Operation: Vengence (Closed)

Wild Dog Johnny

"Reload," Johnny vocalised his actions, turning away from the door and crouching against the wall in front of it. Not so much to gain cover, the thin aircraft wall provided none, especially against 30mm auto-cannon, more to open the firing port if anyone else would bother to try their luck. He quickly replaced clip in his rifle, and also inserted another grenade of the same type.

Over his shoulder he watched in slight disbelief how the leading fighter exploded and other two scattered without even attempting to fire. Wow, shock and awe at it's best. Then, it was somewhat rational for those guys, they had advantage in range and calibre and nowhere to hurry.

"Got one," he commented what might count as his trick-shot of the lifetime matter-of-factly, like they were hunting ducks. Very large, very fast aluminium ducks. Ducks usually didn't fire back, those eventually would, and there was nothing Johnny could do about it right now, he didn't even have good visuals on the approaching planes this time, and chance he could pull the same trick twice in a row was nil.

Gandhi

Doc heard the explosion and watched as the crazy werewolf threw a grenade into the path of one of the planes. A million to one chance.
Well maybe it was time for another. Doc staggered up the listing plane to the cockpit.
“Afternoon chaps. I know this may sound a little bit barmy, but could you please release the emergency parachute? I have an idea that might just pay off”.
The pilot and co-pilot glanced at each other and the co-pilot just shrugged.
“What the fuck have we got to lose? We’re likely dead anyway”, said the co-pilot.
“Ah fuck it! I never should have agreed to this crazy-assed mission. Time to live or die I guess”. The pilot resignedly turned to Doc. “What’s the plan?”
Doc smiled. “Just release it when I shout. That ok?”
“Whatever you say. You lot are fucking crazy!”

Doc stumbled back down the plane. He approached Flic.
“I need your help I’m afraid, if that’s ok? Might be a little life threatening, but it also might save our bums. You interested?”
Flic nodded and followed the medic to the rear of the plane.
“Ok, I’m going to get the chute released and I’m going to dangle you out of the plane so you can cut the cord. Ok with you?”
Flic nodded, nervous but excited.

Capt Chaves lined up his plane with the rear of the C-130. This was going to be the end of these arrogant foreign pigs. His finger pressed against the trigger, ready to tear the plane apart.
Suddenly the emergency chute opened. Capt Chaves was momentarily confused. Was the plane in trouble? Had it been hit already?
The chute tightened and then billowed up.
Realisation came a second too late as the chute came twisting and turning towards the plane.
Chaves tried to turn the plane, but it was too late.
The parachute tangled with the front of the plane. He tried to manoeuvre the plane, but the plane was so low it glanced across the top of the trees. A glancing blow to the tip of the wing caused a spin and the plane went running into the tree line.
“Crazy motherfuckers!” were the last words he uttered.

Alexandria

As the shit hit the fan Alex cursed, the drop would already be risky as is, but if enemy bogey's where out their shooting at them, they would need to be on the ground as fast as possible. As the rest of the crew focused on returning fire, she quickly got up on top of the dropbox and unhooked the chute rope so she could add a few yards to it. It might only delay the chute from opening for a second, second and a half, but that might just be the difference between getting blown up in the air and landing somewhat safe.

As her coworkers start to make some very miraculous shots, she saw the doc and Flic pull off their stunt. She was about to shout that their was no need for Flic to dangle out of the plain like that. That the chute could have been released in the cockpit too. But the young docter was too fast.

Flic

Her mind screamed at her that this was a gross miss management of her talents, but she could hardly say no to the cute doc. As she was being pulled back in, giddy with adrenaline she gave the man a raised eyebrow. "Wait a minute, did you just use me as a loophole to the whole I will not kill anyone business?"

Capt da Costa

Capt da Costa knew about US history. He had read about the two hundred grizzled Texans fighting to the death against a massive Mexican army. He had watched their movies Rambo and Star Wars. American’s just liked being the underdogs and fighting against incredible odds.

This air battle was turning out like one of those movies! Three advanced modern fighters against a slow C-130. He and his fellow fighter pilots had a huge advantage. They were expected to win. But so far, two fighters were gone and the C-130 did not even have one bullet hole in it.

He was on the losing side of an epic battle. He and his fellow pilots would go down in history as fools and idiots for not having won this battle. It made him mad. He would not go down in history as a fool. He was going to take out those bastards. He was going to KILL THEM on this strafing run!!

He rapidly approached the C-130 and when he got in range he SCREAMED as he opened fired with his 30 mm cannons!

Hot Thunder and APC

Hot Thunder and APC were near the unopened left side door of the C-130. They had watched the last fighter bank to the left and knew it would approach from this side.

“This is impossible, you know” APC told Codi

“My rifle has the same range as his guns, and my bullets explode… his don’t” Codi pointed out.

“Still impossible, he is going too fast.” APC countered.

“Maybe… but I’m going to keep fighting as long as I have a single fingernail to claw at his eyes!!” She told the Spook. “Now open that fucking door!!”

APC pulled the emergency door release lever and the door fell away from the plane. The SU-30 was bearing down on the C-130 and Codi could see the tracer round coming up to hit the side of the C-130. She squeezed off two rounds from her Barrett sniper rifle before she yelled “HIT THE DECK!!”

The 30mm shells from the SU-30 ripped through the side of the C-130. The powerful bullets passing out the other side of the plane. As luck would have it, the bullets had not cut any critical plane controls. Still laying on the deck, Codi aimed her .50 cal across the cargo hold and out the door where Wild Dog was crouching. She squeezed off two more round at the flee fighter with no hits. Her bullets wiz’ed by the Latvian Special Unit fighter. Luckily, the man was experienced enough to remain still during her risky shots.

“DAMN IT” she yelled in frustration at missing the fighter plane.

“Told you” APC said as he got back up off the ground.

“OK DEBBIE DOWNER” Codi yelled at APC “That attitude just cost you one of my special blow jobs!”

“If the pilot went into a tight circle, that would reduce his closing speed.” APC suggested.

Codi thought about it… and it was a good idea. “Don’t just stand there… Tell the pilot!” She ordered him. She pushed her PTT. “Wild Dog… shoot that fucker up the ass on the next pass!” She ordered.

