Let Slip the Pups of War: Spot and Smudge - Book Three

by Robert Udulutch

  Tian spun away from Harley, snapped a kick, and the gun flew from the hands of the soldier closest to him. Even before the confused look had fully crossed the soldier’s face Tian had him tied up in a choke hold from behind with his feet kicking at nothing.

  Hamish and Musa shot the other two soldiers as they turned. They fell to their knees and dropped to the gravel as the dog soldiers spun, looking for targets.

  One of the dogs finally bolted across the parking area. Flames leapt from its rotary cannons as it left a trail of empty shells behind it. Double streams of bullets carved bits of metal and windshield from the wall of parked trucks.

  As Hamish and Musa dove for cover Ben shot the running dog through the monocle. It slid to a stop in the gravel as its cannons continued to spit lead for another second, leaving two big smoking holes in the stucco wall of the ranger’s barracks. Ben worked the bolt of his rifle as Hamish helped Musa up, and then turned to give him a nod. Spot pulled back from the spotter’s scope, tapped Ben on the knee, and nodded to him as well.

  Christa clicked over his radio, “You trying to steal my job? Nicely done Ben.”

  The two remaining dog soldiers gave up on finding targets and turned to face Tian. He had his choke hold sunk in deep and was using the limp human soldier as a shield.

  Tera watched nervously from under the truck. She saw that Ben wouldn’t have a clean shot as the dog soldiers were right in front of Tian, and Christa couldn’t see them from the ridge. Tera was also worried Semion’s patience wouldn’t last. The big Russian clearly put up with Harley more than he considered him a partner. She had overheard Semion telling his big female pilot he didn’t want a war with the Tiandihui, but if push came to shove accidents did happen. Tera also knew the Russian would not hesitate to order the dogs to cut down his own soldiers to accomplish his objective.

  As the dog soldiers closed on Tian they looked up nervously at the power plant of Harley’s chopper. It continued to scream and its exhaust vents had started to turn red. The whipping blades beat at the air and the whole chopper vibrated violently and bounced on its landing gear.

  Tera bolted from her hiding place under the truck. She raced far out into the center of the parking area, and cut back towards the chopper as soon as she had a good angle on the closest dog soldier. She engaged her targeting, and Spot’s improved system locked onto it immediately.

  Her eye moved behind her monocle and she blinked to open a comm channel.

  Privyet Corporal Rostov! Tera growled into her headset as she sped up.

  Semion cut off her comm, but not before the dog soldier heard her and spun around. It quickly figured out what was happening and its rotary guns started to spin up just as Tera shot a single short burst. The dog’s head split apart and it dropped to the ground before firing a shot. She targeted the remaining dog but it was standing right in front of Tian and she hesitated biting down on the trigger again. Spot’s system was amazing but she just couldn’t bring herself to risk the shot, and hitting the dog on the ass might just prompt it to shoot. Tera growled in frustration as she kept charging towards the dog soldier.

  Semion cursed, and thumbed through the menus on his control panel. He sent the command to fire on Tian but the dog soldier held off. Its targeting system was showing both the green of his handler and the flashing yellow of Tian as overlapping outlines.

  As the confused animal tried to choose between obeying its orders, disobeying its display, or engaging the charging traitor, Tian dropped his limp human shield and shot forward. He was getting pretty good at reading smart dog’s faces, and he had seen that same hesitation in a hundred human’s eyes. The dog soldier instinctively snapped at him and Tian shoved his whole muscular hand into the dog’s mouth. He snatched its jaw trigger, keeping it from firing as he twisted his other hand into its helmet strap. The dog huffed and kicked, and tried to chew on his arm as it was being choked.

  Semion waved Berluti forward as he opened a channel to the dog and yelled, “Shoot you damn dog!”

  As he watched the dog soldier’s vital signs turn yellow he thumbed down to manually override its guns.

  On the ridge above the camp Christa saw the second helo poking out above the tree line and smiled as she put Semion in her crosshairs.

