Until the End
Chapter 22
From Friends to Enemies
Ranma slowly raised himself up from his cot and made his way out of his tent. The Chinese forces had moved another thirty miles south, as the Russian forces were pushing mercilessly against the unprepared Chinese. Ranma was denied any activity, the medic observing him stating that he would be a burden on any platoon he was with. While he was entitled to agree with the medic, it didn't change the fact that he was going stir crazy, between the doc's constant fussing over him and Yoshida's overzealous care-taking, Ranma hadn't been outside of his tent for more than a half hour for a whole week.
This was unacceptable, especially to Ranma, who had a great difficulty in sitting still under any circumstances, and he was at the moment trying to remedy that problem. Yoshida was watching the platoon as they had reconnaissance this morning, and the medic had just been in about an hour ago and he shouldn't be back for another hour or so.
The cold air attacked his lungs when he first got outside, and he had to take some support against a tree to insure he didn't fall down. Taking a few shaky breaths Ranma pushed off of the tree and began his slow walk. He had gone about thirty yards when a very familiar voice called out to him.
"And where do you think your going lieutenant!?"
Ranma turned in his tracks and spotted the medic standing near his tent with his hands on his hips, an amused and annoyed expression on his face.
"Just going for a walk!" Ranma called back and turned back around. He had gone one more step when he heard the medic come running after him.
"Don't even think about it!" the medic shouted. He caught up to Ranma and slowly turned him around. "God, what the hell are you thinking sir, if you cause much movement to your skull you could get sick again."
"Aw come on doc!" Ranma whined. "I can't stand being in that tent anymore, it's like being imprisoned. I'm a hero, don't I deserve better treatment?"
The medic knew Ranma was kidding about the hero business, but he'd be damned if the lieutenant was joking about it being like he was imprisoned.
"I think by now sir, you should have already figured out that moving around will cause more problems than they may solve."
"Even though that may be true, it doesn't mean I don't want to get the hell out of there and get some fresh air once and awhile," Ranma griped. As they approached his tent he noticed a large number of Chinese soldiers approaching. "What the hell is this?" Ranma whispered to the medic.
"Huh?" the medic raised his head and looked at the Chinese soldiers. Ranma may not have noticed but he could see that two of them were carrying two sets of shackles.
"Lieutenant Saotome?" a Chinese Captain called out.
"That's me," Ranma answered in broken Chinese. "You guys want my autograph or something?"
His attempt at humor fell on deaf ears and the two soldiers carrying shackles approached them.
"By direction of Premier Zhisheng of the People's Republic of China, all Japanese soldiers currently serving with Chinese troops will be immediately detained and transferred back to China to be held as prisoners- of-war," the captain announced.
"The fuck?" Ranma demanded as one of the soldiers clamped his wrist in a cuff. Before it could be locked Ranma twisted out of the shackle and wrapped the chain around the soldier's neck and pulled tight, shifting his body movement so the soldier was between him and the rest of the troops. "Is you assholes think I'm gonna let you take me without a fight then your in for a surprise."
The Chinese captain was unfazed. "If you wish to fight then so be it, though we will be forced to eliminate all other Japanese soldiers if you do so." To emphasize his point, two soldiers hoisted their rifles and pointed them at the medic.
After casting a hateful glare at the captain, Ranma dropped the length of chain and pushed the soldier away from him. "I won't resist."
"Good," the captain said smiling. He said something to a soldier in Chinese and the soldier walked up to Ranma and hit him across the forehead with the butt of his rifle. Normally, this wouldn't have done that much to Ranma, but with his recent concussion, he was rendered unconscious from the blow.
"Hey!" the medic protested. "He's got a concussion!"
The soldier that had butted Ranma did the same to the medic, though he aimed for his temple, and was satisfied to hear the cracking of bone beneath his blow.
"Load them up on the trucks with the other ones," the captain ordered and turned to go deliver the news to the base commander.
===============
Ranma snapped awake and was rewarded with a blindingly sharp pain in his skull. He gasped in pain and slowly lay back down, careful not to shift his head in the least bit. He cursed as the pain became a dull numbing sensation and tried to look around.
"You awake?" a voice near Ranma asked. Ranma twisted his head slightly to see who it was.
"Kenji," Ranma whispered. "What the hell's going on?"
