CH 18 Pequeno rosado la diablo ( The little pink devil)

Colonel Basurto stood on one of their remaining armored vehicles just off the airport runway at the south end of Managua. Gripping his binoculars tight, he cursed the machines coming at them. Flowing past were the refugees who could run, women and older children, and a few men. In the distance he could see air machines hovering over the last defensive positions outside the city he'd been able to put up, and systematically taking them out. Behind him was the smoking remains of their airport.

The control tower was collapsed and burning as were the rest of the buildings and the planes that had been caught on the ground. The Sky Net machines had come last night to destroy everything but the runways.

"Colonel!" a man shouted from the ground beside the armored personnel carrier in a pained voice. "Our troops on Highway 1 and around the bridge at the lake have been wiped out! Those devil machines are killing civilians who are trying to flee!"

"Damn!" Basturo spat. "Guide everyone to flee north, get anyone with a gun up here to this line, inform General Ortega we MUST evacuate the city!"

"Yes Sir!"

"Colonel!" A yell came from behind. He turned to see a man in a commandeered pickup truck.

"We have no more big guns! The northern forces have been severely beaten, and are retreating this way. Colonel Hernandez is dead, there has been no word from our Eastern forces, and those machine planes are dropping bombs on the city! It looks like poison gas."

Colonel Basurto looked back towards the city. White clouds were billowing up from ground level. A few more of the triangular shapes sped through the air overhead to drop more bombs. A couple surviving anti-aircraft batteries opened upon them. One machine trailed smoke, but kept on flying. General Connor had been right. These machines were exterminating his people! The few thousand soldiers he had left were not going to make a difference with only their small arms, and by blocking the way around the lake to the north and closing off the eastern highway 1 bridge, there was no escape.

"Colonel, there is no reply from command!" the radio operator said from beside their armored vehicle.

"Get the evacuation moving north, NOW!" Basturo barked.

"Yes Sir!"

Basturo jumped down and went over to the lieutenant beside his truck. "Listen closely. We have no reserves, and we will be over run here soon. Get every man you can find and head north. If we're going to save ANYONE, we have to keep these attackers away from the north end of the lake. Commandeer every vehicle you can find to help. We MUST get as many people away as possible. GO!"

"They're coming!" a frantic voice cried out.

"Go!" Basturo barked again, pushing the man back to his truck.

Basturo then turned to his troops and saw the machine planes coming at them and rising higher in the sky. The road and fields were dotted with small tank like and six legged insect like machines coming towards them. In his loudest voice, he yelled, "There is no place to run to, we must hold this line! Those machines will kill everyone if we don't stop them. Men, fight to your last breath! OPEN FIRE!"

The 20MM gun on the armored carrier opened up as did the machine guns along the line. Still half a kilometer away, the attacking air machines and ground machines responded in kind. Basturo dove to the ground as bullets pinged off the carrier. The carrier then exploded. Something his his leg hard enough to throw him farther away. Dirt from their entrenchments erupted throwing chunks of men and weapons into the air.

Basturo tried to get up. His leg would not hold him. Looking down he saw he was bleeding badly. Around him, the few men still able to, including a couple Americans, shot back at the oncoming enemy. "God, give us a miracle, I beg you!" he cried.

Above them, fireballs lit the sky. Basturo looked up to see missile coming in and exploding the Machine air craft. Like a fiery wave, the missile cleared the attackers from the sky. several missiles hit the ground, destroying the small tanks coming a them. From behind him, drone planes appeared to shoot more missiles into the attackers, then pull up and away to the west.

Hearing the roar of larger planes, he turned to see a heavy transport fly low over the runway, all but touching the ground. The back opened, a parachute came out the back and pulled a long skid out of the plane. The large transport tipped up and banked away. Behind it, another was coming in as the cargo skidded down the runway. More drones flew close to the transports, keeping the machines away. Basturo noticed one small plane had landed. This one had engines on the wings, tilted vertically. The engines were still turned as soldiers ran out the back.

One thing looked very odd. A few hundred meters away, in the middle of this battle of machines and men, a little girl with pink hair raced at the runway with incredible speed. All but flying to the skidding crate the first plane had dropped, she ran up beside it as the huge box turned to skid off the runway. The girl ran onto the runway and stood waiting as the next transport came charging at her and dropped it's load that skidded along, straight for her. This long crate skidded off the runway to stop right next to the first one.