  Tian heard the dog’s cannons spin up and he twisted away from the open side panels just before they sprayed fire. Hot empty shells dropped from the bottom of the vest as the strong, panting dog and Tian spun around each other in a tight circle. Tera and Harley both rolled for cover as the double line of bullets ripped between them and tore down the side of the chopper. As Tian and the dog continued to fight, and spin, the stream of bullets went higher on their second pass, slicing through the screaming engine cowling. The turbines exploded and a fireball blew out from the top of the helo.

  Tera recovered and reached them at a full run. She lowered her head just before she slammed into the firing dog. As it tumbled away she dove on top of Tian, sheltering him under her as pieces of smoking engine parts peppered her helmet and vest, and the gravel around them.

  The dog soldier spun to its feet and turned towards them just as a white-hot, spinning clutch plate ripped through the engine housing, bounced once on the ground, and then shot forward. It sliced the dog soldier’s head clean off. Its rotary guns’ side panels slid closed, and the dog’s decapitated body collapsed to the ground with its feet still trying to run.

  Tian and Tera looked at the dog for a moment, and then at each other with their noses almost touching.

  Berluti leaned hard on the stick and their chopper canted aggressively to avoid the exploding engine parts shooting up in front of them. Semion screamed a string of profanities as his bandaged cheek was slammed against the side window of the helo.

  Christa cursed when her shot pinged harmlessly off the bottom of the fleeing chopper. As it quickly spun away and disappeared behind the ridge she heard Sholto sigh from behind her. She turned to see her smart old dog was shaking her head.

  “Alright listen,” Christa said as she worked the bolt and slammed home another shell, “If you think you can do any better by all means be my guest.” She turned back to her scope and said, “Smart for eight fucking minutes and already a pain in the ass. Shocker.”

  Hamish watched Tian and Tera getting up, and the fireball rolling away above Harley’s ruined chopper. He turned to Ben and Spot with a big grin and said, “Lad, ask Semion to grab his chopper rental form, I’m curious if he waived the accidental damage coverage.”

  As his helo leveled off and gained speed Semion thumbed his mic and said, “All teams engage, find that sniper and light up the perimeter.”

  From the dark around the compound rockets streamed from seemingly every direction. The workshop, the end of the paddocks, the barracks, and the clinic shook with missile strikes. Red flashes boomed as Musa’s men dove and screamed.

  The back half of the ranger’s building collapsed, taking most of the men on the roof and the barracks with it.

  As the truck in front of them lurched from a blast and slammed back against the building Musa yanked Hamish back into the office. When the glass and stucco stopped flying Hamish could see Christa’s position was engulfed in flames.

  In the clinic Dr. Lewis kicked away a large chunk of burning wall covering the bed Kelcy was hiding under. She motioned for her to stay put as she took the pistol and ran through the smoke to the rear doorway. She scanned the paddocks with the gun raised and watched Jock leading a stampede away into the bush. A few of the running ellys were on fire. As another chopper screamed by overhead she waved for Kelcy to follow her. Kelcy grabbed the first aid kit and her backpack, and made it two steps before she was blown back under the bed. Before the clinic’s roof crashed down on her she saw there was a flaming hole in the rear wall where Dr. Lewis had been standing.

  The sturdy metal bed in their cell ended up saving Fulfort and Fisho’s lives. After they scrambled out from under it Fisho helped his son drag one of the guards away from the r
ear of the burning building. They batted out the flames on the man’s uniform but it was too late. The same explosion that had collapsed the back wall of their cell had sent this poor man tumbling down three stories in a flaming cascade of rubble. Fulfort closed the man’s eyes as his father hunted through the debris. He found the guard’s rifle but its barrel was bent at an odd angle. Fisho tossed it aside, and Fulfort handed him the folding knife Tian had left with them. Together they darted into the thick woods before the helos circled back and sent another round at the rear of the building.

  Spot pulled Ben out from under the burning desk and they ran through the side door of the ranger’s office before it shook with another blast. As they huddled together on the ridge they saw the ranch house flashing with blooming missile hits. An instant later they heard the thunderous booms and saw the rising fireballs reflected in the watering hole.