Yoshida sighed. "Once word got around that the Japanese forces surrendered to the Russians and Americans, the Premier of China sent down an order to have all remaining Japanese soldiers placed under arrest and to be sent to prisoner-of-war camps. China is now at war with Japan and we're prisoners-of-war."
"Sonofabitch," Ranma exclaimed as he tried to sit up. For the first time he noticed they were in a large transport truck. He gazed out the flaps near the back and saw they were moving down a deserted highway. "Where are we going?"
"To some prison camp in China," Yoshida said. "It looks like that's where we'll be waiting out the rest of the war."
Ranma found the situation a little hard to believe, but one glance at the two Chinese soldiers at the front with submachine guns made it a little bit more believable.
===============
"How are you feeling?" Akane asked as she walked into Akari's room.
"Pretty good," Akari replied as she shifted on her bed. Akane sat down next to her and removed the bandages over her ribs and lightly probed the area. As she finished Ishii walked in. Both women looked up at him as he entered and Ishii took one look at Akari in her state of undress and quickly backed up out of the room.
"Sorry!" Ishii called out.
"You're as bad as Ranma!" Akane called out at him. She finished up and wrapped Akari's ribs back up. Handing Akari a blouse to throw on, Akane left the room and gave Ishii a light punch on the arm.
"Don't you know how to knock?" Akane asked, though not without some humor. "Her ribs are pretty much healed right now, though I don't think I'm really one to give an expert opinion on the matter, I still think we should have taken her to see Dr. Tofu."
Ishii sighed. "Yes, and then explained to him that while Akari's injuries are severe, they were simply an accident, like she walked out in front of a truck or something."
"Don't be a smart-ass," Akane said and jabbed him in the ribs. As they walked down the hallway Akane changed the subject. "Have you gotten any closer to learning who the informant was?"
"No," Ishii said frustrated. "I have Kimura looking into the political side of things; so far he's gotten nothing but cold shoulders from those in intelligence. I've put the rest of our team on indefinite hold and I've got Inspector Fujita and the other policemen covering them. If they see anything suspicious they'll let me know."
Akane nodded her head. "And until then what are we going to do?"
Ishii shrugged. "Wait around I guess. There's not much else we can do Akane," Ishii said when Akane shot him a deadpan look.
Akane flopped down on the couch in the living room and switched the television on. "Then if its okay with you I want to take Akari over to Nodoka's place so we can see the kids."
"Go right ahead," Ishii said. "I don't know if I'll have the time but if I can I'll come by as well."
Akane grunted and flipped the channel to CNN. The encrypted satellite signals she received through her transmitter were strong enough to get through the blocking technology that the Japanese government had put in place to block all American and foreign channels. The top of the hour was just coming on and they were doing a recap of the day's stories.
*As news of the Japanese soldiers surrender has hit home, many Americans are looking for the President to try and reach a diplomatic solution with the Japanese government.I'm sorry, we now break live to the White House press room where we have just been informed that the President will be making a live statement.*
The image on the television switched to one with American President George Winnfield standing behind a podium. He was grim-faced and looked like he was lacking sleep. He cleared his throat and took a sip of water from a glass that was standing beside him.
*My fellow Americans, in the past two hours the State department has received very troubling news. As I am sure most of you have received word on the Coalition victory in the Alden area of Siberia, and the surrender and capture of Japanese troops, I would like to take the time to congratulate our American soldiers and Russian troops for their strength and determination to hold the enemy back. Unfortunately, the People's Republic of China has continued to fight and shows no sign of backing down until a complete victory is obtained.*
*This troubles me because many lives have already been lost in this war, and I don't wish to see any more American, Russian, or Chinese blood spilled. But it seems the war will continue, and China is now ready to go ahead without Japan's assistance. My Secretary of State has received word from the CIA director that a statement from the Chinese Premier has ordered the immediate arrest of all remaining Japanese troops and the immediate transportation of them to prisoner-of-war camps in China. China is now officially at war with Japan.*
As the President continued to speak, Akane let the remote fall from her hands and clatter to the ground. Her face was now ashen white.
"N-no, why?" Akane said as she slowly set her face down into her hands.
"Akane?" Ishii asked uneasily. "What's the problem, you heard that most of the Japanese forces surrendered to the Russians so Ranma's probably not even going to fight anymore."
"You don't understand, Ranma wouldn't surrender," Akane explained. "Even if he doesn't believe what he's fighting for he'll still fight, and now he's being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Just like what happened to Ryoga."
