A Short Vicious War Pt. 04

Once again, I bring you the next part of my story of what might happen if the wrong Ahole gets in the front office, and we slip back into isolationist ways. this is a story of an alternate timeline and what might have happened had someone else taken over. This is a work of fiction, and I alone am responsible for the content contained herein, any mistakes are solely my own. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintended. If you enjoy reading this, please like and follow me and as always remember to vote.

Mid-September, Day 142 of the war.

'It was a nice day and growing cooler every day now that summer had broken and fall was coming, the leaves were turning, and we had had out first frost this morning. I had the kids out bringing in wood that I had cut last fall, and they were now splitting and stacking it next to the house. We had stacked 6 cords so far and another 5, maybe more would be done before the weekend.'

'I watched my people as they moved around going from task to task with purpose, I was pleased with how they had gone from scared kids to hardened fighters and feared warriors. The NK soldiers now feared us more than their political officers and I had every intention of keeping that fear level as high as I possibly could. I could tell that everyone was if not happy to be here, they were at least content.'

'I stripped down and pulled on a pair of gloves as I helped stack the split wood up, I never wanted my troops to think that I wouldn't get my hands dirty. I don't remember who it was that said. Never order your soldiers to do something you yourself wouldn't do. To that end yes, I was the boss, but I stood 12 hours of watch and never just held up in my office.'

'Several were out harvesting the last of the fresh vegetables that had been planted in the spring, I hadn't seen the gardens in town like I normally would sense the NKs had taken over. I had started a new cord of wood when Sam called me.'

"John, Samantha is calling you; she is requesting a video link." She informed me.'

"Alright, let her know I'll be there in a minute would you." I said and gathered up my gear and headed inside.'

'Sitting down at my desk I brought up my computer screen and could see Sam sitting with 5 others in a conference room. "Sam, how are you? what can I do for you?" I asked as I eyed the others.'

"Mr. Bishop, I'm Tony Randall. I'm the assistant to the director for operations here and we need your help." A skinny slicked back snake that sat next to Sam said before she could even open her mouth. "A helo was shot down by your location about 3 hours ago, we'd like for you to go in and recover the contents of that bird. According to intel, a courier was carrying a briefcase, and we'd like to have a look at what he was transporting. Along with any other intel that your team might recover."

'I sat back and looked at Tony, he reminded me of a snake oil salesman, and I never trusted them any farther than I could throw a 30-ton anchor. "Why me and mine Tony? you got JSOC teams that are trained for this sort of thing." I said.'

'He looked at me like I was crazy for merely questioning his wisdom. "The JSOC teams are up to their assholes in NKs, you're just 20 miles from the crash site, the NKs are afraid of you, and it would look good if you went and did this." He said.'

'Sam rolled her eyes and gave a small shake of her head letting me know that he was full of shit. I quickly figured that this was one of those appeaser dipshits that had said that the NKs would never invade and now needed to make a big splash in order to get back on the fast track. I looked him over yet again and could tell he was starting to sweat; I was one of those people that wasn't impressed by a title or anything like that.'

'I looked at the others siting there and noticed the real boss of this meeting; it was time to pull Tonys card. "I'll tell you what Tony, I already know that your living life on the edge and if you don't make a big enough splash, you're going to be back in the mailroom." I said. He started to bluster, and it was time to shut him down. "Oh, be quiet, you're no big bad wolf, more like a yapping puppy. I have every intention of keeping the NKs terrified of me and when the times right retaking the town."

'He was looking at his boss and trying to find a way out, I kept cutting him off and turning him back into the kill box. "Jesus Tony my dick is bigger than your piss ant title. I will do this job, but you'll have no involvement in it, I just don't trust you." I smiled at his plight. "Besides, your bosses like me better than they do you Tony. So bye, leave, get out. you're no longer needed here." I told him.'

'He looked at his boss who obviously gave him the eye and he got up and left the room, several there quietly chuckled at his leaving. I shot a look at Tonys boss. "Okay Mr. Bossman, I've slayed your yapping puppy now why don't you impress the hell out of me." I said looking at him. "Yes, you the asshole sitting closest to the camera on my left."

"I told you he was smart and mean tempered Sir." Sam said.'

