And The Struggle Continues.
Author Chick's Notes: Disclaimers are in chapter 1.
And The Struggle Continues.
The sun rose low over the mountains as Tripwire began the arduous task of breaking through the various traps set in the cave. One of Juan's men, Julio had joined him. Julio apparently was a whiz with electronics and was the main bunker breaker for the Coahuila group. It had taken the two, three hours to penetrate into the cave to the supplies. While Tripwire and Julio were breaking in, Duke had sent a small group of Joes with some of the Coahuila to search for any signs of Edgewood. They took up positions all around the cache and watched for any sign of Edgewood and his men attempting to raid the cache for themselves.
Imani had been paired off with Juan's daughter, Mariana on lookout. Mariana was about Imani's age and slightly taller then the young Arabian woman. Fortunately for Imani, Mariana also spoke very good English. They were talking to pass time while keeping watch. "I thought women in your country wear a full veil?" Mariana asked, waving her hand around her face as she did.
Imani smiled. Mariana talked with her hands as much as with her mouth. "No. Not all women. My father didn't insist on Mother or my sisters and I to wear them." Imani explained. "If I were home now I would look pretty much like this…without the guns and ammo though." Imani smirked, tugging on the shawl around her hair.
"Oh." Mariana murmured.
"There are some places though where I would have to wear a burka." Imani added.
"What's that?"
"The full length veil you've probably seen pictures of." Imani explained. "Where only your eyes show?"
"Oh! Okay." Mariana said.
"Did your father teach you how to fight?" She asked after a few moments.
Imani smiled wistfully. "No. My husband did. Like you, I grew up a farmer." Imani said. "My family was killed by COBRA while I was out tending to our crops one day. I'm one of only three survivors from my village."
"Oh Señora, I am so sorry." Mariana replied.
"There's no need." Imani offered with a smile. "Their murderer was served with justice and my family is at peace now."
Back in the cave, Tripwire looked up when he heard Julio swearing. "Hijos de punta!" The man cursed, waving his scorched hand frantically. "These wires are definitely hot amigo." Julio added blowing on his fingertips.
Tripwire smiled in the dark cave. "Hang on a second." He said as he cut some wires he was working on. "Try it now?"
Julio tried cutting the wire that had just burned him. This time it cut and the large lock on the door clicked. "I hope it didn't just lock itself, amigo." He muttered.
"It better not have." Tripwire said as he got up to try the door. Putting his full weight against it, it began to budge. Julio added his weight to the door and it slowly began to open. They got it open wide enough to pass through into the main part of the cave. Inside were neatly stacked crates of medicines and foodstuffs, all organized and in order. Tripwire inhaled deeply and Julio looked at him.
"What are you doing?" Julio asked puzzled.
"Smelling for honey." Tripwire explained before getting on the COM and letting the other's know that they were through.
"Damn. They stole that too?" Julio joked as he and Tripwire walked deeper into the cavern.
"Not quite." Tripwire said. "They were using beeswax to hide something else at another site we found."
Both men turned when they heard a loud grinding sound at the doorway. Steeler was using a forklift to open the door further. He caught Tripwire's exasperated look. "Wha? Damn thing won't budge otherwise?" Steeler said as he hopped down from the forklift.
Tripwire rolled his eyes and began investigating the stash. Chaz and Sci-Fi found him and joined him as he looked around. It didn't take long before Tripwire wished they'd go off somewhere else. They were playing 'dictator' again.
"Viva El Presidente!" Chaz saluted Sci-Fi as they walked around.
Sci-Fi played along and began doing his best dictator impressions. "Thank you thank you. I want the drugs sent to my dealers. The money sent to my bank accounts in Zurich. And the women sent to my private palace in the Bahamas."
"Yes El Presidente!" Chaz got out before laughing.
"Children?" Tripwire muttered. "You done yet?"
"No." Sci-Fi grinned. "Hey! I missed out on the last haul, Babe." He defended when Tripwire glared at him.
"Yeah. C'mon Tor, you know it's tradition." Chaz added.
"Screw Sutter's Mill!" Steeler bellowed suddenly from where he was. "I found the moolah!" He added. "And more then in Graham!"
Chaz was going to say something, but the look he got from Tripwire shut him up, almost. Chaz started laughing instead. A call came in over their radios suddenly from Low Light. "They're here! Coming in fast from the south!"