As tears spilled from her eyes Ishii gathered her up in her arms like a child. He gently rocked her back and forth. So that's what's wrong with her, she's seen what has happened to Akari over these past years and she couldn't stand to let that happen to her.
"Ranma isn't so weak he would die here Akane, and you never know, maybe he'll be able to escape," Ishii stated, his voice soft and soothing. "If there's anyone that I think could do that it would be Ranma."
He received no answer from Akane other than a loud sob.
===============
"How's the leg Gregory?" Parker asked as he trudged through the snow, attempting to reach the hillside where the Coalition forces were setting up their ambush on the Chinese forces.
"Fine sir," Gogol replied. "I just wish the doc hadn't shot me full of morphine, I don't think I'll be able to shoot straight like this."
"As long as you can hit a few of them I'm sure you'll be alright," Parker smiled, though in his mind he was wondering why he himself had agreed to go on the mission. His shoulder was still suppurating and he doubted that he could take the kickback from his rifle when he fired.
As they reached the hillside Parker grabbed a pair of binoculars from his web belt. As he peered through them he spotted a truck convoy moving down the road at high speeds. He handed them off to Gogol and asked what he thought.
"Let the first two trucks pass and then hit the third truck," Gogol said immediately. "Hit the driver in the head and the truck should crash. The others behind it will either stop or try to go faster. If they speed up the demolitions team will detonate their claymore mines on our signal. If they stop, it's only a matter of playing sniper and not letting them into the ditches alongside the road. If we keep it simple and quick this should go off without a problem."
Parker nodded his agreement. "But what about the first two trucks? Should we let them pass without harassment or try and take them out afterwards?"
Gogol seemed to consider it for a moment. "Best to let them go. If we try and get them at the start it gives the trucks in the rear a chance to get mobilized and then we'll have a firefight on our hands. Once they see what happened to the other trucks the first two should.how do you Americans put it? Get the hell out of Dodge City?"
Parker looked at Gogol for a moment before erupting into laughter. "Alright, far be it from me to disregard the advice of a second lieutenant. Radio the demolitions squad and the infantry down the hill to let the first two pass before commencing our attack."
===============
Yoshida helped Ranma sit up against the heavy tarmac that covered the back of the truck.
"Ugh, these uneven roads are gonna kill me," Ranma said as he struggled to keep his head from swooning.
"I don't think there's much that we can do about it," Yoshida said as he motioned slightly to the Chinese soldiers. "Those guys don't look like they're going to entertain any suggestions that we might have."
Ranma blinked before chuckling softly. "Good point man, maybe we should make a suggestion box for them."
Yoshida smiled lightly, though he was still scared at the concept of becoming a prisoner-of-war. He was glad Ranma was still injured enough that he didn't think of what happened to the medic that had been assisting him the past two weeks. When Yoshida and his platoon had come back from their reconnaissance sweep, they were greeted with the sight of two Chinese soldiers rhythmically beating the young medic to death with their rifles. Before Yoshida had had the chance to order his platoon to open fire on the insane soldiers, they had been surrounded.
"I'll take it up with consumer affairs buddy," Yoshida said softly as he tried to make himself comfortable beside Ranma.
===============
"You got the sight picture yet?" Parker asked as Gogol lines up his sights on the driver of the third truck.
"I should be able to get him," Gogol responded with confidence. "But in case I miss you should be ready to fire a second shot."
"Already one step ahead of you," Parker said as he gazed through his scope. "Alright, in ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five."
===============
The sharp crack of a rifle brought all the occupants of the second truck's attention out the back and to the third truck about twenty yards behind them. As Ranma and Yoshida looked, the driver's skull had somehow caved in on itself and it was now a bloody mess, with brain matter plastered against the back of the seat. The truck continued in a straight line for a moment before suddenly veering to the right and tipping over. Two Chinese soldiers in the back fell out, and in less than a moment they were both shot and down on the ground. The trucks behind the fallen truck came to a screeching halt.
"Well, I'll be damned," Ranma said softly. "Looks like the cavalry has arrived."
===============
The soldiers in the back of the second truck quickly ordered the driver to speed up, as they didn't want to be caught out in the open. The first truck accelerated as well, though it did so in fear of being rammed by the second truck.
The fourth truck, the driver seeing the bloody mess that was the soldiers from the third truck, tried to accelerate and pass the third truck but just as it passed it, the Russian demolition team detonated their explosives, sending shrapnel ripping through the truck. The fuel line was severed and the heat induced the gasoline to ignite, creating a massive fireball to erupt through the truck, burning all those that had survived the shrapnel and killing all in the truck.