"Mr. Bishop, I'm Jack Austin, I'm the Director for Operations here and first of all let me apologize for Tony. He has his uses here, they aren't many, but he is somewhat useful." He said looking at me. "We do need your help in retrieving the intel from that downed bird, will you help us?" I sat back and looked at those remaining, from the way Sam acted around them I could tell they might be the ones with a brain cell or 2.'

'I sat back and looked at him. "Okay Mr. Austin, you've peaked my curiously, tell me why I should and what's so fucking important." I said. He then spent the next 5 minutes going into what they thought the currier might be carrying and its importance. I called Mike in and told him to grab 4 good people on his way in. Once everyone was here and introduced, we got down to the meat of the matter and the real meeting took place.'

'For the next hour plus we were shown a scan of the crash site from a UAV and the surrounding area, I pulled out a topo map and the crash site was quickly pin pointed. One of the others in the meeting pointed out that the bridges in the area were down, I just smiled. "There's a small bridge about 2 klicks North of the bridge we dropped that can handle lite ORVs like you'll be taking. It's not on many maps and it's mostly used by hikers." I said and put my finger in the general area on the map.'

"Are we going to have any Reaper coverage or anything like that? I'd hate to be hauling your package home and stick my dick in the grinder." Phil said and the others nodded including myself. I was quite pleased that he had spoken up, Mike and I had told them time and time again that we were not all seeing or knowing. If you see something, open your fucking cake holes and say something. Jack looked at the person next to him, she showed him her pad.'

"You'll have 2 MQ-9s overhead for the next 5 hours and then 3 more will show up to escort you home." He said and then said something to her. She nodded and punched at something on the pad. A minute later she looked at the 6 of us looking at her. 'I've set up a standard search pattern to be sure that no one's doing what we're doing. SigInt says that it looks like the NKs aren't even aware that they have a down bird yet.' She said. "I will keep my eye on it though."

'I felt better hearing that as I had the guys start suiting up, 30 minutes later they were mounted up on motorcycles and heading down the road, I watched them head off knowing I wanted to be with them. I also knew that I needed to be here running this squirrel cage, I saw that both Gators had been pulled out and loaded up with extra weapons, med gear, spare parts and several other items just in case they were needed.'

'I smiled and headed back inside to do a little paperwork, no matter what happens in the world, some asshole wants a report and that means someone like me has to write it. I had a bit of doubt, I wanted them to come home safe, but I had already prepared myself to lose them. I could easily afford to lose the gear, I had several hundred extra rifles, pistols and other weapons down in the safe. Not to mention the shit I had taken from the NKs.'

'Hillbilly came in and handed me a sheet of paper that told me we now had 23 working military vehicles. 10 of those I had bought at auctions and fixed up to the best of my abilities, we spent a few minutes talking about the motor pool and how it could be improved. He also told me that 10 vehicles had been loaded with supplies in case we had to bug out if the NKs ever got their act together and seriously tried to take this hill.

"Roger that out." I heard Tony say from outside my office door, where we had relocated the radio post to. A minute later Tony walked in and handed me the message form, I quickly read it and handed it back.'

"Make sure that Mike gets this info Tony." I said, he nodded and quickly walked back to the radio and sent the message out. I was glad to receive the message.'

'No pest in the area, continuing to keep an eye out in the general area.' Had been the message we had gotten.'

'I looked at the time and quickly geared up and went outside, heading for OP2 where I would stand a 4-hour watch with Sara, I had made it a rule that no 2 females could stand watch together, thus lowering the chances of both being killed or captured. We settled in and took turns looking into town and the surrounding area as I worried about my missing chicks.'

"What did you do before the war Sir?" She asked as I looked around the area.'

'I sat back and smiled at that thought. "Oh, mostly I sat up here and tried to find my calm." I said. "Made whiskey and weapons, like the one you now hold. Every now and then I'd train submissives like you." I swept the area yet again. "Mostly I just tried to heal my mind and body from all the things I've seen and done." I looked over at her, she was looking out at the far horizon.'

"What were you doing, before this little blood bath took over your life?" I asked and heard her giggle.'

