REUNION is an original story, inspired by the U.S. T.V. series AIRWOLF.
Copyright refers to the author of this original material, and is not meant to supersede any copyrights held by Donald P Bellisario or any other persons or corporations holding rights to the television series AIRWOLF and its characters.
Chapter Ten
As they exited the cell block there was more loud, sporadic gun fire and as they scurried to take cover against the wall of the infirmary building they had passed earlier, Hawke scanned the surrounding area, nursing a brief hope that if he could locate Colonel Benjamin Kubasa, or one of his senior officers, he could draw their attention to his team's plight, and then the Colonel would be forced to send more men to protect Robert Nimbani.
With a brief flare of relief, Hawke spotted Kubasa's burly sergeant, positioned outside the guard room, and sensing movement out of the corner of his eye, the man glanced over in their direction, then lifted his hand in acknowledgement that he was aware of their presence, and that they had achieved their goal.
However, it soon became clear to Hawke that the sergeant was pinned down at his current position, and was probably waiting for back up to come to his assistance, and the only positive that Hawke could see in their present situation was that the sergeant could offer them a limited amount of cover from his position, thus enabling his team to progress to the next building, the empty bunkhouse, where they could again take cover and pause to get their breath and reassess their situation.
The four man team waited for the sergeant to open fire, then made their move, Hawke and Santini struggling to keep hold of their precious cargo, both more than keenly aware of just how vulnerable they were.
Here they had limited cover, places to pause, to recover, but out there, on that hillside, and out on the veldt, they would be completely exposed.
During the weeks of preparation leading up to this farce, Hawke had protested that it was sheer madness to entrust the safety of the rescued Robert Nimbani to such a small force, but Colonel Kubasa had argued that a small team would be able to move more quickly, and not draw too much attention, whilst he would need every available man to hold off Mendofa's army and keep them contained while Hawke, Santini and their team safely transported Nimbani to Airwolf, and then on to the US.
Hawke had protested long into the night, and on many a long night in the three weeks leading up to the mission, arguing that it didn't matter if Mendofa's army were contained or not, if Nimbani was killed by a lucky sniper before they even got out of the compound, but Kubasa would only laugh, reminding Hawke that he was in charge, and that with the limited size of the force at his command, he had no other choice, decreeing that his orders were firm, and Hawke had had no choice but to accept it.
However, it had been a bitter pill to swallow, and had left Hawke wondering just what Kubasa's main objective was, for it suddenly seemed all too clear to Hawke that his so called friend, and leader's liberation was much lower down on Kubasa's agenda than it was on Hawke's.
From the start, Hawke had protested that the plan was too full of holes, potential risks and flaws, but his was a lone voice of protest, drowned out by those who had more influence and authority, and now he and Dominic Santini had fallen foul of one of those holes, and were suffering the consequences.
Their fate was in their own hands.
Hawke was worried about Dominic Santini. He was already struggling, breathing hard, perspiration pouring out of him, and they still had a hell of a way to go.
On the eve of the mission, Kubasa had finally settled on a compromise, that once his men had contained the guard house, he would release some of those men to join Hawke and Santini.
Hawke had had to accept that it was the best he was going to get, but surveying the situation in the compound now, it was clear to Hawke that things had not exactly gone to plan, and Kubasa's confidence that it would be a cake walk had been grossly over stated.
Surprise, my ass! Hawke thought sourly to himself, as he and Dom hung on to the still unconscious Robert Nimbani and followed their KPLA point man quickly across the gap between the infirmary and the bunk house, and then across the gap between that building and the next, slowly getting closer and closer to the line of low buildings up against the fence line where they had come in.
During a lull in the shooting, as each side obviously reloaded and reassessed their situation, the four man assault team made a bolt for the last building, the one closest to the fence, and after a brief pause to catch their breath and adjust Nimbani's position between them, Hawke stuck his head out around the brickwork of the building to ascertain if anyone was lying in wait for them on the other side of the fence.
He could see nothing unusual, no unexpected movement amongst the trees, so satisfied that it was as safe as it could be to precede, Hawke signalled that they should go, make a run for it, through the hole in the fence and into the limited cover of the trees beyond.
Trying to take more of the insensate man's weight upon himself, hoping to give Dominic Santini some respite and a slightly better chance of keeping up, Hawke took off after the KPLA soldier, who held back the barbed wire to allow Hawke to scramble through first, hauling Nimbani after him, followed closely by Santini and the point man who let off several burst of covering fire before ducking under the barbed wire too.
