker, although they didn’t know who he was. They had heard the U.S.T.G. was looking for someone with that general description and wanted to know if they could make a trade. They were desperate for help, but hadn’t been willing to join the U.S.T.G. Tom knew that rankled his superiors, but Boise was too far away right now to just go and take it. Plus it was surrounded by the Collective.
If these distractions led to the defeat of the Collective forces around Boise then the U.S.T.G. might make a move towards the city in the future. That was why, in addition to the lockout, the military had added kill switches to the Strykers before shipping them. They didn’t want their own equipment used against them. Combat vehicles were in short supply because of the war with the C.C.A. The factories were gearing up to churn more out, but their losses had been higher than projected.
The C.C.A. forces had proved more resilient and determined than expected. They had dug into the ruins of Louisville and fought to the last man. That had allowed reinforcements to dig in at Bowling Green, Kentucky. They had built impressive fortifications and mined their flanks. The main route to Nashville flowed through Bowling Green, so they had to take it. Ground forces were massing to take the city, but they were waiting until air superiority was gained. Once the skies were cleared then the tanks and IFVs would smash the defenders.
A brutal air war was being fought over the city between remnants of the Ninth Air Force and 125th Fighter Wing, based out of Georgia and Florida, and the newly restructured U.S.T.G. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Air Wings. The battle so far had been fairly even, but the U.S.T.G. had more planes to throw into the fight. Eventually they would overwhelm the C.C.A. air force. Unfortunately the delay just allowed the C.C.A. forces to get further dug in. The Battle for Bowling Green was going to be costly.
The war reports that flowed out to the public already were touting the elevation to ace of six U.S.T.G. pilots. But he had heard privately that the losses were heavy. One of the wings had already lost fifty percent of their planes. The C.C.A. forces were fighting to defend their families and homes and were almost fanatical in their defense. The rumor was that when they ran out of missiles and ammo they were resorting to ramming the opposing jets. Tom was worried that the battle might prove Pyrrhic and leave them open to attack by another enemy, like the Collective.
That said, the U.S.T.G. was the rightful government and all treason must be crushed. The full might of the military would soon be brought to bear on the traitors in the south and they would be crushed. The breakaway cities would be brought back into the union and the government could get back to the task of reunifying the nation. Texas would come to their senses once they saw the fate of the C.C.A. They were already on the fence as it was.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a cry from Jamal. Tom looked around to see they had entered the airport grounds. He was amazed that they hadn’t encountered any Collective forces along the way, but maybe they were disorganized and distracted. Their modified C17 was on the runway in front of them. All they had to do was drive the technical up the ramp in the back and then take off. The flight in had been rough; UAVs had intercepted them just outside of Boise, but their escorts had shot them down. Those escorts had been recalled to join the fight over Bowling Green, so their flight out might get hairy.
Fortunately, their cargo plane was equipped with state of the art jamming, flares, and chaff dispensers. Once they cleared Boise airspace they should be safe. They just needed to evade or destroy whatever ambush the militia had set for them. Tom kept his eyes open as they rolled across the runway, but he didn’t see any obvious threats. Saad was on top of the plane in an over watch position and he hadn’t reported anything either. Just as he thought that his radio popped to life.
“Unknown technical entering the airfield behind you at your five o’clock.” Saad reported.
Tom and the others quickly looked in that direction and saw the oncoming vehicle. It was a lightly armored pickup truck with a machine gun mounted on the back. It looked like one person driving and one manning the machine gun. The gunner opened fire as soon as they were in range, and the rounds bounced off the armored SUV.
“It’s Storm!” Saad yelled incredulously into the comm.
Angry yelling filled the SUV and Tom fought back his anger. What was it with this guy? He was like Tom’s personal demon that showed up to thwart him at every turn. This time, Tom had the prize and he didn’t need to fight Storm to get his reward. Time to play it smart for once.
“Get this thing onto the plane!” He ordered. “We don’t have time to mess around with Storm.”
The others started to argue, but he cut them off. “Shoot at him while we are heading to the plane. Maybe we get lucky and kill him, but the hacker is our primary mission.”
The hacker looked like he was going to say something, but the gag in his mouth prevented that. Prevented from speaking, he settled on an angry pout. Tom ignored him and focused on the rapidly approaching technical. Storm’s vehicle was lighter and a little faster. It would catch them as they got to the plane. Jamal’s weapon only had a forward firing arc and was useless on a pursuing enemy. The pursuing technical’s machine gun had the possibility of doing severe damage to the plane, preventing their takeoff.
Bullets were sparking off the pickup’s armor as the Red Berets opened fire with their carbines. But they weren’t doing any real damage. The armored windshield protected the driver and the machine gun had a metal shield welded around it that provided protection for the gunner, Storm. The driver must be that pesky girl that was always with him. They needed to stop Storm before he got close enough to damage the plane.
