Without Law 19, page 23
Anna nodded, then she sighed as she continued to stare at the camp the NK soldiers had made below.
“It makes me so mad to see them living in the skeleton of the city they destroyed,” she huffed. “It’s just so… wrong.”
“It’s certainly not what I’d like to see, either,” I said, and I reached over and touched her arm. “We’re doing what we can to make this right, and that’s all we can do.”
“I know.” She nodded. “It’s just hard to see.”
“I understand.” I smiled softly at the redhead, then pulled her to me so I could kiss the top of her head.
“The MiGs should be here any minute,” she said, and she looked up at me with a newfound grin. “Let’s make these asshholes pay.”
“Let’s.” I grinned back.
I retrieved my personal sniper rifle from the jeep, then set it up next to Bailey’s Barrett. My Daniel Defense AR 10 wasn’t nearly as fancy as Bailey’s Barrett, but the Navy soldiers had it in their arsenal, and I’d snagged it for myself for just such occasions.
Once our weapons were set up, we all gathered behind the concrete barrier and looked out to the soldiers below.
The NK troops continued to mill about. Some lined up to get food, others sat at tables playing card games, a few walked around the perimeter of the camp on patrol, some cleaned the vehicles or put together plasma weapons, and others prepared to leave on patrol while others came back from their rounds.
I had to admit, the place seemed to function well, and while we watched, I scanned the tents to see if I could find one that screamed General Chief of Staff. That sonofabitch was on my shit list, and I could only hope we’d take him out in this raid.
It wouldn’t dismantle all the soldiers left since the next leading officer would step up, but it would certainly put a damper on their morale, and it might cause some inner conflict between the soldiers as well.
After all, if we took out enough of them, there was no guarantee there’d be any officers left to take charge, then they’d have to figure out who was next in line for themselves.
Finally, I spotted a tent that was larger than all the rest. It was in the middle of the camp, and while there were no other indicators that it belonged to whoever was in charge, I knew it did. Something about its placement made me think it was meant to be protected by the entire camp, which made it the likeliest place for their most superior officer.
I had yet to see this guy, though, and I hadn’t even been aware of his presence in the states until the soldiers came back with those orders. Him being here demonstrated just how serious they were about winning this war. They weren't willing to leave it up to their Generals or high ranking service men and women, instead, they’d brought in the big guns.
My gut told me it was this asshole who was in charge of planning all their attacks, too.
“What are you looking at?” Anna asked from my left.
“Where I think their command HQ is,” I told her.
“You think that big tent in the middle is their HQ?” she asked.
“I would think so.” I nodded.
“Well, let’s hope Ben chooses to bomb there first.” The redhead grinned.
We continued to crouch down and watch the NK troops, but after a few minutes, the familiar sound of the MiGs filled the air. This time, though, I didn’t feel the same panic that I usually did when I heard one of those planes. Now, a smile came over my face because I knew it was my boys, and they were here to fight.
“Here we go,” Anna said, and she turned to smile at me.
“Here we go.” I smiled back and looked out over the cliff to watch the planes fly toward the camp.
As soon as they came into view, my heart rate spiked, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
Ben was in the front, I could tell because his plane had a little bit of a darker tinge than the other planes from where we’d fired the howitzer right by it.
As they flew overhead, some of the men below looked up to see what was going on. A lot of them seemed to ignore the planes, but as Ben made his way to the other side of the camp, more and more of the group started to notice.
The pilot’s strategy was sound, and I was thoroughly impressed. He was trying to get everyone in position before the strike.
He went to the far end of the camp while the rest of the pilots fanned out on the sides. One plane even came right over us as they all did a small loop, then went back toward the camp.
I held my breath as they got right to the border of the camp.
This was it.
Ben was the first to fire, and the pilot let loose a massive plasma blast that covered half the area with a cloud of black smoke from the explosion.
As soon as the blast went off, I heard yells from below, and I could see the NK soldiers on the other end of the camp start to scatter and run for cover. It was futile, though, because Jess’ plane was right above them, and she unloaded another blast on them.
All of their plasma weapons were encased in the heavy impact glass that had taken Bailey several shots to get through, so there were no chain reactions, it was just the initial blast from the plane.
That was plenty, though, and as everyone ran for cover, I took a terrible delight in how they squirmed below. I couldn’t help but think of all the innocent lives they’d taken and how them being attacked with their own weapons was just incredibly fitting.
Another blast sounded, then another, and another until below the cliff was just a huge ring of black smoke from the total destruction the MiGs had caused.
Our plan had worked, they hadn’t realized they were enemy planes, so they hadn’t even thought to prepare for a fight. We’d ambushed them using their own MiGs, and I had to chuckle slightly at the irony of it all.
“Are you laughing?” Anna asked, but she had a huge grin on her face.
“I guess so.” I smiled.
“Tav!” Bailey shouted, and immediately I knew something was wrong.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I instinctively leaned into my rifle to aim.
