AN: The saga continues. Thanks once again to Cougar's Catnip, without whom you would never have seen the rest of this since there's a lot of proofreading to do and I cannot do it alone (I read what I meant to be there as opposed to what is actually there)
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Pooch held his breath. He could hear the two men approaching from different angles and knew it was only a matter of seconds until they would see him but his only concern now was which would be faster, the stealthy bad guys or Drone 513.
His money was on Drone 513.
Weapon drawn he waited until the first two entered his field of vision, hoping to get as many of them lined up for the drone as possible. The only problem was, in order to bring the bad guys into the open, he would have to put himself in the middle of them.
"Yoohoo! Hold it right there boys," he said training a pistol on each of the men.
He fought to suppress a smile as he heard a "No, you hold it," from behind.
After a moment he did smile. It wasn't like they could see him. "I don't think so" he said as Drone 513 began firing.
As the drone fired on the two men behind him, he shot the two in his sights. His shot from his dominant hand hit true, dropping the man immediately, but his off hand shot was marred by the man dropping to one knee. He turned to finish off the man on his left.
As he did, his drone rotated, detecting more movement behind him. As Pooch fired two rounds into the kneeling man the drone fired a three round burst at the man moving in on Pooch from behind. The first shot grazed Pooch's leg, but all three shots were neatly fired into the fifth and final attacker.
Pooch leaned against the tree for support as he looked at the bodies around him then glared at the drone for a moment. Granted it had only grazed him, and he was just in the way of the man who was about to drill him in the back of the skull, but he couldn't help but feel like his drone had betrayed him.
It didn't help that the drone hung a little lower than usual-it almost made it look like the machinery had realized it had made a mistake. The damage around him was impressive, and he'd have enjoyed it a lot more if he weren't trying to bind his leg so he could move and not leave a blood trail.
The fiasco did however give him one thing to go on-a faint energy reading from the power source and the web it wove around the wearer. He quickly took control of the drone and got its reading on the signal and sent it out to the others.
They were to follow his orders on everything, unless they saw that signature. Then they were to deliver a ten round burst to the source. Overkill maybe, but he was done playing.
'Guys... does it really count as a point for them if I get tagged by one of my own drones?'
'Guys?'
-:-
Casey sat up and almost lost her meager dinner in the process, but at least she was upright. She could hear the sounds of battle raging all around her and knew unconscious on the battlefield was synonymous with dead.
She still wasn't at her best, but she didn't need to be, she just needed to be upright and preferably armed.
It was something most people didn't get about her. Casey did not believe in war but she did not believe in being a helpless victim either. If forced to chose between fighting or dying- she would chose fighting every time. She fought, for herself and for those under her care, but she did not believe in war, for the most part.
There were wars that had to be fought because some megalomaniacs would have it no other way, but those wars were few and far between and this was not one of them, although with the way some of the soldiers she'd dealt with had treated her, she was beginning to rethink that stance.
She dragged herself over to one of the packs lying on the ground near her and began digging until she found a pistol and a first aid kit.
One more step in the direction of being alive when this all ended.
-:-
Clay fought to remain still as a drone programmed for hunt-seek hovered overhead. He knew it had located him, but it was still hovering-waiting for something, most likely its rigger's command.
He was fairly certain he'd over stayed his welcome but without confirmation from Roque proceeding with the rest of the plan was not an option.
"Stay right where you are," a voice spoke through the drone. "Any move will result in your immediate termination."
Clay smiled innocently at the drone's photo receptors. At least he knew they were still trying to capture him. He activated his comm and found only static.
"Any further attempts at communication will be viewed as a hostile act and you will be terminated."
Clay sighed as he realized they only wanted him alive at this point if it didn't put any more of them at risk.
-:-
Pooch knew he was running out of time. The plan had been simple, if a bit short on details, but that was the way things like this went. You covered your area and depended on the others to cover theirs. The only problem was-he had no idea if they were still alive and merely being jammed or if they were captured and he was thoroughly fragged.
Since he didn't like the second option he stuck with the first option: working on taking out the remainder of his ten plus playmates so he could aid the others. As far as he knew the score was now 4.5 men still active, to his one leg injury thanks to 513.
He was about to move when he heard footsteps around him. Sure enough... 4.5 men were surrounding him, guns drawn. He held his hands up. The injured man was obviously not buying his 'what's up fellahs?' smile
"If you or one of your drones move, we will shoot."
Pooch shrugged and was about to call his drones in when the first man pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "Do and it will be the last thing you do."
Pooch did his best to remain perfectly still and do nothing threatening, all the while thinking, it was a good thing Jensen weren't here, he could just imagine the decker trying not to move.
As it was, he was having a hard enough time not moving with his leg injury.
-:-
Roque was not happy. He glared at the shattered remains of the earth elemental and wondered if he could revive it just to kill it again. With a nasty smile he decided that he would take it up with the person who'd summoned it in the first place once he'd dealt with the mage's 'friends.'
With no communications he had to assume the worst. He was alone with an injured non-combatant in his care and two friends to avenge.
This was not going to be easy. He drew a deep breath and called the Elementals to him, if there was any chance of salvaging the mission and rescuing the others he was going to have to re-task two of them. If nothing else, they would retrieve the bodies of his fallen comrades for proper burial.
It would also leave his left flank unguarded.
-:-
Clay listened to the sound of approaching footsteps and knew that if he didn't do something soon he was lost. He had seen how these people treated prisoners, he had witnessed the damage they had done to Casey and he understood Roque's wrath at what had been done.
He knew being killed outright was preferable to spending even an hour as their prisoner, and he'd be damned if he was going to be used as a hostage against the others especially when magic was involved.
