Dogs of War

Published: 16 Nov 2017

Will heard the orders on the radio, then keyed his own. “Bombers are getting ready to drop. As soon as they start to hit, we’re a go. Remember to hit hard and fast.” He smiled as he glanced over his shoulder to see Venny behind him. The man smiled and nodded, letting Will know that he was ready. Will felt really good being back behind the stick of his favorite helicopter. Yeah he loved the Blackhawk that he originally escaped with, but this Hind… first it was a true gunship, and second, he had done a lot of the modifications to it himself, so it really did feel like his baby.

Will’s eyes widened a bit as the first of the bombs hit just over a mile away on the Patterson side of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He was once again reminded that the military in this universe was a different type than the universe he came from. They fought harder, hit harder, and apparently made their bombs bigger. He couldn’t dwell on that as he heard Runt come across the radio. “Starting attack run.”

Will waited, hovering about 300 feet above the ground, right in the middle of the Wright Air Field. He knew that the fifteen foot fence, topped with razor wire was not here before the war started. Nor were the eight guard towers. Will and Venny waited till they saw Runt drop his stealth, and Tommy start to reign hell down on the guard towers they were tasked with taking out.

“Drop Stealth.” Will said softly, as he guided the huge helicopter forward toward the first guard tower they had to take out.

“Stealth dropped.” Venny reported. By this point, Will was close enough to the guard tower that he saw the astonished look on the guard’s face as his helicopter became visible. “Firing!” Venny said, his voice rising as he touched off the first of two rockets. The guard tried to rotate his heavy machine gun towards the Hind, but wasn’t quick enough. Will was over the tower, and turning towards the next one, even as the rockets were tearing through the structure.

Less than a minute later, Will keyed his mic again. “Billy, you’re clear, drop your cargo. Runt, cover them, I’m moving to Bravo position.”

“Roger that.” He heard both Bill and Runt reply, as Will swung his Hind around, and headed towards Patterson.

In the Chinook, Billy merely nodded after his co-pilot, Captain Ryan Blake spoke up. “Dropping back ramp… Disengaging Stealth.” He paused for a second to see that the stealth was fully dropped before he spoke again. “Gunners… all weapons are free.” Billy really liked the man’s calm demeanor, even in the most stressful situations.

Billy dropped the Chinook like a rock, ground racing up under them as quickly as he safely could. When they were still about ten feet off the ground, the Loadmaster called over the radio. “Cargo delivered!” Billy immediately pulled back on the collective, and watched the torque indicator in case he had to increase power to the engines. Now that Lieutenant Matthews, Chang, Khan and Robin were on the ground, his job was to make sure they were covered.

“Billy… Three o’clock.” Captain Blake said, and Billy looked to his right. He saw, coming out of the burnt remnants of a guard tower, a vehicle emerged and headed straight for the four running to the main building.

“Oh no you don’t!” Billy said softly, as he pivoted the Chinook, and lined up for the shot. Before he could say anything, Captain Blake fired rockets from both sides of the Chinook’s stub wings. The guy standing in the Humvee never got a chance to fire his .50 cal, before the rockets hit and sent pieces flying everywhere.

Billy watched for a few seconds as roughly twenty soldiers came out of the building that was housing the 82nd, and ran towards the four figures that were running towards them. Billy grunted in humor… “They shoulda brought more…”

“Yeah.” Blake said as he searched for more targets.

Less than halfway to Patterson, Will heard another voice come over the radio. “Command this is Angelfire 1, commencing run.”

Even as the second round of bombs were dropping, causing other buildings to explode, a C-130 came screaming towards Patterson just barely clearing the trees under it. Will and Venny fired frantically making sure that nothing could intercept, or damage the incoming cargo plane, while trying hard to make sure that neither the runway nor the large planes sitting on the runway got damaged.

The C-130 screamed by under them and Will watched as the back cargo door was lowered, and then seconds later, modified personnel carriers came out the back, being dragged out, and slowed down by small parachutes. They were actually a Russian design, used to deposit troops into a battle area quickly. As the fifth ten-man carrier was pulled out the back, the C-130 pilot slammed the throttles all the way open, and seconds later was pulling up and once again skimming the treetops as it departed. Will was positive he could hear Juan’s screams of joy as he watched the carriers slow and finally stop, right where they should, in the middle of the runway.