“Shoot for the tires!” Tom ordered angrily. “We have to stop him before he can shoot the plane.”
His troops shifted their fire and started aiming everything at the tires on the pickup. The tires weren’t solid rubber, but it looked like they had been filled with Vaseline. A common trick to prevent punctures from deflating the tires. That would have worked for a nail or screw or single gunshot, but the volume of fire from the Red Berets blew the front tires apart in a spray of petroleum and rubber. The pickup’s front wheels disappeared and the rims struck down onto the tarmac. Sparks flew and the truck swerved wildly, almost throwing Storm out.
To her credit, the girl regained control and maintained the pursuit. They must really want
the hacker badly to continue so doggedly. What had this guy taken that everyone wanted him so badly? Tom also wondered why the man was in Boise, but it didn’t pay to delve too deep into national security matters. The spooks might want to take his head apart to see what was in there if he learned too much. Better to just follow orders and just deliver the package.
Their SUV pulled away from the now slow moving pickup and the Red Berets gave a little cheer for their minor victory over their nemesis. Tom didn’t celebrate. Storm was an incredibly dangerous and resourceful foe. He wouldn’t stop just because of a flat tire. Tom wouldn’t be happy until they got the hacker to headquarters and the GIA took him off of Tom’s hands.
They roared up into the plane, Valderra skidding to a halt in perfect position to lock the vehicle down. The crew scrambled to lock down the SUV and Saad shimmied down into the plane. Templeton and Jamal dragged their prisoner out of the vehicle and up to the passenger section of the plane. They chained him to his seat as the plane began to taxi. Templeton had called ahead to the plane and had them warm up the engines before they got there.
Tom heard bullet impacts on the rear of the plane as they took off. He glanced out the window to see Storm firing futilely at the escaping plane from the now disabled pickup. He smiled inwardly as he pictured Storm’s frustration. It did feel good to win one for once. They quickly moved beyond the range of the machine gun and began gaining altitude. Tom sat back and closed his eyes; a few hours of shuteye wouldn’t hurt. But he was soon rocked awake as the plane suddenly shifted course.
“What’s going on?” He demanded over the comm.
“Sir, we picked up an unidentified flying object entering Boise airspace.” The co-pilot informed him. “We changed course to take us directly away from it.”
“Is it a UAV?” Tom asked.
“Negative sir. It is flying to fast and is too small to be a UAV. Based on the return it is man sized…That can’t be right.” The co-pilot responded.
“How close is it?” Tom snapped impatiently.
“Three klicks away and closing fast. It’s going Mach 6…” The co-pilot responded breathlessly.
“Where is it?” Tom demanded as he moved to a window.
“Seven o’clock!” The co-pilot practically yelled.
Everyone scrambled to the windows to see what was closing on them. The object was well within visual range, but it was obscured by the air it was displacing in front of it. Even though it was blurry, Tom had to agree it looked like a man in a silver metal suit. He didn’t know what kind of super weapon the Collective might have cooked up, but he didn’t want to find out.
“Take evasive maneuvers! Get us out of here!” He screamed to the pilots.
“We can’t it’s moving too fast and it’s too close!” The pilot screamed back.
Everyone on board tried not to panic as the object got closer. Just when they thought it was going to strike them, the object suddenly changed course and descended rapidly downward. The object struck the ground with incredible force causing a mini-earthquake. They could all see the ground ripple outward from the impact point. When the dust cleared, they could see the object clearly through their binoculars or scopes. It was a man encased completely in silver metal. He seemed unaffected by the impact and strode out of the crater firing pulse bolts from his hands.
The metal man dropped out of sight as they gained altitude and cleared the cloud cover. They all sat down, shocked by what they had seen. No one spoke for a minute as they digested everything. Templeton overcame his shock and spoke first.
“What WAS that thing?” He asked in disbelief.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad we didn’t have to deal with it.” Jamal replied adamantly. “It’s Storm’s problem now.”
Everyone agreed and nodded their heads. They were relieved to be free of Boise, Storm, and whatever that metal man was. They could just sit back and enjoy the ride home. They all knew a big reward was waiting when they delivered their prisoner. That relaxation was ruined about an hour later when the pilot spoke into their comms.
“Captain, we have company.” He said gravely.
“What now?” Tom snapped at the pilot.
“We have three Apex Predator UAVs flying on an intercept course with us. They will be within range in three minutes.” He replied very seriously.
“Can we evade them?” Tom asked. “I thought they wouldn’t exceed their normal patrol range outside Boise?”
“That was what intel told us, but these UAVs seem to be behaving differently from the other UAVs we have encountered.” The pilot reported. “We are well outside the expected patrol range and they are using a different formation then we have seen before.”
“Where did they come from?” Tom demanded.
“It looks like they came from Boise.” The pilot informed him.