Codi saw the SU-30 approaching again and felt the C-130 get into a tight turn. She fired off 4 rounds before the 30mm slammed into the C-130.

Capt da Costa

Capt da Costa was giddy with joy as his 30mm had hit the C-130. But the big fat plane just continued to fly. “FAT PIG PLANE” he grumbled as he came around to attack again. He had used up half his 150 round on the first pass… and now he would wait until he was closer to start firing. He did not want to run out of ammo.

He had seen the person firing back at him. It was a woman! That really pissed him off. Fucking Cunt. He would get extra close and kill her on this pass. But before he could the C-130 started to turn sharply, which caused him to fall back into a more tail chase position.

He fired his 30mm at the fucking cunt and then passed over the C-130 almost hitting the top of the American plane.

Wild Dog Johnny

Johnny watched the stunt by Doc and Flick to unfold with light amusement. He would rather have seen SwipeRight do some of her digital magic, eject pilots right off the remaining planes or whatever. No tell it was even possible however, and nevertheless, they downed the trailing fighter.

Meanwhile Hot Thunder and APC prepared for a unequal duel with the last attacker. It wasn't anything unexpected Codi missed, roughly perpendicular approach at those speeds meant her scope's field of view perhaps even didn't encompass the true aiming point and the plane at the same time, Johnny contemplated.

Part of the long burst fired by the SU-30 did hit. Johnny rolled, to minimize his cross-section in the line of fire, as the massive bullets rip trough both walls of the plane, few swished very close and few more maybe even flew right trough both open doors. He then spun up right away and was about to try his luck firing at the overpassing fighter, when he seen that Codi had turned around too and was about to fire trailing shots so he had to stop to not cross in her line of fire. He didn't mind, she supposedly knew where the plane would be, he didn't, and probably was a little late anyway.

“Wild Dog… shoot that fucker up the ass on the next pass!” She ordered.

Right, like I could reliably slam grenades into passing airplanes, Johnny ranted silently, but watched the adversary flip around in what was probably some figure of aerobatics and then approach within "his" sector of fire. Codi kept firing herself however, until their C-130 went into a sharp turn leaving attacking fighter in more of a trailing position. While that at least partially spoiled its immediate firing solution, they did catch few more bullets.

It was clear to Johnny the planes will come very close at rather slow relative speeds, given current trajectories the fighter will end right on top of them. If only he could get a reliable aim, there may not be a better chance, but he could barely see the closing plane now. The way their C-130 continued its turn made it increasingly worse. It put his door in the back-wind however, could he possibly lean out?

He set the grenade's timer to minimum, speculating they will fly away from the explosion anyway, then yelled "APC, Alex Baby, pull me back in!" over the PTT, hooked one boot in a fresh rip in the deck, left by the incoming fire, and flung almost his entire body out of the plane laying on his side, firing another long full auto burst from his rifle. No sparing of amo on this!

Amazingly, some of his bullets did actually connect, hitting the underside of the fighter's fuselage around the cockpit canopy. Johnny was not sure did those any damage at all, but in the excitement launched his main round, the grenade, a few degrees too high or a split second too early. It overshoot in front of the wing, but exploded in true airburst mode on timer, above the tail section, right besides one of the twin rudders. He saw parts fly away of the enemy airplane, whatever those were.

"Right up the ass!" He bragged while someone pulled him back inside.

Capt da Costa

Capt da Costa knew he had killed the cunt firing at him. That fact had made him happy… until the explosion occurred behind his aircraft. He tried to control his tail rudders. Nothing happened. Then he felt the right engine fail.

“GILIPOLLAS DE MIERDA (FUCKING ASSHOLES)!!” He screamed. He began emergency procedures to fly the aircraft on a single engine and use the wing flaps to steer. He put the flaps in a hard-right turn so he could get his guns back on the C-130. The maneuver turned the aircraft but reduced his airspeed greatly. Just as his gun sights got on the C-130, his plane ran into the Venezuelan jungle. He died so quickly he never got a chance to reflect on how history would record him as a fool and idiot!

C-130

It was dark outside with only a slice of the moon providing light. They were flying very low. The jungle below was speeding by when the parachute contraption started to slide toward the open cargo door. The last strafing run had just missed Hot Thunder. In fact, two rounds had ripped cuts in her jungle green camouflaged fatigues, but not cut her skin. The bad news was a few rounds had cut the steel wires holding the jump device.

“QUICK… JUMP NOW!!” Codi yelled as she grabbed her backpack and ran towards the sliding metal thing. Secretly, Codi was loving this mission and how stupidly dangerous it was! She jumped and grabbed the back of her chair right before the device fell out of the plane!!

“THAT IS HOW YOU DO IT” She screamed as she hung on for dear life. “LAST ONE TO THE GROUND IS A ROTTEN EGG!” She yelled.
The device was turning wildly and swinging about because not everyone was on it yet!! The chute had opened, but she and everyone else on the device would be killed if they did not get the pitching under control!!

APC

The wind whipped through Wild Dog’s hair as he hung way outside the aircraft. APC grabbed him and pulled him back in the plane. Then he heard ““QUICK… JUMP NOW!!”

“FUCK” APC said as he looked back at the parachute device getting ready to slide out of the cargo hold!!

Instead of chasing the device, he calmly walked to the cockpit. "I'll need your parachutes" he told the air crew and grabbed 2 parachutes from the emergency overhead compartment. He gave one to Wild Dog and put the other on. He walked to the back of the C-130 cargo hold and jumped out.

He pulled the chord as soon as possible and gently floated into the jungle. He would be a distance from the others. But he had all his gear and his special "hat" box.

SGT Alexandria Trask

As the others were pulling off some crazy trickshots, Alex finished to fix the dropline, knowing that it wouldn't be long before they would need to bail out. As she was about to jump off the box the sound of large caliber bullets reverberated through the cargo hold. Dropping flat on her stomach she shot a little prayer to not get hit. When the salvo was over, she looked up and her stomach dropped as the box started to slide. Looking at everyone still scurrying around she cursed again and fixed herself to the top of the frame, knowing that as the rest would be jumping into the dropbox she would need to use her weight on top of this thing to balance them out.