"Dar ellos el infierno!" one of his men screamed, and righted a .50 cal machine gun to keep firing it at the oncoming machines.

Basturo noted this, wanting to go help the man as his vision faded and he passed out.

.

Cameron sat in the landed Osprey controlling the drones overhead. Sky Net had not planned on encountering any serious resistance, for only one H/K had a laser and only a few mini-Stugs had rail guns, the rest were armed with machine guns. Good against a small, unprepared army, but not so good against her drones and Mini-Stugs. As she removed the H/K's and the few mini-stugs in the area, Allison caught the incoming crates and tore the ends off. The Mini-Stug drivers then drove their machines out of the crates and into the battle. Instead of meeting men with rifles and automatic weapons, the oncoming Sky Net forces began meeting her Mini-Stugs.

Right away, the Connor Mini-Stugs opened up on the Sky Net forces with rail guns and the armor piercing 60. cal rounds from their machine guns. The six legged walkers were shredded one after another, the remaining Sky Net mini-Stugs took more of a pounding, but still came apart when the shot from a rail gun blasted through them. The battle that looked so dim a moment ago turned around as more Connor Mini-Stugs rolled out and joined the fight.

.

Allison caught the last cargo crate that skidded down the runway towards her. Pulling it over to the side, she got it stopped and ripped the end off. "Mom, they're all down," she announced in her headset.

"Thank you, Allison. Go east along the road, there is a bridge across the water. Sky Net has it, you must destroy the Sky Net forces there by yourself. We have nothing to help you at the moment. If you think it's too much for you, inform me and come back," Cameron told her.

"I'm on it, Mom," Allison replied, and raced off for the road.

The second they had come in, Allison had seen the people here were in a desperate situation. She understood her mother had to use everything they had just to get the supplies on the ground. Seeing all the bodies carpeting the ground, Allison knew she had to do her best to save as many as possible.

Terrified people ran at her as Allison ran down the road. Many were bloodied. Upon seeing her, some stopped and screamed, other fled to the sides. Allison leaped up and flew over them. Flying over those that fled and ruined, burning vehicles, Allison saw groups of women and children hiding behind anything they could. She then saw a six legged machine walking down the road toward her. It stopped to aim at a woman beside the road. Allison flew down and slashed the machine in half. Seeing others beyond it she grabbed the halves and flung them at the other machines.

At first, it didn't seem like the machines paid her any attention, they kept focused on a couple men shooting at them. Right, the machines couldn't see how she was destroying them, they thought it was those brave men. To get those machines off those men, Allison dropped down and picked up a sub machine gun out of a dead man's hand. She sprayed a few bullets at a mini-stug before she punched it into the ground. She shot another walker, then sent a mind Hand down to smash it into the ground.

Her tactic worked. She now had the undivided attention of at least a dozen machines. They all stopped firing at people, and began shooting at her. Her Mind shields were battered with bullets, knocking her away from the road and into a heavily wooded area. Recovering from the onslaught, Allison slung herself through the trees as fast as she could, coming around behind three walkers that were searching for her.

BAM

BAM

BAM

She punched these into the ground, then slung herself back to the road to split a mini-Stug in half. She flung herself away from the road to smash another pair of Spider-looking machines, then back to the road to crunch another mini-Stug into the ground.

More bullets came from a pair of walkers on the bridge. Allison landed on the road and walked towards them as she deflected the bullets they were shooting at her. To her right was an overturned truck. Hiding pressed into the wreck was what looked like a teenage boy. He crouched frozen in place, wide eyed as he watched her. Seeing the gun beside him, Allison reached over with a mind Hand and drew it to herself.

She pulled the trigger. Nothing.

Sending the gun back over to the boy, she asked in Spanish, "Load it. please?"

Eyes fixed on her as the constant assault of rounds pinged off her mind shields, the boy did so.

"Gracias," Allison said with a smile, then charged the pair of machines on the bridge. In mind Hand range, she opened up on the machines with the gun as she chopped them in two with her Mind Hands, knocking the wrecks into the water.

For a moment, Allison stood on the bridge alone. With the lack of shooting, everything was dead quiet. She looked for any other machines and didn't find any. Listening closely, she did hear a few sounds. Panting breaths.

The boy peeked out from behind the truck. From under the bridge a man cautiously poked his head out to eye her, and his eyes grew wide. There were no clanks, motor whines or other machine noises close by. All the sounds of battle were drifting over from the city..

