Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) (17 page)

   Nate ended the argument by dashing over to the cross and
beginning to climb up it. Derek gave him a brief nod of respect and began
setting the charges. He set three on the towers legs and one on the reactor
building. That way if the reactor didn’t blow the tower would still come down.
It was also likely the Collective would attempt to disarm the reactor charge
first since it was the most critical. Hopefully it would be enough.

   As Derek was setting the charges, Rora started laying out
the ropes and harnesses for their descent. Using the supplied gun, she fired
pitons into the rock to anchor the ropes. She glanced up to see Nate
silhouetted on the cross beam of the cross by the light of the rising sun. He
had secured himself to the cross with a harness and rope and unslung his rifle.
He raised the rifle and took careful aim. The sudden crack of the large caliber
rifle spurred Rora into faster action.

   She set the ropes and put on the harness. She attached
the carabiner and waited for Derek with his harness in her hand. He finished up
and sprinted towards her as Nate’s rifle fired twice more. She couldn’t see
what he was shooting at, but based on his frantic hand gestures they needed to
hurry up and leave. Derek reached her and jumped into his harness as an armored
car roared up onto the summit followed by a squad of drones led by a Humek.

   The Humek’s silver armor was shattered by a shot from
Nate’s rifle. The large round smashed through front and back and splattered the
ground with the black fluids from the Humek’s body. It collapsed and the drones
paused momentarily. Nate took advantage to unload the rest of his clip into the
frozen drones. They fell as he displayed remarkable marksmanship with one shot
felling each.  He reloaded as the armor car brought its machine gun to bear on
the cross.

   “We have to go!” Derek shouted at Rora and then dragged
her towards the cliff edge.

   He jumped off and she blindly followed. As she sailed off
the cliff, she could see the cross explode into pieces as the machine gun
chewed it up. Her last view of Nate was him hanging from the cross still firing
as blood poured from a dozen wounds. His sacrifice was heroic and she hoped
that the Boise Free Staters could appreciate what he had done. Now they just
had to survive long enough to detonate the explosives and bring down the tower.

   All other thoughts were lost as they free fell down the
side of the mountain. She screamed as the ground seemed to rush up at them. The
descenders caught suddenly and they were wrenched sideways as the ropes
tightened.  Rora desperately stuck her feet out to cushion the impact with the
approaching rock wall, but she struck hard and was momentarily stunned. Through
her blurred vision she saw Derek fire another piton into a crevice and anchor
himself. He swung over and grabbed hold of her.

   Then he pressed the detonator and she felt the initial
explosions go off. After a brief pause, the sky went white and the mountain
shook violently. The heat and sound from the explosion washed over them like a
physical wave and smashed them down. Their ropes went slack and she saw the
burnt ends go whistling past as they came free of the mountain. Burning debris,
rocks, and pieces of scrap metal fell all around them as they hung on the side
of the mountain. A large piece of the array dropped past them with a loud
screech and crashed down onto the base of the mountain to explode into a
burning pile of scrap.

   When the rain of debris ended and Rora got her bearings
again she realized they were hanging about halfway down the mountainside. Derek
quickly hooked her harness to the rope he had secured and pointed downwards.
She nodded and descended as quickly as she could. He followed right behind her.
She saw a UAV fly over the site and circle around, but it seemed uninterested
in them. But just in case, as soon as she got to the bottom she scrambled under
cover. Derek joined her a few seconds later.

   From their vantage point, they could see that a large
part of the mountain top had been blown off and everything on it had been
destroyed. The mission had been a success, but they had lost Nate. Hopefully
his sacrifice wasn’t in vain and the militia could press the advantage to drive
the Collective out of the city. Now they needed to get back to the militia base
and collect their reward.

   “Come on!” Derek ordered and took off running.

   Rora followed close behind. Derek slowed to let her pass
him, letting her lead since she had memorized the route they took to get to the
mountain.  She led them back the way they came. Along the way they encountered
only one patrol. The drones were continuing to maintain the same patrol route
they had taken before; they always followed the last order given until they
started to go crazy. Their Humek commander was nowhere in sight and it was
likely the loss of the connection provided by the tower had confused him.