  Spot read Ben’s face and signed, Don’t worry, Smudge and the others will be there soon.

  Chapter 97

  Semion watched the impacts and screamed into his headset, “Idioty! I said to hit the perimeter! THE PERIMETER! I want intact bodies not burnt pieces, you damn manekeny.” He looked over at Berluti and shook his head. She smiled back at him.

  “Land you morons, get down there!” Semion said, “Strelyay, shoot them all! Don’t let them escape!”

  Berluti banked their helo in a tight arc above the paddocks. As they finished the turn Semion saw his choppers had started to land at the far end of the compound’s parking lot.

  At the ranch house Mimi batted out the flames licking up Faith’s dress while she pulled her under the kitchen table.

  Two of Theo’s security men ran past them from the burning hole in the front of the house. They were on fire, and screamed all the way to the burning back deck before tumbling over the railing.

  Theo pulled another smoldering guard through the flames and set his limp body down on the kitchen floor. He ran to his mother, stopping briefly to kiss her on the head before picking up his rifle and running with Nikki through the section of missing front wall.

  They stepped out from behind a burning, flipped over truck. With their rifles chugging against their shoulders they fired on the closest stealth chopper dropping out of the sky over the driveway.

  Dan ran crouched with his hand on Aila’s shoulder, following her through the smoke at the back side of the boma. They hugged the low stucco wall and ducked where it met the thatched roof. They watched as the black helo dropping towards the driveway spun, facing its machine gun side pods at Theo and Nikki.

  Dan and Aila stepped from the boma’s shadow and opened fire. Their assault rifles flamed in full auto and the pilot’s window blew in before he could trigger his guns. The chopper fell the last few meters. With the landing gear only half deployed it slammed down hard on its belly. The helo tipped forward with its double blades chopping up concrete before it settled back down on its crumpled landing gear.

  Lobb watched his point helicopter getting ambushed and he pulled back on the control stick, stopping his decent. He thumbed his mic and advised the chopper to his right he was moving their landing spot to a point farther away from the house. They dropped down at the edge of the large parking circle where they could find cover.

  A big shepherd stood at Lobb’s shoulder with her front paws on the center console. She leaned against him and yapped as their helo descended, and his eyepiece display lit up with her message. He hit the button for the landing gear and said, “I’m bloody aware, thank you very much. Get used to the reality that these fuckers are always better prepared than we’re led to believe.”

  He went guns hot as he neared the ground and both side pods spat fire. Empty shells dropped like waterfalls onto the driveway as exploding strips of stucco ripped across the house and metal flew from the trucks. He could see men with guns scurrying and diving for cover, silhouetted by the many fires burning around the large house complex.

  The chopper next to him turned to fire at the ambushers behind the low boma wall as both of their helos touched down.

  Theo pulled back behind a smoldering truck as the constant barrage from the chopper’s rotary guns pinned him down. He turned and saw Nikki on the opposite end of the truck. She was spinning to get behind the truck as well, but before she made it to cover her hip puffed with a bullet strike and she dropped to a knee. She was still exposed and right in the helo’s line of fire. Before Theo could take a step towards her one of his big rangers appeared out of the smoke and tackled her. They fell behind the truck as another stream of bullets tore up the driveway right where she had been standing.

  When the ranger scrambled to his knees his nose was bleeding for the second time in Nikki’s presence. He pulled her to a sitting position behind the truck as the chopper’s steady firing slowed to intermittent bursts thumping into the other side of their truck.

  She noticed Theo’s worried look and said, “It hurts like hell, but I’m still in this.”

  The ranger smiled at Nikki and said, “I thought you couldn’t feel pain?”

  The guns stopped, and men and dog soldiers poured out of the choppers. Some of the soldiers from the crippled helo fell out, but most were still very much in the fight and hopped over the dead and wounded.