"That's all?" she asked no one as she looked around. Mentally counting the machines she'd destroyed, she keyed her headset. "Mom? I'm on the bridge. I got fourteen machines. There are no more around. Either they have moved on or they fled."

"Very good, Allison. Stay there, keep that bridge open. If people come, tell them to go east."

"OK, Mom," she replied. Motioning to the man, Allison called to him, "I killed the machines. Go across the bridge, get out of here."

The man jumped up and ran back down the road. The boy joined him.

"Hey! That's the wrong way!" Allison cried. She wanted to go tell them, but her mother had told her to keep the bridge open. Some people just didn't listen.

Allison kept her post. For a while she stood, then getting bored, she sat down and listened. Slowly, the birds returned to the area and began their calls again. Overhead, a drone would fly by. She saw a group of people coming towards the bridge. Upon seeing her, they stopped.

A vehicle came from the east end of the bridge. It was an olive drab pickup with a manned machine gun in the back. The passenger also had a gun. Allison stood up as they drove across the bridge, slowing to a stop by her.

The driver eyed her and asked, "Who are you? Army volunteer?"

"Yes. Mom told me to keep this bridge clear so people can get across, but they aren't crossing, they're only standing over there. Could you go tell them it's OK now? I killed all the machines," Allison explained.

"Our army is so desperate they made a little muchacha like you hold a bridge?" he asked in disbelief.

Allison frowned at him. "I'm just doing what mom said to do, keeping the Sky Net machines away from here," she stated.

"Where is your mother, child?"

"Back at the airport, fighting Sky Net there. You guys really need our help," Allison said in a serious tone.

The boy who'd been hiding behind the truck came running up to them. Seeing him, Allison held the gun out to him. "This is yours, thank you for letting me borrow it," she said and offered him a smile.

The boy smiled back in a grimace and hesitantly took the gun. He then looked at the man and pointed to Allison. "Pequeno rosado la diablo," he said.

The man eyed the boy. "What do you mean, little pink devil?" he asked.

The boy then told him about them getting wiped out by machines and Allison arriving to destroy them. "... And their bullets didn't even touch her! She walked towards them through the gunfire and destroyed them like it was nothing! Look at the horns, she has to be a devil!" the boy said firmly.

"I'm not a devil, I'm just different." Allison retorted. "Anyway, Mom said whoever is not fighting needs to go east until we can get rid of the Sky Net machines."

"Your mama holds a rank?" the man in the truck asked.

Allison nodded. "General Cameron Connor," she said proudly.

"Well, brave muchacha, you stay here like your mother says, and call if you need help. We'll send people across the bridge." the man said. To the boy he jerked his thumb at the back and said, "Get on."

.

Cameron noticed putting Allison at the bridge was like putting a drop of soap on water. The remaining Sky Net forces in the area all headed west for the coast to regroup. Her drones got some of the fleeing forces, the mini-Stugs got some others and continued the chase. Sending some drones south, Cameron found the beached ship and the makeshift factories by it. She lost three drones to anti-aircraft fire, but got the coordinates. Using the mountable 130MM rail guns coming out of the crates, she targeted the location and had the gunners begin pounding the area.

Eager for payback, Nicaraguans both military and civilian, men and women, began training on the guns as they shot at their targets. By the time the sun was touching the horizon, each gun had the original crew and a full training crew, complete with ammunition handlers. The Mini-Stugs, having chased down the Sky Net forces to the south and destroying them, also had training crews learning how to drive as they headed north to take on the Sky Net forces there.

Unfortunately, the casualties were enormous. Thousands wounded, and thens of thousands dead. Entire populations in towns south of Managua were obliterated. As help came in from the east, much of it was directed towards medical efforts and distributing what supplies there were. Cameron put out a search for the highest ranking soldier in the army. It turned out to be Colonel Basturo, who was currently in surgery.

Cameron recalled Allison from the bridge and got to work rebuilding the Nicaraguan military hierarchy. General Ortega, as well as his command staff were victims of the gas attacks in the city, as were thousands of other people. There were enough volunteers to train on all the equipment they had brought, and she found a Major to command the mini-Stug forces once they were trained. Another she gave command to the new air force of 22 surviving drones. She gave them responsibilities, stressing their positions may change when 'General' Basturo was capable of taking command himself.

