Castle's Team
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Go Castle! Yeah Team! Oh, I don't own any of this. Rating: K Time: After my story Castle's Recon.
"Please, tell me more. Tell me all about it." Simone asked with a smile.
"The ship was in the shipyard for repairs, so I had plenty of free time. I spent my free time hanging around the helicopter base. Pretty soon, the crew noticed me. They asked if I were interested in flying. Of course, I was. They said if I helped them clean up the helicopter, they'd take me up for a ride. That first ride, I knew I wanted more than anything to fly."
"Did they teach you to fly?" Simone asked, breathlessly.
"No. There wasn't time. But I knew that humans were recruiting Tarkai mercenaries to fight off world. I'd heard rumors about the way humans were treating Tarkai in the Golden Life Valley, but sailors hear many rumors. I decided to go see for myself before I enlisted. What I saw horrified me. My people being enslaved. Those too young or too old to work were shot. I decided that even if I never got an opportunity to fly, I had to enlist. And here I am."
"You are a very good person, Sergeant-Pilot Gallenda. Tres brave."
Gallenda went back to his quarters that night feeling much better. His dinner with Captain Castle had been a success and he decided that Simone Renoir was the most beautiful human he'd ever met.
Two days later Castle's offensive began.
Lieutenant Saava's platoon had been airlifted to within twenty-five miles of his target. They had to walk the rest of the way. Saava had four rifle squads, the light weapons squad, Sergeant Fa'an and his sniper team, two medics, Corporal Whaan and the human, Corporal Charles. Corporal Tarn was now Saava's radio operator. Private Bonsole was there to suppress any attempt of the enemy to communicate with their friends. Corporal Horbo led the sapper team and Corporal Twaan had been temporarily promoted to platoon sergeant.
Saava had two squads covering the two sides of the main house while the other two squads covered the other two sides. Their medium machine gun had been set up to cover the front of the house to prevent any Euros from trying to kill or use the Havenites as human shields. Their recoilless rifle was set up to fire first in what they felt was the largest room in the farmhouse. They were pretty sure that's where the bulk of the enemy slept. Then they would fire into the master bedroom on the second story. Saava thought that was where the enemy commander would be. Sergeant Fa'an and his spotter, both wearing chameleon suits had worked their way to within two hundred yards of the Havenite's prison. Fa'an would begin the attack, if everything went as planned.
An hour after dawn, the front door of the farmhouse opened, and a single armed Euro led five young women back to the slave pen. The guard on the pen stood up and said something to the new man, who he thought would be his replacement. When the slaves were fifty feet from each other, Fa'an shot the man guarding the sex slaves while his spotter shot the slave pen guard. That was the signal for everyone to open fire.
The recoilless rifle roared and sent a shell screaming into the farmhouse. Every weapon opened up, concentrating on shooting through the windows in hopes of hitting anyone inside. The grenadiers first fired high explosive grenades inside and then incendiary rounds. There were a few flashes of gunfire from the windows, but they were soon overcome by the Tarkai's fire. The recoilless rifle fired again, blasting open the wall of what had been the master bedroom.
Saava hoped there were no slaves still inside the house. Over the roar of gunfire, he could hear a Tarkai with a bullhorn telling the slaves to take cover. Most did, but a few stood upright and cheered.
As flames began to spread inside the farmhouse, three men tried to escape through the front door. None of them made it off the front porch.
The two large doors at one end of the house opened and two horses, with riders, ran out. The first horse and rider were shot to bits, but the second horse ran the gauntlet of fire unhurt and disappeared. The same couldn't have been said for his rider.
Then two motorized vehicles roared out of the house. The first was a small four-wheel drive vehicle, popular on frontier worlds. Four people rode in it. Two squad automatic weapons and numerous assault rifles opened up on it. The vehicle spun, then tipped over, scattering its crew. None of them moved.
Following that was a truck. Being slower, the truck was shot up before it got fifty feet away from the farmhouse. The driver was apparently killed or badly wounded, as the truck stopped and was blasted by a hail of gunfire. Its fuel ignited and the Tarkai could hear a few wounded screaming as they burned to death.
By now, the farmhouse was blazing. Saava called over Corporal Tarn, his radioman and told his squad leaders to cease fire. No one was left to shoot.
The platoon began to move towards the slave pen to release the slaves. As they did so, the ammunition in the burning farmhouse began to ignite. As the ammo went pop-pop-pop, everyone ducked for cover.
"Medics!" Saava yelled over the radio. "Open that pen up and start checking the people in there."
Then Saava called Castle.
"This is Green 6 Actual to Rook 6. Come in. I have a sitrep. Over."
"This is Rook 6 Actual to Green Six Actual. What's your sitrep? Over."
"Target Alpha is destroyed. No friendly casualties, no enemy prisoners. Medics are checking the Havenites, but they don't look like they're in good shape. Request helicopter pickup for them. Over."
