TOCABAGA (Revised Edition) (Book #1 of The Tocabaga Chronicles) (9 page)

APRIL 25, 2025

Captain Sessions called me on the radio and advised that the Federal Police were on the way. His small drone planes had spotted them approaching about ten miles away. He said he had his Rangers building defensive positions on both sides of the bridge and wanted me to come up to the bridge with Tommy and review the defensive lines.

C
olonel Turner had 100 Rangers moved up from Fort Desoto, or NO MAN’S LAND, to the bridge, all armed to the teeth and ready for action. Captain Sessions arranged the two Bradleys, one each on the east and west side of the road, and the Iron Maiden in the middle of the road at the start of the bridge, so no vehicle would be able to pass. Alongside of the vehicles sand bags were stacked and 50 caliber machine guns were placed at the far ends to allow for a cross fire pattern.

Captain Sessions
asked Tommy, “Can you set up a sniper position on the top of the high and dry boat building? It is about 50 feet high and should give you a good view.”

Tommy said,
“Great, I will get the Cobb 50 and the 308 rifle up there ASAP. Dad can be my spotter.”

“
Good idea,” I replied.

Sessions told us not to shoot until he gave the order over the radio. This defens
ive spot on the building with the Cobb 50 would allow us to kill anyone within 1000 yards. The enemy would have no place to hide on the narrow roadway; it could be a blood bath. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when the shooting started.

Tommy and I quickly
scrambled up the ladder to the top of the 50-foot roof of the high and dry building. We asked some Rangers to help us bring up about 20 sand bags for protection and as a shooting platform. We piled the sand bags about two high in one row, leaving a small open space for us to place our rifles, acting as a shooting window. We would be lying on the roof so we needed blankets put down because the roof was so hot.

W
hen we were ready Tommy radioed to Captain Session, “Captain Sir we are all set on the rooftop.”

Sessions
answered, “Ok remember; do not fire until I give you the order to do so. Also, from now on maintain radio silence as the enemy may be listening.”

“Yes
Sir I copy,” Tommy replied.

I admit I was nervous but also confident that we could defeat 100 Feds with our Rangers and defensive positions. Still I did not want anyone to be killed or hurt in the exchange.
Once the shooting starts you are not nervous or worried, you become focused only on killing the enemy.

That
’s what it was like a few days ago fighting the gang at the bridges. We didn’t have the full force of the Rangers then and I was worried. I must admit, I was also a little scared until the shooting started. Of course I fired the first shot, but once I decided to kill Big Jim, I was ready to do it. My countless hours of training, shooting and practice made me positive I would win a gun battle against any untrained puss bags.

As Tommy and
I lay on the roof I told him, “Son, I am proud of you.”

“Thanks
Dad you taught me everything I know. I remember the first time you took me shooting when I was ten years old. That was a thrill.”

“
I’ve noticed little Shanda and Kendra are playing together a lot. I think Shanda is going to be fine. She also knows the kids who where slaves so they all are friends and spend time together.”

Kendra
is my ten-year-old granddaughter and I would give my life for her. At least now Kendra could play with kids her age.

“Tommy,
I’d bet a lot of little kids out there need help, need a home and food. I am going to make that my mission, to search for them all over the city, when things calm down, and bring them here.”

“That
sounds good count me in on that.” 

Our
conversation was interrupted when Ron, Robbie and Eddy showed up on the roof. They brought us water and a snack. It was now 11 am and the sun was getting hot. I wanted off of the hot roof as we had no shade.

Robbie
asked me, “What can I do to help? I need to do something; the Rangers don’t want any of us near the front line.”

Robbie
thought he was invincible and nothing could hurt him. That kind of thinking will get you killed, sooner or later.

I told everyone, “
Just sit here and watch. We are the last defense if the Feds break our lines then we have to go down and back-up the Rangers. Tommy and I will be shooting from here if Sessions gives us the order. We have all put our lives on the line many times. Let’s not get killed now that the situation is improving.”

As we were
waiting and watching suddenly Gun Smoke and about 50 men started to quickly move down the road toward the building that we cleared. I wondered what Turner and Sessions had up their sleeves.

Robbie
asked, “What the hell are they doing?”

I
replied, “I don’t know but it seems to me they are going to spring a trap on the Feds.”

Then it occurred to me that they were going to hide a force in or around the building
s and once the Feds passed them, they would be sandwiched between the two Ranger forces.

I said to
everyone, “Yeah, that’s it. Sessions is setting a trap.”

Robbie
announced, “I am going down there to see what is going on.”

About two more hours went by an
d the heat on the roof was overcoming us. We needed to find shade, so we went down the ladder and sat in the shadow of the building, leaving our sniper rifles on the roof.

Eddie said, “
I am going to find Robbie. I’ll be back soon. Ron you want to come along?”

“No
thanks Eddy. I‘ll stay here with my Bro.”

About two hours later w
e could hear the Feds coming down the road before we saw them. We scrambled back up the ladder to our positions. A scout motorcycle came zooming down the road and stopped about 600 yards from the tanks. The officer just sat there in the middle of the road looking through his binoculars. He was scouting us out to see what we had. He looked right at us as I was looking at him through my rifle scope. We were spotted. Part of being a good sniper is not being spotted, that is a number one no-no.

Tommy said,
“We need to change our location now that they’ve seen us. If they get closer and fire a 50-cal. machine gun at us we’re toast.”

I
replied, “I agree, but where are we going to go?”

“Let’s
move to the top floor of the condos on the other side of the road. I think we would have just as good a view, maybe even better.”

