Retaliation

by Paul C. Middleton

  CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Legal

  Social Links

  Series List

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Paul's Author Notes

  Michael's Author Notes

  To my Father

  I wouldn’t be who I am today without you.

  I wouldn’t have had the courage to take this journey into writing without you.

  I DO love you.

  Even if you can be a hard bastard sometimes.

  To those who supported me,

  All of you from 20 books.

  But Especially To:

  Final Copy Editor: Kat Lind

  Editorial Team:

  Bree Burrs, Diane Velasquez, Dorene Johnson, Tom Dickerson,

  This Book would literally be less than half

  as good without you.

  Your support and commentary to a new author

  cannot be more appreciated

  Thank you to the following Special Consultants

  for The Boris Chronicles - Retaliation

  Nikolaus Beattie - Australian Army

  Jeff Morris - US Army

  Technical Thing:

  Kat Lind and her team

  (and the SCARE program)

  Cover Design / Illustrator: Deranged Doctor Designs

  And the 20Books Crew.

  We’re all on this crazy journey together.

  Thank you for your encouragement.

  And apologies to anyone I have forgotten.

  You have my email or Facebook,

  tell me if I missed you and

  I'll add you for the next edition.

  Paul C. Middleton

  This book is a work of fiction, All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright (c) 2016 Michael T. Anderle

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of this author.

  Want More Paul C Middleton?

  Join Paul’s Email List here: http://eepurl.com/bZxFvD

  Join Paul’s Facebook Group Here: https://www.facebook.com/Betrayed-by-Faith-1110766018944080/

  Want more Kurtherian Gambit?

  Join the Kurtherian Gambit email list here: http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/

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  Series Titles (will) Include:

  The Boris Chronicles

  TBC 01 - Evacuation

  TBC 02 - Retaliation

  TBC 03 - Revelation (Coming Soon)

  TBC 04 - Restitution (Coming Soon)

  (A side story happening during Books 10-16 of The Kurtherian Gambit Series)

  More books By Paul C. Middleton

  The Boris Chronicles - Evacuation

  Paladin (Betrayed By Faith 01)

  The Kurtherian Gambit Series

  The characters who are in this book are drawn from the Kurtherian Gambit Series World by Michael Anderle. Fans of those stories have asked to know more about some of the people populating that world and enjoy the side stories which have been written.

  This story comes out of a collaboration between a Kurtherian Gambit Reader and Author Paul C. Middleton and Michael Anderle (The Kurtherian Gambit series creator).

  All the best,

  Michael Anderle

  For a list of every Kurtherian Gambit book, please see my author page as the count keeps going up. Fifteen titles out as of End of August, 2016 (Including these books).

  http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Anderle/e/B017J2WANQ

  CHAPTER ONE

  Command Bunker West of Romanovka.

  Boris was tired. But a good kind of tired. Tomorrow the battle would be fought. His raiders had continued to mark the progress of the NVG column. The enemy column was continuing to travel, beyond all common sense, along the original route. His men were dug in and thoroughly prepared. Forces of about eighty Weres had been positioned on either end of the battle site ready to chase anyone that fled the assault on the column. As soon as the route was confirmed once again, those at the alternate assault site would start moving to join the main force.

  Boris had given Danislav command of the secondary site forces. These troops were tasked with reinforcing the encamped primary group and sealing off the ends of the ambush against any NVG forces trying to escape. He’d put about two-thirds of his men on the far side of the battlefield, just in case the re-enforcements were detected before they were in position.

  Insurance of a sort, against the possibility that the NVG tried to break all the way through the ambush and flee.

  Central to the plan was the strategy to take out the vehicles. Those at the front of the column would be attacked first, then any at the rear. Second priority would be the armor. The most dangerous vehicle that the NVG had were agile APCs, so the lighter shoulder-mounted launchers, the Carl Gustavs, were to be used against them. Other tanks or reinforced vehicles could then be picked off by anti-tank missiles.

  A group of twenty snipers had established firing positions and chose range markers at each site. Fighters, mostly drawn from the mercenaries with a few hunters in the mix, had been given half the stockpile of Barret M82 guns, shoulder-fired semi-automatic rifles. The large .50 caliber weapons had the balance of long range and high stopping power that this sort of battle required.