Flic

Flic yelped as a rain of hot metal seemed to shower them, ducking low she wished all of this could stop, after all she was more of a labrat herself. When the surrounding quite down again, at least as much as it can in a cargo plane who flew with a open hatch, she looked up only to see her ride starting to slide out. Without thinking she started to sprint towards the box and jumped in. Maybe it would be safer to take a chute and jump herself, after all she had some base jumping experience, but somehow she rather not leave her equipment to drop with this team without her with them As she buckled in across of the commander she gave her a raised eyebrow. "You are enjoying this aren't you? " the disbelieve in her voice palpable

Doc

Still feeling mild disbelief that the chute plan had worked, Doc watched the plane careening into the forest. His reverie was broken by the sound of high calibre bullets tearing through the metal of the plane. The next thing he heard was the grinding of metal against metal as the frame began sliding across the deck towards him.
Doc braces himself as the heavy frame slid into him, tipping him forwards into the metal monstrosity. He reached out and grabbed at the frame as it tipped out of the plane and into the air. As the wind of their falling swept across him he crawled across to one of the chairs and did his best to tie himself in.
Glancing around he could see that the team was not yet al aboard and readied himself for a bumpy ride.

Hot Thunder

“OH YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!” Codi replied in glee as she climbed into her seat. The wildly swinging parachute device became more stable as Baby Driver landed on top of the drop box. She shifted her weight to dampen the swinging motion. "that is one smart cookie" Codi thought.

“That’s much better” Codi declared as the drop box floated into the jungle canopy. “Watch for tree snakes!” The commander warned as thick rubbery tree leaves brushed past them. The branches slowed their decent, but did not stop it. With a surprisingly gentle “thud” they were on the ground. The parachute above them in the lower tree branches.

“Nice engineering!” she complimented the team as she followed Wild Dog’s plan. She jumped out, and ran for near cover, a thick tree trunk. APC was to be with her, but he had not made it to the device. So she ran deep in the jungle on her own.

There was enough visibility for her to check the forward half of their landing area. She scanned the jungle and saw nothing. She brought the barrel of her M4A1 closer to her eye and looked through the infrared (IR) scope.

In the plane they had felt some increase in humidity, but the plane’s a/c had minimized the full effect. Now Codi was blinking her eye from the sweat dripping down her face. Even at night, the humidity was bad! She saw no heat signature in the jungle in front of them.

Wild Dog had reminded everyone, the jungle was 3D. It was a good tip. She looked up. She used her IR scope to scan the jungle canopy. She saw heat signature of birds or maybe bats. But no people. She felt safe for the moment and walked back to the team.

“No hostiles in the east” she told the team in a whisper.

Wild Dog Johnny

“QUICK… JUMP NOW!!” Codi yelled.

Johnny's first though was that the last strafing run had made it and their plane wasn't a safe place to be in anymore, even if it didn't feel like falling, but what he knew, the little excursion outside had knocked air out even from him. Maybe there was fire?

“FUCK” APC said as they both looked back at the parachute device getting ready to slide out of the cargo hold.

Even if he took an explosive start in a sprint right now, he wouldn't likely chase the landing basked down still within the airplane, but with a running dive right out he still might catch it the very moment the opening of the parachute would stop its freefall... if the parachute itself would not be in the way. However, it was exactly what he was about to try, or would, if only a sharp pain of a cramp in the leg, he had used to hook himself to the floor, hadn't stopped him from jumping up immediately.

"SHIT," he stretched his leg to allow the cramp to subside; the slight and insanely risky chance to catch on with the rest of the team was lost with it. 'Am I getting too old for this,' a thought crossed his mind. Anyway, a new plan had to be defined, and he needed to clear one critical piece of information for it.

He pressed the button to contact pilots: "Is the plane alright?"

Answer he interpreted as affirmative.

"Slight change of plans," he said, "we're leaving already, but..."

"I'll need your parachutes," APC was ahead of him and come in the conversation as on the cue.

"Sorry for that, we took some damage." It might or not be strictly true, but he felt like needing a bit of explaining apology.

Meanwhile, he had already reloaded and rearranged his gear, and put the chute on as soon APC give him one.

"There's a bit of a mess back here. Sorry for that too," he added, looking around the demolished cargo hold.

Nothing of importance seemed to be left behind, no critical pieces of equipment, no dead bodies or obvious blood stains. That was good. His sniper rifle was left fixed to the landing basket, but that was good also, as it would have been rather a problem right now, and he hoped, someone will fetch it for him. He went to the back ramp just a step or two behind APC.

"Thanks for a ride, guys, and good airspeed home! Seppuku Squad out!" Johnny cut the connection and jumped right after APC.

They were lucky to spot a small opening in the thick upper canopy within their limited reach of the low altitude jump.

Johnny landed smoothly in lush grass behind huge ferns on the narrow bank of what looked like little and completely overgrown pond, quickly scanned his immediate surroundings, signaled "all right" to APC on the other side, then gathered the chute in a rough ball and pushed it under the ferns. It was questionable how much sense it was to try to hide their tracks now -- it was almost obvious to him their arrival had been tipped off to their adversaries, he only wondered how exactly -- but he was not like to help anyone to track him down anyway.

Done with that, he kneeled few steps further in a partially covered spot near the first threes. After another quick look around he pushed a hand against the dirt on the ground, in a simple gratitude to mother earth for accepting him back from an escapade in the sky, to get connection with his new surroundings in widened sense, and also to draw on strength, like Antaeus.

The earlier air battle cleared from his mind, and he listened to the night in the newly reached calm, while scanning the forest through his sight, augmented with clamp-on night vision lens. Strange birds discussed his arrival in unheard dialects, dew dripped from leaves, some small animal crouched behind the wines, but nothing heavy enough to be a threat was on the move. He located sound of their departing aircraft, now barely audible in the distance, and tried to discern any other sounds that could announce human activity. How much of what he heard was normal? This wasn't his native temperate mixed forest where tomtits would tell him about every movement, nor just as familiar boreal forest, taiga, where he likewise would recognize every noise within a mile, here he was an invading alien. Not quite his first time in jungle, but still. Even the texture of dirt felt different, more like in a greenhouse. Well, it was.