As Hawke and Santini finally staggered up the incline at the bottom of the hill, making for the trees, all hell suddenly broke loose behind them.
Dominic Santini, his heart beating a staccato tattoo in his chest, desperate to draw air into his aching lungs, braced himself against the first sturdy tree he came too, grateful that he didn't actually collapse, panting raggedly as Hawke took Robert Nimbani's full weight now, and also breathing hard, face flushed and drenched with sweat, followed Santini's gaze back to where they had come from.
"Ah hell …." Santini gasped as he and Hawke watched swarms of men, indistinguishable from each other as their flimsy camouflage uniforms were so similar in colour and design, began a raging, running battle on the parade ground in front of the barracks, and it was only when Hawke recognised Colonel Kubasa himself, desperately trying to organise his people and return fire, that Hawke was able to distinguish which side was actually which.
It wasn't looking good for Kubasa and his men.
They were vastly outnumbered and out gunned too, with much more modern and reliable weapons, no doubt supplied to General Mendofa by his Russian allies, and it quickly became obvious to Hawke that the KPLA were being over run.
It was also painfully obvious that he and is team could not rely on any form of assistance from the Colonel and his men.
They truly were on their own, and once Mendofa's men had killed Kubasa and his men, he, Dominic Santini and Robert Nimbani would be the next targets in their sights.
Gasping raggedly, and watching with a shocked expression on his flushed face, Hawke realised that Dominic Santini had also just reached the same conclusion, but continued to watch in morbid fascination as hordes of men swept out of the buildings all around the sprawling barracks complex, shooting haphazardly, using the guns as cudgels when they ran out of ammunition, or cutting down Kubasa's men with short knives and bayonets, with the cold ruthlessness that Hawke had heard so much about these past three weeks.
These men did not take prisoners.
Prisoners were a needless drain on precious resources like food and water.
"We've gotta get out of here, now!" Hawke yelled above the sound of gunfire from below. "Move it, Dom!"
They had to keep moving, one objective paramount now, to stay alive.
One goal, to reach that dry river bed that marked the border between Cimbawe and Kembala, and hope and pray that General Mendofa's men would not breach that border to pursue them into Cimbawe, and beyond that, to get to the Jeep, because it was the only way they could get back to Airwolf.
Hawke's reactions were quicker than Santini's, he was younger and fitter, so as the swarm of Mendofa's men finished making short work of killing every last KPLA man standing, he was spinning around and hauling Robert Nimbani up onto his back, piggy back style, even before Dominic Santini had regained enough wind to protest.
"String …." Santini gasped out as he watched the younger man hitching the insensate African leader higher up on to his back then turned sideways on to Santini.
"No time, Dom. Take my sidearm," he thrust out the hip where his holster rested toward Santini, and nodding silently, Santini pulled it open and withdrew the weapon, reflexively checking to see if the safety catch was engaged and that it was loaded.
The weapon was no use to Hawke, Santini knew, not with his hands full with carrying Nimbani, and God knew they didn't have much fire power as it was, so with two weapons at his disposal, Santini knew that he had a better chance of covering their flank than with only his own weapon.
He experienced a brief pang of guilt that he should be the cause of the younger man having to shoulder the full burden of carrying Nimbani, then reason quickly kicked in, and he acknowledged the logic of it.
Hawke was younger, fitter, stronger, faster, and his reactions were quicker too, and of course, he was their best chance of getting out of this hellhole alive, in Airwolf.
But first, they had to get to her.
Santini now saw the expression on Hawke's face change, the horror flashing through his expressive blue eyes, as he watched Mendofa's men swarming out of the barracks and bearing down on their position in the trees.
"We have to get out of here, right now!"
"Amen to that!" Santini concurred as Hawke took off, and then flicked off the safety catch on Hawke's gun, and then he and the remaining KPLA men lay down covering fire as Hawke dug in and hastily made his way up the hill.
Pretty soon Mendofa's men were shooting back, and Santini was startled by the hail of bullets as they kicked up dust and stones on the ground not far from him, and then the branches of the trees over head began to explode too, showering him with dry bark and twigs.
Time to haul ass, old man, and just what the hell do you think you're doing here, anyway! Next time, leave it to the young guys and stay at home drinking cocoa!
Like hell!
There was a huge grin on his face as he pushed off from the tree where he had been resting and legs pumping furiously, he followed Hawke up the hill.