  A few of Theo’s guards and rangers had recovered from the initial missile attack. He saw they were starting to engage through the flames and smoke but were pushed back or quickly cut down by sustained rounds from the dog soldiers’ flaming rotary cannons.

  He peeked around the truck and watched a dozen human and canine soldiers spreading out at the end of the driveway. They weaved through the planters and around the flower beds. The truck started to shake from the hits again as the soldiers found firing positions to cover their teams’ advance up the driveway.

  As the fender near Theo’s head pinged and sparked he ducked, and looked back through the big burning hole in the front of the house. He could see into the kitchen where Mimi and his mother were safe for the moment, but the house was taking heavy fire and the roof and most of the upper floors were covered in spreading flames.

  The ranger pulled Nikki to her feet and draped her arm over Theo’s shoulder as he said, “N’Nonmiton, you and Theo have to get Faith and Jean to the jungle.”

  Nikki nodded, and as she took a few hops to test her hip she shared a look with Theo. Both of them realized their retreat wouldn’t be easy. The planters between the trucks and the house were taking fire and they’d have to zig-zag around them. She turned back to thank the guard but he’d already charged out from behind the truck to draw the attackers’ fire. He hadn’t crossed half the distance to the safety of the next truck before he was slammed with a dozen small bullets from one of the dog soldiers. The ranger fell, and another line of holes immediately ripped across his back.

  Nikki said, “I can run, let me go.”

  Theo shook his head and tightened his grip on her hand, he could tell from her grimace she was lying.

  Before they could take their first big step together Vuur and Seamus appeared from out of the dark. They leapt together over one of the smoking planters at the front of the house.

  The big brown boerboel and muscular black Doberman skidded to a stop next to Theo and Nikki’s truck. They worked their jaw triggers and swung their bodies back and forth as they followed their targeting pointers. They opened up with their miniguns blazing and Seamus’ first burst split open the helmet of the dog soldier who had shot the ranger. The closest soldiers crossing the open driveway fell and the rest scattered for cover. Tree trunks and stucco planters chipped as the dogs’ fire danced above the scrambling men and dogs at the far end of the parking lot.

  Theo and Nikki hopped out and stood between them, and tried to ignore the questions firing in their heads about their dogs. Theo noticed the pilots were waving the soldiers away from the fronts of their helos. Before the side pods of the closest chopper could start up again he shot the pilot through the windshield. The pilot of the other chopper
managed to unclip his seatbelt and dive into the back with one of the dog soldiers before Nikki blew a half dozen holes into his seat.

  They had stopped the soldiers advance and the helos side pod guns, but the soldiers had spread out to their flanks and the truck was quickly affording them less protection. Theo and Nikki called their dogs as they hobbled back towards the house and dove behind one of the large planters on the porch.

  “You stupid, beautiful fool,” Nikki yelled as she pulled her big black dog to her, “Where the fuck have you been…and what in the hell are you wea—”

  Seamus turned to face her. His pointed ears spread out and the little light brown patches of his eyebrows came together and almost touched. His shoulders lifted, and her dog did what Nikki interpreted to be a shy shrug. She saw that same new depth and understanding in Seamus’ expressive eyes that Hamish had seen in Sholto. Nikki held him at arm’s length and they stared at each other for a long moment. As Seamus nodded, and wagged his nub in sync with Vuur’s whipping tail, Nikki said, “Oh my fucking God. What have those two little bastards done to you?”

  At the boma Dan and Aila pointed their rifles over the top of the wall without looking and held down their triggers. They could feel the stucco shake from the concentrated fire hitting the opposite side of the wall. The thunderous pounding from the helo’s guns had thankfully ceased, but there was a still an almost constant shower of stucco and sparks above them from the smaller caliber hits. Pieces of the wall were starting to crack and fall away.

  The smoke around them was also getting thicker. Bits of the burning thatched roof drifted down on them and the boma’s support beams were starting to turn black. It wouldn’t be long before the rope loops holding the thatch in place would burn through and a few hundred pounds of burning reeds would come crashing down on them.