Chapter 6: Down Mexico Way, Part 5

"Well, Thom, you certainly how to pick your 'friends'." Jun said as he eyed Caboose and Sister with no small amount of disdain. "Not that I should've expected much from what I saw of them earlier."

"HEY!" Sister exclaimed.

"Hay is for horses." Jun retorted, earning a dirty look from Thom. "Now, let's get down to business– can you tell me anything about MECH's presence in the area?"

Sister and Caboose stared at Gauntlet Team's resident sniper as if he'd just spoken Mandarin. "…could you repeat that?" the former asked.

"Can you tell me anything about MECH's presence in the area?"

"Look, we didn't even know that our old bosses were here until you asked. Besides, do you really think that our higher-ups would tell regular grunts like us about that sort of thing?" Sister fired back. "Besides, we already played '20 Questions' with your friend!"

Jun turned his head and returned the dirty look to Thom. "Why didn't you tell me that they were just a couple of ordinary troopers earlier?"

"I assumed you'd have figured it out based on the armor."

"Well, you clearly assumed wrong." came the cold reply. "And now thanks to that assumption, you've needlessly endangered all our lives."

"Like I told Cole, if anything goes wrong, I'll take full resp–"

"Save your breath, Gauntlet Six." Jun snarled. "You're going to need it when you go see Bryce." He turned towards Sister and Caboose. "As for you tw–"

"Comms frequencies." the former said.

"Excuse me?"

"We'll give you our comms frequencies– y'know, as a sign of good faith."

Before Gauntlet Team's resident sniper could get a word in, his commlink went off. "Hold that thought."

A tense silence filled the air as Jun turned around to answer the call.

"If we got you in trouble–" Sister began.

"Don't worry about me." Thom replied. "Whatever happens, it's on my head and on my head alone."

"Understood, Gauntlet Leader. Gauntlet 7, out." Jun said before turning back around. "Congratulations, Six– as of now, we've got a bigger problem than your lapse in judgment."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Remember those Stinger tracks we picked up earlier?"

"You don't mean…"

"According to Cole, the Red Shadows are here in the AO and they're up against MECH same as us. Don't know what they've got in the way of forces, but it's probably more than what we've got." He turned to Sister and Caboose. "Now, about those comms frequencies…"


"Consarnit, Grif! If I wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it!" Sarge barked.

"Look, I'm just saying that now that we've got those samples and that egghead, we can still turn a prof–"

"We're not welching, dirtbag!" came the retort. "As my pappy once said, a contract's a contract, and you don't break it unless you're being swindled or have a damn good reason! Now, we are going to find that survey team even if it's the last thing we do, and I'll be d–"

Right on cue, his commlink went off.

"Hold that thought while I take this." he said before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Am I speaking to 'Sarge'?"

"Who are you, and what're you doing on this frequency?!"

"My name is Jun, and I'm with an outfit called Gauntlet Team."

"You mean those spec ops guys that one of my people called in about?"

"Yes."

"Well, 'Jun'," Sarge continued, "mind telling me just what in tarnation you and your pals are doing here in the first place?!"

"If you must know, we were sent in as a preliminary recon team for an upcoming assault on a MECH facility in this neck of the woods. But then we ran into complications, and I don't just mean you."

"Define 'complications'."

"Short version is that there's another group like MECH involved here called the Red Shadows– perhaps you've heard of them."

"Uh, no."

Jun audibly sighed. "Point is, we're outmatched, and if MECH doesn't know we're here now, they will soon. That's where you come in."

Sarge clenched his teeth. "And just what would we be doing?"

"Running interference while we try to salvage the operation. Or to put it another way, you're going to need to keep both MECH and the Shadows busy."

"What're you paying?" Grif butted in.

"That's a question for my superiors, but I can almost certainly guarantee you'll be getting combat pay."

"Deal." Sarge replied.

"Excellent. Sending you rendezvous coordinates now. Gauntlet, out."

There was a tense silence as Sarge faced the rest of his cohorts. "Well, you heard the man! Let's move!"

"With all due respect, sir," Church began, "what the hell are you thinking?! In case you forgot, we've got a civilian on our hands, and I don't think his boss is going to appreciate us bringing him back as a corpse!"

"So we have him stay in the truck!"

"And if the truck gets blown up?"

"I'm working on that part of the plan! Now let's move!"


"Sir, what exactly is the plan?" Jorge asked as Gauntlet Team's jeep arrived at the rendezvous.

Cole took a deep breath. "We lure the Red Shadows to Garganta de sangre–"

"Blood Gulch." Rosenda butted in.

"What?"

"That's what it translates to."

Cole sighed. "As I was saying, we lure the Red Shadows to Blood Gulch, let them start slugging it out with MECH, and use the chaos to slip past and launch our attack. By that point, Thom's mercenary pals should've shown up, thus giving us a lot more breathing room during the actual assault and our extraction."

"And what're we supposed to do once we get inside?" Rosenda asked.

"Grab every last scrap of intel on site. Papers, hard drives, prisoners– if it looks important, take it with you. After that, we blow the place sky high, bounce back across the border, and celebrate a job well done."

"And if those mercenaries want to get in on the actual assault?"

"Just as long as they keep the enemy busy and off us."

Rosenda exhaled through clenched teeth. "If this goes wrong and I die, remind me to haunt you for the rest of your life." she snarked.

Before Cole could make a reply, he felt his commlink go off. "Yes?"

"Gauntlet Leader, this is Gauntlet 4. We've ditched the Shadows and are awaiting further orders."

The corners of Cole's mouth contorted into a small smile. "Stand by to receive new orders, Gauntlet 4."

"Sir?"

"I said, stand by to receive new orders. We've got some new friends on this one."

"Thom's mercenary pals?"

"Exactly."


Several minutes later

"Any questions?" Cole asked as he looked at the assembled joint Gauntlet /mercenary strike team.

"Yeah, I got one." Grif replied. "Do you guys even know what's waiting for us in this 'Blood Gulch' place, or are we gonna have to improvise?"

"Considering our original mission was a reconnaissance op in advance of an actual strike, I'm afraid to say that we'll be making this up as we go." Rosenda replied.

"Figures."

"Look at it this way." Clay said. "At least you don't have to play bait for the Red Shadows."

"Who?"

"Short version– they're an organization like MECH, whoever designs their troops' gear seems to have a thing for the Wehrmacht's look, and we don't know what their deal is. That good enough for you?" Rosenda fired back.

"It was just a question!"

"Well, question time's over." came the icy reply. "We've got a job to do."