Juan screamed out in glee as he felt the parachute grab his skid, and pull him out of the C-130. The modified roller coaster seat he was strapped into groaned in protest, but that made the thrill seeking fifteen-year-old scream even louder in joy. As far as he was concerned, the skid lost speed and came to a stop way too soon, but, as he told himself, he now got to do what he loved even more than those types of thrills… shoot.

He quickly undid the five point harness, jumped up, and fired as he saw a pilot heading to one of the parked fighters. “SOUND OFF!” He shouted into his mic. He glanced around and saw his entire team was now standing around the skid in a defensive position. “Alpha Team’s up!” He reported, so the others knew exactly what he wanted.

Once he got word that all teams were up and ready to go, he gave the order to secure the flight line. All they were worried about was making sure that the runway stayed secure, and the big transport planes were undamaged. They were only going to be here long enough to get the 82nd airborne, and get the hell outta of there.

Juan led his team towards the pilots’ barracks. Most of it was on fire from the bombing run, but there were still people running around outside, several of them trying to get to aircraft to join the battle. Juan never slowed down as he dropped the ones he could see. When he rounded a corner, five feet ahead of the rest of his team, he saw a small group of five soldiers. They turned as they saw him, but Juan never slowed, he pushed the rifle around to his back, and then drew his sword. “This one’s for you Adam…” He said as he ran into the group of soldiers, cutting them down before they had a chance to fire a shot.

Leading Lieutenant Matthews, Khan and Robin, Chang saw the door to the building open up and soldiers start to pour out, all of them armed. He lowered his head, and sped up as he reached back and drew both his swords. He saw one of the soldiers raise his rifle and sight down on the charging teen. Chang was getting ready to dodge out of the way when he felt and heard something whizz by his head. A moment later an arrow embedded itself in the man’s head, flinging him backwards. Robin’s aim was as good as ever.

Two more soldiers fell to Robin’s arrows, and one more to Lieutenant Matthews’ MP4, before Chang leapt high in the air, and brought a sword down hard, almost splitting a man from head to crotch. He spun, drawing his sword out of the dead man, while decapitating another with his off hand sword. Khan was no less brutal as he came in with his one, huge sword. The size of his sword, and the sheer brute strength that Khan possessed meant that he didn’t almost split a man in two, he did… armor and all. He then lashed out with a backhand, sending another man flying back into several of his fellow soldiers.

The small group of enemies did little to slow down the three core UNIT members, or the Army officer, but none of the three UNIT members were less than a bloody mess as they made it to the front of the building. They ran in through the front door and stopped, looking around for a moment. “They will probably be in the main show room.” Chang said, then went towards the left, recalling the plans he had seen before the battle.

“Command… Angelfire 2, starting our run.”

“Right on time.” Chang said as he raced through the building, only having to pause twice to dispatch enemy soldiers. Chang turned the final corner, and immediately threw himself up against the wall. In front of the door where the 82nd was being held were two soldiers, both with rifles pointed towards where Chang had come from. As soon as they saw Chang, they opened fire. He felt one of the bullets impact the side of his armor, but other than sting, it did nothing. As soon as they stopped firing, Robin stepped out from behind the corner, and quick as a blink, he fired two arrows, both aimed perfectly.

Khan followed behind the arrows, and even as the men were sliding down the wall, arrows sticking out of their foreheads, Khan spun, and kicked the locked doors, sending both of them inwards, and destroying the locks. He then turned and stepped to the side as Chang came in.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Robin and Khan were in the room, on a knee, Robin with his bow, and Khan with his rifle, scanning the room, and making sure no one did something stupid.

After making sure that the room was secure, Chang removed his helmet and looked around again, then towards the door they had just come in. It did not escape his notice that almost every man in the room was armed with some sort of handmade weapon. They were ready to fight if needed. “Lieutenant.” Chang said, and Matthews, the Army officer that was with them walked into the room, and removed his combat helmet.

“Danny?!” A man near the front called out, then turned. “John, get your ass up here.”