He inhaled a full lung of the thick, moist air, still storing heat of the previous day, through open mouth, tasting the strange smells, then allowed a deep low growl on the exhale, informing the forest that new predator had arrived and claims hunting ground. He had no intend to hunt anything but his own kind, it was just a courtesy, but he had been heard. Small curious rodent emitted almost inaudible near-ultrasound squeal and escaped to a hiding place, the invisible crawler on the branches froze in place, even the bird calls changed almost momentary, incorporating a new element. Alarm calls, that was what he wanted to hear, now he will know those.

Finished his multi-sensory scan discovering no threats, he woke from the short self induced near-trance, waved APC over, telling to follow him, indicated direction he intended to move, and disappeared into the underbush.

Johnny wasn't going to visit the other landing site, his plan was to intercept the girls group after they would have moved out already. That included an educated guess about their route, but he felt rather sure at least about the general direction.

Flic

As the box fell out of the plane, the young hacker couldn't supress a yelp of terror. While she had gotten some training from te CIA nothing that covered dropping out of a C130 during a dog fight, in a jerryrigged box. It didn't help that the commander seemed to have a lot of fun. Flic had noticed that the woman seemed to enjoy almost dying and she sure was giggy now. As she heard things move on top of her and the box stabilized she was reminded that her friend was in a less protected situation.

SGT Alexandria Trask

Alex bit her lip as she quickly tried to counter balance the box with her own weight, with only three people in it instead of six the box was dangerously close to flipping due to the weight destribution, but luckily for all of them she got it out of controle enough not crash. Unfortunatly for Alex as they hit the canopy of trees she was reminded why she had added the metal plates to the side as branches whip her painfully. After a thud that pushed all the air out of her lungs, she disconected from the box, grabbed her rifle and followed the commander to secure the perimeter.

Hot Thunder

Commander Codi Banner saw Bady Drvier return from her check of the western parameter. The SGT's “thumbs up” signal indicated no hostile in that half.

“Ok, let’s pack up and move out” Codi ordered as she was already checking her gear. She noticed Wild Dog’s DSR rifle on the parachute basket.

It made her "process" the fact that she was already down two members of her squad. Both would be missed. Wild Dog for his experience and leadership, and APC for his size and tech shit. “How the fuck did those fighters find us?” She wondered as the drug dealer air route was mostly over Columbia not Venezuela.

“That C-130 pilot was good. I owe him a blow job for that flying shit he did. Damn I’m racking up the blow jobs!” Codi mumbled to herself. There was nothing more to do about the missing member of the team. The four remaining members would just need to work that much harder to accomplish the mission. She had thought about part of the group staying at a camp as the rest went into the city, but that was no longer an option. Everyone was going to the city.

She grabbed Wild Dog’s DSR sniper rifle. It was light and very compact. It felt like 9kg with a smart scope and ammo. Wild Dog had a hot-swap spare on front of weapon. Codi saw Flic was about ready to move out and walked over to her.

“Here” Codi said handing the gun to Flic “It was Wild Dog’s. I know you were looking forward to playing with his “gun”, even if it is light weight, but it has a great kick!” The commander told the younger woman. Hot Thunder’s sexual innuendos were not missed by the young lady.

“Ok let’s move out” She ordered, noticing everyone was ready. “I’ll take point”

The team moved through the thick jungle, quietly and efficiently. At first, their movement was slow, but they found a rough path which increased their speed greatly. 45 mins into the trip they heard a jet pass over their position. The thick triple layer of jungle canopy prevented the aircraft from seeing them.

“Probably looking for those downed fighters” Codi suggested to the others.

30 mins later

Codi was crouching under a huge palm frond. The team had passed a field of coca plants 10 mins earlier and now in front of her was a clearing. In the muddy field were 2 mud covered jeeps (WWII vintage!) and 2 flatbed trucks (1960 vintage). There were 4 men with guns watching 8 people loading coca plants onto the flatbeds.

Codi had been all over the world and she had seen human traffickers before. The people working, were thins, young, and showed signed of having been beaten. They were not employees, these were modern slaves.

“Transportation and clothing” She told Baby Driver who was now crouched behind her. “You take Flic to the other side” She said pointing to the spot she wanted. “Doc and I will stay here. That should provide a good angle on all the guards. We’ll take them down all at once. The worker bees… I do not think they will be a problem. Oh, and aim so we can still use the clothing.” She ordered with a smile on her face.

APC

Wild Dog was on point and APC followed him. APC was good at movement through the jungle, but Wild Dog was better. He had to pick up the pace a few times to stay the proper following distance behind Wild Dog. He knew that finding the others in the thick jungle would not be easy, but the mountain terrain around them would cause the others to move down the valley. Hopefully, that would be where they would intercept their path.

APC wanted to talk to Wild Dog, and get to know the man better. But this was not the right time. Speed and silence were important. They had been traveling over an hour, when they spotted a field with 4 vehicles in it. 2 jeeps and 2 flat bed trucks.

Wild Dog Johnny

Johnny was pleasantly surprised how well APC could keep with him, and increased their speed, now confident they could use the slight lead staying in the air few moments longer had given them, and even if Codi managed to sneak past him, to be able to chase then down by tracks.

He heard another fighter plane passing nearby, but much too late, about3/4 of an hour too late; their C-130 should already be out of the danger, and discovering them in the thick jungle won't be easy even if they knew where to look.

His plan was to quickly scout the valley and set a friendly "ambush" for the commander's team at the narrowest part. Discovery of rough pathway would have taken almost all uncertainty out of it, but the road had been just used by several vehicles going the other way. Had they a welcome party on the ground as well already? Johnny imagined a platoon or two hastily deploying between him and commander, but it didn't make sense, unless those troops had indeed been on standby nearby.

There they were, in a clearing, two old jeeps and two trucks, flatbed, not troop carriers. Drug farmers? Likely. Other times Johnny would leave them alone, but the vision of troops moving in had unnerved him, and they were on a hurry anyway; if a transport solution presented itself he wouldn't pass it down now.