“
Ok, let’s go now before the shooting starts.”

Grabbing our gear we left the roof
top, found Captain Sessions, and told him the problem and what we were doing. He agreed with us. Tommy was right the view was better but the distance set us back another 50 yards meaning we could not shoot as far. We set up on the fourth floor in an empty corner room and opened the windows. At least we were out of the hot sun. I went into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and stood under it for five minutes with my all clothes on to cool off. I can’t take the sun like I once did. Ron and Tommy laughed at me.

It wasn’t long before the main column pulled up behind the cycle.
I could see five Hummers or HMMWVs, five new Grizzly APCs or armored personnel carriers, and three big trucks. A total of thirteen vehicles.

The
Hummer carries four men and a 50-cal. machine gun and also an M220 Tow missile system. They are fast and very dangerous. The Grizzly is a six-wheeled vehicle and has two 7.62 machine guns and can withstand any 50-caliber bullet. It is built for urban warfare and carries six troops. The trucks just carry men and supplies. Maybe they had a total of 120 men.

I was thinking they
were not a match for the Rangers with the three tanks. If they don’t surrender this would be a blood bath for sure.

The lead Hummer moved up
closer, past the cycle. It was coming up to the bridge and they were holding a white flag. I was thinking, n
ot another white flag.
The Hummer stopped about 100 feet from the Bradley. The man showing himself from the roof of the vehicle was speaking into a megaphone. Next to him was a 50 caliber mounted machine gun.

“I
am Captain Clinton of the Federal Police Force and we are here to enforce Presidential Executive Order 13603, which means the Government owns this property. You are hereby given notice to leave this island within 12 hours. If you do not leave we will remove you by force and you will be placed under arrest, subject to five or more years in prison.”

Colonel
Turner answered back using a loud speaker, “This is Colonel Turner of the United States Army, Special Forces 75th Ranger Regiment, 3
rd
Battalion, operating under Special Operations Command. This island is in control of the US Army and under our protection. Furthermore, we do not recognize Executive Order 13603 as a lawful order as it violates the US Constitution. We therefore are demanding you and your men surrender. Any man who surrenders must sign a pledge not to fight against the Military or enforce the Executive Order. They are free to go home or they can enlist in the Army.”

Clinton
blasted back, “You are not obeying the Presidential Order and you are in the military; that is treason Colonel Turner! Therefore, we must arrest you and your men. You leave me no other choice.”

“Captain
Clinton, evidently you have not heard what is going on. All the Special Forces of the Military have agreed not to follow order 13603 and we believe that the President is committing treason and we have a military arrest warrant out for him and his cabinet. The rest of the Military is standing down for the time being. Our other goal is to clean up the crime, gangs and terrorists, so citizens can resume living their lives. You and your Feds are running around confiscating property, guns, money and putting innocent people in jail. You violate the second amendment by taking their guns away while you let the scum roam and kill freely. Make no mistake; we will stop this and we will arrest the President and hold new elections.”

There was a long pause with no reply from Captain Clinton.

“Colonel Turner I have my orders and I must insist that you surrender this island, then you, and your men can leave; I will look the other way. We have no fight with the Army Rangers. I don't know if you are telling me the truth or not.
”
 

“
Captain believe me I am telling you the truth. I warn you, your small force is no match for my Rangers. We clearly have your forces out-gunned; please consider that many of your men will be killed. My Abrams tank could destroy your equipment and most of your troops with just three rounds. I must also warn you that you will not be able to leave here as you are surrounded and if you fight, it means military prison for all your men. I will give you one hour to discuss this with your men and surrender or we will open fire.”

I looked at my watch
; it was 2:30 pm. That meant the deadline given by Captain Sessions was 3:30 pm.

The fifty Range
rs and Gun Smoke, the Bradley fighting vehicle, came out from under cover and were now behind the Feds. They clearly had no way out. We all waited, wondering if Captain Clinton was nuts enough to attack the Ranger force. It was also clear to us that Captain Clinton was out of touch. He did not know what was going on in Washington D.C. He was a stooge for the President’s private Army called the FPF or Federal Police Force, or as I call them, the men in black. Hitler also had his own private Army called the SS and they also wore black. They did all the dirty work for Hitler and they were the worst scum on earth, lower than whale droppings at the bottom of the ocean. If the FPF was anything like the SS then they all needed to die.

Rumor has it the FPF took an oath to protect and defend the President and follow his orders only. There was nothing in the oath about the Constitution. My guess is these guys have been brain-washed and if they could, they would kill us all. I hate all of them with a passion.

Time was ticking down. As I looked at my watch again I saw it was 3:15 pm; in fifteen minutes the battle would start. I had a great seat, a box seat in the shade to watch our Rangers do their job. Looking down the road I could see the Feds were lining up their vehicles across the road in two rows, five in each row. The Fed troops were in between the two rows of vehicles. All of a sudden one of their Hummers fired a missile at the Abrams. Then, all hell broke loose!

The
missile hit the protective sand bags in front of the Abrams, blowing them to smithereens but also killing some of the Rangers. With the smoke and sand flying, I could not tell how many were killed. The Abrams fired the big 120 mm cannon at the Hummer that shot the missile. It promptly blew up into a big lump of burning metal.

KABOOM
! Another round fired by the Iron Maiden hit another Hummer. The Bradleys were firing the 25 mm cannons in rapid succession. The Feds started firing the big machine guns and the 50-caliber bullets were flying all over the place. If one of these rounds missed their target it could fly a mile or more, so I hoped none of our people were standing too close behind the lines.