In the same manner as the third truck, both trucks five and six had their drivers shot and any emerging soldiers shot as they tried to jump out. The infantry team finally got their gear together and created a perimeter around the remaining five trucks and announced that all occupants should throw out their weapons and emerge with their hands behind their heads. Having no desire to end up like the other soldiers, the remaining people emerged from the trucks, their weapons thrown to the ground and their hands held high in the air.
Parker and Gogol came down the hill as quickly as they could.
"What have we got here Captain?" Parker asked the demolition squad's leader.
"Looks like a truck convoy in the process of moving some prisoner's sir," the Captain replied, indicating the soldiers that were being held in shackles.
The blood drained from Parker's face. "Were there any Americans?"
"No," the Captain replied. "It looks like these were Japanese prisoner's sir. One of my men found this on a Chinese guard." He handed Parker a slip of paper.
"By order of the Premier, all Japanese soldiers remaining with Chinese forces are to be immediately detained and ready for transfer back to China to be held in prison camps," Parker read aloud. "Geez, did someone forget to tell him that they're on the same sides of the war?"
"You didn't hear?" the Captain asked. Parker shook his head no. "China has declared war on Japan."
"Really?" Parker said amused. "Guess they didn't have enough enemies so they decided to make some more."
"What do you think we should do with the soldier's sir?" Gogol asked.
"We'll take them back to the base for now. I'm going to need to get a line through to the Chief of Staff about this. For now let's just take them back."
As Parker and Gogol turned to leave, Phil seemed to remember something and turned back. "So what happened to the other two trucks?"
The Captain shrugged. "As far as I can tell they got away fine, guess those prisoner's aren't as lucky as these ones I suppose."
"Yeah," Parker responded. "Poor bastards."
===============
Author's Notes: First and foremost I must apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I certainly didn't intend on taking this long, but something came up and I was away from the base for about a week. I hope you'll all forgive me.
For those that guessed it before, congratulations. To those that haven't yet, I'll give you a clue. I wonder what prison camp Ranma's going to be sent to? Hmmm, quite a mystery.
Chapter 22
From Friends to Enemies
Ranma slowly raised himself up from his cot and made his way out of his tent. The Chinese forces had moved another thirty miles south, as the Russian forces were pushing mercilessly against the unprepared Chinese. Ranma was denied any activity, the medic observing him stating that he would be a burden on any platoon he was with. While he was entitled to agree with the medic, it didn't change the fact that he was going stir crazy, between the doc's constant fussing over him and Yoshida's overzealous care-taking, Ranma hadn't been outside of his tent for more than a half hour for a whole week.
This was unacceptable, especially to Ranma, who had a great difficulty in sitting still under any circumstances, and he was at the moment trying to remedy that problem. Yoshida was watching the platoon as they had reconnaissance this morning, and the medic had just been in about an hour ago and he shouldn't be back for another hour or so.
The cold air attacked his lungs when he first got outside, and he had to take some support against a tree to insure he didn't fall down. Taking a few shaky breaths Ranma pushed off of the tree and began his slow walk. He had gone about thirty yards when a very familiar voice called out to him.
"And where do you think your going lieutenant!?"
Ranma turned in his tracks and spotted the medic standing near his tent with his hands on his hips, an amused and annoyed expression on his face.
"Just going for a walk!" Ranma called back and turned back around. He had gone one more step when he heard the medic come running after him.
"Don't even think about it!" the medic shouted. He caught up to Ranma and slowly turned him around. "God, what the hell are you thinking sir, if you cause much movement to your skull you could get sick again."
"Aw come on doc!" Ranma whined. "I can't stand being in that tent anymore, it's like being imprisoned. I'm a hero, don't I deserve better treatment?"
The medic knew Ranma was kidding about the hero business, but he'd be damned if the lieutenant was joking about it being like he was imprisoned.
"I think by now sir, you should have already figured out that moving around will cause more problems than they may solve."
"Even though that may be true, it doesn't mean I don't want to get the hell out of there and get some fresh air once and awhile," Ranma griped. As they approached his tent he noticed a large number of Chinese soldiers approaching. "What the hell is this?" Ranma whispered to the medic.
"Huh?" the medic raised his head and looked at the Chinese soldiers. Ranma may not have noticed but he could see that two of them were carrying two sets of shackles.