Not having to be told twice, a middle-aged man pushed through the crowd, then stopped as he laid eyes on the Army officer. “Danny?” He said softly, causing the young man to nod, and rush forward.

“Dad…” He said softly as the two men embraced, both of them fighting to hold back the tears.

After a moment, the man pushed his son back a bit and looked him in the eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Danny turned and looked at Chang who nodded. “I came with them so they had someone you would know, to prove that they’re actually here to rescue you.”

“Smart move.” The first man said, he then turned to Chang. “I’m Colonel Revere.”

Chang smiled and saluted, which the man returned quickly. “I am Chang Casey, part of a paramilitary group here to get you out.”

Revere nodded, looked around, ran a hand through his hair, then looked back at Chang. “Son, we’ve been stuck in here since the day after the election. We’ve got no idea what’s going on, only that these foreign bastards have kept us locked down. My military training says I can’t trust anyone right now, but Danny being here tells me different.” He looked at Chang hard for a moment, noticing that the teen didn’t even blink at a glare that had made many seasoned Army officers wither. “Let’s get outta here.”

A cheer rose up from around them, and Chang had to wait for it to die down. Outside, he heard the first of the two C-130s touching down.

Once he could be heard over the others, Chang spoke, directly to the colonel. “Sir, are your men able to fight?”

“Just give us something to fight with, and we will. Hell if you don’t have anything spare, we’ll make due with what we got.”

Chang smiled as he saw everyone take a step forward eager to get into the fight. “The first of two transport planes full of equipment just landed. We need to get you and your men to Patterson ASAP for extraction. We may encounter resistance getting there.”

“We have some injured that won’t be able to make it to Patterson.” Revere said softly.

“We have a transport helicopter that can take the injured. The rest though…” Chang replied.

“Oh don’t worry about that. There’s some of the injured that are gonna be pissed I ain’t lettin em fight.” Revere turned and started shouting orders to his men. It didn’t take long for the entire battalion of the 82nd Airborne to get organized and make their way outside and onto the runway where the second bird just finished dropping its palettes of weapons, armor, and other equipment.

“Sir, please get your men equipped as soon as possible, we need to go quickly.” Chang’s point was amplified as several explosions were heard coming from the Patterson side of the air base.

The fighting was as intense as Juan had ever seen. Of course that just made him like it even better. By this point, Juan didn’t even know how many mags of ammo he’d gone through. All he knew was, even he was starting to get a bit low. He smiled as he remembered Adam telling him he really needed to learn to conserve ammo, since there would be times where he’d have to fight for extended periods. The smile faded though as he remembered he would never hear his big brother giving him advice again.

Juan fought hard to not allow the rage to take him over. There was a time, not all that long ago that he would have easily, even happily given over to the very darkest side of himself. Circumstances allowed him to keep control now. Although he was wondering if he shouldn’t let that out a bit. Let these people see and feel the same pain and rage that he was feeling with Adam’s death.

Without even realizing it, two more people had died by his hand. The ones heart exploded as Juan used all his strength and open hand punched the man right above his heart, sending fragments of broken ribs ripping into the life pumping organ below. The other, Juan simply ran past, but grabbed the man’s head as he went, bringing it 180 degrees around, snapping the man’s neck in the process.

Juan paused as he heard Chang’s voice come over the radio. “Prisoners released, we’ll need some time to get them equipped. I’m sending Khan and Robin up to assist.”

“Copy that.” Juan said as his eyes took in the battle raging around him. The enemy may not have been as well-trained as most of the US forces they’d fought, but what they lacked in skill, they made up for in number.

One of the things that Juan noticed that made him smile, was that most of the UNIT members were not bothering with guns, either they’d used up all their ammo, or they were content with getting up close and personal. Extending his mental abilities, he ‘tasted’ the emotions coming from those fighting. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment as he tasted and felt the enemies’ fear. That was delicious to him. From his family, mostly, he felt righteous rage. That and a feeling of releasing all of the rage that they had kept bottled up for the last three days. This is what they needed. The ability to strike back at those that took Adam from them.

“Hey Juan, you busy?” Jory asked over the radio.