He made no claim to understand magic other than the fact that, in the right hands it was a devastating weapon. He also knew those hands were not his. It was why he left magic, tactical magic and counter magics firmly in Roque's control.
He was a good leader and he knew when to leave those with the know how to deal with their particular specialty. It was why the Losers were such a good team.
He thought about calling in Roque's 'air strike' but knew it would only come when the mage was ready and knew he was safe... well... it would come when Roque was ready.
Dying in the attack that killed these bastards was far more preferable than dying at their hands and they both knew it.
At least he knew it would take them with him.
-:-
Pooch realized the problem with their instructions immediately. While most of the drones were under his direct control, they did have standing orders to shoot anything that matched the energy signature of the camo suit.
"Look guys," he began. "Being serious here, if you don't let me contact..."
He tensed when he saw the injured soldier pull his rifle up, but instead of shooting him the man settled for striking him with the stock. As the blow connected with his jaw and darkness began swimming around him he heard the sound of gunfire and felt something hit his shoulder. His mind was still swimming trying to process signals from his brain and those from his drones as he felt a searing pain in his leg.
"Damn 513," he swore as he reached out to his drones signaling them to shoot at anything and everything in the area and to self-destruct when they ran out of ammo. He hoped it would take as many of them out as possible.
Then everything was still.
-:-
Despite himself Clay sat up as gunfire erupted in the distance. "No," he said as he looked in the direction where the shots had come from. "Pooch..."
His tone was almost dead as he stared in disbelief.
"You were warned..." the voice from the drone reminded him.
Faced with being gunned down by a machine or fighting back, Clay drew his weapon and returned fire.
He felt three shots hit him in the chest, and from the feel of things his vest had been able to stop two of them. He forced the air out of his lungs, letting out a low growl as he continued firing.
He felt another shot connect from behind and still kept firing.
His last conscious effort was to take as many of them with him as he could.
-:-
The sound of gunfire in the distance, and its sudden stop told Roque what he needed to know. His friends were in a better place where the enemy could never touch them again. He drew the power he had taken from the elemental and shaped it with will power alone.
He fed his fury into the spell and centered it on those who would dare hurt his friends. He aimed first at the ridge where Clay had been, smiling as he heard their screams and saw the rise engulfed in flame of his creation. He gave a feral smile, then turned, putting his back to the mayhem he'd created.
He gathered more energy from the ley lines, shaped it with the anger and pain he had experienced working on Casey. He thought Pooch would appreciate that. He had never been one for vengeance so Roque chose instead to avenge the damage done to the medic.
Nearly spent he turned, barely aware of the form rising behind him, he let loose the spell even as the drones in the area began to blow themselves apart.
"Took you long enough..." he said as he dropped to his knees exhausted.
-:-
Clay smiled and shook the dirt out of his hair. "Yeah well... Sucking chest wounds are a bitch," he said trying to catch his breath. "And your 'friends' don't always get that whole needing to breathe thing. Not to mention they aren't always the best mode of transport when you're injured."
"So you keep telling me," Roque answered as he tried to catch his breath
"Still," Clay said looking at the rise where he'd been only minutes before. "Fast, effective and sneaky."
"That's me and the boys," Roque said sagging a little more. "'Fraid the last twenty are up to you, Pooch, and the boys. Do me proud."
Clay smiled and nodded. "I'll try not to disappoint."
"You do that ..."
"You all right? 'Cause this is looking like more than drain."
Roque waved him off. "Their Elemental didn't want to leave... we had *words*."
Clay looked at the obsidian shards and shook his head. "I'll have to take your word for it," he said before a coughing fit brought him to his knees.
"Maybe you should sit this one out... let Pooch and the boys deal with the last set.
"Speaking of Pooch... "
Clay looked around, starting to get worried when the ground erupted just to his left and one of Roque's 'boys' emerged from beneath them. .
Pooch rolled out of its protective embrace and immediately grimaced as he put weight on his injured leg. As he caught his breath, he gave Roque an accusatory look.
"You did this on purpose didn't you?"
"If by 'on purpose' you mean saving your life... then yes. If by..." Roque stopped noticing the way Pooch was moving. "Pooch?"
"Yeah... shot twice, same leg... my drone," Pooch spat out.
Clay looked at Roque. "I'm thinking... we evac from here, your boys see if anyone wants to learn about claymores... and we head home... "
"As soon as I have a short discussion with a combat mage, and talk to some spirits..."
Clay rolled his eyes. 'Mages.'
-:-
Casey knew she was tired when her entire reaction to a pair of earth elementals showing up was to give them a dubious look. She tried to slip the strap of the first aid kit she'd found over her shoulder, but when she failed to do so the second time she gave up.
She looked at the condition of her rescuers, doing her best to triage their injuries from the distance and gave up. From where she sat, they all looked equally bad.
"All right... one of you... please make your way over to the seated medic and prepare to be poked and prodded."
When the men looked at her she rolled her head to take them all in. "Look, I can't look any worse than the rest of you... and if you're going to insist on keeping up with this insanity-I can only do the same."
-:-
Clay studied the medic for a moment and nodded. "Pooch..."
Pooch looked at him. "Oh, right... have the guy who can't walk go see the medic who can't move. Am I the only one who sees the problem with this?"
As he complained he held his hand out to Clay, unsurprised when his CO helped him up and half dragged, half carried him over to the Medic.
"Once you're able-we're going to need that rotorcraft," Clay told him.
"I can do that now, if Casey here doesn't need me for anything..."
Clay gave Casey a questioning look.
"Anything other than the leg?" she asked Pooch.
"No, that's it..."
"In that case, putting your mind elsewhere might be better," she said as she checked his injuries. The wounds weren't nearly as worrisome as the dirt embedded in them.
Clay knew that cleaning the wounds was going to hurt. He nodded.
"There you have it."