14
4.
"Move out!" Duke ordered, coming along behind Gung Ho with Alpine. "Head for the ridge!" Lady Hawk didn't spare the time to acknowledge or think about it. She had to get GPS to safety. She ignored the pain in her shoulder, and the blood loss, and focused on two things: getting GPS out of the danger zone, and what she was going to do to Pistol for disregarding direct orders. The pilot never had joined the cover fire overhead.
She didn't notice when Duke stopped, or when other Joes joined the group heading for the ridge. She never let go of GPS, and she knew Gung Ho had Wires slung over his shoulder. She knew the Westings were bundled onto Baby, with Angel and Lifeline, while she headed to her own copter. Doc was waiting there with Princess.
"Lady Hawk, you're hit…" Firecracker finally noticed.
"Not as bad as GPS. I can wait," Lady Hawk stated. "Princess, get us out of here."
"What the hell happened, Duke?" Wild Bill surveyed the ruined compound. They'd accounted for a lot more combatants than intel had claimed to be there; mostly hidden in the barracks and the trees to the north and west of the walls.
"Greynor had more back-up than anyone knew," Duke sighed, watching as a parachute-wrapped body was carried reverently to Wild Bill's copter. Footloose had refused to let anyone but Dusty and Scarlett help him wrap Diva's body; he wouldn't allow anyone else to carry her. "Which leads me to believe someone told him OMEGA was coming, just not when. Those three copters were all carrying supplies in, and a few of their jets weren't fully loaded for a firefight. Have you seen or heard Pistol?"
"Ace ordered her back to the Pit, when he caught her trying to engage in a dog fight with a rattler instead of following the orders we all heard Lady Hawk give her to supply cover fire," Wild Bill said grimly. "He's probably the only one who could have given an order she'd listen to. You do know, Duke….if Pistol had been down here, helping Diva, this would have been over sooner, cleaner, and we probably wouldn't have lost Diva…"
"We also lost Wires, and yes, I do hold Pistol accountable," Duke said tiredly. "If she'd been where she was supposed to be, she'd have seen that bunch coming out of the barracks and heading for the wall. Hell, we saw them, and we weren't that close…unfortunately."
"There's going to be hell to pay over this."
"The only question is: who's going to be the Devil's bill collector?"
Lady Hawk let Doc at her shoulder only because she didn't have any choice. She did refuse any drugs, or to allow him to start an IV on her. She needed her wits, she needed to be awake when they touched down. She had something to take care of. Colton wasn't going to like it. Hawk would probably like it even less.
When they set down at the Pit, there were quite a few people waiting: Colton, Hawk, Flint, a medical team, Ace…and Pistol, standing slightly to one side. Before the rotors on the tomahawk had even come to a complete stop, Lady Hawk was out, stalking across the ground. Firecracker, looking worried, was right behind her.
"You arrogant, useless…" Lady Hawk took one swing at Pistol, connecting with the taller woman's jaw and sending her stumbling backwards. "I don't care if you survive the court marshal or not, you are OUT! You can't be trusted to do your damn job, and because of that, two good people are dead, and GPS is in bad shape. You're a sorry excuse of a human being, Jillian Moore, and the worst possible example of an Air Force officer anyone could come up with!"
"Easy now," Shipwreck was suddenly behind Lady Hawk, his hands closing over her wrists to pin her arms crossed in front of her. "Down girl!"
"Let go of me, Shipwreck! I want to wipe the tarmac with her face!"
"Shipwreck, get her to the infirmary," Doc ordered. "Law, take Lt Moore to the brig."
"She attacked me, and I'm the one being arrested?" Pistol demanded.
"You are the one who disobeyed direct orders from your team leader," Ace pointed out, disgust in his face and voice.
"I out-rank her!"
"And I out-rank Duke, Flint, and Beach Head. They are still over me in the chain of command in this unit, and you aren't going to catch me disregarding their orders, especially in battle, without one hell of a reason," Ace's voice was like ice. "Being a glory hound isn't even a good reason. Are you going to go with Law quietly, or do I have to frog-march your sorry, grounded ass inside for him?"
"Grounded?"
"You heard me, Lieutenant. Grounded," Ace nodded. "Lady Hawk has already kicked you off of OMEGA. That means, while you are still attached to General Colton's unit for the time being, you revert to answering to your Air Force superiors… namely, me. I suggest you keep your mouth shut, and avoid racking up more charges for that court marshal."
"Firecracker, I want you and what's left of OMEGA in my office for debriefing," Colton stated. "Now."
"Yes sir," Firecracker saluted, mostly out of habit. She was dirty, and tired, and heart-broken, and worried about GPS and Lady Hawk, although she knew the two of them were in excellent care. But things had to be done yet, and for good reason. "We did get you a…collector's edition, General." She indicated Greynor, standing to one side under Princess and McArthur's guard. "Ya know, sir… now I'm seeing him in the light of day, he kinda looks a lot like someone else I met recently…"
"Save it for the debrief," Colton ordered. She nodded, and turned to collect Blackbird and Spanner. Angel had already gone with the med team. "MUTT!"
"Yes sir!" Mutt hurried over, Junkyard at his heels.
"Take Mr. Greynor here to the brig," Colton ordered. "A small cell, if we have one."
"Yes sir," Mutt saluted, then gripped Greynor's arm. "Right this way, slimeball."
Lady Hawk passed out before Shipwreck got her to the infirmary. He readjusted how he was carrying her, to make it easier on him and safer for her.
"She is a stubborn lady," Doc sighed, pointing to a gurney when he saw the two enter. "I expected her to black out well before we got here, from the loss of blood alone."
"I get the feeling that wasn't an option in her mind," Shipwreck set her down carefully on her uninjured side, so that he could maneuver her onto her stomach. "I thought she was going to do some serious damage to Pis…"
"To Lt. Moore, and yes, I do believe she meant to," Doc nodded. "You do understand why Lady Hawk refused to call the woman by her code name?"
"Hell yeah! She lost the right to that code name," Shipwreck stepped back so Doc could remove the bandages on Lady Hawk's shoulder. "I just never knew what her real name was. Didn't much care, either. That female is colder than a fish at the bottom of the sea. Hell, Deep Six is a better conversationalist!"
"I'll agree with that," Doc snorted. "Go on, get out of here, and let me deal with Lady Hawk. I'll let someone know when she can have visitors."
"She's going to take losing Wires and Diva pretty hard, Doc," Shipwreck warned. "Especially Wires."
"I know," Doc sighed. "I know."