   “Ignore them.” Derek whispered to her. “It’s not our
mission to take out Collective forces. We need to get back to the base, collect
our prize and get out of here.”

   Rora nodded and they hurried past the mindless drones.
They encountered the cyborg commander a short time later. He was slumped lifeless
over a pile of rubble, black fluid coming from his ears. Derek put one in the
Humek’s head just to be sure and grabbed the cyborg’s pulse rifle.

   “I always wanted one of these.” He said with a smile.

   Rora grinned back and they raced back to the hidden exit.
Without the gear, ropes, and explosives they were able to make good time. They
only had stop briefly for her to catch her breath before they made it to the
ruined library. As they arrived they could hear increasing gunfire and rocket
fire in the distance. The militia was making their move and counterattacking
the stunned Collective besiegers.

   Bill was waiting for them inside the ruins of the
library. He emerged from the shadows with a big smile on his face. The smile
dimmed as he realized Nate wasn’t with them. He waited a moment to see if Nate
was just behind them, and then he frowned.

   “Where’s Nate?” He demanded.

   “He stayed behind to make sure the Collective couldn’t
disarm the charges.” Derek informed him regretfully. “He sacrificed himself for
you.”

   Bill shook his head sadly. “The kid lost everything to
them. All he had left was revenge. Maybe it’s better he went out a hero rather
than becoming bitter and withdrawn.”

   “Just remember his sacrifice and drive the Collective
out.” Rora added softly.

   “We will.” The militia leader insisted. “The mission is
already a huge success. The Humeks were completely stunned and some of them
killed when the tower blew. Dr. Baikul thinks it was some sort of feedback that
surged through their connection and fried their brains. And the drones are just
mindlessly following their last orders. The only threat are the Unmanned Combat
Vehicles, they still have threat assessment programs running. But without the
drones to cover them, we haven’t had too much trouble knocking them out with
rocket fire.”

   “That’s great.” Derek agreed. “Now take us to our
prisoner.”

  “Right…” Bill said without enthusiasm. “This way.”

   Rora and Derek followed him back into the warren of
tunnels under the city. They shared a look that showed both thought something
was up based on the militia leader’s reaction. But they held their tongues and
waited until they were brought back to the same basement as before. Dr. Baikul
stood there with her two bodyguards, who looked very tense and had their rifles
at the ready. Dr. Baikul also looked nervous, but she faced them eye to eye as
Derek and Rora approached.

   “Where is our prisoner?” Derek demanded as they realized
he wasn’t there.

   “Sorry about that Major. We appreciate you help, but we
don’t have the prisoner anymore.” Dr. Baikul said cautiously.

   “WHAT?” Derek exploded. “We nearly get killed saving all
your butts and you can’t deliver on your side of the bargain?”

   “We really didn’t have much choice.” Dr. Baikul started.

   “Where. Is. He?” Derek shouted angrily, causing the
bodyguards to point their weapons at him.

   “We gave him to the U.S.T.G.” Dr. Baikul said in a rush.
“They gave us three Stryker ICVs and cases of M82 LAWs in exchange. We
desperately need the weapons. There are still Collective forces active in the
city, and once we get rid of those we don’t know when more might come back.”

   “When did they leave?” Rora asked, placing a hand on
Derek’s shoulder to calm him.

   “Five minutes ago.” Dr. Baikul replied.

   “Where are they going?” Rora pressed.

   “To the airport. They flew in on a modified C17 Globemaster
cargo plane.” Bill interjected.

   “We’ll never catch them now; we don’t have a vehicle or a
ride.” Derek stated angrily.

   “It just so happens that there is a truck outside for
you, the prisoner’s private jet is on the runway, and the U.S.T.G. troops are
being taken the long way to the airport.” Bill replied slyly.

