Contract Free Arulco: The Bitch Must Die!

Day 42: Road South of Estoni

“They are here!” Was quickly married with, “Scope is here!”

Sara did not join in the merriment. Sara was tired. Tired of Arulco, the heat, the rain and mugginess; tired of the killing. She was glad that she didn’t do anything as macabre keeping a notch on the stock of her Knight SR-25 because surely by now that stock would be full and she would need to start on scratching on a second SR-25.

Sara also wasn’t happy to see Scope. She was happy to see Sheila, alive and in person, but from the clipped conversations they had on the satellite phone she knew that she didn’t like what Sheila was going to say; especially since Sheila wanted to say it in person.

Sara watched Kara stand and walk towards the arriving Ice Cream truck. Seeing her Nordic brother in arm, sister, Sara was startled about how gaunt she looked. Like many Europeans who weren’t as lazy and gluttonous as Statesmen from the United States were, Kara was naturally on the thin side. Their life in Arulco accented that thinness; their lack of sleep and diet consisting of protein bars and rations, supplemented with the odd native cooked meal did nothing for the mercenaries to keep any of the excess body fat they may of arrived with. Sara recognized that Kara was still pretty but also understood that if she lost much more weight, the models from Paris and Milan would be extremely jealous of her skeleton look.

Sheila smiled as she exited the front passenger seat of the Ice Cream truck; she understood how much of an impact on morale her presence was, at least for the original crew she had left in Arulco. Like MacArthur, she promised to return and she had. Unlike MacArthur, she did not feel relief upon her arrival to the cesspool that made up Arulco. She was here to finish the job that her lover failed at.

She did not let the ragged look of the mercenaries phase her; she had been in a war zone before and knew how prolonged exposure to a war zone affected the human body.

As she greeted those who wanted to meet with her, she made her way to the one person that she needed to talk to the most.

Her lilting British accent could add to the impact of her presence, “Sara, you look as good as can be expected considering your situation. I think you have done a fine job.”

Sara looked up at the female that just over a month ago she thought so highly of, “Scope. Have you come to take control over the operation?”

Squatting in front of the lounging Sara, Sheila kept her face completely neutral, “No.” Sheila paused, not taking her eyes off of the young Californian, “I have not. That will still be your job or if you feel other wise, Kilroy’s.”

Sara couldn’t help but smirk at the veteran from AIM’s response before she looked at Kara who stood near bye, silently, with her H&K PSG-1 Sniper rifle hanging heavy her hands. Sara thought about how efficient Kilroy was. Her whole demeanor screamed efficiency. She would be up for the job, Sara knew that. But then Sara thought about Kara’s background. She had trained for years and years to be an Olympic athlete for Sweden. Years. Those years made her a crack shot with the sniper rifle, none was better, Sara smiled as she thought that with the sniper rifle, Kara may have been even better than Sheila was and Sheila was phenomenal with a firearm, any firearm.

Looking internally, Sara thought about her time at the Gun Club. She was good with firearms but Sheila and Kara were definitely better. But firing a gun was not Sara’s only strong suit. Her credentials as a teacher spoke for themselves but it was Sara’s memories of all of the field trips that she planned and supervised; the outings to the museum and parks as she guided and led unruly children and students. That experience laid the ground work for her to succeed as a leader.

Looking back at Sheila, Sara shook her head, “No, that won’t be necessary. I am here and I will continue to do the job.”

Sheila’s poker face lifted immediately, “Wonderful. I knew Gus picked right when he slotted you as the leader of this operation.”

Kara understood what was being said but didn’t understand why, “Sheila, why aren’t you taking command? You started in command; I know that Sara wishes that you would.”

Sheila’s poker face returned, “Because I think Gus is dead.”

Calm and calculating, “But we don’t know that Sheila, the Army has never taken a body off of the battlefield before.”

Nodding her head in agreement, “But there hasn’t been a Gus Tarballs lying out on the field either. He is a known entity around here. The Queen went ballistic when she found out that he had returned to Arulco.” Sheila looked from Kara back to Sara, “Look, I know almost everything that Gus knew but I am not Gus and so I am having issues coordinating everything and I am have not been able to get in contact with Gus’s informant in the Palace.”

“So what is the plan then?”

“Well, it is obvious that you guys can’t last another month out here, so taking every last bastion of the Queen before you take the Queen is not in our favor. But the Queen has significant resources in material and men outside of Meduna.” Both sisters in arms nodded their head in agreement. “I think Gus hit on something with the independent guerilla cells roaming the countryside. So I want the two of you to go straight for the tigers jaw and take Meduna. While you are doing that, I am going to go back to Cambria with Ice and the two of us will concentrate on training more independent cells.”