Two guards behind the trucks watched off side and the road they had came from, four others handled eighth workers on the other side. Would the workers defend their masters? From what Johnny could gather from their body language in the moonlight, it seemed unlikely, there was reluctance in their movements.

They watched the operation from good elevated position, and now Johnny sorely missed his silent sniper rifle, that would make this almost trivial. He had a silencer for his MP7, he could go down with it to work close and personal while APC with M4 provide distraction and cover from distance.

"Two variants," he whispered to APC, "we take the back guards out from up here, then fight it out with the rest. Simple, but laud and messy. Or, I crouch close and pick the guy on the right with MP7. It's quiet but not noiseless, but if you take the guy on the road the same time, I will be behind them at the trucks just as they return fire your way.

"Either way we will get commander's attention, and probably force the team radio on; they should be close already if the road extends through the valley and they found it. That's the third, look for them first, but it would be fun to present cars to the girls, and no telling how long they will stand there on low attention."

Flic

As the rest rushed out guns at the ready, Flic stayed back and made sure all her gear was up and running, she quickly send out a encrypted message to their CIA contact that they had a rat at HQ and that he should be careful, and then she joined the others outside. As the Commander threw her Wild dog’s rifle she almost dropped it as the weight of it caught her off guard. As the commander laid into the innuendo’s she visibly pulled up her nose. “Please I don’t nearly have enough daddy issues to fall for his type. I literally only wanted to poke inside this scope” she said

At ambush site:

Baby Driver

Alex was quite happy to see the sixties era trucks. While many youngsters liked things with more horse power, she preferred vintage cars as usually it took a lot for them to crap out on you. For a second she was going to point out it was odd to have four vehicles for just four soldiers, but then if they already had broken the peoples spirit, it might be alright. She also trusted their commander to be smarter than she is in these situations, so she just nodded.

“Don’t worry, we will get their attention. Just be ready to take them down when it happens.”

She motioned to Flic to follow her and moved to the other side carefully. At the furthest point of the group of enemies she asked the youngster. “ Think you could cover me, if my plan does not work as expected?”


Flic:

“Oh yeah, this scope makes it pretty much point and click, so at this distance, I am pretty confident this wouldn’t be an issue”

The young hacker said. She would be more comfortable if she had gotten a chance to look at the software prior to using it, but if Wild dog was comfortable using it, it couldn’t be that bad. As they arrived at their position, she laid down and deployed the rifle. The hud was pretty intuitive and she quickly marked all four targets. As she looked over to Alex she raised an eyebrow. She had expected the woman to prepare her own rifle, but that was not what the sergeant had done.

Baby Driver

As Flic was getting ready, Alex did the same, she took out her jacket and exposed her fit torso to the sun. Now only wearing a wife beater and a neon green bra underneath it, she bunched up her wife beater and knotted it under her midriff, exposing her tight abs. Taking Flic’s scarf, she knotted a rock into the tip before wrapping it around her arm. Then once she was sure the young hacker was ready she casually walked up to the soldiers with her best ditsy smile on her lips.

“Hola, Lo siento, soy un poco estúpido. ¿Pero dónde puedo encontrar la biblioteca?”

She said with her best stupid American Bimbo accent. As the Soldiers turned towards her with a predatory look into their eyes, she knew it was going to be fun. She stopped a couple of yards shy of the group, to lure the first two closer in, making it easier for Flic to make the shot if needed. Not that Alex expected her to need it. As the two soldiers got to her and the first one reached out for her, she kept on smiling all the way until her fist flew out to strike him in the trachea. As the second one started to reach for his weapon she unleashed a kick to the his groin as she swung the weighted scarf around the first soldiers neck. In a fluid movement she jumped up and triangled the second soldier with her legs around his neck and pulled the first one down with them. Chocking the light out of both soldiers. After all best way to keep the cloth’s useful was to not get them covered in blood in the first place.

Hot Thunder

“Shit… that girl can fight!” Codi gasped as Baby Driver started to kick some ass! As Baby Driver started to choke out the two guards, Codi said to herself “I’m going have to suck her twat too!” The Navy commander was so amazed by the hand to hand combat moves, she almost forgot to engage her guard on her side of the field.

She quickly aimed her sniper rifle and expressed delivered some flaming hot lead into the guard’s forehead. There was a “popping” sound as the 50 cal round tore off half the man’s head. Blood and brain matter sprayed everywhere, the body fell to the ground. “Fuck” Codi whispered realizing the dead man's shirt was no longer useful.

Doc was hypo-gun took down his target, but with no mess. Clean and quiet.

Codi sprang up from her covered position and ran towards the field. She elbowed past some vines and ducked under a low hanging branch before reaching the field. As she reached the field, her boots made a sucking sounds in the wet mud. That was when she noticed the gun barrel point directly at her from the driver seat of the first flatbed truck!

She hit the deck. Doing a face plant in the wet muddy field. She knew a bullet would be fired at any second. But for some reason the gun never fired.

Wild Dog Johnny

"True," APC agreed, "look, I think they're about to wrap up!"

"Indeed," Johnny said watching the movements in the clearing, thugs talked, and two of them went towards the cars. "We need those cars. I'm going in then. Fire as soon you see me behind that bush, a guard falling, or whatever wrong." Meanwhile he attached silencer to his MP7.

Johnny couldn't watch the clearing on his patch through the thick undergrowth, and was at first lightly startled to see a guy moving roughly towards him. Had he been spotted? He froze with his weapon drawn, looking at the approaching man in his crosshairs, but decided to wait and watch. The guy's movements were relaxed though, weapon shouldered as he went in the bush little to the side of where Johnny was hiding. He smirked, that was opportunity just too good to pass.

Trickling sound and smell of fresh urine confirmed what Johnny had assumed, as he silently slid through a curtain of wines behind the man. In the near total darkness within the thick bushes his hand still found the unsuspecting guy's throat without error, at the same time hugging him with other arm to restrict any effort to grab or turn. Caught with his pants down the guy had no chance.

“Hola, Lo siento, soy un poco estúpido. ¿Pero dónde puedo encontrar la biblioteca?” Johnny heard young women's voice, just as the man in his hands died without much kicking and jerking.