“Call for air support and start taking evasive maneuvers.” Tom ordered the pilot. “Everyone else buckle in and be prepared for a wild ride.”
They all buckled in and waited as the UAVs approached. The plane bucked and bobbed as the pilots began evasive maneuvers. They wouldn’t do much good in a plane this size, but it was better than nothing. Then they could feel the slight shudder as the plane began launching flares and chaff.
“We have six missiles incoming. Jamming ineffective.” The pilot reported in a scream.
“Two missiles decoyed by flares, four still closing.” The co-pilot updated them, also in a near scream.
“Three hit the chaff, only one left!” The pilot yelled as the plane rocked from the nearby explosions.
“Yeah! We dodged the last one!” The co-pilot yelled triumphantly.
“They are still coming after us!” The pilot snapped, cutting through the cheering. “Looks like they are switching to guns.”
The plane began to shudder from the repeated impact of the UAVs’ M61 Vulcan Gatling cannons. They all felt the explosion and saw the flames as one of the jet engines disintegrated under the heavy fire. The plane lost altitude immediately and began to shake. They couldn’t take much more damage before they were shot down.
“Take us down to five thousand feet.” Tom ordered as he unbuckled himself.
“Sir?” The pilot questioned.
“Just do it!” Tom snapped as he made his way to the back of the cargo bay.
He clipped himself to the guideline that ran along the side of the plane and moved to the hatch release button. Jamal realized what he was doing and smiled. The big master sergeant got up and clipped himself to the other side. He gave Tom a thumbs up and readied the M-18M that he was now carrying since Zach’s death. Tom hit the hatch button and the rear hatch began to swing open. The wind gusting into the plane nearly knocked Tom down and the resulting suction strained the clip he was attached to.
The plane immediately dropped in speed causing the UAVs to roar by them. As they passed by Tom unloaded his entire clip and Jamal fired almost the entire box of ammo from his weapon. The UAVS came by so fast they were unable to see if they had done any damage. But the co-pilot informed them of their partial success.
“You got one!” He cried out. ”One of them is trailing smoke and flames and going down. “
“The other two are coming back around.” The pilot told them. “We will attempt to turn the plane to give you the best angle.”
Tom and Jamal reloaded and readied themselves for another pass. This time, the UAVs ought to be heading away from them, giving them more time to do some damage. More impacts to the plane signaled the UAVs approach and the two Red Berets were ready as the aircraft whizzed by from either side. With unspoken coordination they each took the one coming from their side and fired. Jamal’s hail of gunfire shattered the wing of his target and it spiraled down to earth to crash in a large fireball.
Tom’s target took some damage but continued flying. It circled around for another pass and resumed firing on the cargo plane. Another engine exploded into flame and the plane began to lose altitude. The UAV made another pass but di
dn’t fire. Instead it took up a position above the doomed plane and out of range of Tom and Jamal’s guns. He didn’t know why the UAV hadn’t finished the job, but he was glad it hadn’t. You could never figure out what the Collective was doing, they had their own agenda and mindset.
“Captain, we have lost too many engines. We are going down.” The pilot reported calmly.
“How far can we get before we have to land?” Tom asked in frustration.
“The closest we can get to our territory that has a suitable runway is Omaha, sir.” The co-pilot responded.
“Templeton, what is the latest intel on Omaha?” Tom asked as he closed the rear cargo hatch.
“It has always been the scene of vicious infighting amongst various warlords and gangs, but recent reports indicate a new warlord has taken control of the city.” The lieutenant reported. “He seems to be consolidating power and putting a stop to the constant fighting.”
“Hopefully he is reasonable and open to negotiation.” Tom replied. “Pilot, take us in to Omaha and call for a pickup.”
‘Yes sir!” The pilot responded and turned on a new heading for Omaha, Nebraska.
Chapter 23
September 7, 2029
Boise, Idaho
The android known as Father crashed down to Earth in Boise with a ground shaking boom. His trip there had been so quick that none of the Collective UAVs patrolling the area had been able to chase him. He had blown through at speeds reaching Mach 6. They knew he had passed through, but he was gone before they could react.
He rose from the crater and began to seek the signals from the surrounding Collective forces. He had seen the cargo plane fleeing the airfield and marked it as belonging to the U.S.T.G. They were not supposed to be here as per the treaty, but he didn’t have time right now to deal with them. Asserting control before whoever had taken over the Collective in his absence could regain it was of paramount importance.
Small arms fire began to patter off his armored body and he absentmindedly noted a scattered group of people attired in ragged clothes surrounding him. He only diverted a small fraction of his mind to ending the nuisance. Rotating slowly he fired a steady stream of pulse bolts from his palms at the attacking humans. They fell quickly as he blasted them apart with pinpoint accuracy. The attack ceased as he began to gain control of the local forces.