Without law 20, p.18
Without Law 20, page 18
“We do.” I nodded. “But unless he can hit both anti-aircraft weapons at once, the other will fire at him as soon as he shoots.”
“Exactly,” Ben agreed. “And they’ve got them set up on either side of the highway. Shouldn’t be a problem to take ‘em out.”
“So, you’re gonna have to do an in and out,” I said.
“Looks that way,” he said.
“Let’s get it done,” I told him. “You get to kick this off and take out as many of them as you can.”
“We’ll circle around over here,” he said. “Just let me know when you’re in place, and I’ll lay down some fire.”
“Thanks, Ben,” I said, and I hung the walkie talkie back on my hip.
“It looks like we’re going to get to shoot a few of these NK sonsabitches after all.” Tara grinned.
“Looks like it,” I chuckled.
“Let’s get to it, then.” Anna smiled.
“Let’s.” I threw the jeep in drive and tore off down the road with Hammer right behind me.
Paige gave me step by step directions as I drove, and I followed them obediently while I thought about the plan we had going and how this night had gone so far. I was used to things going my way since I planned so meticulously, but sometimes it was unavoidable that shit hit the fan. Tonight was one of those nights, but I wasn’t going to let it end that way. I was going to finish off these bastards if it was the last thing I did.
This was the final battle, and I was going to make sure we won it.
I thought about the General and the rest of our team back at camp. They’d be getting into position soon, and I knew some of them had to be scared shitless. They’d all been fighting so hard and for so long, and I wanted them to know it hadn’t all been in vain. We needed to win this war and take our country back, and right now the only way we could do that was to keep the NK soldiers’ grubby hands off that nuke.
“We’re about a mile away,” Paige said.
“We’ll stop here,” I said, and I pulled the jeep over into the parking lot of a small shopping plaza.
Hammer pulled in right behind us and parked his jeep as well.
“Lead the way, Captain Ranger,” the SEAL said as he walked over with the rest of his crew.
“I guess that makes me Captain Ranger today,” Paige said. “This way.”
The brunette led us toward the highway just down the block, then she took us into the trees that were alongside it. It was as dark as hell, and we couldn’t use any light since the NK troops might see it, so all we could do was let the moon guide our way.
Unfortunately, the tree branches were so thick, we didn’t get a whole lot of light from the moon, so we pretty much had to guide ourselves.
I was careful to step softly to try and keep quiet, and everyone else followed suit. Nobody spoke the entire time we walked through the woods, and after about ten minutes, the sound of voices floated over to us, and Paige turned around to look at me with wide eyes.
The brunette pointed through the trees, and I nodded and walked over to the tree line as quietly and as carefully as I possibly could.
Once I was right near the edge, I lowered myself down to the ground and looked out to the road.
The sonsabitches were there. They’d blocked off the roads with their vehicles and weapons, and they were ready to block the train tracks with their largest weapons aimed in the direction we would be arriving from.
Ben was right, I counted at least thirty men, and they had anti-aircraft weapons, the large plasma cannons hooked to the top of their vehicles, and every one of them was equipped with a plasma gun.
Some of them were too close for comfort being only a hundred yards or so away from where we were in the trees, and I knew I’d need to step back a ways to call Ben on the radio.
The sudden cracking of a branch caused my head to jerk to the left.
There was an NK soldier just kitty corner to me, and all of his buddies were in earshot.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
Chapter 12
The man let out a loud burp, then he reached down to zip up his pants, and my face pulled into a grimace when I realized he’d come out here to take a leak.
I glanced back to see my team hidden in the trees behind me, but Anna caught my eye and nodded to the soldier in the woods with us.
I shook my head and held my finger to my lips to tell her to stay quiet.
As much as I wanted to take out that sonofabitch right then, unless he spotted us, it was better to let him go.
Not only did I not want anybody to notice he was missing, but if he managed to get a scream out before we could take him down, his entire crew would know we were here.
We also didn’t have a very good quiet way of taking him down at the moment. Tara had her silenced Ruger, but it still made a small sound, and I wasn’t sure I trusted it to be quiet enough with how close the NK troops were.
The plasma weapons were silent, but they were bright as hell, and one of the soldiers would no doubt see the giant blue light that flashed in the trees.
There also weren’t enough trees between us, and I didn’t know the area well enough to sneak over and take him out with my bare hands.
The soldier stretched, hocked a loogie, then walked toward the tree line.
My face pulled into a grimace once more at his disgusting behavior, but since he hadn’t seen us, all I could do was watch him walk away.
I needed to get back a ways to call Ben, though, so I caught Anna’s eye again and gestured for her to stay put.
The redhead nodded, and I carefully snuck back through the trees the way we’d come.
Once I was sure I was far enough away the NK troops couldn’t hear me, I turned my radio on to the very lowest volume setting and spoke in a near whisper.
“Ben, come in,” I said.