  All of the marksmen had orders to disable and destroy any of the trucks that tried to go around the battle for strategic position or in an attempt to run. Boris did not want anyone to escape, especially in a highly mobile vehicle.

  The anger of his men and his own need for retribution demanded that this engagement be a powerful blow. Retaliation for the deaths of his people, a justified response to their betrayal by their government. In a pinch, he could win against the approaching force with the troops already in place, but doing so without the reinforcements from the alternate site risked higher casualties.

  While Boris wanted to win this battle, he had to win his war. Sacrificing his forces at this point in the campaign would endanger everything that they sought to preserve.

  ADAM had confirmed that the two companies of NVG had been given orders to run the refugees down, take as many as possible captive, and march them to a position some hundred and fifty miles north of their home in Romanovka. Boris had marked the location carefully and was deciding whether or not to investigate the area once the battle was over. There had to be a reason that the NVG had selected it since it wasn’t convenient for a transport depot, or the exchange of prisoners.

  Paul came running in. “Boss, we have confirmation. The NVG is heading for the primary route. The raiders will move to their areas of responsibility now. Danislav has some Weres shadowing them and a relay of wolf howls if they divert from what we know of their routes.” Paul grimaced. “It seems to be so… off to be effectively yelling signals to each other. What are we? Tribesmen?”

  Boris grinned. “Ahh, but the pack can recognize each other’s howls, while it will be just usual sounds to the NVG. What is unu
sual in this wilderness about a few more wolf howls? They may have some sort of signal detectors, but when no messages are heard, they will think whoever was ambushing them gave up. After all, human forces wouldn’t be using wolf howls now would they?” His grin turned his face to an expression of vicious anticipation and glee.

  Janna shook her head. “It is not like these troops are professionals, Boris. Oh, some probably are, no doubt. But the bulk are street thugs given a veneer of training and thrown into uniform.” A look of disgust covered her face, and she spat on the ground. “I doubt that your risk estimates are close. I’d be surprised if they manage to cause half the damage you are expecting.”

  Boris simply shrugged “Better to be prepared for the worst. The only thing I regret is that I have to be at the rear of our forces. I never liked leading from the back. Besides, it is vital that we completely eliminate this group. Its orders are… not kind to our people. Once the threat that they represent is gone, we can focus more on finding information that will help us decide what to do next.”

  Janna looked at him in a combination of consideration and buried anger. “With Bethany Anne willing to extract them, the fifteen agents I can still contact are ready to look for that information. As an Englishman might put it ‘Something is rotten in the kingdom of Denmark,’ yes? They are patriots, wanting to look after their country even though it has abandoned them.”

  She continued, “I have not told them about what forces will be using that knowledge. One or two of them may put the bits and pieces together, but it is not important. I handpicked all of these people. They trust me as I trust them.”

  A sour look appeared on her face. “We were betrayed, and I now know by whom. I never wanted Sergeant Brogonovich on my team, but he was assigned by someone above my Colonel’s pay grade. A plant from the start it seems. I hope I get to see him on his knees, begging for his life, before I shoot him in the back of his worthless head.”

  Boris grinned. At least she had the penalties for fuckups and traitors in her current world down pat. Didn’t seem squeamish about it either. It showed a good perspective on the realities of their situation. He just wished that it did not make her even more attractive.

  Dragging his mind back to the conversation, he said, “Now you two, we have a busy day tomorrow. Go, get some sleep.” Boris waved toward the exit of their half-buried command post.

  Their command and control groups had been given enough radios by Lance for officers and senior non-coms, so they really could take advantage of someone giving orders from the rear. Boris was the only person with the experience and the knowledge of their other assets, so he was forced into a more protected position, although it continued to rankle him.

  A dozen or more cameras had been linked into a network designed by TOM and coordinated by ADAM to enable Boris to come as close as possible to the action while still strategically overseeing the battle. It was a compact and comprehensive setup, with an added benefit that everything could be moved into the shipping container/command transport once the fight was over.