He dropped the body and went towards the clearing, drawing his MP7 again, just in time to see his intended target to turn away, raise his gun and then collapse to the ground. The next man's head exploded with a pop, accompanied by residual crack of hypersonic bullet and he rather felt than heard the already familiar muffled "THUNDD" of Hot Thunder's hand cannon. The scantily clad woman engaged in close combat with two more thugs must be Baby Driver then. It didn't look like she would needed any help.

Johnny stick to his own plan and launched in a sprint toward the cars. APC had not yet fired, that could mean the last guard was either already dead, probabe, if Flick had successfully used his DSR, or hiding somewhere in or near the cars out of APC's direct sight and could be still a threat.

That was confirmed, when turning around the back of the first car, he saw two things simultaneously: Hot Thunder herself running out of the bushes on the other side, then take a dive into the mud, and the car's doors to pop open and a gun barrel extending from them.

Johnny was there in few long leaps, grabbed the gun with left hand and pulled with such a force the man holding it fell out of the car. Firing one handed, he send a short burst of tiny armor piercing bullets through the back of his head even before the body hit the ground.

He then erected full height, raising his hands, and slowly turned, hoping to be recognized. The fact he was still alive should have meant that much.

“WHAT YOU'RE OGLING AT, DICKLESS WHORES,” he yelled in bad Spanish peppered with Russian obscenities, waving his gun at the workers, “KEEP WORKING! SHOWTIME OVER! I'M THE BOSS NOW, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

Just few last sacks were left, and those got dropped on the trucks by trembling hands and wary looks.

“ON THE GROUND NOW! FACE DOWN!”

There were whimpers, someone even wept loudly, they probably reckoned this must be the part where discarded slaves are eliminated.

Johnny ignored their pleas, “QUIET SUCKERS! LET ME THINK!” At the same time he waved others over, showing almost laughing face.

“I think, we just pick a random warehouse in the suburbs, order them to wait at the gates in the trucks, and leave. What they do next, not our business,” he whispered to Codi when she approached, “what do you think?”

APC

APC walked into the muddy field with lazy confidence. He had overheard Wild Dog’s declaration to the workers/slaves. At first it confused him, but he had a quick mind and realized Wild Dog was building a cover story for them. A plausible story so these poor workers would not blow their operation unintentionally.

“Wild Dog… you made that look easy” he said in prefect Russian. “El Chapo will hear about this. He will be proud.” He added again in Russian. However, El Chapo is pronounced the same in Spanish as in Russian. The workers if or when questioned would only say they overheard the drug lord’s name.

Hot Thunder

Pushed herself out of the mud. The front of her uniform was solid mud, but her now wet clothing hugged her curves like a skintight outfit. Her big chest, slim waist and curved hips all on display. Her face looked like she had a bad facial mask on. Covered in mud except for her eyes. She wiped some of the mud away. “I hope this stuff detoxes and purifies my skin like the ones at a spa!” She said to herself as she walked over to Wild Dog and APC.

She had no clue why Wild Dog was yelling at the workers, but APC's “Chapo” comment connected the dots for her. Wild Dog made things clearer with his idea to drop the people off in town.

“Da” she answered (“yes” in Russian). Then she looked down to one of the more health looking male workers. “I want to fuck him! He looks yummy.” She said in broken Spanish as she wiped more mud off her face.

“Looking for another kind of facial” APC joked in Russian with her. Codi did not embarrass easily, but she actually liked it when men blew their loads on her tits and/or face. Her face turned red from APC's statement.

“Fuck you” She said back to the Spook in Russian.

“That mud mask really has given your face a new glowy appearance” APC countered in Russian laughing.

“Let’s get moving, we’ll need to get the IDs, weapons, money, and clothing from the dead guards.” Codi suggested in Russian as she headed back to her kill.

“What about the ones still alive?” APC asked in Russian.

“Baby Driver and Doc can tie them up. I’d suggest we take them in town with the workers. Put them in the same warehouse. I’m sure these slaves with administer justice for their crimes.” Codi said “but that is just my suggestion” all in Russian.

Flic was amazed at how Alexandria had taken down her targets. The two girls had talked about self-defense during their trip earlier, and she had dismissed the woman’s claims. But it was indeed possible for a woman to win fights against men, if it was planned and executed appropriately. Baby Driver had claimed that as long as lethal force was permitted it was all a matter of speed. Walking up to the group she threw Johnny his rifle back.

“Вы понимаете, что можете просто позволить им здесь. К тому времени, когда они вернутся в город, нас уже давно не будет. Нет нужды пугать этих бедных людей.”


Alexandria got up as the last man passed out. As everyone was busying themselves with patting themselves on the shoulders, she took out her gun and executed her targets. She did not like human traffickers or slave owners and wasn’t planning on babysitting some along the way. As the rest were making their best impression of bad guys she turned to the clearly scared slaves, but this time she dropped the silly American accent and just spoke in fluent Spanish.

“No te preocupes por nuestro perro salvaje allí. Su ladrido es peor que la mordida. Nuestro contrato no incluía hacerles daño a ustedes, así que quédese quieto y si esta noche o mañana alguien pregunta qué sucede, sea honesto y diga que un grupo de mafiosos rusos se está haciendo cargo de esta operación.”

Since she didn’t speak a lick of russian she she decided to remain quite, but hoped the people in charge realized it was far easier to transport 6 people on the downlow than eith. And with the slaves probably not being super loyal to theyoppressors they would be long gone before they reached the city on foot.

Wild Dog Johnny

“Baby Driver and Doc can tie them up. I’d suggest we take them in town with the workers. Put them in the same warehouse. I’m sure these slaves will administer justice for their crimes.” Codi said “but that is just my suggestion” all in Russian.

"I would tend to agree," Johnny answered, "but..." He cringed upon Baby Driver's pistol shots, so far the operation could be classified as completely silent, except his own yelling. But she did what had to be done, and a pair of pistol shots probably weren't so bad, especially given they will be gone shortly.

"А пушка тебе идет!" he smiled at Flick, catching the rifle from her, but [that] gun suits you [well]!