“I’m here,” he responded instantly.
“I had to walk a little ways away to contact you,” I explained. “So wait five minutes, then strike.”
“You got it, Captain Ranger,” Ben said, and I could hear the seriousness in his voice.
“I’ll see you then,” I said. “And Ben?”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Once you make your attack run, you and the pilot need to get the hell out of there,” I told him. “That’s an order. I don’t want you getting hit.”
“I know,” he said. “In and out.”
“In and out,” I repeated. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
I turned my walkie talkie off and carefully made my way back through the trees until I spotted my team waiting.
Once I found them again, I gave them the signal to get into position, and each of them cautiously made their way over to the tree line so they could line up their shots.
Ben knew which side of the road we were on, and I knew he’d aim for the anti-aircraft gun on the other side.
Once he fired, my team and I would take over, but he would still be in the area if we needed him.
If we could take out the guy on the anti-aircraft gun closest to us, then we might be able to give him an opportunity to come back over and finish off the job, but I wasn’t banking on that.
Right then, all I was doing was scanning the area and lining up my shot.
The NK soldiers didn’t have lights out, either, but my eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness, and they were out in the open so there was more moonlight on them than in the trees where we were.
I was able to make out two officers standing near one of the vehicles smoking, and I quickly lined my sights up on them.
Those bastards were going to be my first targets, and I was ready to fire as soon as Ben let loose.
The sound of the Apache filled the air, but I didn’t look away from my targets. I knew Ben and the pilot knew what he was doing, all I needed to do was focus on the task at hand.
My targets looked up at the helicopter, then one said something to the other, but just then the sound of a chaingun filled the air as Ben rained fire on the area across the road from us where the anti-aircraft gun was stationed.
The sound of the firing alone was enough to deafen me for a solid minute, and I watched as soldiers tried to run, but didn’t even make it a step before they were virtually torn to bits by the Apache’s large-scale firepower.
Even the anti-aircraft gun was torn apart as the bullets went straight through the metal and left huge holes in the machine.
The sound of Bailey’s rifle barely registered to me, but I took my eyes off my targets long enough to see the soldier on the anti-aircraft gun nearest to us fall down.
Unfortunately, he’d managed to fire before then, and the flak flew upward toward Ben’s copter.
The pilot was skilled, though, and he quickly maneuvered and tore off at top speed to escape the burst of AA fire.
As soon as he took off, I turned my attention back to my targets. The two of them had ducked down near the vehicle like the cowards they were, and I quickly adjusted my gun and let off a round in their direction.
The first officer went down with a quick bullet to the temple, and the other saw it happen and tried to run around to the other side of the vehicle.
He was too slow, though, and I adjusted my gun once more and put a bullet right in the back of his head.
The officer fell forward and skidded on the dirt, and as soon as his body hit the ground, I turned my attention to the next target.
The NK troops were scrambling at that point, and a couple of them had drawn their weapons and were firing into the trees. They knew the general area we were located from the muzzle flashes, but they clearly had no idea where we were in particular. Their panicked shots weren’t directed at anyone in particular, and it was obvious they were shitting their pants.
One of the soldiers made a run for the vehicles so they could either start one up and flee or try and use the large weapons on top of them. I wasn’t going to wait around and find out which.
I adjusted my rifle and fired into the soldier’s back. His arms flailed out as he fell forward and skidded on the ground, and once he was down, I turned my attention to the next soldier I could see.
This one was a short, thin man who was trying to crawl to safety under one of the vehicles.
He turned around and flashed a panicked look, but I let off a shot right then so his body went utterly limp.
Another soldier tripped over the body of the man on the ground, and I pulled my trigger again and caught him in the chest.
NK soldiers were going down left and right, and as I looked around, I struggled to find a target that wasn’t immediately taken out. I looked to my left and saw a tall, lanky soldier running toward the woods, but as soon as I raised my weapon to shoot he was taken down by someone else’s bullet.
I thought for a second I'd need Ben to come back to take out the rest of the soldiers since there were so many, but I forgot how many people we had in our group as well. It was amazing how quickly the NK soldiers had been overtaken. There were only a few left, and they were scrambling to get to cover, but they weren’t making it very far.
One rushed toward the far tree line, and I quickly caught him with a bullet and took him down with a shot to the back of the head.
Another tried to make his way over to the vehicles just like the others had before him, but he didn’t make it far before Bailey took him down with a quick shot to the temple. There were far more bodies than there were live soldiers left, and I glanced around again to see exactly how many we had left.
There were only five that I counted, and that was only because I could see their feet behind one of the vehicles. There could be one or two more men back there that I couldn’t see, but I doubted it considering how large the vehicle was.