“There're soldiers headed toward the vehicles with the huge plasma weapons,” Bailey said, and her voice was high-pitched with panic. “There’s still a few intact, we can’t let them get to them.”
I glanced at the planes to see they were scattered around the area, but none of them were expressly near where the vehicles were.
“Shit,” I breathed.
I put my eye in my sight and scanned the area Bailey pointed out. Sure enough, I saw a few soldiers crouched behind one of the overturned vehicles. They popped their heads up every few seconds, though, so they weren’t difficult to find.
One of them looked around, then ran toward the seated shooter vehicles.
I adjusted my aim and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 14
The sonofabitch went down with a shot to the back. He was running so quickly, and I was at such a distance, it was more difficult to get a dome shot than I was used to.
Apparently, it wasn’t that difficult, though, because Bailey managed to get one as the second guy tried to make a break for it in the other direction.
I surveyed the area carefully, but just then another blast sounded and the valley was filled with black smoke once more.
“I can’t see anything,” Bailey said.
“I can’t, either,” I sighed but kept my eyes focused on the area.
I didn’t know how many men were behind that turned over vehicle for sure, but we needed to take every last one of them out.
As the smoke cleared, I saw one guy climbing into the shooter's seat of one of the vehicles. He wasn’t quite in there yet, so I took aim and fired.
The first shot hit him in the shoulder, and his hand slipped from the arm of the shooter's chair as blood rushed down the length of his arm to hit the ground.
That wasn’t going to stop this bastard, though. Instead, he tried to pull himself up with his other arm, and he nearly succeeded, but I was faster than he was.
My second bullet caught him right in the back of the neck, and it must have hit his spinal cord, because his whole body jerked before it went completely limp and he fell backward onto the ground behind him.
Bailey’s guy was already in the shooter’s chair, and he got a couple of sprays of plasma off as he twisted the chair back and forth in an effort to avoid our shots.
It was working, too.
Bailey didn’t take a shot unless she had it, and the blonde had her eyes narrowed in on the guy, but she hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. I knew she was waiting for the perfect opportunity, and I wasn’t going to push her. She needed to get it done quickly, but rushing her was only going to make matters worse.
The man used the moving shooter's chair to his advantage, and he easily spun it back and forth and around so he was a harder target to hit. While he moved it around, he also let off blasts at the MiGs in the air. Our pilots managed to avoid them, but he was trying his hardest to hit them, and I held my breath as I watched Bailey work.
The blonde’s chest rose and fell steadily, then suddenly, she let out a deep breath and pulled the trigger.
Her Barrett sounded off with a loud pop, and I don’t know how she managed it, but her bullet split the man’s head in two just as he spun back around toward us.
“Fuck, yeah, Bails!” Tara cheered.
“Oh, shit,” Anna breathed. “It’s not over.”
“I definitely got him,” Bailey said, but then she looked back over the cliff and let out an audible gasp.
The man was certainly dead, he barely even had a head on top of his shoulders anymore, but he’d fallen directly against the firing mechanism, so the plasma blasted continuously into the air.
The asshole had somehow also managed to fall against the mechanism that controlled the shooter's chair, which in turn controlled the aim of the blast.
His dead body was flung from side to side as the chair malfunctioned and the weapon shot off a massive blast that darted every which way in the air.
“Fuck,” I cursed.
“I can hit him again,” Bailey said. “But I don’t know if it’s going to work.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Paige yelled, and I looked out to see the blast headed straight for Ben’s MiG.
The stream of blue light skittered back and forth, but it was practically following Ben, and he had no way to avoid it in the air since its pattern was completely unpredictable.
The pilot was smart, though, and he was skilled at his craft.
Ben spun the plane onto its side to avoid a close blast, then he yanked it up into the air, and, taking it completely upside down, made an arc in the sky so he came out on the other side of the vehicle.
The pilot let off a huge blast, and the light of the weapon died out as the machine was vaporized and its plasma tank detonated. The detonation was as bright as the sun, and I had to shield my eyes, but when the blast subsided without causing any more chain reactions, all that remained was a huge crater.
After that weapon was taken out, the rest of the pilots gave the area one final blow out where each of them blasted beneath them with an incredible amount of fire power.
The planes started to slowly retreat then, and I waited and watched as the smoke below us cleared.
Where there used to be tents and camps set up, now there was absolutely nothing. The army base camp below us now looked like a scene from a science fiction movie on another planet. Complete areas had been vaporized by the plasma attached to the MiGs, and other areas had only a few poles left standing where huge tents had been.
I didn’t see a single living thing down there, though I figured there would be a few survivors who’d managed to get away in time.
It was a huge camp, after all, and if a couple of men had managed to retreat during the fray, all the better for them. It only meant they lived to die another day.
We may not have won this war yet, but we were on our way to doing just that, and these assholes had underestimated us for the last time.
My country was going to be free again if it was the last thing I did.
“Holy shit,” Tara breathed.
“I know, right.” Paige nodded. “That must have been exactly how they took out all the other cities they destroyed. Nobody there even stood a chance.”