"Те птицы небилы случайными, и я теперь жду псов. Я бы хотел замочить следы здес по возможности. И они могли бы помоч с видом на дороге если мы повстречали бы... 'своих'. Но легче конечно избавиться," he said, those birds wasn't there accidentally, and now I await dogs. I would want to destroy all trace here as possible. And they might help with visuals on the road if we would happen to meet... 'our guys.' Of course, it's easier to get rid [of them].

"I would promote two of them and let them drive the trucks, so we can stay together in jeeps. If they try to run once we're out of the forest, let them, it's not like we care, it's good if they go into hiding and think we're stupid."

He then went to pull that first body out of the bushes, for others to not need to search for it, on the way killing the sleeping guy with a single shot to the head form his silenced MP7.

Doc and Hot Thunder

Doc was pissed. Wild Dog had killed his guard. He did not put him to sleep just to have someone else kill him. He turned to yell at Wild Dog, when Hot Thunder grabbed his arm. (section in blue is all in Russian)

“Don’t” She said “That guard was a complete fucker! This modern slavery is bullshit. Human traffickers, like him, trap millions of people in horrific situations around the world. It is everywhere, the U.S., UK, everywhere.”

“Not a reason to kill him” Doc said as a counter argument pulling his arm free.

“Yes, it was! That asshole beat these people. Look at them. You have medical training. These people are starving, exploited, and serving against their will. There are an estimated 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally. That is almost the population of England! 25% of them are children. 75% are women and girls.”

“Not a reason.” Doc said firmly.

Hot Thunder was getting more pissed off “If you could have stopped Hitler, would you have done it?”

“Of coarse… but that guy was not Hitler” Doc replied.

“If the american civil war was being fought today… and you had to choose a side. Which one?” Hot Thunder asked.

“The North…But” Doc answered.

“No buts… The North needed to kill good people who were on the wrong side of slavery. Sometimes you need to kill bad guys or good one that choose the wrong side. These assholes are all bad guys. I don't even consider them human. Human don't do this kind of shit to each other. Think about what I said on the ride into town. But resolve your personal issues before our next engagement with THESE FUCKING ASSHOLES” Codi said firmly while pointing at the dead guard. She turned away from Doc and looked at the others.

“Let’s getting going!” She said in Spanish to everyone. She grabbed the healthier worker she had told APC she wanted to fuck, and pulled him to his feet.

“sabes manejar” (You know how to drive) She asked in Spanish. He nodded his head up and down.

“Genial ... elige otro conductor, y carga todos los demás. Vamos al pueblo” (Great… Pick another driver, load all the others up. We are going into town.) She told him. It took only a few minutes and both trucks were loaded.

Wild Dog was driving the first jeep with APC and Doc. Then the two flatbed trucks, and rear guard was Flic, Hot Thunder, and Baby Driver. Baby Driver was of coarse driving.

Wild Dog Johnny

Johnny was ready to get some slack from Doc for the murder -- what it was -- but still was little surprised man lost it so hard. But Johnny didn't trust workers to not hold some residual allegiance to their previous masters, even if the last one present was bounded and unconscious. Humans are weird like that, or operate by incredibly complex motivations. What else he could do? Strip the guy naked and drop out of the car ten miles down the road? Could be fun, nothing he could have said later would make a lick of sense. But what's done was done.

He was even more surprised when Doc agreed so easily about Hitler, he would expect a condition of direct threat, but then noticed Codi had said "stop" not "kill." Johnny smiled, thinking what really calmed Doc, Codi's lesson about slavery or the strip show she was giving changing out of her mud soaked clothes, likely without fully realizing the impact.

Meanwhile he together with APC dropped looted corpses down the bushes. Not that it mattered, but not leaving carcasses on the road was sort of norm of courtesy for him.

"Be smart partner, and you get your part," Johnny said to the worker Codi had selected, in Spanish.

Guy didn't answer, just made a face Johnny couldn't fully interpret in the darkness, and shouted something to other workers in dialect unintelligible enough for him to not be sure of the exact meaning of that either, but they all started moving efficiently enough, and that was about all Johnny cared for the moment.

At the exit of the valley he took left fork in an Y junction of tracks, away of their original dropping area. They had just crossed a brook at the bottom of the next valley when he heard a low rumble, stirring some ancient memories.

"Helicopters!" He said in the PTT, for other car to hear, "lights out." He stopped and killed the engine; then turned into the open jeep and signaled to the driver of the first truck to do the same, by pointing at his own eyes and waving down. Either understood that, or just by example, trucks complied.

Through the cracks in the canopy they could spot a very large transport helicopter, Mil Mi-26, and Johnny didn't need to see the escorts to identify a pair of Mi-35M2, night attack gunships with airdrop troop compartments of their own. They speeded by, without paying the little convoy any attention.

"Looks like they have located the crash sites," Johnny commented over the radio, when helicopters were safely over the next ridge, and they had resumed movement. "Just short of two hours, seriously? Looks like the whole country is on high alert. Then, we destroyed like 8% of their airforce, they have right to be pissed," he chuckled.

"SwipeRight, can you please plot us a route, I want to exit mountains going north, and enter Maracaibo via or parallel to Calle 10 still before sunrise, but use country roads as much as possible. North of Calle 10 there several large walled lots, we could use one for the drop off, or if you happen to spot just the right barn along the way, in the countryside around La Paz perhaps, maybe even better."

Twenty minutes later they had crossed another minor ridge, and already went down toward the first road shown on any map Johnny had. The crossroads were relatively open, and weren't empty. It looked like a group of 8 Tiuna MWVs (locally build Toyota reinterpretation of humvee) were just arrived, probably stopped just to stretch legs, or for coordination with some other group elsewhere, before going up into the mountains. By the sheer size of some of the guys outside the cars Johnny reckoned at least some were not locals.

"Shit, there they are," Johnny said, "and I guess, we're already spotted on the ridge. Let's just drive through, I will slow to a crawl, but never stop completely." Not trusting his own Spanish in this situation, he said to APC: "Greet them, ask what's on hunt or some such."

When he did, and the man answered it's open season on Americans, Johnny laughed: "gran broma, amigo!" He made a point by holding both his hands on the steering wheel, to be clearly seen.

