Chapter 5: Down Mexico Way, Part 4
"So, Mister Thom, now that me and Caboose have clearance, I was wond–" Sister began.
"Just 'Thom' will do." the Gauntlet Team operative replied as he positioned himself against a rock. "And let me guess– you're wondering why my teammates and I are here."
"…um, yeah."
Thom sharply inhaled. "Our superiors picked up some rumors that your old bosses were up to something in this neck of the woods, so they sent us in to do some recon before they sent a strike team."
"That's it?"
"Originally, yes. But now, with you and that survey team in the picture, I'm not so s–"
Just then, his commlink squawked.
"Hold that thought." he said, turning away from Sister and Caboose before pressing down on his helmet. "Hello?"
"What's the holdup?" Jun hissed from the other side.
"Just filling our new friends in on the situation. Why?"
"You're what?! Just wait until C–"
"Who do you think gave me the all-clear?"
"You're kidding, right?"
"If you don't believe me, feel free to ask him yourself. Now, do you have anything else to say?"
"Report to my position and bring your new 'friends' with you. Out."
"So, why can't we just drive out to this 'Garganta de sanwhatsit' ourselves and meet the others there?" Ben grumbled as he very carefully readjusted his position on the back of the quad bike.
"Oh, I don't know." Clay retorted. "Maybe it might have something to do with the fact that I'd rather us not have a repeat of what happened in Benzheen."
"Look, how I was supposed to know that rebel fireteam had IG backup in the house?"
"You could've waited for Jun to finish giving it the once-over with those over-engineered binoculars of his, for one!" He let out a growl. "Seriously– given you and your knack for boneheaded decisions, it's a miracle you're still alive!"
Before Ben could make a reply, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "Clay?"
"What?!"
"I think we've got company at three o'clock."
Clay turned his head and felt a pit form in his stomach. There, out in the distance, he could see a telltale glint from beside a large rock. "Oh, sonuva–"
Right on cue, the sound of a gunshot filled the air, followed by the sound of the bullet bouncing off Ben's body armor.
"Of course they'd know we were here!" Clay exclaimed as he gunned the engine. "Probably caught us when we saw the transport!"
"Hate to break it to you, big bro, but I don't think that's MECH shooting at us."
"Then who is?!"
As if on cue, a jeep with a black paint job and a rear-mounted missile turret entered the duo's line of sight, the gunner clad in a red uniform reminiscent of those worn by the Wehrmacht soldiers of WWII.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Clay screamed as he veered off to the side, narrowly dodging an inbound missile. "First MECH, then the Red Shadows?! What are they even doing here in the first place?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine!" Ben replied as he grabbed his commlink. "Gauntlet Leader, this is Gauntlet 4! We've got company, and you're not gonna guess who it is!"
"Try me."
"Some of Baron Ironblood's flunkies, that's who!"
There was a long silence from the other end of the commlink. "And here I hoped that Jun was wrong." came the eventual reply.
"Sir, what's the plan now?" Clay butted in.
"Try and shake them, then see if you can still make it to the rendezvous point!"
"And after that?"
"We bounce back across the border and pick up some bigger guns and some reinforcements, that's what! What'd you think we were going to do– stick around and make a last stand against a combined MECH/Red Shadow force?"
Just, the jeep's turret fired again, the missile racing towards the MECH aircraft that the two Gauntlet operatives had sighted earlier.
"Um, sir? I don't think we'll have to worry about them teaming up." Clay said as he watched the missile hit its mark.
"Doesn't change the fact that we're outmatched! Best case, we might be able to use those mercenaries that Thom ran into as a distraction!"
"Could you repeat that?"
"Thom called in a while back and said that he and Jun ran into some ex-MECH troopers." Rosenda replied."Supposedly, they deserted after Clinton-Sherman went up, turned soldier of fortune, and came down here on behalf of some big mining firm." She audibly exhaled. "Look, I know this op's gone sideways in a big way and that nothing makes any sense right now. But as a wise man once said, it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings."
Clay took a deep breath. "What's the plan?"
"Tell you when you get to the rendezvous point. Gauntlet 2, out."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Sorry for the long delay between updates, but between working on other projects like PPGA and a new version of More Things In Heaven and Earth, this just kind of fell on the wayside– not helped by the fact that I'd genuinely lost the plot at one point and had to rewrite this chapter from scratch. For the record, had I gone with what I'd originally planned, this chapter would've introduced the Freelancers, but I'm saving that for another arc instead.