“Nothing I can’t break away from.” Juan said with a bit of a chuckle as he slipped under a wild punch, by doing the splits. This put him at the perfect height to straight-arm punch the man. With devastating accuracy, Juan drove his fist into the man’s groin. He didn’t even have the ability to scream as he fell over, then passed out.

“Good… Bravo Team’s being pushed back. Think you could make your way over there and give them a hand.”

“Gladly.” Juan said with way too much cheer for being in the middle of a battle.

“Angel 5… Oracle.” Will heard Alvin’s voice over his headset, and quickly switched frequencies.

“Angel 5… go.”

“Will. It looks like you got a squadron of slow movers heading your way. Best we can tell, it’s a mixed bag of attack choppers.” Alvin’s voice sounded tense, and Will knew why.

“Roger that Oracle. You better get us some help. We’ve only got the three of us down here, and Angel 1 won’t be much good in a dogfight.”

“Copy… We’re trying. The closest unengaged fighter squadron is still in Canada, but we’re launching them now. They should arrive in about ten minutes. The slow movers should be there in about five….”

“We’re in for a hell of a fight.” WIll commented to Venny, then switched channels again. “You guys catch that?” He said, talking to Runt and Billy.

“Yeah…” Runt said. Will was still getting used to Runt’s much deeper voice, but he could easily hear the concern in it. “Time to make these helicopters dance.”

“Affirmative.” Will said, then thought for a moment before keying his mic again. “Hey Runt…. I got a plan…”

“Oh shit… here we go…” Billy said cutting in for the first time.

“Yup…. and you’re involved in it too, Billy. Here’s what I want us to do….”

Juan managed to get into position with less than a minute to spare. WIll always came up with crazy ideas, and this one was a doozy. Looking over, he got nods from the other UNIT members that were involved in the welcome party that they were setting up. “In position.” Was all he said into the radio.

“Copy that. Contact in thirty.” Runt said into his radio, and Juan had to duck as Runt flew by at close to three hundred miles an hour, less than fifty feet over his head.

“Hey Runt, Jory wants to know when you became a barber…. That was a nice buzz cut.”

“I could’ve gotten closer if ya wanted.” Runt’s voice was tense, Juan knew the boy would normally have had a better come back than that, but… “Enemy closing in fast… beginning attack run.”

“You really think this’ll work?” Tommy asked from the back.

“It’s just fucked up enough that it might.” Runt said, then his voice lost all tension, and became the ice cold fighter pilot that everyone knew. “Closing in on firing range. Make sure to fire everything you can just inside max range… Don’t care if anything actually hits.”

Before Runt was done saying it, Tommy had already launched four heat seeking missiles (HSM) from the wing pylons, and another six from the underbelly launch system. As soon as they were all away, Runt pulled back on the collective hard while working the cyclic, and pushed max torque into the engines as he pulled the Black Ghost into a vertical climb. He held the cyclic back until the helicopter was actually flying upside down, then pitched it over, and completed the well known Immelmann maneuver, even though it’s generally only done in fixed wing aircraft, Runt knew that his baby could handle the stress.

“Holy shit!” Tommy cried out from the back, a little bit of a giggle in his voice. “We actually got two!” Of course the laughter flew away when a warning tone sounded in the cabin. “They got a lock on us!”

“If we go stealth, it’ll fuck everything up. How long?” Runt replied, concentrating on putting the helicopters where they needed them.

“Fourteen seconds!”

“Stand by Chaff.”

“Roger.” Tommy’s voice calmed, taking strength from the fact that Runt, as always, once engaged, never showed excitement. He was ice cold in combat, and Tommy drew from that.

Seven seconds later Will’s voice came over the radio. “NOW!”

Runt pulled up hard, causing the missile to follow him up. Below them, Juan, Jory, and three other UNIT members, opened up on the incoming helicopters with vehicle mounted .50 cal machine guns, shredding three of them before they knew what was happening.

Five down, eleven to go.

As the surviving helicopters scrambled to get out of the range of the ground fire, Will and Billy both became visible, one on each side. Seconds later, three more helicopters exploded. Two from Venny’s expert gunning of the Hind, and one more from the Chinook’s rocket pods. “Billy activate stealth! You can’t go toe to toe with these guys!” Will said as he spun the Hind in mid-air, and accelerated as quick as he could, not letting one of the Apache’s get behind him.