“At least now they got a taste of their own medicine,” Anna said.
“They deserve that and more,” I sneered.
As much as I felt I had to kill, it certainly wasn’t my favorite thing to do. There was nothing pleasant about taking a life, and if I started to feel like there was, I’d be concerned for myself. However, I consistently felt completely justified in killing these assholes.
There was a difference between being a good soldier and being a complete piece of human trash. I understood that good soldiers followed orders, but this was too much.
If another group had attacked and spared citizens and followed code, I might think twice about ambush attacking them instead of giving them the opportunity to surrender. With these assholes, though, they deserved the most ugly, terrifying deaths I could think of.
And in my opinion, that applied to every last one of them. I didn’t care if they were just a foot solider, a male or female soldier, a general, or the leader of the whole fucking army, they all deserved the same torturous deaths.
None of them had walked away from what their government had decided was right here, and that was guilty enough for me.
“Tav, you sonofabitch!” the General shouted, and he laughed and ran over to clap me on the shoulder. “You fucking did it.”
“The war isn’t over quite yet, sir,” I chuckled.
“The war could have just begun for all I fucking care right now,” he said. “With you on my team, I know we’re going to win this.”
“Good to know you have such confidence in me, sir,” I laughed.
“Oh, stop being humble, son.” He grinned and yanked me to my feet. “Take a little credit.”
“He’s right,” Anna said, and she smiled and stood up next to me. “I think celebratory drinks are in order.”
“I’d say so!” the General chuckled. “I’ve been saving a few bottles of whiskey for just such an occasion.”
“No need, sir,” Paige told him. “We have plenty for everyone.”
“Especially now that Tara can’t drink,” Anna snickered.
“Bitch,” Tara mumbled playfully, and she glared at the redhead.
“Ahhh, the party girl before the baby, eh?” the General asked with a smile. “My wife was the same way. Don’t worry, you’ll be a wonderful mom. All the best moms I know survive on wine and leftover lunchables. I swore that was all my wife ate the entire time our children were in preschool.”
“Hey, if it involves wine, I’ll take it.” Tara grinned.
“Well, today doesn’t involve wine,” Anna told her. “Only vodka, and none for pregnant Tara.”
“You are so gonna pay for all this when you’re pregnant.” Tara scowled.
“Would it make you feel better if I promised you a back rub?” the redhead asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You would do that?” Tara asked, and her eyes went wide.
“No.” Anna rolled her eyes, then smiled. “Yeeees, I’ll rub your back. I pick on you, but you know I love your pregnant butt.”
“I love you, too,” Tara said, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh my fucking god,” Anna laughed. “Stop it! Stop it right now or no back rub.”
“I can’t help it,” Tara sobbed. “It was a beautiful moment. I love you all so much.”
“Awwww!” Bailey smiled. “So sweet!”
“Don’t encourage her, Bails,” Anna chuckled and pointed at the blonde.
“Are they always this chipper after they wipe out an entire army of men?” the General whispered so only I could hear.
“Honestly, I’d be worried if they weren’t,” I told him, then I grinned and turned back to the girls. “Alright, let’s get back home.”
“Uh, yes, please,” Hammer said. “I heard a mention of vodka.”
“I’d take some of that, too,” Sergeant Wilson said with a smile, and he raised his hand in the air as if he were volunteering.
“Vodka all around!” Anna chuckled, and she held her hand up and walked toward the jeep as if she’d just made a medieval declaration.
We all piled into the jeeps once more, and on our way home, I could feel the positive energy the girls were giving off. As much as the news about the plasma being found and not created had thrown everyone for a loop, our victory had done exactly what I’d hoped it would: brought everyone’s spirits back up.
At the moment, we had no way of verifying the information we’d found about the liquid, and until this was over and some of our boys went over to NK and did some digging, I doubted we’d know the whole truth. So, for the moment, I wasn’t going to focus on it.
All I wanted to do was sit back and have a couple of drinks with my women. We didn’t have to worry about air raids, or blasts from those huge vehicles anymore, and I thought that was plenty of cause for celebration.
The General also seemed incredibly happy with our work, and I felt like he could use a few minutes of downtime. The man had been running himself ragged trying to keep the remaining men of the U.S. troops alive and still in this war, and I had to commend him for his efforts. He was a hell of a General, and I was happy to be working under him.
As much as I’d liked the Captain in Yorktown as an individual, he wasn’t much in the way of military leaders, and it was nice to finally find a superior officer I felt I could respect.
“So, are we going to go over there tomorrow and see if we can find anything left?” Tara asked as we drove.
“I don’t know.” Paige pursed her lips. “I doubt there’s much there. You saw the place. It’s all been pretty much vaporized.”
“True.” Tara shrugged. “I just figured it couldn’t hurt.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “It’s not a bad idea. We’ll check it out tomorrow and see if there’s anything useful left. Besides, I am itching to see the General of the Joint Chief of Staff’s tent.”