.

Allison slept in the Osprey they had landed in as Cameron kept up night attacks on the northern Sky Net forces. She set a pattern of two drones landing to get refueled and rearmed, and as soon as they were back in action, she brought another pair back to get them serviced and back in the air. By morning, the southern Sky Net forces were all but finished off, and the northern forces had contracted their area of control back to the peninsula where they had first landed.

Waking up, Allison got herself a MRE dusted with her nutrients and ate watching her mother control the drones.

"They almost gone, Mom?" she asked between mouthfuls.

"Greatly reduced," Cameron replied in a flat tone. "There is still a danger, so do not let your guard down."

"I won't," Allison assured her. Allison caught a waft of odor coming off herself. She sniffed her armpit and wrinkled up her nose. She'd been sweating all day yesterday in the heat, and it was already hot this morning. "I stink," she said unhappily.

"Find a place to clean up, and stay on the radio," Cameron replied tonelessly.

Finishing her MRE, Allison put the empty bag in the trash and walked out to look for a bathroom. All she could see were military vehicles, camps, and a couple white medical tents. The air stunk with the smell of dead bodies.

"This is terrible," she grumbled and headed for the lake.

.

Many people had the same idea as her. The shoreline was filled with people in various stages of washing out their clothes and bathing. Many were soldiers, some were civilians. As Allison approached, she noted women were bathing with the mass of men and no one seemed to care. She winced at this, but it was either share or stink.

Others noticed her approaching, and cleared a wide path for her. Whispers of 'la diablo' came to her from people eyeing her warily. Keeping her eyes straight ahead and to the ground, she ignored the insults. Getting to the shoreline, she sat down and took her boots and socks off, then paused at unbuttoning her shirt. Even though everyone else was doing it, she felt really strange about undressing in front of all these people.

Footsteps came close, Allison looked up to see a woman who looked a lot like Gramma Sarah, but younger, come up to her. The woman wore a camo shirt and jeans.

"Shy?" the woman asked.

Allison nodded.

The woman took her shoes and socks off and walked into the water fully dressed. "Follow me," she said.

Allison did. They walked in far enough that Allison was neck deep in the shallow waves. The woman took her jeans off and said, "Pants first." as she stood between Allison and the shore.

Allison took her pants off, then her undies and dipped and scrubbed them in her hands like the woman showed her, then put them back on. Next they did their shirts. Redressed, the woman led her back to the shore.

"Your clothes will dry and you will be cooler," the woman explained. She then washed her socks at the shoreline.

"Thank you," Allison said as she washed her socks, taking the same squatting pose beside the woman.

"If you get hot, come back and wash again. No man likes a smelly woman," the woman said with a grin.

Allison returned a grin. She also noted people were staying clear of them. "Why isn't anyone coming near us?" she asked.

"Word has spread about you. You are pequeno rosado la diablo, the destroyer. People are afraid of what you can do. Give them time to see you will not destroy them and they will accept you," she said.

"I came to get rid of Sky Net's machines, not to hurt anyone," Allison told her.

The woman offered her a tiny smile and said, "I see that. Everyone is afraid now. Once the fear lessens, they will see you for who you are, not what you are."

"What I am?" Allison knew she was different, but she'd never thought of herself as THAT different. She wasn't used to people acting like this towards her.

"Pequeno rosado la diablo, that is you," the woman stated and stood up. "Please keep doing what you did yesterday. Our people need hope."

"I will," Allison said firmly. She spun-dried her socks by spinning them over her head. Satisfied they were dry enough, she put her socks and shoes back on.

Alison walked back to the airfield, trying not to notice the people staring at her, or the ones who were now following her.

.

Colonel Basturo came wake aching and lying on a cot in a tent. His left leg was bandaged as was his chest. On each side of him were more wounded men, with a long line of more wounded on the other side. Nurses cycled between patients. Upon seeing him awake, a nurse called, "Doctor, General Basturo is awake!" The doctor then called on an orderly to go inform people.

General Basturo? He wondered. "Nurse!" he called with his parched throat. "Please tell me, what happened?"

Coming over to him, the nurse smiled and said, "The Americans came and drove away the machines. Pequeno rosado la diablo cleared highway 1 and opened the bridge east by herself. General Connor is coming to give you the details."

Basturo frowned at her. "A devil? I take it this woman is experienced in fighting the Sky Net machines."