Runt, in the meantime, went as high as he could before turning over, and heading for the ground at top speed. “Still back there!” Tommy called out as he was spinning in his seat, looking over each shoulder trying to find the rapidly closing missile.

Runt waited to the last possible moment, then waited a moment longer before he pulled back hard. “AHHHHHHHH!” Tommy couldn’t help but cry out as the G forces slammed him back into his seat to the point he couldn’t move. Runt pulled out of the dive with less than ten feet till he hit the ground, then spun the Black Ghost around a building, trying to make the missile hit something, anything other than them.

“It’s still back there!” Tommy called as soon as he could move enough to look.

“Fuck!” Runt said softly. “Why couldn’t that thing’ve been French made?”

Runt’s eyes flew left and right trying to come up with a plan, then he spotted it. “Tommy turn off everything non vital, hell… turn off everything.”

Tommy knew better than to ask, he just started shutting things off. “Weapons offline, targeting computers, pilot assist…”

Runt didn’t bother hearing anything else, he was so focused on the task at hand. He had less than three seconds before the missile impacted. This was the shit he loved, although this one was getting a little too close for his comfort. He waited… waited…. Then pulled up hard, going vertical with the Ghost, and pouring everything he could into the engines.

“Runt!” Will started to say over the radio, but it was over before he could say anything else.

Runt went vertical right under another Apache. Right before the missile hit, He turned the helicopter over, and hit the stealth unit. He only blinked out for a few seconds, as his stealth unit overheated, and the safeties shut it down, but it was long enough to make the missile lock onto the Apache that Runt was right under.

“Holy shit Runt!” Alvin said over the radio, then quickly got serious. “Guys, our fast movers are inbound. Looks like the remaining enemy choppers are retreating.”

“Tommy.” Runt said after a few moments. “You still with me?”

“I think so.”

“Can you shit yourself in heaven?” Runt asked after a moment.

“I don’t think so…” Tommy said, a smile finally cracking his serious face.

“Okay.” Runt said as he sighed. “Then we ain’t dead.”

“Oracle… Lightning Actual.” Chang said as soon as he got the reports that the base was now secure.

“Oracle… Go.”

“Oracle, we’ve secured primary objective. Ready to receive the follow-ons.”

“Stand By.”

Chang looked at his radio with a puzzled expression on his face, then looked over at Khan, who just shrugged.

“Lightning. This is Oracle, is the colonel with you.”

“Stand by.” Chang nodded to Juan who ran off. Less than a minute later, Juan came jogging up, Colonel Revere right behind him.

“Oracle, the colonel is here.” Chang said then handed his radio to the man.

“Colonel, this is General Rose. Have you been briefed on the current state of affairs.”

“Yes sir I have.” Colonel Revere said as he relaxed slightly. This was a man he knew, and respected.

“Good. How are your men?”

“We have some injuries, but mostly, they’re mad as hell.”

“That’s understandable. Are you combat ready?”

The colonel arched his eyebrow in surprise, but quickly answered. “Well sir, the men are ready willing and able, but we don’t have our equipment.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Rose said, and everyone near by could hear the smile in his voice. “General Casey….” Chang held out his hand, and Revere handed him the radio back, the obvious shock on his face at hearing the rank that Chang held.

“Go ahead.”

“General. Things have changed drastically in the last hour. Do you think you and the colonel could hold Wright-Patterson if we get you equipment?” Chang looked first at Revere, who shrugged, then to the rest of the team, Robin and Khan the only ones still in full armor. Once he got nods from them, he keyed the radio.

“Oracle, I believe we can hold the base against everyone short of an all out assault. However, we are already running low on ammo and equipment.”

“We understand.” Rose said with a sigh. “We’re off loading the pilots now, and reloading the incoming birds with everything you’ll need. The first one should be there in about three hours.”

“Copy that.”

“General Casey…” Andy Rose said after a moment’s silence. “Colonel Revere is a man I know and trust. He is a damned fine operator, and knows his shit. If you feel it necessary, you are authorized for a full disclosure.”

Chang looked at the radio, then hard at the man standing in front of him. Without taking his eyes off the man, Chang brought the radio up. “Understood General.”