"Lieutenant Saotome?" a Chinese Captain called out.
"That's me," Ranma answered in broken Chinese. "You guys want my autograph or something?"
His attempt at humor fell on deaf ears and the two soldiers carrying shackles approached them.
"By direction of Premier Zhisheng of the People's Republic of China, all Japanese soldiers currently serving with Chinese troops will be immediately detained and transferred back to China to be held as prisoners- of-war," the captain announced.
"The fuck?" Ranma demanded as one of the soldiers clamped his wrist in a cuff. Before it could be locked Ranma twisted out of the shackle and wrapped the chain around the soldier's neck and pulled tight, shifting his body movement so the soldier was between him and the rest of the troops. "Is you assholes think I'm gonna let you take me without a fight then your in for a surprise."
The Chinese captain was unfazed. "If you wish to fight then so be it, though we will be forced to eliminate all other Japanese soldiers if you do so." To emphasize his point, two soldiers hoisted their rifles and pointed them at the medic.
After casting a hateful glare at the captain, Ranma dropped the length of chain and pushed the soldier away from him. "I won't resist."
"Good," the captain said smiling. He said something to a soldier in Chinese and the soldier walked up to Ranma and hit him across the forehead with the butt of his rifle. Normally, this wouldn't have done that much to Ranma, but with his recent concussion, he was rendered unconscious from the blow.
"Hey!" the medic protested. "He's got a concussion!"
The soldier that had butted Ranma did the same to the medic, though he aimed for his temple, and was satisfied to hear the cracking of bone beneath his blow.
"Load them up on the trucks with the other ones," the captain ordered and turned to go deliver the news to the base commander.
===============
Ranma snapped awake and was rewarded with a blindingly sharp pain in his skull. He gasped in pain and slowly lay back down, careful not to shift his head in the least bit. He cursed as the pain became a dull numbing sensation and tried to look around.
"You awake?" a voice near Ranma asked. Ranma twisted his head slightly to see who it was.
"Kenji," Ranma whispered. "What the hell's going on?"
Yoshida sighed. "Once word got around that the Japanese forces surrendered to the Russians and Americans, the Premier of China sent down an order to have all remaining Japanese soldiers placed under arrest and to be sent to prisoner-of-war camps. China is now at war with Japan and we're prisoners-of-war."
"Sonofabitch," Ranma exclaimed as he tried to sit up. For the first time he noticed they were in a large transport truck. He gazed out the flaps near the back and saw they were moving down a deserted highway. "Where are we going?"
"To some prison camp in China," Yoshida said. "It looks like that's where we'll be waiting out the rest of the war."
Ranma found the situation a little hard to believe, but one glance at the two Chinese soldiers at the front with submachine guns made it a little bit more believable.
===============
"How are you feeling?" Akane asked as she walked into Akari's room.
"Pretty good," Akari replied as she shifted on her bed. Akane sat down next to her and removed the bandages over her ribs and lightly probed the area. As she finished Ishii walked in. Both women looked up at him as he entered and Ishii took one look at Akari in her state of undress and quickly backed up out of the room.
"Sorry!" Ishii called out.
"You're as bad as Ranma!" Akane called out at him. She finished up and wrapped Akari's ribs back up. Handing Akari a blouse to throw on, Akane left the room and gave Ishii a light punch on the arm.
"Don't you know how to knock?" Akane asked, though not without some humor. "Her ribs are pretty much healed right now, though I don't think I'm really one to give an expert opinion on the matter, I still think we should have taken her to see Dr. Tofu."
Ishii sighed. "Yes, and then explained to him that while Akari's injuries are severe, they were simply an accident, like she walked out in front of a truck or something."
"Don't be a smart-ass," Akane said and jabbed him in the ribs. As they walked down the hallway Akane changed the subject. "Have you gotten any closer to learning who the informant was?"
"No," Ishii said frustrated. "I have Kimura looking into the political side of things; so far he's gotten nothing but cold shoulders from those in intelligence. I've put the rest of our team on indefinite hold and I've got Inspector Fujita and the other policemen covering them. If they see anything suspicious they'll let me know."
Akane nodded her head. "And until then what are we going to do?"
Ishii shrugged. "Wait around I guess. There's not much else we can do Akane," Ishii said when Akane shot him a deadpan look.
Akane flopped down on the couch in the living room and switched the television on. "Then if its okay with you I want to take Akari over to Nodoka's place so we can see the kids."
