Until the End
Chapter 16
Confrontation
Second Lieutenant Ranma Saotome watched silently as the 77th Light Armored Division rolled down the path ahead of him. As the last halftrack disappeared from around the bend, Ranma got to his feet and walked down the slight hill he had been resting on and joined his platoon. Approaching his NCO, Ranma retrieved the platoon map from the radioman and unfolded it.
"We have about four days of walking before we reach Alden," Ranma said as he measured the distance from their present position to the Russian city. "The guys from armored say that they'll set up a perimeter around the city so as to make sure that no Russian troops can escape and we'll be safe from a counterattack."
"You sure about that Lieutenant, wasn't it last week that the 67th got ambushed just outside of the border by that American Special Forces group?" Sergeant Yoshida asked.
Ranma turned a heated glare at his sergeant. "It was not confirmed that an American division did that sergeant, and I would like to remind you that we are not here to make presumptions."
"Yes sir," Sergeant Yoshida said. "And I would like to remind you that we may be soldiers but we are not morons."
The entire platoon seemed to hold their breaths as Lieutenant Saotome turned his head and stared at Sergeant Yoshida in shock. For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened.
Finally, Ranma's face cracked into a grin and he slapped Sergeant Yoshida on the back. "Heh well said buddy." Ranma turned to look at the rest of the platoon as he heard almost every man release their breath.
"So," Sergeant Yoshida began, "I want your honest opinion now, do you really believe that there aren't American Special Forces in Russia?"
Ranma sighed. "I can't really say sergeant, but on a personal level I'm going to have to go on the thought that I hope, for our sakes, that they are not here in Russia."
Yoshida nodded, obviously contented with his lieutenant's response. He turned to the other men of the platoon. "Alright boys, lets move it, we've got about seven hours before we have to link of with 3rd Squad and they've got a head start, so let's bust some ass!"
Ranma found himself smiling at his sergeant's actions. Despite the harried conditions, he had discovered that he had been growing more and more accustomed to having the man by his side. Even though Sergeant Yoshida was almost a decade older than Ranma, and had actually been enlisted in the Japanese armed forces before the start of the war, there had developed a deep kinship between the two men. Each had looked and found a great many of attributes in each man that they admired.
Ranma, who had never really been able to cast the title of friend around very easily, had come to think of Yoshida as just that, a friend. But after thinking of that, Ranma thought about all the other men that he had been able to call his friends. While some would have anything but to be called his friend, there were those who had wanted to be more, and there was of course the man that Ranma still considered to be his best friend, even if he might be dead.
Shaking his head, Lieutenant Saotome picked up his pace as he and his platoon marched deeper and deeper into Siberia, towards a goal that none of them could see, and an outcome that none of them would ever have fathomed.
===============
"Do you think the general would be mad if I popped one of these nips?" a Green Beret sergeant asked of the soldiers beside him as he gazed through the scope of his rifle, letting it follow the platoon leader of the Japanese platoon they had been following for half a day.
"What he thinks does not matter sergeant," a voice from behind the two men said.
The two Green Berets turned and saw General Parker, carrying his XM25 semi-automatic sniper rifle in the crook of his arm. Both of the soldiers were surprised to see the sniper rifle being carried by the general.
The XM25 had originally been built as a result of the requirement for a match grade M14 for Special Forces sniper teams. It had, after extensive testing, been distributed to both U.S. Special Forces teams and the elite Navy Seals. The XM25 was operated by rotating bolt, gas operated, with semi- automatic magazines fed into the rifle. It weighed 4.9 kg, and was 112 cm long. Being quite a large weapon, it was only used by sniper teams, which explained the surprised expressions that the two Green Beret's sported when they saw their commander walking up to their position carrying the rifle.
"And watch those racist comments of yours," General Parker chided as he knelt down. "We can't all be white albinos straight from Mississippi."
"Right sir," the Green Beret sergeant replied. "Sorry sir. As I was inquiring before, do you think it might be possible if we could maybe take out this platoon, before they are too close to the armored battalion that went ahead of them?"
General Parker thought about the sergeant's question. There had already been a plan put in motion to eliminate as many of the single infantry platoons traveling without support. Parker had already informed the other leaders that he was going to set up an ambush for the Chinese heavy tank battalion and the infantry divisions it traveled with. Maybe it would be a good idea to take out a platoon that may prove troubling later on.