September 7, 2029

Near Boise Airport, Boise, Idaho

   The ride back to the airport seemed to be taking a lot
longer than the ride in, Tom thought to himself. The building ruins all the
looked the same so it was hard to tell, but he didn’t remember passing a ruined
mall on the way in. The ride in had been under fire which added to the
confusion, but the longer the return trip took, the more he was getting
concerned.

   “Hey, what’s taking so long?” He called up to the driver.

   The militia had provided a large SUV technical and driver
for their ride back to the airport. On the ride in Tom and five of the six
surviving members of his squad had driven one of the Stryker ICVs. They had
even managed to win bonus points by taking out two of the Collective UCVs. The
exchange had been simple, deliver the three Strykers and the LAWs and the
militia would give them the hacker. Luckily the Boise Free Staters were so
desperate for help they agreed to the exchange without any negotiating. They
had handed over the prisoner and whisked the Red Berets out the door. But now
they had been driving through the city for fifteen minutes. There was no way
the airport was that far.

   “The roads are blocked from the increased fighting. We
had to take a detour.” The man called back nervously.

   “What increased fighting?” Tom asked.

   “Uh, we launched a bunch of attacks because the
Collective forces are, um, distracted.” The driver replied haltingly.

   “I don’t remember any distractions being mentioned.” Tom
pointed out.

   “I wouldn’t know anything about that.” The man answered
evasively.

   Tom gave Sasha a look and a nod and she burst forward
onto the driver. She had his throat slit and the vehicle stopped before he knew
what happened. She thrust his body out of the SUV and slid over so Valderra
could take the wheel. He consulted his GPS and turned back to address his
commanding officer.

   “Sir, he was taking us on a roundabout route to the
airport. We should have been there ten minutes ago.” Valderra informed Tom.

   “I knew it was too easy.” Tom snarled. “Get us to the
airport ASAP. Don’t stop for anything. Jamal get up on that gun, I think the
airport might be hot when we get there.”

   The Free Staters would regret double crossing them, Tom
growled to himself. They may not have the Stryker anymore, but his team was
heavily armed and more than capable of taking care of themselves. The minigun
on the roof that Jamal was now manning was still a big deterrent. Fortunately,
he had taken the precaution of locking out the Strykers’ controls. The militia
wouldn’t be able to bypass that until they were long gone.

   This mission had to succeed. If he didn’t get the hacker
back to headquarters then his career was over for sure. He would be lucky to
not be sent to the Abyss, the notorious prison for political prisoners and
maximum security threats that no one ever came back from. General Ross had
warned him after the debacle at the village in Colorado; this was his last
chance. The General couldn’t protect him anymore if he failed here.

   Tom had been undergoing a difficult debrief when the call
had come in. The Boise Free State had the hacker, although they didn’t know who
he was. They had heard the U.S.T.G. was looking for someone with that general
description and wanted to know if they could make a trade. They were desperate
for help, but hadn’t been willing to join the U.S.T.G. Tom knew that rankled
his superiors, but Boise was too far away right now to just go and take it.
Plus it was surrounded by the Collective.

   If these distractions led to the defeat of the Collective
forces around Boise then the U.S.T.G. might make a move towards the city in the
future. That was why, in addition to the lockout, the military had added kill
switches to the Strykers before shipping them. They didn’t want their own
equipment used against them. Combat vehicles were in short supply because of
the war with the C.C.A. The factories were gearing up to churn more out, but
their losses had been higher than projected.

    The C.C.A. forces had proved more resilient and
determined than expected. They had dug into the ruins of Louisville and fought
to the last man. That had allowed reinforcements to dig in at Bowling Green,
Kentucky. They had built impressive fortifications and mined their flanks. The
main route to Nashville flowed through Bowling Green, so they had to take it. Ground
forces were massing to take the city, but they were waiting until air
superiority was gained. Once the skies were cleared then the tanks and IFVs
would smash the defenders.