"Shit!" Tripwire! You guys stay in here and watch over the cache. You're the last line of defence if any of them should get through!" Steeler ordered before taking off for the Mauler he had hidden nearby.
Tripwire nodded as he took up his position at the doorway. Chaz slipped further into the entrance of the cave and hid himself from view. He could just see the main entrance from his position and he had his gun trained on it. Sci-Fi and Julio hid among the crates of supplies and trained their weapons on the doorway.
Outside, Steeler threw off the camouflaged tarp he had covering his Mauler and jumped up to the access portal. Once inside he fired up the tank and began rolling it forward into position. On the hill Imani and Mariana were located, the two women laid low until the first of Edgewood's men came into range. They waited until the bulk of them passed then began picking off the stragglers with their long-range rifles.
Edgewood saw the last of the trucks in his convoy swerve suddenly then crash. "They're here!" He yelled over his tactical net. "Those guerrilla dogs must have gotten information out of their captives. Divide up and hit them from all sides!" He ordered.
"They're splitting up!" Imani reported over the COM. "They're going to try and surround us." She added.
"Copy." Brekov replied from the other side of the cache. "Stay hidden as best you can little one. Pick off only the ones left alone." He ordered Imani and Mariana.
"Steeler! Park that thing in front of the cache!" Duke ordered. "I don't want anyone getting near that cave."
"Gotcha!" Steeler replied before moving to the front of the cave.
The Baroness could hear Juan shouting orders to the Coahuila in Spanish over the net. One of Juan's men was on a hilltop that had a full three hundred and sixty degree view of the area. The Baroness looked at Zap to see if he knew what they were saying when it became evident. The Coahuila began charging en mass towards the south and east of the cache.
"They're hitting the bulk of Edgewood's group hard and fast!" Zap explained.
"Brekov! Give them support fire!" Duke ordered. Brekov and the remaining October Guard charged right along with the Coahuila into battle. "Gung Ho! Go with Brekov! The rest of you maintain positions."
Gung Ho led his small band to follow the Guard and the Coahuila in their attack of the raiding party. Imani reported over the net from her position. "There are two dozen troops making their way west."
"Can you handle them alone for a few minutes?" Duke asked.
"They're armoured. We'll try and keep them though." Imani replied.
"Do what you can."
"Duke!" Cover Girl called out. "I can get there fast." She said.
"Do it." Duke ordered. Cover Girl took off for the hill Imani and Mariana were based to lend them the firepower of her Wolverine.
Cover Girl got to the hill and began firing at the troops Imani and Mariana had kept at bay. "Have fun in Hell boys!" She stated, as bodies flew in all directions. Imani glanced up at her friend and smirked. "Wha? I can't let you have all the fun." Cover Girl said.
"You took your time." Imani teased. Cover Girl poked her tongue out at Imani, while Mariana looked between the two and shrugged.
On the other side of the cache the Coahuila were having a field day. Gung Ho's group and the Guard were hard pressed to keep up with the guerrillas but they managed. Torpedo spotted something in the mêlée and reported it. "Some of dem are retreating!" He cried out, pointing to a plume of dust.
"Not for long Hawaii!" Short Fuse grinned. Taking out binoculars and a remote, Short Fuse watched the retreating group for a moment. "C'mon you bastards…just a little bit further." He muttered. "Gotcha ya stupid shits!" Short Fuse thumbed a switch on the remote and desert erupted in explosive fire.
"Que?" One of the Coahuila said when he saw the explosion.
"I got bored and laced the place with explosives last night." Short Fuse smirked at the man before returning to the fire fight.
Torpedo snorted and took aim at one of the vehicals heading towards him. His shot got the front tire and caused the vehicle to get caught on the rocky terrain.
Inside the lead vehicle, Edgewood ordered his men to retreat and regroup. "That woman and her dogs are with them!"
Duke watched from his vantage point and ordered that at least a few of the stragglers be left alive for interrogation. Once it was certain Edgewood and company had fled, Duke ordered everyone to stand down. Inside the cave, Tripwire crept towards the entrance in search of Chaz. Hacking on the diesel fumes, Tripwire found Chaz hunkered down where he'd taken up point. "Steeler, move that thing out of here and let us get some air!" Tripwire called out over the COM. Steeler did so and joined Tripwire with Chaz.
"High as a kite?" He asked when he got a good look at the South African youth.