"Let me get a good look at them first," General Parker said as he set the XM25 on the ground and stretched his body out; making sure that he was in perfect position. After ensuring that the rifle was properly positioned, General Parker gazed into the scope, quickly adjusting the sights to be on target. He slowly moved the scope across the Japanese infantrymen, checking for any type of irregularities. After checking out the enlisted men, Parker moved the rifle to point at the platoon leader and the NCO.
There was something familiar about how the platoon leader walked. Somewhere in the back of Parker's mind it was telling him that this was very important, but he couldn't place it. Shrugging once, Parker reached down and grabbed a 20 round magazine and fed it into the stock of the XM25. The rifle had a range well over a thousand yards, and Parker had no trouble aligning his sights on the platoon leader. Just as he chambered a round, something caught Parker's eye.
As the lieutenant hopped over a fallen tree, his helmet shifted, and the pigtail that had been conveniently tucked inside came out, flopping down in a manner that served to almost physically strike Parker.
Feeling his entire body begin to tremble, Parker removed his face from the rifle scope and tried to catch his breath.
Goddamnit, what the hell is Ranma doing here? Parker asked himself. He became aware that the sergeant was talking to him.
"-eral, can we take out the platoon or not?"
Parker looked over at the sergeant with a shocked look on his face, but he quickly disguised it.
"No, sergeant, I want you and to take him," Parker said, indicating the other Green Beret, "and head back to our relay point. Tell the colonel that I should be there in time to catch the helicopters when they come later tonight."
General Parker's voice held no room for argument and the sergeant nodded, getting to his feet and leading the other soldier away. Once they were out of sight, Parker picked up his rifle and climbed down from the perch they had been positioned on and moved down to the trail the Japanese soldiers had been walking on and began following them. Parker tried to keep his mind off what he would do if he managed to work it so that he was able to corner Ranma and the others.
Through skill born from countless training and actual experience, Phil was able to track Ranma and his platoon all the way back to the 3rd regimental headquarters. Positioning himself so he wouldn't be spotted, Parker observed the camp through the scope of his rifle. He ensured that his finger was safely resting in the trigger guard and began to observe the soldiers.
Ranma had reported into a halftrack that Parker was assuming belonged to the captain of Ranma's platoon. Believing that the meeting would take awhile, Parker roamed through the camp with the help of his scope. Another platoon was preparing to head out on a recon sweep, and Parker toyed with the idea of setting up an ambush. Discarding the idea, as it would be far too risky without any position that he could fall back on, Parker resumed his sweep of the camp.
Spotting some tents, Parker zeroed in on the area as two soldiers emerged. He was about to continue on when he noticed someone else emerging from the tent, someone significantly smaller than the soldiers.
"Good god," Parker breathed as he watched the small girl run across the field and into the halftrack that Ranma had entered. He took his eye from the scope and shook his head. Could he have been seeing things, no, that child was as real as the other men in the camp. But why on earth would a child be with this regiment, was it some kind of disgusting attempt by the Japanese to make the Russian soldiers back down? Parker was so absorbed in his musings that he failed to notice Ranma emerge, carrying the small child, until he was almost halfway across the camp.
Parker observed Ranma as he walked down through the field. He observed Ranma a little too closely, as he didn't notice as a Japanese soldier made his way toward Parker, obviously intending on relieving himself in the bushes. Parker was startled when the soldier blocked his view and he shifted, causes the branches he was hiding in to shift, which did not go unnoticed by the soldier.
"Someone's in the bushes!" the soldier yelled, alerting the camp.
"Shit," Parker cursed as he worked the bolt on the XM25 and fired one round from the twenty round magazine at the soldier.
===============
To say Ranma was startled when the sharp report of the rifle echoed through the camp would have been an understatement. Ranma, who had figured out that he could detect the aura of those around him, had come to depend on that sense to alert him when enemy soldiers were near, so when the private from 3rd platoon shouted out the warning before being struck in the bridge of his nose by the bullet fired by the sniper in the bushes Ranma was taken by surprise and nearly dropped Natalie.
Setting Natalie on the ground Ranma charged off towards the bushes from where the shot came from. He ordered two soldiers to take Natalie and put her in the tent. He swung his rifle from his shoulder and chambered a round and switched to single shot. He was going to show this sniper what it meant to take a life with only one shot.
===============
Sergeant Yoshida had been one of the soldiers Ranma had ordered to take Natalie into the tent, and he had begun to respond to the order when he noticed Natalie was not where Ranma had set her down. Quickly scanning the field, Sergeant Yoshida noticed the small girl running after Lieutenant Saotome.