At the mention of Ice, Sara jerked her head towards the Ice Cream truck, sure enough, there was the young hip AIM mercenary, leaning against the truck talking with Tara. Sara wasn’t at all surprised to see Tara zero her sights in on the brash mercenary.

Looking back at Sheila, “But I have read his dossier, he is an auto weapons specialist! Someone who would really be helpful in taking Meduna!”

“I agree but he is also has experience as a military trainer. That skill will help me get more independent cells out in the field, running interference for you guys down here.”

“But if you want a good trainer, then take Ira, the natives love her. I have never seen someone competently push even the dumbest of rocks through a course the way Ira does the Militia training. I personally use her training model but I will be the first to admit I am no where as good as she is.”

Kara spoke to refresh Sara about their local New Yorker, “But Sara, Ira WON’T stay back and train, even if that is where she would be best utilized. She wants to be on the forefront of the battle. She wants to kill the Queen by her own hands.”

Sara shrugged, “So, there is a line a mile long with everyone shoving to be in front to whack the bitch.”

Sheila agreed, “Which is why Ira will not stay back. She is shoving the most to be in the front. If I took her back to Cambria with me, she might stay for a day or two and then she would rush to catch up with you.”

“Okay if not Ira than who?”

Sheila looked at her two Squad commanders as she mentally ticked off each member in their squads. Ira and Maddog were definitely out. Robber was better with automatics than Ice, though his FAMAS G2 did chew through a prodigious amount of ammo. MD was needed as a Field Medic. Big Al helped keep all of their weapons and more importantly their armor is top shape, an advantage that quickly became apparent from what the Queen’s Army was fielding; his secondary skill set of heavy weapons training, specifically the 60mm Mortar was going to make his necessity paramount. Hamous was an option but the Metaverian was only an average soldier and definitely more of a follower vice leader.

Gillie was another possibility but Sheila knew more than what she had told the two Squad Leaders and knew that his stealth expertise would be very beneficial in a specific mission she had planned once they got to the Palace. Tara was out because Sheila didn’t think any of her trainees would want to graduate once they understood that Tara was going to fuck them the entire time she was training them. Gus was so proud of Tara. Grunty was needed to take over the Milkor Grenade Launcher from Big Al and Igor definitely took after his deceased Uncle, he was a killing machine with his Vintorez Silenced Sniper Auto-Rifle.

Shaking her head, “No, Ice will stay back with me as a reserve in country, training. Red and Dynamo will continue the supply runs.”

Kara cocked her head to the side, “What about Shank?”

Sheila spat, “The wanker turned out to be a first class pratt, once Red got them to San Mona, he absconded into the darkness. He took with him a tricked out HK 23E that Dynamo was preparing for Robber.”

Tara nodded slightly while Sara agreed thinking that she wouldn’t be surprised in Shank showed up in Balime and ‘Rambo’d’ his parents house with the LMG, “Bound to happen. What is Red and Dynamo going to be up to while you and Ice are training?”

“The two of them will continue their supply runs. Tony has been missing for the last few days, but Gus said that was to be expected. Because they haven’t been able to sell anything, there is a huge cache of weapons stockpiled in that abandoned warehouse you guys have been using.” Moving on, “How are you kits setup? Gus was planning on ordering the new 6.8mm SPC ammo and weapons.”

Sara took the lead to answer, “Yeah, we talked about that, after Cambria was his plan but he never followed through and I was too busy trying to stay alive to remember to ask.”

“And material wise?” Sheila prompted.

“We are getting the most use out of the NATO 7.62mm ammo and some exotics like the Heavy 9mm. Those who don’t have a specific weapon are carrying a sniper rifle of some sort, mainly the M21 Tactical and another weapon as a PDW. MD actually handles the Beowulf pretty good, though he is down to about half the ammo found so far. Gillie has been doing okay with the HK G11, and refuses to switch it for a rifle with a longer reach.”

“Between Red and what I brought, you should be set ammo wise for the first stage into Meduna. The Ice Cream truck is laden with RPG ammo and a Commando Mortar. You have about six or seven rounds for the Commando and between here, San Mona and Drassen about twenty RPG rounds but only two RPG launchers. Also there is some more Reflex Red Dot’s for the upcoming urban battles.”

“Roger that.”

“Big Al is still toting the Milkor?”

That question made Sara chuckle, “Yeah, I think he is in love with it, I know he sleeps with it.”

“Well, it is time for him to get a divorce. Have him give the Milkor to Grunty because he is going to have to start lugging the Commando. And once you guys reach the city limits of Meduna, all those sniper rifles are going to become a liability. Better to switch out to battle rifles or even better assault rifles and SMG’s. But the NATO 5.56mm round isn’t going to be good enough for you. I will go ahead and order six of the 6.8mm assault rifles.