"Hullo Mummy!" Chaz said in a sing song voice.
"How'd you guess?" Tripwire smirked and took the youth by the underarms to hoist him up.
Steeler chuckled and hoisted Chaz over his shoulder. "I've got him. Kid's gonna be real sick here in a second." He said as he carried Chaz out of the cave into the fresh air. Once outside, Chaz's head began clearing and he doubled over. Steeler caught the look on Duke's face and rolled his eyes before defending Chaz. "Kid got a lung-full of exhaust fumes. He'll be fine in a bit."
"Hmm." Duke muttered. "Looks like he wasn't the only one." He added, jerking his thumb to the cave entrance.
"Oh, gravity works." Sci-Fi muttered as he flopped down to have a breather. Tripwire ruffled his hair and took a seat on a nearby rock.
"How's Chaz?" Tripwire asked, shaking his head to clear it.
"I feel like fucking shite." Chaz muttered before doubling over again to empty the contents of his stomach.
"Word dude." Sci-Fi concurred and lay back in the sand. "Wake me when it's all over." He mumbled and began snoozing in the midday sun.
Lifeline had been called over to check on Chaz and after declaring that he'd be fine in a little while, he turned towards where Sci-Fi and tripwire were. Glancing at the couple, then Chaz and then skyward, Lifeline shook his head and asked Tripwire to help him get the two into their tent. "Let me guess? He'll regret his nap in the sun later?" Tripwire asked as he gently woke Sci-Fi.
"Oh yeah." Lifeline agreed.
"I've got the kid, you check on that other guy." Steeler said as he let Chaz lean heavily against him.
Lifeline went to check on Julio and figured that the man was alright for the most part. "I say give it a few hours to clear out before we begin exploring again." He advised Duke about the cave.
Around dusk, Chaz awoke to a splitting headache and groaned. "What the fuck is that racket?" He cursed, not knowing he wasn't alone.
"Mariachi." Sci-Fi muttered from nearby.
"Merry what?"
"Mariachi. Local music thingy." Sci-Fi explained. "Popular during festivals and stuff."
"Does it have to be so bloody loud?"
"That's the point." Sci-Fi grinned. With a groan he sat up just as Chaz flopped back down to cover his head. "I'll take it you wanna be left alone?" He asked. Sci-Fi got a middle finger for a response and rose out of his cot.
Tossing on shorts and a t-shirt, he went outside to see that Coahuila were having a repeat performance of the night before. He ambled around until he found Tripwire talking with Juan near one of the many campfires. "Hola." He greeted and took a seat next to Tripwire.
"How do you feel?" Tripwire asked as he leaned against Sci-Fi's shoulder.
"Fabulous!" He grinned. "Chaz is hating life though right now." He added.
Juan cocked an eyebrow at the two as they chatted away. "There's my little deaf as a post fuzzy." Sci-Fi cooed, spotting Diz's tail and picking him up.
"You did remember to bring enough squirrel chow right?" Tripwire asked, raising his eyes to look at Sci-Fi.
"Yup. Why?"
"He's eaten about half his weight in seeds in the last hour." Tripwire said.
"He been in the booze?"
"Nope."
"Cool. He'll regret that one for sure, Babe."
"Uh, excuse me?" Juan stuttered. "Que?" Pointing to the two.
"Squirrel." Sci-Fi said, holding up Diz.
"I know what that is." Juan said. "You two?" He added sounding slightly confused.
"Oh." Sci-Fi said. "Uh..." Taking a quick glance at his shoulder and Tripwire, he returned his gaze to Juan and began explaining.
"Ah, si!" Juan said, clapping his hands together. "Now all the loco things I have been hearing from you two makes sense!"
"Yeah, they shag each other senseless every once in a while." Chaz growled from behind the couple. "I'm starving." He added, taking out a cigarette and lighting it before joining them near the fire.
"Mariana!" Juan bellowed for his daughter. She looked over and saw Sci-Fi and Chaz and brought over two plates full of food. "Gracias Mija." Juan thanked her as she returned to where she had been talking with Imani.
"How's the head?" Tripwire asked as Chaz dug in.
"Fine." Came the terse response as he devoured his dinner.
Sci-Fi glanced over at him and grinned. "He'll be more sociable when he's fed." He explained to Juan, jerking a thumb at Chaz. Chaz growled at Sci-Fi and tried to kick at his foot.
TBC...