Jumping to his feet, Yoshida ran after the small girl. The other soldiers of the regiment stared in shock as Ranma raced ahead of them, being followed by the small girl who in turn was being chased by Sergeant Yoshida.
===============
Parker was trying to observe the field of battle when he noticed someone racing towards him. Actually he noticed three people racing towards him, but only one of them seemed intent on actually reaching his position. He trained the scope on the soldier racing forward and fired once.
The shot had been set up quickly, and he had missed his mark, but he got the desired result, the streaking soldier was forced to shift his position and move in a zigzag pattern, effectively eliminating the immediate threat that he had posed.
Switching to his next target, Parker saw the small girl racing across the field and also the soldier chasing after him. Putting his eye to the scope, Parker lined up his sights on the soldier and fired. The shot had been good, and it hit the soldier in the chest, though it looked to have missed his heart. Deciding against firing another round at the soldier, Parker looked to see where the soldier he had fired at before had gone. He was startled to realize that the soldier was gone, and he couldn't hear him either.
Parker collected his equipment and climbed down from his perch and started racing into the foliage as the other Japanese soldiers opened fire. The shots were not being focused in any area, but it was intense enough for Parker to pick up his pace. As he ran past a tree he heard a very audible click. Almost like someone had just readied their gun. Deciding that he shouldn't take the risk, Parker dove forward in a role and spun around, his XM25 held in the crook of his arm as he turned to face the sound.
He nearly dropped his gun when he realized that he was now no more than six feet away from Ranma, who was holding his rifle up to his cheek, his eyes were an icy fury.
"Ranma?" Parker said just as Ranma fired, point blank.
===============
Author's Notes: I would like to apologize for the long wait that it took to release this chapter. For those that have read my notes in the previous chapters, it should be obvious why. I am very happy to report that my husband has come through his second war alive and well, earning his fourth purple heart, as well as a few other decorations that were not specified to me by Colonel Hanze. I am proud of him, as well as I am proud of all our soldiers. And I would like to take this moment to express my thanks for what they did, and for what they are continuing to do even as you read this.
For those that are wondering just what the political scene is right now in "Until the End" you're going to find out next chapter, as well as a quick look at how those back in Tokyo are doing. Lieutenant Gogol will be making a return as well, for any that have been wondering about the Russian.
Thank you to everyone that has been reading this, and a special thanks to all those that take the time to review.
Second Lieutenant Ranma Saotome watched silently as the 77th Light Armored Division rolled down the path ahead of him. As the last halftrack disappeared from around the bend, Ranma got to his feet and walked down the slight hill he had been resting on and joined his platoon. Approaching his NCO, Ranma retrieved the platoon map from the radioman and unfolded it.
"We have about four days of walking before we reach Alden," Ranma said as he measured the distance from their present position to the Russian city. "The guys from armored say that they'll set up a perimeter around the city so as to make sure that no Russian troops can escape and we'll be safe from a counterattack."
"You sure about that Lieutenant, wasn't it last week that the 67th got ambushed just outside of the border by that American Special Forces group?" Sergeant Yoshida asked.
Ranma turned a heated glare at his sergeant. "It was not confirmed that an American division did that sergeant, and I would like to remind you that we are not here to make presumptions."
"Yes sir," Sergeant Yoshida said. "And I would like to remind you that we may be soldiers but we are not morons."
The entire platoon seemed to hold their breaths as Lieutenant Saotome turned his head and stared at Sergeant Yoshida in shock. For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened.
Finally, Ranma's face cracked into a grin and he slapped Sergeant Yoshida on the back. "Heh well said buddy." Ranma turned to look at the rest of the platoon as he heard almost every man release their breath.
"So," Sergeant Yoshida began, "I want your honest opinion now, do you really believe that there aren't American Special Forces in Russia?"
Ranma sighed. "I can't really say sergeant, but on a personal level I'm going to have to go on the thought that I hope, for our sakes, that they are not here in Russia."
Yoshida nodded, obviously contented with his lieutenant's response. He turned to the other men of the platoon. "Alright boys, lets move it, we've got about seven hours before we have to link of with 3rd Squad and they've got a head start, so let's bust some ass!"
Ranma found himself smiling at his sergeant's actions. Despite the harried conditions, he had discovered that he had been growing more and more accustomed to having the man by his side. Even though Sergeant Yoshida was almost a decade older than Ranma, and had actually been enlisted in the Japanese armed forces before the start of the war, there had developed a deep kinship between the two men. Each had looked and found a great many of attributes in each man that they admired.