"I was going to college and studying to be a teacher." She said. "I joined the reserves for the G.I. Bill." I nodded and smiled at her, my sister was a teacher, and I knew that I would do what I could for those I had rescued and trained to be better than the best. Including pay for any schooling they wanted. We made small talk for the rest of our time and had nothing to report when we were relieved.'

'I had Tony keep the evening meal warm, I went outside at what seemed like every 5 minutes and many time walked down to the road and simply stood there, watching and waiting. It was nearly midnight before OP3 reported lights to the south, not knowing who or what it was we went to battle stations and manned the strong points. 15 minutes later Mike and his patrol rolled into the yard and shut down the bikes. I breathed a large sigh of relief at their return.'

'I sent everybody back to their post and then shook each man's hand and directed them to the dining room to eat and debrief as I opened the briefcase lock after checking it for any extra springs, strings, or wires. none of which I found, lucky me. I pulled out several thick envelopes and opened them and began to feed them into Sams scanner.'

'It took almost 45 minutes to feed every page in and over an hour to print the English translations out, Mike, Tony and I took our time reading and making comments about what we were seeing. I was not surprised to see that they wanted a full-scale attack on my hill to get rid of the thorn in their side we'd become. I knew how to dampen any thoughts of getting frisky in my AO and all it took was 1 call.'

'I called Sam in DC and let her know that we had the goods and were sending both the originals and Sams translations to her in several encrypted PDF files. I also sent copies to Noah and to AF General Steven 'Ramrod' Jackson who was in charge of Offutt AF airbase. I had spoken to him several times over the last several weeks, we had an agreement that I would provide him any intel and he would be there if the shit hit the fan or the powers that be decided we were no longer convenient.'

'It was nearly 0230 before we read through everything and finalized the reports, then everything was sent out. I sent Mike and Tony to bed and sacked out on the couch where everyone could find me if shit happened. Luckly it was a mostly peaceful night and if I pretended, I could almost make myself believe that this was all some weird dream. Then unfortunately, life and responsibility would always come crashing in on dream. Fuck you Mr. Murphy.'

"Sir, Sir wake up we have movement in town." Frank said as he shook my leg.'

'My eyes popped open, and I looked at my watch, 0547 what in the McFuckles? why couldn't the fucking NKs do stupid shit during regular bankers' hours? I sat up and rubbed my eyes trying to get my bearings. "What's happening Frank?" I asked and started pulling my gear on which was on the floor right next to the couch.'

"We can't see anything Sir, but there's a lot of slamming of doors and yelling in town, no gun shots heard yet either." He told me as we moved to OP2.'

"All stations, this is OP2, be advised that I have lights on the road headed for the main gate into town."

'We ran a little faster towards the outpost and got there as Hillbilly counted "12... 13... 14..." and I pulled my binoculars up and swept the scene below us. Oh, fuck a duck, these assholes had found a route that we hadn't blocked off yet. Shit!'

"Radio this is 6, Over." I quietly said.'

"6, Radio, this is Angel Sir go with your traffic." She replied.'

"Send a flash message to Round House, tell them dirtbags reinforced, 24 carts spotted, need a hammer to break them up. Over." I told her. She quickly read the message back to me to confirm everything then sent the message out, hopefully I'd soon have Echos or Vipers on station hauling in the mail to make life interesting.'

'A minute later she was back telling me the message had been sent and they would send a hammer or 2 to take care of the problem. I told her that I understood and settled down next to Hillbilly as the sunrise started to color the horizon to our right. 20 minutes later Tony brought out a thermos of coffee and tapped my boot. He told me that everyone was up and getting fed at this time except for the 9 of us out here on watch.'

'Let me give you a bit of lay out here if I might. I owned more that 13 Square miles of property. The road, Hwy 23 made up the eastern border, with Oak creek the west and south side. The north was bordered by a line of 1500' hills that held a commanding a view of the surrounding countryside. If I could get some M777s up there no one would be able to move unless I wanted them to do so.'

'There were 4 OPs on the corners of the 12 acres that I had chosen to defend, OP 2 and 3 were in the hot spots, close to the road and tree line, if the shit kicked off, they would take the most hits. OP1 was the closest to the canyon rim and the west anchor of the hill. It was also just 450 yards from where the burned out remains of the Generals jet remained. OP4 was on top hill behind my house, it was from there that I had shot down 20 of 22 aircraft, I had in 3 days literally gutted the NKs long range air transport arm they had suffered 31 losses.'