Pausing, “I want Robber to upgrade to a true LMG, if I can I will acquire him a French one, if not then he will have to fake that a Belgian one is a French one. Same with Maddog.”

“I don’t think Maddog will care were a weapon is made from. Just so long as it shoots and has a large supply of ammo.”

“Even better, I will make sure he has a LMG with box ammo instead of a C-Mag. Kara, if I can I will acquire another Vintorez, if not I want you to use the one Igor has and he can switch over to that AS VAL Robber has been carrying for a while now as a back up. It doesn’t matter; Igor’s main use will be a grenadier like Grunty. Make sure Grunty drops the HK for a SMG with AET ammo, they play havoc with the upper receivers but pound for pound, you can’t go wrong with the AET ammo.”

Both Squad Leaders nodded their understanding, “Okay it will take me a day or two for this to happen but I will give you some news that I hope you will appreciate. My squad will be walking back to Cambria; I am leaving the Ice Cream truck here with plenty of fuel. Your two squads, with the Hummer that Kara had the appropriate foresight to purchase, can now be considered a mechanized force. Use the vehicles to make lightning attacks and if things go badly to quickly pullout.”

Sheila could tell that this gesture was too little to late, “Shit, I would of given my left nut for those two vehicles a month ago.” Kara looked queerly at Sara after her remark.

Sheila trudged forward, “You didn’t have them then but you do now. Make the best of them.”

Kara raised her hand slightly as a question flashed in her mind, “Uhmm, excuse me but what is Red and Dynamo going to be doing while you are training? Training themselves? Dynamo is a legend around here, but I am not sure he is suitable to train the militia.”

“I concur, which is why the two of them are going to continue with their supply runs.”

Sara didn’t like that answer, “But there the two of them will be easy pickings, either from the Queen’s Army on patrol or the Bloodcats! Those damnable Bloodcats are everywhere! No matter how many we kill, there always seem more. They are not natural.”

Sheila gave Sara a matronly, comforting look, “You are quite right, they are not natural at all. They are bred that way by the Queen. Apparently she is very much an animal lover because she has an arena in the palace for her to watch the Bloodcats eat, in a sporting sort of way, whoever displeases her. She paid big money for a genetic company in California to manipulate the cats so they breed often. She definitely got her monies worth because the cat warden has to release two or three cats a day into the wild because they don’t have enough room for them at the palace. Her first cat warden was fed to the Bloodcats when Diedranna found out that he was euthanizing the excess litters.”

Sheila’s answer obviously moved Sara who looked shell-shocked, “That bitch.”

Kara continued Sara’s point of view, “Which is even more proof that Red and Dynamo will not be safe walking.”

Sheila winked at Kara, “They won’t be walking.”

“They won’t?”

“No, I have made an arrangement with Skyrider. He will be flying the two of them from Drassen to San Mona to Cambria at a discount price.”

“Why is he doing that?”

“Well for beginners, Gus had given him the impression that Sara here would have been utilizing his services more often than she had. In a month’s time, you have used him only four times. Also because I made him an offer that he felt hard to resist.” Sheila said no more and Tara did not ask.

Their small meeting soon broke up and the three leaders made motions to reorganize their forces. No one was surprised when Red started bitching about having to walk back to San Mona.

Sara decided to tell those that it applied to how their kits would be changing once they reached Meduna proper with Big Al the only one not commenting about his change of weapons. Sara liked to think that was because he knew that he would be the primary counter to the Queen’s tanks; the first of which, per Gus’s information was just two sectors south of their current position. Gus also provided the location of most of the tanks since they were essentially heavily armed and armored pillboxes which should make them very susceptible to the incoming arcing mortar fire that Big Al was to supply.

Sheila didn’t bring all good news. While the independent cells were still having success, mainly depending on whether or not the Army patrol they ambushed was manned by adult soldiers or the children warriors; they tended to lose the battles they fought against the man warriors, but the worst news was that the militia force that had planted itself next to Grumm and had been successfully beating all challengers simply vanished. There had been no news of a battle or wounded stranglers found. At last count there was over forty men, women and children in that force and no one had seen or heard from them in two days.

Sheila’s bad news didn’t reside just with the militia; she had news of the Army as well. Not only was Grumm well staffed but so was the road from Grumm to Meduna AND the countryside west of their current position. Sara did not care to hear this, she feared that there could be a force on her flank but she felt knowing was worst than fearing. At any moment the Army could attack them on two or even three flanks. Something that they had shown they were quite adept at and each time they did, Sara felt they were lucky to survive the Army’s onslaught.