"No, General, she really is a devil. She has horns and she flies!" the nurse stated. "She looks like a school girl, but she is very powerful."

"Why are you calling me general?" Basturo asked.

The nurse's face dropped. "Sir, General Ortega and his staff were killed, as were so very many. You are the most experienced officer we have left. You are General now."

Basturo gapped at her. "General Ortega is ... dead," he said, pausing because he couldn't quite believe it.

"Yes, Sir. You are now our leader."

"You are not mistaken?"

"No, his body is prepared for burial, and being guarded. It was the gas, Sir. So many have died," she said and choked out a sob. "If it wasn't for the arrival of the Americans and little pink devil, we all would have perished."

"I want to see this devil," he said, not believing it was real.

"I will relay your request, General. Is there anything you need?"

"I just need to know what s gong on," he said firmly.

.

Cameron was satisfied the Sky Net forces were not going anywhere. All that remained were burrowed in to receive the ground attack that usually came after an air bombardment. Since they didn't have much to attack with yet, she redirected the 130 MM gun fire to the peninsula to keep them in place, and brought the drones back to cap the city and get serviced. The A-747's had returned home, the only aircraft they had now, besides the drones, were the Ospreys.

Hearing Basturo was conscious and wanted intel, Cameron gathered the latest reports and Allison, They walked to the heavily guarded medical tent. There, she found Basturo sitting up.

"General Basturo, I am General Cameron Connor. This is my daughter, Allison," Cameron announced.

The wounded man beside Basturo smiled and said, "She's here! The little pink devil is here!"

Not knowing what else to do, Allison waved to him.

Cameron sat in the edge of Basturo's bed and handed him the stack of reports as she said "Due to the emergency situation, I have assigned surviving officers to various corps of your army, including your new air force. Each combat unit has a training crew of your army with the actual unit crew. That includes the support units as well. You also now have two hundred thirty women in your army, and more ready to begin training to fight."

"Women should not be fighting," Basturo said automatically.

Cameron cast him a cold look and stated, "You will not have enough forces otherwise, and it was women, as well as my daughter, who drove Sky Net away from Managua and let people escape."

"The little pink devil," Basturo said as he eyed Allison.

"I'm not a devil, people just gave me that name," Allison countered, not happy with her nickname.

Basturo chuckled, then winced from the pain in his back. "You look the part of a devil. Being so small, you really cleared the road and the bridge?"

Allison shrugged and said, "There was only fourteen of them. And my size doesn't matter."

"General," Cameron said firmly to get back on topic. "I have kept the 130MM guns here, they are in range of any troubled area. So far, I have maintained control of the drones until your trainees are skilled enough to operate them themselves. I also kept five Mini-Stugs to the south here, in case Sky Net tries to attack again. The bulk of your army is moving north as they train to get rid of the Sky Net presence up here on the peninsula." Cameron handed Basturo a list of forces and who was commanding them. "Here are the battalions I divided them into, and the men leading each. Once they reach their objective, long range visual contact with sky net units, I will order the pre-attack bombardment to begin from our guns, mini-Stugs and from the air. Myself and Allison will be joining the attack force."

Basturo took on Cameron's slim figure and said, "You should be dancing, not fighting. And your daughter should not be put in harm's way."

The man beside Basturo asked, "Harm's way, General? You have not seen what The little pink Devil can do! I pity the ones who oppose her."

Basturo eyed the man. "What division are you in, solider?" he asked.

"The tenth. We tried to keep the machines from getting to the bridge. They wiped us out! We tried, but could not stop them. The little pink devil came and wiped them all out. They could not shoot her no matter how hard they tried. She walked and flew right into them, and destroyed them as easy as stepping on cucarachas. The wind she brought up crushed them completely! I do not know if this power comes from God or the Devil, but I do know those of us left alive are grateful she is here."

Basturo stared at Allison, then turned his gaze to her mother, General Connor. If the daughter was that powerful, what was the mother capable of?

"We are different," Cameron stated. "Now General, here are the supplies available, the remains of what you had, and those we brought with us," she said, and handed him another list.

"God has sent us a miracle," Basturo said to himself.

"General John Connor sent us," Cameron replied, correcting him. "You need to keep yourself informed, General. As soon as you are well enough, you will be taking over your army."

Cameron and Allison left a dazed looking General Basturo absorbed the details of the army he was now responsible for.