Ranma, who had never really been able to cast the title of friend around very easily, had come to think of Yoshida as just that, a friend. But after thinking of that, Ranma thought about all the other men that he had been able to call his friends. While some would have anything but to be called his friend, there were those who had wanted to be more, and there was of course the man that Ranma still considered to be his best friend, even if he might be dead.
Shaking his head, Lieutenant Saotome picked up his pace as he and his platoon marched deeper and deeper into Siberia, towards a goal that none of them could see, and an outcome that none of them would ever have fathomed.
===============
"Do you think the general would be mad if I popped one of these nips?" a Green Beret sergeant asked of the soldiers beside him as he gazed through the scope of his rifle, letting it follow the platoon leader of the Japanese platoon they had been following for half a day.
"What he thinks does not matter sergeant," a voice from behind the two men said.
The two Green Berets turned and saw General Parker, carrying his XM25 semi-automatic sniper rifle in the crook of his arm. Both of the soldiers were surprised to see the sniper rifle being carried by the general.
The XM25 had originally been built as a result of the requirement for a match grade M14 for Special Forces sniper teams. It had, after extensive testing, been distributed to both U.S. Special Forces teams and the elite Navy Seals. The XM25 was operated by rotating bolt, gas operated, with semi- automatic magazines fed into the rifle. It weighed 4.9 kg, and was 112 cm long. Being quite a large weapon, it was only used by sniper teams, which explained the surprised expressions that the two Green Beret's sported when they saw their commander walking up to their position carrying the rifle.
"And watch those racist comments of yours," General Parker chided as he knelt down. "We can't all be white albinos straight from Mississippi."
"Right sir," the Green Beret sergeant replied. "Sorry sir. As I was inquiring before, do you think it might be possible if we could maybe take out this platoon, before they are too close to the armored battalion that went ahead of them?"
General Parker thought about the sergeant's question. There had already been a plan put in motion to eliminate as many of the single infantry platoons traveling without support. Parker had already informed the other leaders that he was going to set up an ambush for the Chinese heavy tank battalion and the infantry divisions it traveled with. Maybe it would be a good idea to take out a platoon that may prove troubling later on.
"Let me get a good look at them first," General Parker said as he set the XM25 on the ground and stretched his body out; making sure that he was in perfect position. After ensuring that the rifle was properly positioned, General Parker gazed into the scope, quickly adjusting the sights to be on target. He slowly moved the scope across the Japanese infantrymen, checking for any type of irregularities. After checking out the enlisted men, Parker moved the rifle to point at the platoon leader and the NCO.
There was something familiar about how the platoon leader walked. Somewhere in the back of Parker's mind it was telling him that this was very important, but he couldn't place it. Shrugging once, Parker reached down and grabbed a 20 round magazine and fed it into the stock of the XM25. The rifle had a range well over a thousand yards, and Parker had no trouble aligning his sights on the platoon leader. Just as he chambered a round, something caught Parker's eye.
As the lieutenant hopped over a fallen tree, his helmet shifted, and the pigtail that had been conveniently tucked inside came out, flopping down in a manner that served to almost physically strike Parker.
Feeling his entire body begin to tremble, Parker removed his face from the rifle scope and tried to catch his breath.
Goddamnit, what the hell is Ranma doing here? Parker asked himself. He became aware that the sergeant was talking to him.
"-eral, can we take out the platoon or not?"
Parker looked over at the sergeant with a shocked look on his face, but he quickly disguised it.
"No, sergeant, I want you and to take him," Parker said, indicating the other Green Beret, "and head back to our relay point. Tell the colonel that I should be there in time to catch the helicopters when they come later tonight."
General Parker's voice held no room for argument and the sergeant nodded, getting to his feet and leading the other soldier away. Once they were out of sight, Parker picked up his rifle and climbed down from the perch they had been positioned on and moved down to the trail the Japanese soldiers had been walking on and began following them. Parker tried to keep his mind off what he would do if he managed to work it so that he was able to corner Ranma and the others.
Through skill born from countless training and actual experience, Phil was able to track Ranma and his platoon all the way back to the 3rd regimental headquarters. Positioning himself so he wouldn't be spotted, Parker observed the camp through the scope of his rifle. He ensured that his finger was safely resting in the trigger guard and began to observe the soldiers.
Ranma had reported into a halftrack that Parker was assuming belonged to the captain of Ranma's platoon. Believing that the meeting would take awhile, Parker roamed through the camp with the help of his scope. Another platoon was preparing to head out on a recon sweep, and Parker toyed with the idea of setting up an ambush. Discarding the idea, as it would be far too risky without any position that he could fall back on, Parker resumed his sweep of the camp.