'95 minutes later 4 Viper F-16s paid our uninvited guest a visit with Mk-83s and CBUs, I smiled at their prompt delivery of those hammers.'

"Radio this is 6, send to Roundhouse, results most satisfactory by the delivery vehicles, 18 carts unusable, 6 needing heavy duct tape. At least 50 plus rats removed from the board, double that number headed for the body and fender shop. Bravo Zulu on the delivery." I said.'

'I heard Mike read everything back to me and a few minutes later confirmed it receipt.'

'I headed back to the house and took my gear off as I entered my bedroom and striped down, it had been a few days sense my last shower and I was beginning to offend even myself. Coming out of the shower I saw Sue still curled up on her pad, huddled under her blanket. It was cold out and getting colder every day soon we'd have snow and when that happened this area would be close down.'

"Come pet, let's get you breakfast, and you can spend a little time by the fire." I said and caressed her head once she sat up.'

'I'd have to put socks on her feet and hands eventually, I didn't want her to freeze now that I'd properly broken her. A few of the commandos were also out of the dungeon, like those before them with rigid minds, they crumbled all to easily.'

'A Special Operations Soldier has to be both rigid and flexible at the same time. and be able to adjust the plan on the fly when plan A goes sideways. Anyone who says that plan A will always work is both a fool and a liar, I know from personal experience that no plan A survives first contact with the enemy. Which was why the NKs were entrenched in the town trying to get supplies in before the snow flew. I dressed, picked my gear up and tapped my leg.'

"Come Sue, bring your blanky." I told her and headed for the door, she picked up her blanket with her teeth and followed me out and down to breakfast.'

'Mike brought in several messages and Emails for me to read as the crews that had been on watch were relieved. From what I was reading it looked like the powers that be where happy with our last Intel haul and eager for us to do it again, they would just have to wait. I mean while we were good, we weren't that good. Yet.'

'A few days later we started to get cold northerly winds and the clouds thickened up around midafternoon, experience told me that we'd more than likely have snow by morning. I had the kids place thick pine branches over their OPs to help shield them from the soon to be falling snows, and to help keep them warm. I saw Mike walking around and called him over then we walked into the motor pool cave, we found hillbilly asshole deep in a Hummer's engine compartment. He had up armored the vehicle and repaired several others in the same way.'

"Yo, Hillbilly." I called out as we neared him.'

'He pulled his head out of the engine compartment. "Oh, hey Boss, Mike come on over I got something to show you both." He said and climbed out and headed to another Hummer. Looking it over, it appeared to be a standard up armored Hummer, but I knew that looks could be deceiving.'

'He got on in and fired it up, needless to say the sound that came from it wasn't normal, Mike opened the hood and we both looked in.'

"Hillbilly what in the hell did you do?" I asked as he climbed out.'

"I just spent a little time taking it apart and did some porting and polishing to the heads and opened the exhaust. I did a few other things too." He said and revved the engine a few times for us. "I also redid the rear end and removed those pesky governors also."

'We spent a few minutes discussing how he could upgrade other vehicles; I did want him to upgrade the bikes and gators too so they could run farther faster. I wanted the guys to be able to get out of trouble faster than thy had gotten into it. I also wanted them to be safe, I had no desire to write any letters and tell a family how their son or daughter had died honorably.'

'Mike and I went into the main cave area and looked at the pods and noticed that they had finally been all gone through and sorted out. We had captured over 600 pods and 15 truckloads of supplies. I talked with both Mike and Hillbilly about dispersing them so that if we got over run, they wouldn't recapture much stuff.'

.......

"There's still supplies stored here in this house from the war and in the caves even all these years later." John looks around the room, you can see that the years have taken a toll on him in more ways than one. He takes a drink from the coffee mug that sits within arm's reach. "I have always made sure to replace and replenish the long-term storage supplies and even the ammo stocks that are still down in the bunker even as I sit here, and at all the places that I still own all over the country. Nothing's been sold off; in fact, I've bought more than 10 other remote pieces of property away from major and minor targets. Sadly, the world still is a dangerous place.'