They were obviously trying to get inside so they could fire the larger weapons, but it looked like the side of the vehicle had been fucked up when Ben attacked just a few minutes ago. The front end of the machine was smashed, and it looked like the doors on the other side were destroyed, too, so I figured they weren’t able to get in that way, it was probably unable to be opened because of the way the metal was dented. They could maybe try and get in through the window, but that would expose them to us and give away their position. At the moment they were SOL when it came to getting into the truck, but I doubt they were going to just give up, either, they were probably going to keep trying to figure out a way to get inside.
I glanced around and looked at my team and found them all poised and ready to shoot.
It seemed they knew there were still a couple of men alive as well, and they weren’t going to lose their focus until those assholes were taken down along with the rest of their buddies.
“I don’t think they can get in through the side of the truck,” I said.
“You don’t think so?” Page asked in hushed tones.
“No, I’m pretty sure that it was fucked up when Ben blasted them,” I said.
“They must be stalling until they can figure out a way in.” Anna nodded.
“That’s what I’m figuring,” I agreed.
“Do you think there’s any way they can actually get in over there?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “But there’s no telling for sure.”
“We need to take these assholes out,” Anna said.
“We should call Ben back,” Paige suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea,” I told her.
I thought about our options for a second. If we called Ben back, then his blast would likely destroy all the radios in this area, and we wouldn’t be able to use one to contact the other North Korean troops and make them think these assholes succeeded in taking over our train.
However, we still did have Minji on her train, and we could probably get her to act as one of them. Since it was only communicating through radios there really wasn’t a way for them to distinguish between her speaking to them and the guys waiting for the train.
“Ben?” I asked as I lifted my walkie talkie up to my mouth.
“I’m here,” the pilot answered almost immediately.
“There’s a few soldiers hiding out behind one of the vehicles,” I explained. “Now’s your time to shine, pal.”
“We’ll be right there,” Ben said, and I could practically hear the grin in his voice as he urged the pilot to go.
I hooked the walkie talkie back on my hip without taking my eyes off the soldiers on the other side of the vehicle. I wasn’t able to see their whole bodies, however the movements of their feet were very clearly frantic. There were a couple that were planted and even knelt down near the tires, but the others scurried back-and-forth in a frenzy that told me they had no idea what they were going to do. They were probably back there trying to figure out a way to get into the vehicle without us noticing them.
At this point, they must have realized that we still had eyes on them, otherwise we would’ve come out by now. I wasn’t sure if they were aware of our presence or not, or if they were just waiting to see what our next move would be. They hadn’t fired at us, so it was also likely they might just think we hadn’t seen them and that they were actually in a good hiding position. They weren’t, of course, but in the throes of battle it was sometimes difficult for untrained soldiers to think clearly.
As much as the North Korean army trained, they were completely inexperienced in battle except for the one they’d started with us. And since they had such an advantage with the plasma weapons, it wasn’t the same as actually going into war.
So many of the battles they’d won during this war were just far too easy. The plasma made their world domination seem like it could actually be a reality. There have been plenty of times in history where people claimed that they wanted to take over the world, or at the very least the country they were a citizen of, but NK had found this plasma and legitimately put that dream into action.
Still, even with a completely unfair advantage, my team, and the rest of the American troops, had managed to hold our own against these fuckers. We were on course to take over this war and win it for ourselves.
These assholes weren’t going to know what hit them.
The sound of Ben’s Apache helicopter above me made me smile, and I looked up to see the bird come from just behind us and open fire on the vehicle with the men behind it. One of the soldiers tried to raise their plasma weapon when they saw the chopper coming, but it was already far too late. To see an Apache helicopter approaching was to already be dead, especially with Ben flying it.
A small missile came down from the helicopter and hit the vehicle with such force that it literally exploded outward into hundreds of tiny pieces. Debris rained all the way over to where the girls and the rest of my team were hidden behind the trees, but luckily we had enough cover that we didn’t get hurt.
I can’t say the same for the guys on the other side of the vehicle. I can only imagine they were turned into red mist from the impact of the missile.
“You’re all clear,” Ben said through the walkie talkie a minute later.
“Thanks, buddy,” I told him with a smile, and I stood up and walked out to the road where the remnants of the NK troops were.
I looked around and grinned at our handiwork. These assholes had no idea we’d even been coming for them, and once again their underestimating us had caused their demise. These soldiers really didn’t understand who they were fucking with, but they’d just found out, and the rest of their troops were about to find out, too.
“Normally, I’d say we should go through their stuff,” Paige said, and her nose wrinkled as she looked around. “But it seems like there’s not much to go through here.”
“There’s a few bodies still intact that didn’t get fucked up from the blast too much.” Tara pursed her lips. “But I don’t really want to go through them.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I said. “It’s still late and dark out. The only ones I’m going to check right now are the officers, and that’s if their bodies are still recognizable, which might be a stretch at this point.”
“You got that right,” Anna chuckled.
I made my way over to the vehicles, but they were all parked so closely together that all of them had been at least partially damaged from the blast Ben had unleashed.
