Contract Free Arulco: The Bitch Must Die!

DAY 21: Drassen

“GUS WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?”

“Woody, Woody, Woody. Calm down there girl.”

“Fuck you Gus, this mickey-mouse shit needs to stop.”

“What mickey-mouse Woody?”

“Don’t play dumb with me Gus. You said that Grunty was coming in to Arulco to replace Dimitri, but he never showed. Instead you sent him to Chitzena. YOU sent him. Not me.”

“Chitzena had been hit by the army again Woody. Hit hard. The northern militia was down to less than 50%, the rate you are moving, it would have taken you a week just to get to there to shore up the defenses. I directed Grunty there as a precaution.”

“Bullshit Gus. Kilroy’s squad got there yesterday.”

“Right, just in time for the next Army attack. Two more militiamen were lost in that battle and that was with Kilroy’s squad there. They should have been there on the 18th. They took too long finding Skyrider. “

“They took that long because you didn’t tell us where he was! YOU KNEW WHERE HE WAS AND YOU DIDN’T TELL US! WHY THE FUCK NOT?”

“Leadership skill’s Woodrow. This is your first job in the field and you need to cut your teeth properly, not have everything handed to you on a silver platter.”

“Right, so Kilroy’s squad doesn’t find you man on the 17th and…”

“And they only searched two sectors, Woody. My dear old mum could search two sectors in a day and she is ninety-nine.”

“They were exhausted Gus. The Battle of Drassen took a lot out of them, they returned back to the airport to crash.”

“Which was a waste of time. They are soldiers; are they averse to getting their toes wet?”

“I disagree Gus. They had finished checking the swamps on the western side of Drassen and they stopped at the airport in route to finishing the search on the eastern side of Drassen; which by the way would have been very helpful in knowing that you guy was holed up in a shack on the eastern side of Drassen instead of you screaming on the phone that Kilroy’s squad had to hightail it to sector B15 because the army had just found your man. Do you know how lucky you and he was that Kilroy’s squad was already on their way to that sector?”

“With you guys, there is no luck involved Woody.”

“Did you take a laxative Gus? Because the explosive diarrhea coming out of your mouth sure does stink!”

“So did Skyrider brief you about the SAM sites?”

“You know he did. And?”

“I would feel if we had a sniper rifle. The two we have are with Kilroy and Terror.”

“Woody, Woody, Woody. Don’t you trust me?”

“Hell no Gus. Especially after those two morons showed up. What were you thinking?”

“Heh. Cheap labor Woody. Both of them have a couple of skills that you will find useful.”

“Enough with the putrid vomitous waste coming out of your mouth Gus. Have you seen these two? They are a hazard on the battlefield. They are one step away from causing my death. I can’t trust these two to hold up their end on the battlefield.”

“That is because you aren’t thinking straight Woody. If you can use Ira; you can use these two.”

“Even with Ira fucked in the head; I would take Ira over these two simpletons! What the fuck am I supposed to do with them? Have them walk in front of me as a bullet shield? If I would have been willing to do that, I would have the militia to join us on the march to Meduna.”

“These are strictly rear echelon folks Woody, not front liners. Yes, one is more timid than Mouse, that sweet little carpet muncher and the other is a vapor head who thinks his three incher is actually twelve inches; but like I said they have their uses. Use them as mules.”

”MULES? My left tit is stronger than that limp dick squeaky face!”

“Use them as mules and use them as trainers. Cambria is where you will get the most out of them because you can leave them right smack in the middle of Cambria pumping militia while you are doing the real work.”

“Those two clueless imbeciles? I could train all of Drassen before they got one squad trained!”

“That may be the case Woody, but once they get a bit of experience under their belt, you watch, I bet they surprise you.”

“I will be surprised if they don’t get themselves killed, me too for that matter.”

“Woody, you aren’t a pessimist, that isn’t in your nature. Where are the two love birds anyway? Hopefully they aren’t standing right next to them as you tell me how your really feel about them?”

“No, I sent them to the airport to pick up that package you sent me. What did you send anyway?”

“See, I told you Woody, they are already earning their keep as mules!”

“I sent them away because the sight of them confused me. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to put a gun to their useless head or mine!”

“Woody, Woody. You are making me worry about you. Don’t ole Gus take care of you? And here I wanted to surprise you with this mornings shipment.”

“What is in the care package Gus?”

“Well, some match grade ammo for your 7.62 NATA weapons, those MC51’s are dirt cheap but don’t have the range I would like. This should help. I also sent some armor upgrades; steel plates, medic kit and mechanic kit outfits and for you a Knights Armament Corp 25.”

“A sniper rifle?”

“That is right Woody. Another sniper rifle. So go be a good girl and take the Drassen SAM site.”

“Roger that, do I take Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum with me?”

“Yes, after you take the place let them train the militia there, that way you can move on to Cambria.”

“Should we wait until after the expected army reprisal to the SAM site comes before leaving the two morons out there making kissy-faces?”

“Absolutely, Woody. That is what they are there for; to be your militia trainers.”

“But Gus! Biff and Flo, the M.E.R.C. rejects? Aren’t you breaking a company by-law or something by hiring the competition?”

