Chapter Seventeen
Savanna on Fire
It was a bumpy landing and at one point the plane almost flipped over, as it was the plane would never fly again, which was a shame. The African savanna just wasn’t meant to land a jet on no matter how flat it was. Oh well, the jets had both been sacrificed for the mission, as Temple had pretty much wrecked his too.
The jets had more than served their purpose in life and earned their outrageous price tags, especially if our mission was a success today. Headlights lit up the dark, as two vehicles drove toward us out over the night across the savanna.
Friend or foe?
With relief I saw it was Flint and I lowered my gun. He got out of the Range Rover and pounded me on the back hard, “Welcome to the Serengeti little bro!”
“Yeah I love what they’ve done with the place.” It was my first time in Africa believe it or not. Some lion pride out there in the night was probably thinking what a good evening snack we would make right now.
“All right get in; it’s a four hour drive from here. We should get there about two a.m.” Flint said.
All four of us piled in after him and we took off across the bumpy plain hearing the night sounds of the savanna echo loudly around us.
Flint almost drove into a herd of elephants at one point. Now that would’ve been funny! But the four hours passed soon enough and we drove without headlights the last half-hour, as the great tower aglow with light loomed up from the African savanna ahead of us in the distance.
The tower’s purpose, while tall wasn’t to reach heaven, as its earlier counterpart’s purpose had been. Instead it was the place where the signal of the Code was updated and then amplified outward to form the virtual tower globally that had visions of heaven in mind. It had already been completed in secrecy in this barren stretch of savanna before the EM pulse had been set off worldwide.
While the tower was not essential to the Code’s continued dominance, it was still an integral part of the update system and eventually it would form the nexus of the great metropolis that was even now being constructed at the base of the tower and radiating outward from it across the savanna.
We were at the outer perimeter fence and we stopped. Getting out I kept Asia close to me, as we approach a breach in the electrified fence. All five of us slipped through and then like ghostly shadows the forms of men rose out of the African savanna all around us. Asia gasped and clutched at me in the darkness.
In a whisper one of the dark camouflaged men spoke, “Company A at your call Sir. Companies B through G all in position Sir.”
“Good!” Flint responded. “Take us to the tower. Have company C and E converge likewise. All remaining companies are to engage the secondary security forces in the city and any reinforcements that may appear.”
“Understood Sir.” The man said before relaying the orders over a com line at his ear.
I kept Asia behind me, as we stalked onward through the savanna grass. The men who’d risen up from the ground formed a protective shell around us, as a few of them ranged out further ahead. Dimly I could see another group moving off in the dark to the right.
There were over 200 Special Forces commandos from all over the world converging on the tower along with over 30 field agents of Chantry’s agency. If the combination of those two forces wasn’t enough to complete the mission then I didn’t know what would be.
We were heavily outnumbered, but skill and surprise were on our side. Something else we had was commitment. We were all here to die, if need be to see the mission completed. There would be no retreat, until the objective was attained or every last one of us was dead.
I heard it then up ahead of us, the zings and pinks of heavily muffled assault rifles being used to take out sentries and onlookers alike that lay in our path. It was estimated that there were about 500 security type personnel stationed in the city workings and the tower itself. Another 5000 strong security force was located ten minutes away in a village that had been set up for the slave workers.
It was a bit of a stacked deck for less than 250 of us to take on, but it was the best that could be arranged given the limited circumstances we had to work with. Loud shots filled the night, as some of the defenders caught on to the infiltration of the city and the annihilation of their number by the swift moving scouts up ahead of us. We kept going, as firefights erupted all over the place with stated viciousness.
Several stray shots pinged off around us, but we reached the tower complex a complete unit. The tower was fully locked down, as to be expected and bristling with the enemy. I pulled a mask on and then helped Asia put one on. A special unit guy brought up a tube to his shoulder.
“It’s showtime!” I said in adrenalined eagerness for the action to begin. This was a lot more fun than hacking away at bears with a sword.
Click. Swoosh.
I watched the incendiary missile slam into the base of the tower followed by several others from the other two companies tasked with taking the tower. The explosions rocked the concrete beneath us and glass and men went flying. More incendiary missiles poured into the bottom floor of the tower leaving nothing un-scorched by their explosive flame.