"Birds are scrambled. But we have three groups of Havenites to pick up so far. It'll be a bit. Can you hold? Over."
"Roger that, Rook 6. Out."
It turned out there was one casualty among the Tarkai.
"Bonsole!" Saava barked." What the hell happened to your arm?"
Private Bonsole looked down at his left arm. There was a long, red line on it.
"I must have been shot, sir. I didn't feel a thing."
"Well, you've been in combat for sure now, Rifleman Bonsole. See the medic."
Even though his arm was beginning throb, Rifleman Bonsole smiled as he headed for the medics.
Warrant Officer Trappas, commanding the platoon that would attack Target Delta was worried. He had been a soldier for over twenty years. In fact, he had managed to escape slavery on Tark, gotten off planet and enlisted in a mercenary unit before Rick Castle had formed his platoon.
Now, his platoon had been sitting and waiting for the Euros to send their sex slaves out and bring in the maids. The other three targets had all been over run and no one was stirring in Target Delta. As far as he knew, none of the other targeted farms had gotten any kind of message off, but he couldn't be sure. Were the Euros inside holed up and waiting for an attack? Even if the weren't alert now, all it would take would be for some wandering Euro patrol to see the smoke rising from one of the ruined farms, or the farms not replying to messages for things to start to go wrong. Having been a slave once himself, Trappas hated the idea of killing any slaves inside the farmhouse.
His platoon sergeant, Sergeant Boltar, crawled up to him.
"Maybe we should start things now? The longer we wait, the more chance they'll send reinforcements here."
Trappas thought for a moment.
"Their communications security is nonexistent. If Central, or anyone else, was going to do anything, we'd have heard about it from intelligence. We'll wait."
"How long?" Boltar asked.
"Until they come out, we get an order to attack, or until I say to attack. No sooner."
"We could be sitting out here until the humans' Hell freezes over."
"Good thing we're furry." Trappas replied, getting a grin from Boltar.
Trappas was still worried. Target Delta was the furthest from Haven and the team and, therefore, the closest to the Euros' other bases. Plus, Target Delta was the only stone farmhouse among the targets. Plus, whoever was in charge here had done a little work to fortify the place, mainly sandbags around windows and doors. As he had the toughest nut to crack, he had the heavy weapons squad from Castle's original platoon in addition to his own light weapons squad.
He had set up the 15mm heavy machine gun to cover the farmhouse's door with his two mortars and their one long range guided missile system set up over three kilometers away, well out of the range of any weapon the Euros had.
"Sir, movement by the door." Boltar whispered.
"No need to whisper, sergeant. They're not Tarkai and can't hear like we do."
But the door was opening, and five young women and one guard came out. One woman had to be carried by the rest.
"Somebody in there isn't going to get a chance to do that to a woman after we're done here." Trappas growled.
The young women's guard walked to the guard on the slave pen, giving the two snipers an easy target. There was a soft coughing sound from both rifles and the two guards fell.
As soon as the two fell, the heavy machine gun blasted the still open door, and all the other infantry weapons opened up. The forward observer didn't have to radio for the heavy weapons to fire. They heard the attack beginning and opened fire. The guided missile blasted through a window and blew up inside the house, tearing a huge hole in the stonework. The mortar rounds began landing on the roof of the building, blasting away slate shingles until the rounds began to fall inside the top floor.
Some of the Euros tried to fight back and some tried to run. All died.
Trappas led his troops forward, sending the medics to the slave pen.
Trappas stood over his best medic as he examined the young woman who'd had to have been carried from the farmhouse.
"She needs a medevac, sir. I've done what I can, but I don't have the skills or the medicines she needs."
Trappas got on the radio and asked for a medevac shopper ASAP. He was in luck. Because the battle for Target Delta had started so late, most of the other Havenites had been taken back to Haven. The medevac chopper arrived seven minutes later. The first person off the chopper was Surgeon-Captain Renoir.
"You have some work for me, Mr. Trappas?" Simone asked with a smile.
"Should you be out here, sir. I mean, ma'am." Trappas said, surprised to see Simone.
"But where else should a doctor be but where the injured are?" Then Simone smiled. "Oh, I see. You think I should be back at the hospital, caring for the injured there, non?"
"I suppose, ma'am." Trappas said, not sure what he had meant.
"The released Havenite prisoners have been poorly fed, are a bit dehydrated and suffer from assorted cuts and bruises from their treatment by these beastly people. They don't need my medical skills. My people can care for them perfectly well. But this young woman…pauvre jeune fille."
Simone got out her medical bag and began examining the woman.
"You did right to call in a medevac so quickly, Mr. Trappas. She has been badly beaten by some connard. But we shall get her back to the hospital where she will recover physically, but, alas, this may haunt her dreams for years."
Warrant Officer Trappas decided that he really admired and liked Surgeon-Captain Renoir.
And Simone was finding she really liked the Tarkai.
TBC