“Now don’t you go worrying your pretty head about that Woody, I got all the angles covered. Hell, AIM just might give me a bonus.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because somehow that doofus Speck roped in two mercs that are AIM quality first stringers. Speck has a business plan in place that is ultra protective of them. You can’t hire them until after you have spent a certain dollar figure on the scrubs like Biff. So I say we keep those two space-apes employed, hell, maybe even hire a third so that Speck would be willing to let his real money makers come play. Once they do, ole Gus will put the charm on so thick by the time I am done they will be offering to have my next illegitimate child. Them signing on to AIM will happen without them even thinking about it. The quicker Speck looses his real money makers the quicker he quits sallying the mercenary business with his presence.”

“Just how many illegitimate rug rats do you have?”

“Now Woody, don’t you think that is a bit of a personal question to ask there? I may not be much of a father Woody, but I provide for every single offshoot of my loins. You won’t find Gus Tarballs name on some Dead Beat Dads list.”

“Okay, okay, I ‘ka-pesh’. Back to Speck, is his presence really that bad for the biz Gus?”

“Woody. Take a look at those two losers he sent you.”

“Okay, I would concede the point but what does it say about your hiring them? Listen, I see them now. Man, what a girl that Biff is, since he has been in my sights he has fallen twice trying to impress that space case Flo. Anything else?”

“Nothing on my end Woody. Go get ‘em!”

“Will do. Out.”

Sara almost said ‘Woody Out’ but was able to stop herself at the last minute. She talked to Gus at least once every twelve hours and in each conversation he referred to her as Woody frequently. Looking at Biff trip yet again, Sara could only stand and shake her head. That man was going to get someone hurt. The fact that he was clueless to his own ineptitude made him that all the more deadly to Sara or her crew. Since the pull of weapons available had been steadily increasing, but the two of them would not be starting out with pistols like Sara and her crew did upon their arrival at Omerta. No, she would be giving her Mini-14 to Biff while Flo picked up Terror’s. Maybe between the two of them, somebody would be able to hit the broad side of a barn.

Since they finished last night training the last of the Drassen militia, Ira had been screaming they needed to go find the army. The fact that the army could be in bit of a shock since they had just lost a third of their manpower in Drassen could explain why they did not try to take Drassen again but Sara’s real fear was still the tanks. Gus understood that and came back yesterday with some mostly positive news. When Arulco went on the United Nations Human Rights Violator list when proof of the Arulcan Sex Slave’s came to light, the US had to quit selling their military surplus to the Queen. The sixteen M-60 Patton tanks she had previously purchased were slowly running out of parts. Gus said his informant, someone close to the Queen Gus said, and that the last three working tanks took part in the Omerta ‘cleansing’. Gus couldn’t get an exact figure of how many tanks were left but that between the fuel shortage embargo and the lack of parts none of them were mobile. That was the good news. The bad news was twofold: first, that their 90mm cannons still worked and their steel armor would easily stop anything Sara had to throw at them. Secondly, that the when it was determined that the tanks were on their last legs, the Queen had them parked through out Meduna. Meduna suddenly became that much tougher of a nut to crack.

Kilroy’s squad had dispatched a patrol on the road junction to San Mona but not before Gillie was knocked immobile by a tear gas grenade. The soldier proved that his genes needed to be stopped from multiplying when he ran into the gas cloud to fire on Gillie and was in turned immobilized himself. Kilroy picked up his own shotgun to finish him off. In San Mona they sold what weapons they could carry to Tony, who had both of his pets servicing him while they were conducting their business. To add more excitement on their trip to meet up with Grunty in Chitzena, they were attacked by bloodcats; Kilroy relayed that Sierra’s directive that everyone carried a fast firing pistol or SMG loaded with glaser or hollow point bullets paid dividends there.

When the army attacked what they thought was a severely weakened northern Chitzena militia, Kilroy reported that their presence alone might have been the cause because after the militia lost two of their own to the army’s initial thrust, they fought like devil dogs with Kilroy’s crew just adding to their vicious response. Gillie by that time had recovered from the massive 12 guage slug that had penetrated his armor. After hearing about the injury and how it could possibly delay Kilroy’s crew in getting to Chitzena, Gus ordered that the drug Regen be given to Gillie. The drug did its job but they still had to stop twice for Gillie to rest before arriving in Chitzena proper.

Gus had changed his standing orders; prior to arriving in Arulco, Gus had told of the horrors of Regen and how they should use it as a last recourse. Now he said that he was ordering a large supply of it and that they should use it to help speed their recovery time. Sara tried to argue against the change but Gus was adamant.

By this time Sierra’s crew had found the Drassen SAM site and after a protracted gun fight where Sierra had failed to spot the army’s counter-sniper before Big Al was sniped. As she took aim at the sniper, she was surprised to see the sniper was in turn killed by someone other than her. After a process of elimination, Sierra was startled to realize that is was Flo that had killed the sniper and one other soldier who had rushed Robber’s position. Maybe she could leave them in charge of training the militia and be able to sleep at night. Maybe, but she was going to stay until the first squad was trained. And to give Big Al some time to rest up and heal from the light wound he took.

Kilroy stated that they were almost done reinforcing Chitzena and asked what their next assignment was. Sierra was seriously debating sending them to take out the Chitzena SAM site that Skyrider had told them about. Could just the four of them take out a SAM site?