   A brutal air war was being fought over the city between
remnants of the Ninth Air Force and 125
^th
Fighter Wing, based out of
Georgia and Florida, and the newly restructured U.S.T.G. 1
^st
, 2
^nd
,
and 3
^rd
Air Wings. The battle so far had been fairly even, but the
U.S.T.G. had more planes to throw into the fight. Eventually they would
overwhelm the C.C.A. air force. Unfortunately the delay just allowed the C.C.A.
forces to get further dug in. The Battle for Bowling Green was going to be costly.

   The war reports that flowed out to the public already
were touting the elevation to ace of six U.S.T.G. pilots. But he had heard
privately that the losses were heavy. One of the wings had already lost fifty
percent of their planes. The C.C.A. forces were fighting to defend their
families and homes and were almost fanatical in their defense. The rumor was
that when they ran out of missiles and ammo they were resorting to ramming the
opposing jets. Tom was worried that the battle might prove Pyrrhic and leave
them open to attack by another enemy, like the Collective.

   That said, the U.S.T.G. was the rightful government and
all treason must be crushed. The full might of the military would soon be
brought to bear on the traitors in the south and they would be crushed. The
breakaway cities would be brought back into the union and the government could
get back to the task of reunifying the nation. Texas would come to their senses
once they saw the fate of the C.C.A. They were already on the fence as it was.

   He was snapped out of his thoughts by a cry from Jamal.
Tom looked around to see they had entered the airport grounds. He was amazed
that they hadn’t encountered any Collective forces along the way, but maybe
they were disorganized and distracted. Their modified C17 was on the runway in
front of them. All they had to do was drive the technical up the ramp in the
back and then take off. The flight in had been rough; UAVs had intercepted them
just outside of Boise, but their escorts had shot them down. Those escorts had
been recalled to join the fight over Bowling Green, so their flight out might
get hairy.

   Fortunately, their cargo plane was equipped with state of
the art jamming, flares, and chaff dispensers. Once they cleared Boise airspace
they should be safe. They just needed to evade or destroy whatever ambush the
militia had set for them. Tom kept his eyes open as they rolled across the
runway, but he didn’t see any obvious threats. Saad was on top of the plane in
an over watch position and he hadn’t reported anything either. Just as he
thought that his radio popped to life.

   “Unknown technical entering the airfield behind you at
your five o’clock.” Saad reported.

   Tom and the others quickly looked in that direction and
saw the oncoming vehicle. It was a lightly armored pickup truck with a machine
gun mounted on the back. It looked like one person driving and one manning the
machine gun. The gunner opened fire as soon as they were in range, and the
rounds bounced off the armored SUV.

   “It’s Storm!” Saad yelled incredulously into the comm.

   Angry yelling filled the SUV and Tom fought back his
anger. What was it with this guy? He was like Tom’s personal demon that showed
up to thwart him at every turn. This time, Tom had the prize and he didn’t need
to fight Storm to get his reward. Time to play it smart for once.

   “Get this thing onto the plane!” He ordered. “We don’t
have time to mess around with Storm.”

   The others started to argue, but he cut them off. “Shoot
at him while we are heading to the plane. Maybe we get lucky and kill him, but
the hacker is our primary mission.”

  The hacker looked like he was going to say something, but
the gag in his mouth prevented that. Prevented from speaking, he settled on an
angry pout. Tom ignored him and focused on the rapidly approaching technical.
Storm’s vehicle was lighter and a little faster. It would catch them as they
got to the plane. Jamal’s weapon only had a forward firing arc and was useless
on a pursuing enemy. The pursuing technical’s machine gun had the possibility
of doing severe damage to the plane, preventing their takeoff.

  Bullets were sparking off the pickup’s armor as the Red
Berets opened fire with their carbines. But they weren’t doing any real damage.
The armored windshield protected the driver and the machine gun had a metal
shield welded around it that provided protection for the gunner, Storm. The
driver must be that pesky girl that was always with him. They needed to stop
Storm before he got close enough to damage the plane.

   “Shoot for the tires!” Tom ordered angrily. “We have to
stop him before he can shoot the plane.”