"Go right ahead," Ishii said. "I don't know if I'll have the time but if I can I'll come by as well."
Akane grunted and flipped the channel to CNN. The encrypted satellite signals she received through her transmitter were strong enough to get through the blocking technology that the Japanese government had put in place to block all American and foreign channels. The top of the hour was just coming on and they were doing a recap of the day's stories.
*As news of the Japanese soldiers surrender has hit home, many Americans are looking for the President to try and reach a diplomatic solution with the Japanese government.I'm sorry, we now break live to the White House press room where we have just been informed that the President will be making a live statement.*
The image on the television switched to one with American President George Winnfield standing behind a podium. He was grim-faced and looked like he was lacking sleep. He cleared his throat and took a sip of water from a glass that was standing beside him.
*My fellow Americans, in the past two hours the State department has received very troubling news. As I am sure most of you have received word on the Coalition victory in the Alden area of Siberia, and the surrender and capture of Japanese troops, I would like to take the time to congratulate our American soldiers and Russian troops for their strength and determination to hold the enemy back. Unfortunately, the People's Republic of China has continued to fight and shows no sign of backing down until a complete victory is obtained.*
*This troubles me because many lives have already been lost in this war, and I don't wish to see any more American, Russian, or Chinese blood spilled. But it seems the war will continue, and China is now ready to go ahead without Japan's assistance. My Secretary of State has received word from the CIA director that a statement from the Chinese Premier has ordered the immediate arrest of all remaining Japanese troops and the immediate transportation of them to prisoner-of-war camps in China. China is now officially at war with Japan.*
As the President continued to speak, Akane let the remote fall from her hands and clatter to the ground. Her face was now ashen white.
"N-no, why?" Akane said as she slowly set her face down into her hands.
"Akane?" Ishii asked uneasily. "What's the problem, you heard that most of the Japanese forces surrendered to the Russians so Ranma's probably not even going to fight anymore."
"You don't understand, Ranma wouldn't surrender," Akane explained. "Even if he doesn't believe what he's fighting for he'll still fight, and now he's being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Just like what happened to Ryoga."
As tears spilled from her eyes Ishii gathered her up in her arms like a child. He gently rocked her back and forth. So that's what's wrong with her, she's seen what has happened to Akari over these past years and she couldn't stand to let that happen to her.
"Ranma isn't so weak he would die here Akane, and you never know, maybe he'll be able to escape," Ishii stated, his voice soft and soothing. "If there's anyone that I think could do that it would be Ranma."
He received no answer from Akane other than a loud sob.
===============
"How's the leg Gregory?" Parker asked as he trudged through the snow, attempting to reach the hillside where the Coalition forces were setting up their ambush on the Chinese forces.
"Fine sir," Gogol replied. "I just wish the doc hadn't shot me full of morphine, I don't think I'll be able to shoot straight like this."
"As long as you can hit a few of them I'm sure you'll be alright," Parker smiled, though in his mind he was wondering why he himself had agreed to go on the mission. His shoulder was still suppurating and he doubted that he could take the kickback from his rifle when he fired.
As they reached the hillside Parker grabbed a pair of binoculars from his web belt. As he peered through them he spotted a truck convoy moving down the road at high speeds. He handed them off to Gogol and asked what he thought.
"Let the first two trucks pass and then hit the third truck," Gogol said immediately. "Hit the driver in the head and the truck should crash. The others behind it will either stop or try to go faster. If they speed up the demolitions team will detonate their claymore mines on our signal. If they stop, it's only a matter of playing sniper and not letting them into the ditches alongside the road. If we keep it simple and quick this should go off without a problem."
Parker nodded his agreement. "But what about the first two trucks? Should we let them pass without harassment or try and take them out afterwards?"
Gogol seemed to consider it for a moment. "Best to let them go. If we try and get them at the start it gives the trucks in the rear a chance to get mobilized and then we'll have a firefight on our hands. Once they see what happened to the other trucks the first two should.how do you Americans put it? Get the hell out of Dodge City?"
Parker looked at Gogol for a moment before erupting into laughter. "Alright, far be it from me to disregard the advice of a second lieutenant. Radio the demolitions squad and the infantry down the hill to let the first two pass before commencing our attack."
===============
Yoshida helped Ranma sit up against the heavy tarmac that covered the back of the truck.