Spotting some tents, Parker zeroed in on the area as two soldiers emerged. He was about to continue on when he noticed someone else emerging from the tent, someone significantly smaller than the soldiers.
"Good god," Parker breathed as he watched the small girl run across the field and into the halftrack that Ranma had entered. He took his eye from the scope and shook his head. Could he have been seeing things, no, that child was as real as the other men in the camp. But why on earth would a child be with this regiment, was it some kind of disgusting attempt by the Japanese to make the Russian soldiers back down? Parker was so absorbed in his musings that he failed to notice Ranma emerge, carrying the small child, until he was almost halfway across the camp.
Parker observed Ranma as he walked down through the field. He observed Ranma a little too closely, as he didn't notice as a Japanese soldier made his way toward Parker, obviously intending on relieving himself in the bushes. Parker was startled when the soldier blocked his view and he shifted, causes the branches he was hiding in to shift, which did not go unnoticed by the soldier.
"Someone's in the bushes!" the soldier yelled, alerting the camp.
"Shit," Parker cursed as he worked the bolt on the XM25 and fired one round from the twenty round magazine at the soldier.
===============
To say Ranma was startled when the sharp report of the rifle echoed through the camp would have been an understatement. Ranma, who had figured out that he could detect the aura of those around him, had come to depend on that sense to alert him when enemy soldiers were near, so when the private from 3rd platoon shouted out the warning before being struck in the bridge of his nose by the bullet fired by the sniper in the bushes Ranma was taken by surprise and nearly dropped Natalie.
Setting Natalie on the ground Ranma charged off towards the bushes from where the shot came from. He ordered two soldiers to take Natalie and put her in the tent. He swung his rifle from his shoulder and chambered a round and switched to single shot. He was going to show this sniper what it meant to take a life with only one shot.
===============
Sergeant Yoshida had been one of the soldiers Ranma had ordered to take Natalie into the tent, and he had begun to respond to the order when he noticed Natalie was not where Ranma had set her down. Quickly scanning the field, Sergeant Yoshida noticed the small girl running after Lieutenant Saotome.
Jumping to his feet, Yoshida ran after the small girl. The other soldiers of the regiment stared in shock as Ranma raced ahead of them, being followed by the small girl who in turn was being chased by Sergeant Yoshida.
===============
Parker was trying to observe the field of battle when he noticed someone racing towards him. Actually he noticed three people racing towards him, but only one of them seemed intent on actually reaching his position. He trained the scope on the soldier racing forward and fired once.
The shot had been set up quickly, and he had missed his mark, but he got the desired result, the streaking soldier was forced to shift his position and move in a zigzag pattern, effectively eliminating the immediate threat that he had posed.
Switching to his next target, Parker saw the small girl racing across the field and also the soldier chasing after him. Putting his eye to the scope, Parker lined up his sights on the soldier and fired. The shot had been good, and it hit the soldier in the chest, though it looked to have missed his heart. Deciding against firing another round at the soldier, Parker looked to see where the soldier he had fired at before had gone. He was startled to realize that the soldier was gone, and he couldn't hear him either.
Parker collected his equipment and climbed down from his perch and started racing into the foliage as the other Japanese soldiers opened fire. The shots were not being focused in any area, but it was intense enough for Parker to pick up his pace. As he ran past a tree he heard a very audible click. Almost like someone had just readied their gun. Deciding that he shouldn't take the risk, Parker dove forward in a role and spun around, his XM25 held in the crook of his arm as he turned to face the sound.
He nearly dropped his gun when he realized that he was now no more than six feet away from Ranma, who was holding his rifle up to his cheek, his eyes were an icy fury.
"Ranma?" Parker said just as Ranma fired, point blank.
===============
Author's Notes: I would like to apologize for the long wait that it took to release this chapter. For those that have read my notes in the previous chapters, it should be obvious why. I am very happy to report that my husband has come through his second war alive and well, earning his fourth purple heart, as well as a few other decorations that were not specified to me by Colonel Hanze. I am proud of him, as well as I am proud of all our soldiers. And I would like to take this moment to express my thanks for what they did, and for what they are continuing to do even as you read this.
For those that are wondering just what the political scene is right now in "Until the End" you're going to find out next chapter, as well as a quick look at how those back in Tokyo are doing. Lieutenant Gogol will be making a return as well, for any that have been wondering about the Russian.
Thank you to everyone that has been reading this, and a special thanks to all those that take the time to review.