  Paul responded, “After you, boss.”

  Boris shook his head, “You know I never sleep before an op. I’ll go for a walk among the troops, making sure they know that I trust them to do their jobs. Boost their confidence, boost their morale. Show that I care for them.”

  Janna glanced questioningly at Paul who answered the unasked question, “He does this every time. No matter the size or scope of the mission. Anything from a squad op to company-sized. The night before the battle he won’t sleep. Not that it seems to affect his ability to do the job well. Just makes me, a mere mortal, kinda jealous. Gets me every time he does that, too.” He shook his head and headed tiredly to his sleeping bag.

  Watching Paul leave, Boris raised an eyebrow at Janna, who shrugged and also headed out. He was finding her less distracting to work with now, the passage of time allowing him to re-associate her smell. He couldn’t help but admire the grace with which she walked and the sway of her assets as she left. He sighed internally. She was not an option for romance. Definitely not now, one did not look to operational subordinates for such.

  He headed out to circulate among the troops. It was a cold camp tonight, with no fires, but hopefully, he could hearten them. Boris still wished he could fight with them and swore to himself that next time he would not be kept out of the action.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Ambush site west of Romanovka, Siberia.

  When morning broke, there was a mist of rain. Perfect weather for ducks and an ambush. Boris was talking to his field officers. They were expecting the NVG force from the West to arrive in three or so hours so he had time to conference with them and send them back to their men. The other ambush force had moved to within a mile last night from their positions to the northeast of the route that the NVG had chosen. They would be moving in slowly on bellies over the next three hours.

  These reinforcements would be in position and had orders to advance fast on the initiation of combat. It would be a quick, ugly fight. They couldn’t risk whoever was sent to investigate realizing how many men were involved. Danislav was grumpy, though. He wouldn’t be going wolf with the rest of the pack.

  Boris needed him and his experience to command the other flank and as the backup commander.

  Morale was high. Now they just had to wait, and Boris was praying that everyone stuck to the plan. He had enough men and Weres to run down anyone fleeing from a botched ambush, but it would increase his casualties. That was the last thing he needed at this time. It would make future actions… harder.

  Boris spoke, “We must stick to the opening moves of the plan. Impress the importance of that on your men. It will reduce our potential casualties immensely. After that confusion should spread through their ranks. Any deviation from the plan to take advantage from that point is fine. But stick to taking out their APCs and a vehicle at both the front and rear of the column first. No rifle fire before we hear the Carl Gustavs hit.”

  The officers nodded, and he dismissed them.

  They heard the column approaching about five minutes before they were in the center of the trap. When the surveillance system showed the column in position, he clicked the radio four times, giving the Carl Gustav teams weapons free status. The smells of propellant, explosives, burning metal and flesh soon filled the air. Screams of agony came from the men in the APCs as they burst into flames, their fuel tanks ruptured. The destruction could be heard for miles. The explosions signaled the ambushing riflemen to open fire on the column from both sides.

  With the road effectively blocked at both ends by burning vehicles, the NVG troops quickly disembarked. It was that or risk certain death inside their vehicles once the Carl Gustavs were re-loaded. The NVG troops threw themselves into the ditches at the edges of the roadway. They scrambled to return fire. Boris could hear an increase in weapon reports from the other side of the ambush as his reserves flooded into the fight on that flank.

  This battle was going far smoother than he could have imagined.

  Boris started giving orders over the radio, directing troops to concentrate their fire on the larger concentrations of enemies he could see through the video feeds.

  Suddenly an explosion rocked his half buried command post. He felt a chunk of the wood from the wall slam into his chest as he was thrown from his seat. Then all he knew was darkness.

  ****************************************************

  Danislav swore when he saw the explosion near the command post and heard a burst of static over the radio. Orders from Boris stopped transmitting. “Fuck your mothers you black asses” could be heard for some distance as he got himself under control.

  “Bear one, do you copy? Bear One, Two or Three, if any of you copy, please respond.”

  There was silence over the radio.

  “This is Wolf One. Communications with Bears has been terminated. Wolf One is now taking command and control until communications are re-established.”