"Ugh, these uneven roads are gonna kill me," Ranma said as he struggled to keep his head from swooning.
"I don't think there's much that we can do about it," Yoshida said as he motioned slightly to the Chinese soldiers. "Those guys don't look like they're going to entertain any suggestions that we might have."
Ranma blinked before chuckling softly. "Good point man, maybe we should make a suggestion box for them."
Yoshida smiled lightly, though he was still scared at the concept of becoming a prisoner-of-war. He was glad Ranma was still injured enough that he didn't think of what happened to the medic that had been assisting him the past two weeks. When Yoshida and his platoon had come back from their reconnaissance sweep, they were greeted with the sight of two Chinese soldiers rhythmically beating the young medic to death with their rifles. Before Yoshida had had the chance to order his platoon to open fire on the insane soldiers, they had been surrounded.
"I'll take it up with consumer affairs buddy," Yoshida said softly as he tried to make himself comfortable beside Ranma.
===============
"You got the sight picture yet?" Parker asked as Gogol lines up his sights on the driver of the third truck.
"I should be able to get him," Gogol responded with confidence. "But in case I miss you should be ready to fire a second shot."
"Already one step ahead of you," Parker said as he gazed through his scope. "Alright, in ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five."
===============
The sharp crack of a rifle brought all the occupants of the second truck's attention out the back and to the third truck about twenty yards behind them. As Ranma and Yoshida looked, the driver's skull had somehow caved in on itself and it was now a bloody mess, with brain matter plastered against the back of the seat. The truck continued in a straight line for a moment before suddenly veering to the right and tipping over. Two Chinese soldiers in the back fell out, and in less than a moment they were both shot and down on the ground. The trucks behind the fallen truck came to a screeching halt.
"Well, I'll be damned," Ranma said softly. "Looks like the cavalry has arrived."
===============
The soldiers in the back of the second truck quickly ordered the driver to speed up, as they didn't want to be caught out in the open. The first truck accelerated as well, though it did so in fear of being rammed by the second truck.
The fourth truck, the driver seeing the bloody mess that was the soldiers from the third truck, tried to accelerate and pass the third truck but just as it passed it, the Russian demolition team detonated their explosives, sending shrapnel ripping through the truck. The fuel line was severed and the heat induced the gasoline to ignite, creating a massive fireball to erupt through the truck, burning all those that had survived the shrapnel and killing all in the truck.
In the same manner as the third truck, both trucks five and six had their drivers shot and any emerging soldiers shot as they tried to jump out. The infantry team finally got their gear together and created a perimeter around the remaining five trucks and announced that all occupants should throw out their weapons and emerge with their hands behind their heads. Having no desire to end up like the other soldiers, the remaining people emerged from the trucks, their weapons thrown to the ground and their hands held high in the air.
Parker and Gogol came down the hill as quickly as they could.
"What have we got here Captain?" Parker asked the demolition squad's leader.
"Looks like a truck convoy in the process of moving some prisoner's sir," the Captain replied, indicating the soldiers that were being held in shackles.
The blood drained from Parker's face. "Were there any Americans?"
"No," the Captain replied. "It looks like these were Japanese prisoner's sir. One of my men found this on a Chinese guard." He handed Parker a slip of paper.
"By order of the Premier, all Japanese soldiers remaining with Chinese forces are to be immediately detained and ready for transfer back to China to be held in prison camps," Parker read aloud. "Geez, did someone forget to tell him that they're on the same sides of the war?"
"You didn't hear?" the Captain asked. Parker shook his head no. "China has declared war on Japan."
"Really?" Parker said amused. "Guess they didn't have enough enemies so they decided to make some more."
"What do you think we should do with the soldier's sir?" Gogol asked.
"We'll take them back to the base for now. I'm going to need to get a line through to the Chief of Staff about this. For now let's just take them back."
As Parker and Gogol turned to leave, Phil seemed to remember something and turned back. "So what happened to the other two trucks?"
The Captain shrugged. "As far as I can tell they got away fine, guess those prisoner's aren't as lucky as these ones I suppose."
"Yeah," Parker responded. "Poor bastards."
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Author's Notes: First and foremost I must apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I certainly didn't intend on taking this long, but something came up and I was away from the base for about a week. I hope you'll all forgive me.
For those that guessed it before, congratulations. To those that haven't yet, I'll give you a clue. I wonder what prison camp Ranma's going to be sent to? Hmmm, quite a mystery.