Chang continued to look at the man, long enough for even the hardened Ranger commander to get a bit nervous. Finally Chang nodded, more to himself than anyone else, and turned. “Khan, Robin, find us a command center, and start getting it set up. Juan, set up a med center. Figure out who needs to go back on the first bird, and who can stay.”

They all saluted, turned and jogged off. Chang once again looked at the colonel and nodded. “Would you walk with me Colonel?”

“Yes… sir.” The colonel only hesitated a moment in using the word sir. He knew that if Andy Rose called this teen a general, then as weird as it might be, he’d give this young man the respect of the rank.

They were silent for the first bit, when they got to where the colonel’s men were waiting, Revere started issuing orders to them on setting up a defensive perimeter. Once that was set, the two walked away from everyone else.

“General Rose says that you can be trusted.” Chang started when they were well away from everyone else. “I have my own reasons to say that you can be trusted as well. It looks like we are going to be working closely together for some time, so General Rose feels you need to know who and what we are. Some things I will tell you, other things, are on a need to know basis, and until you need to know, you do not.”

“Understood.” Colonel Revere said. While this young man may not look like a seasoned military leader, he sure acted like one.

“First off, our group is called the UNIT, that stands for the Universal Next-generation Infiltration Team. I am actually one of the older members of the UNIT. We are all well-trained, and in some ways, better trained than your average special forces soldier. For myself, not only was I trained for command, I am also a skilled Martial Artist, as well as a doctor.”

Revere had his commander’s face on, which meant he let none of his own feelings out. “I’ve seen what you can do with them swords… Yeah, I don’t doubt it.”

“Good. By accepting that, it will be easier for you to understand and accept the next part. We were part of a top secret government experiment to create genetically enhanced super soldiers. The experiment succeeded, beyond their wildest dreams. However, the one thing that they did not count on was the fact that we did not take kindly to their… treatment.”

“I see.” The man said as he looked away from Chang, and out over the dark night. Chang let the man have his thoughts, and simply watched as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes that he took off an Argentinian soldier, lit one up, and took a deep drag. “It would be useless for me to point out that this is a lot to take in.”

“Yes, yes it would.” Chang said with a brief hint of a smile.

The man again got lost in his thoughts. After almost a minute, he looked back over at Chang. “The helicopter pilots. They were some of the best I’ve ever seen.” He left his question unanswered, but Chang knew where he was going.

“Yes. They are all very skilled.” Chang then reached for his radio, and keyed it. “Angel 2, this is Lightning Actual, do you have a copy.”

“Affirmative.” Runt said, “What do you have for us now Lightning Actual?”

“Nothing like that Runt.” Chang said catching the man’s reaction at how he addressed the pilot. “I would like to speak with Captain Maxwell for a moment.”

“Stand by one.” Runt said, a moment later, Tommy’s voice came over the radio.

“What can I do for you boss man?” Colonel Revere actually jumped a little at hearing the eight-year-old’s voice come over the radio.

“What’s your current armament?”

Tommy sighed loudly over the radio. “We’re pretty low actually sir. We’re down to 240 high fragmentation, and 200 incendiary rounds for the cannons. We’ve only got six air to air missiles, twelve laser guided rockets, and four anti-armor.”

“Copy that.” Chang said when Tommy finished. “I’ll have more brought in. Our mission has changed. We’re here for the long term. Work with Will on a rotation, but I want at least one bird in the air at all times until further notice.”

“Copy that Actual.”

“How… How old?” Revere asked when Chang looked back at him.

“Tommy’s eight. He’ll turn nine in a couple weeks.”

“And he’s flying that helicopter?”

“Tommy is the gunner.” Chang said, again with a slight smile. “That helicopter is also one that he helped to design and build. I am using him as an example on how to not underestimate my soldiers.”

“I’m starting to see that. Sir, I don’t doubt your skills, I’d be an idiot to. I also don’t care how old you guys are, you’ve just busted our asses out.” Colonel Revere said with a shake of his head, and a long drag on his smoke.

“There is one other thing that you will have to get used to.” Chang said, the evil side of him coming out.

“What’s that?”

“The hybrids.”