When Sheila left with Ice, Red and Dynamo in tow, she felt confident that Sara was up to the task and that Gus’s untimely disappearance did not have much of an effect on the liberators of Arulco. Yes, she was sure that the Bitch in Meduna was going to get hers. She was on the satellite phone with Bobby Ray’s, not Bobby Ray himself, she was not Gus and did not rank that privilege, but the sales rep on the other end was more than willing to help accommodate her order.

Unfortunately, that meant the sales rep was haggling with her about the ammo she wanted to order. No, she did not want the B225 Ball ammo or the F547 Full Metal Jacket ammo for the 5.56mm NATO; she wanted the M797 Match Grade ammo. Robber was reluctant to switch from his beloved FAMAS G2 for a heavier Light Machine Gun but said he would if more of the Match Grade ammo was procured because he was adamant about the reliability of the more expensive ammo than he was of the cheaper made ammo. And he definitely did not want any more GLASER or Hollow Point Ammo. The last thing he wanted was to watch his rounds bounce off of the armor of his target. Sheila concurred and hence was arguing with the man from Bobby Ray’s that she wanted every last clip he had of the Match ammo.

She nearly bumped into Ice who was on point in front of her when he stopped with his left arm raised, his fist closed. As a bullet whipped by her left ear, she quickly realized that making a supply order on the march was not the smartest thing she had done since arriving back in Arulco.

Throwing herself to the deck as she thumbed the connection to Bobby Ray’s as the sales rep was talking in mid-sentence, she pulled out the M-21 Tactical Sniper Rifle that she had acquired after being dropped off by Skyrider. The M-21 was not like the polished and smooth working H&K PSG-1 that she preferred, but it was a very rugged weapon that was very suitable for the climes found in Arulco. She quickly lowered her eye to the Leopold 10x sniper scope and fired, striking the Army soldier squarely in the chest. From the way the man had been standing, she was sure that he had already been struck by one of her companions.

By the time Sheila was able to reacquire her target, another crack from the H&K 23E that Ice was wielding ended that soldiers threat to them.

“Scan for more!” She barked, unsure if they were facing a patrol or a stronger force maneuvering behind Sara to attack them from the rear.

Red his trusty M-1 Garand with Dynamo screaming his contact as he too fired the M-21 that he carried. Sheila turned away from the direction of their shots when she saw Ice move out of the corner of her eye; he was moving forward to flank their opponent but stopped short and fired a short burst while crouching screaming tango. Sheila was pleased that the female screams from receiving Ice’s gift screamed louder.

Since she could not see Ice’s target she switched back to Red and Dynamo’s but after two shots from Dynamo and three from Red, she saw their target crumple lifelessly. Moving up adjacent to Ice, she saw more of the same as his target finally succumbed to the barrage the 23E was capable of throwing.

Scanning for more targets of opportunity, she found none. Looking at Ice who gladly gave his opinion, “Recon Patrol. Light, should be one more man.”

While Ice could be wrong, she didn’t think so, the 10x power of her Leopold greatly extended her vision and she saw nothing moving. Looking over to Red and Dynamo who were waiting for her instruction, she ordered them forward on the left flank while Ice and her were to move up the right. Two minutes later, Dynamo let it be known that he saw something when he snap fired his M-21.

She could not see the target and thought Ice couldn’t since he rushed forward to the next clump of trees. Looking at Red who admitted with a shake of his head that he too could see nothing, she ordered him forward and across the road.

Dynamo’s M-21 sounded again and still Dynamo said nothing as he continued to chase his prey.

Looking at Ice who had moved faster and farther than she thought the heavily laden man could, she saw him signal that he had eyes on target but was not in range of the 23E. Looking back towards Red she saw that had crossed the road and was at the edge of the clump of trees there; from where Ice was indicating, Red should be able to see the fleeing recon soldier.

Red looked back and understood Sheila’s signal. With his back to the large fir, Red pivoted and quickly fired with his M-1. Sheila smiled as she heard a muffled scream of pain and thought she saw slight movement through the trees when Dynamo’s M-21 barked again followed quickly by his saying, “All clear”.

Ice was correct; the four dead soldiers were recon patrol from the Queen’s Army stationed between Meduna and Grumm. Sara would have to move fast. But not too fast.

Sheila ordered Sara to pull back one sector to wait for the supplies that Sheila was still trying to order. By pulling back one sector Skyrider would be able to drop the supplies from Drassen as well has giving Sara a buffer of one sector from the Army to the South. While Sara waited a day for the deliveries, she was going to have her squads prepare their defenses in case the Queen’s Army went on the offensive while they again rested and refitted their equipment.