   His troops shifted their fire and started aiming
everything at the tires on the pickup. The tires weren’t solid rubber, but it
looked like they had been filled with Vaseline. A common trick to prevent
punctures from deflating the tires. That would have worked for a nail or screw
or single gunshot, but the volume of fire from the Red Berets blew the front
tires apart in a spray of petroleum and rubber. The pickup’s front wheels
disappeared and the rims struck down onto the tarmac. Sparks flew and the truck
swerved wildly, almost throwing Storm out.

   To her credit, the girl regained control and maintained
the pursuit. They must really want the hacker badly to continue so doggedly.
What had this guy taken that everyone wanted him so badly? Tom also wondered
why the man was in Boise, but it didn’t pay to delve too deep into national
security matters. The spooks might want to take his head apart to see what was
in there if he learned too much. Better to just follow orders and just deliver
the package.

   Their SUV pulled away from the now slow moving pickup and
the Red Berets gave a little cheer for their minor victory over their nemesis.
Tom didn’t celebrate. Storm was an incredibly dangerous and resourceful foe. He
wouldn’t stop just because of a flat tire. Tom wouldn’t be happy until they got
the hacker to headquarters and the GIA took him off of Tom’s hands.

   They roared up into the plane, Valderra skidding to a
halt in perfect position to lock the vehicle down. The crew scrambled to lock
down the SUV and Saad shimmied down into the plane. Templeton and Jamal dragged
their prisoner out of the vehicle and up to the passenger section of the plane.
They chained him to his seat as the plane began to taxi. Templeton had called
ahead to the plane and had them warm up the engines before they got there.

   Tom heard bullet impacts on the rear of the plane as they
took off. He glanced out the window to see Storm firing futilely at the
escaping plane from the now disabled pickup. He smiled inwardly as he pictured
Storm’s frustration. It did feel good to win one for once. They quickly moved
beyond the range of the machine gun and began gaining altitude. Tom sat back
and closed his eyes; a few hours of shuteye wouldn’t hurt. But he was soon
rocked awake as the plane suddenly shifted course.

    “What’s going on?” He demanded over the comm.

   “Sir, we picked up an unidentified flying object entering
Boise airspace.” The co-pilot informed him. “We changed course to take us
directly away from it.”

   “Is it a UAV?” Tom asked.

   “Negative sir. It is flying to fast and is too small to
be a UAV. Based on the return it is man sized…That can’t be right.” The
co-pilot responded.

   “How close is it?” Tom snapped impatiently.

   “Three klicks away and closing fast. It’s going Mach 6…”
The co-pilot responded breathlessly.

   “Where is it?” Tom demanded as he moved to a window.

   “Seven o’clock!” The co-pilot practically yelled.

   Everyone scrambled to the windows to see what was closing
on them. The object was well within visual range, but it was obscured by the
air it was displacing in front of it. Even though it was blurry, Tom had to
agree it looked like a man in a silver metal suit. He didn’t know what kind of
super weapon the Collective might have cooked up, but he didn’t want to find
out.

   “Take evasive maneuvers! Get us out of here!” He screamed
to the pilots.

   “We can’t it’s moving too fast and it’s too close!” The
pilot screamed back.

   Everyone on board tried not to panic as the object got
closer. Just when they thought it was going to strike them, the object suddenly
changed course and descended rapidly downward. The object struck the ground
with incredible force causing a mini-earthquake. They could all see the ground
ripple outward from the impact point. When the dust cleared, they could see the
object clearly through their binoculars or scopes. It was a man encased
completely in silver metal. He seemed unaffected by the impact and strode out
of the crater firing pulse bolts from his hands.

   The metal man dropped out of sight as they gained
altitude and cleared the cloud cover. They all sat down, shocked by what they
had seen. No one spoke for a minute as they digested everything. Templeton
overcame his shock and spoke first.

   “What WAS that thing?” He asked in disbelief.

   “I don’t know, but I’m glad we didn’t have to deal with
it.” Jamal replied adamantly. “It’s Storm’s problem now.”