“Alright that’s enough!” Flint said, as he took off for the burning wreckage of the bottom floor of the tower.
All three companies’ converged on the tower, as bullets pinged off the concrete all around us. Now came the dirty fighting. My only job was to keep Asia safe and deliver her to her objective, which meant that I had to stay objective in the fighting and not lose myself in it.
It was hard to skip by and not return fire with my comrades, as I tugged a somewhat shell-shocked looking Asia behind me. Flint was there to lead, I was to protect Asia. Simple, but hard.
I’d just made the second floor when a door burst open. I gave the man a round in the face and then mowed down the other two in the room behind him. I glanced into the room and saw several computer displays.
I pushed Asia into the room, “Will they work?”
She nodded.
“Well get busy honey, because companies coming!” I opened up on the enemy at the end of the hall, as bullets chewed into the expensive interior of the tower all around me.
I pinpointed the flight of a grenade coming right at me and I unslung my rifle and prepared to play softball for the first time in my life. I swung and connected with the grenade sending it flying back down the hall from whence it had come.
“Incoming!” I shouted out before ducking inside the room, as the grenade exploded on its hapless thrower. I then chucked one of my hand grenades down the hall for good measure. Oh this was fun!
There were no more shots after the grenade exploded. Special Force guys streamed by me to clear out the area ahead and I glanced at Asia seated at the display. “Have you found out where we need to go honey?”
“Yes, but you’re not going to like it.” She said pointing upward with a finger.
“Hey baby, I’m with you for the long haul, let’s go!”
Shalako glanced through the night vision rangefinders again, as explosions and gunfire ripped the night apart behind him. “700 yards and closing, they are in the kill zone. I repeat in the kill zone. Lay down hot and heavy Blue Angel, plenty of hostiles to go around.” Shalako said into the com receiver.
“Roger that Arc Leader. Commencing turn, will be in target zone in five seconds.” Came a voice back over the com into Shalako’s ear.
Shalako let the night glasses fall, as he watched the unbroken line of troop transports roar over the savanna headlights glaring in their approach toward him and the tower beyond. The heavy roar of engines overhead signaled the presence of the three fighter-bombers in strung out formation.
Bright white tracer fire began to pour out from the fighter-bombers into the packed convoy like a Trans-Siberian Christmas laser light display gone wild. Bombs fell and explosions rocketed up and down the column, as vehicles were blown apart, under the withering barrage from above.
The screaming birds banked and came back down the long column expending the last of their ordinance upon the chaotic scene of flaming mayhem below in an excellent display of what air superiority is all about.
“That’s the last of it Arc Leader. Cut the party down for you some hopefully.” Came the voice over the com line again.
“You did great Blue Angel we’ll take it from here, Shalom.” Shalako said.
The three Israeli pilots responded in kind, as they headed north through the night for home hoping they had enough fuel left to make it so they could participate in the greater struggle that would soon be rocketing around the world.
Already a semblance of order was being achieved out of the survivors of the convoy, as they pulled out away from the burning debris of those transports forever immobilized. Shalako turned to the tall black man beside him, “Alright Utah start your 50 caliber batteries up, when they come into range. As your positions are compromised, fall back into the city and commence guerrilla warfare. Do whatever it takes to slow them down!”
“Yes Sir!” Utah Blaine responded calmly before heading down toward his machine gun locations.
Shalako shook his head, as he watched the capable young man move off in the dark. Where did Chantry keep finding such capable individuals to man the Agency?
Shalako turned to the four waiting mortar crews behind him, “Fire at will!”
Put! Put! Put! Put!
The mortar rounds soared high and then came down with deafening explosive force onto the beleaguered remnants of the convoy, which were now once again charging for the city, as the bulk of the convoy burned brightly lighting up the savanna in the background.
The big fifty caliber’s chattered alive, as they carved out their own share of carnage on the convoy converging on the city in a staggered out line, even as mortar rounds continued to fall with mass effect up and down the line of the convoy.
“I’m too old for this!” Shalako muttered to himself. War was a young man’s game. Oh well. Shalako stooped and pulled a missile launcher up onto his shoulder to sight down it grimly at an important looking truck with lots of antennas radiating out from it. He may be old, but he could still pull a trigger.