Meanwhile someone else of the soldiers asked something to the workers, and initially surprised by the answer started laughing too. Johnny didn't fully understand either side of the conversation, though.

Sean Hasting

Sean Hasting was occupying a stool at the far end of Camino bar, a few blocks from El Eden. It was dark but still hot outside. The ceiling fan beat at about 200 RPMs, stirring up the tropical air in an attempt to provide minimal relief. It was not working.

Sean was smoking his hand roll cigarette and killing a Corona. He could watch the tourists pass by outside with their cameras and unfolded city maps. Who used maps anymore? They all seemed to have a map. He had also seen the welcome party Jack Cauten had set up for him. Serious men, here for a serious job.

Four of them had come on two mopeds. The mopeds had long bags on them. Those men headed headed for the two tallest buildings in the area. "Snipers for sure" Sean thought. He had seen the local police officer move away after someone wearing glasses and a hat talked to him. There was going to be trouble tonight and someone wanted to make sure the cop did not get in the way.

Sean had survived tough assignments because he could read people and signs. He knew Jack Cauten had set him up and the signs showed the hit would be at El Eden.

Another group of tourists walked by which included two sunburned babes in bikinis. The women were hot! ”Damn” Sean said to himself. Girls like that made him wonder why he was in this line of work. He wished he could be the tourist and enjoy a country instead figuring out ways to avoid getting killed.

He tapped out his cigarette and addressed his thought. “Someone has got to defend freedom, you dumb ass! That’s your job!”

He might have been able to see the guerrilla fighter before all these other people arrived, unfortunately, he had received word the spec ops team had also picked this same stripper joint as a place to meet. He had to be here to meet them. He got up from the bar stool and gave money to the bartender for his beer. “Now comes the tricky part” he told himself as he donned his “tourist” disguise to include a map, hat, and camera.

He circled the block and noted the more obvious gunmen. Then he went into the shop adjacent shop to the El Eden. The two businesses shared a common wall. He went to the back of the shop and went into the small cleaning closet. Inside the closet there was a door which opened up into the strip club.

The secret passageway was because sometimes strippers needed to escape the El Eden from over friendly customers which waited for them to get off their shift. The secret entrance was also used by special customers which visited the El Eden for its prostitution services.

Sean was in the back room area of the club where the special private lap dances were preformed. He peeked through the beaded curtain into the main dance floor.

The guerrilla fighter named Enrique Perez was actually easy to spot in the room full of men. Anyone that spent many nights in a strip joint was not there to watch the women on stage. They would be away from the stage and noise, drinking, eating and telling stories to his favorite girl.

Sean saw a man doing just that, along with a few of his fellow guerrillas. There was no doubt the men at that table would be armed. And there was little chance the rebel fighter would tell him about the Crimson Vultures or their VIP guest. Sean had an alternate plan to get the information he was seeking.

He went through the beaded curtain and took an empty seat near the stage and waited.

Hot Thunder

Commander Codi Banner was worried. There was no way they were going to make it through this encounter with the Venezuelan army. The first jeep with Wild Dog, APC, and Doc could pass as thugs of some drug lord, the two flatbed trucks would be no problem, but her jeep was all women. Flic, Hot Thunder, and Baby Driver. They did not look the part, and they were dressed in men’s clothing. She placed her right hand on her M4A1 Carbine Assault Rifle laying on the floor board of the jeep. She could bring it up into firing position quicker when everything started to go south.

But Baby Driver had a better plan. She grabbed her water canteen and spilled some water on her shirt. Then she handed the canteen back to Hot Thunder saying in a drunk voice “Cacique!” Codi knew Cacique was a Venezuelan brand of rum.

“Si” She answered in excitement back to Baby Driver and took a swing and handed the canteen to Flic. Codi figure out, Baby Driver was trying to fool the Army soldiers into thinking they were drunk hookers that had partied with the Thugs. Flic seemed to catch on too and took a swing and acted drunk as well.

As their jeep got closer, the soldiers finally took notice of them. The men’s eyes grew narrow in puzzlement over what they were seeing. Codi got a huge smile on her lips and said “5000 bolívares por una cogida” (5000 bolivares for a fuck). Some of the soilders laughed at her comment. But the head soldier yelled “Detener” (stop) holding his hand up.

Baby Driver “stopped” the jeep like a drunk person would and both Flic and Codi started to drunk giggle.

“Why is your face covered in mud?” The man asked Codi.

“The assholes in front” Codi explained pointing at Wild Dog’s jeep “fucked us in a muddy field… ruined our dresses. Fucking animals!”

Flic giggled and said “You loved it bitch! You pussy is still tingling!!”

More laughter from the soldiers and the one that stopped them, waved them through “move along whores!” He ordered.

“Si” Codi replied as the caravan got moving again.

Sean Hastings

After 30 mins of waiting the DJ announced Carmen as the next dancer. The girl next to the guerrilla fighter named Enrique Perez got up. Sean had guessed that as handsome and dangerous the guerrilla fighter was… he was not rich. Carmen still needed to make money, so she would dance at some point. As she stood up, Sean thought she was the best looking stripper in the place. She was wearing a red dress, the straps hanging over her shoulders, teasing the customers with ample view of her busty cleavage. Sean's eyes wandered down her body where he found everything that pleased him. Nice hips, long smooth legs, and a lusty, sexy walk.

The place was packed and loud but when Carmen took the stage, the crowd seemed to pay more attention. It was as if every guy in the club was entering a fantasy about Carmen. She started slowly, just swaying to the music. One customer threw some money on the stage. Carmen smiled and moved to the nearest poll. She pulled down the top half of her dress, revealing her big breasts. Then she preformed a handstand, wrapped her legs around the poll. She lifted herself up by her legs until her hands grasped the top of the poll near the ceiling. She proceeded to slide down the poll, one breast on each side, her hands pushing them together around the poll. The crowd got more excited and yelled as she reached the bottom. She rolled over and slithered on her hands and knees to the end of the stage where more money was given to her.

Carmen continued to dance exotically at the edge of the stage. She did a flip onto her back and spread her legs as wide as she could. She was not wearing any panties and her short dress came up to her waist from that move. Sean could see everything! She rolled over once more on all fours, she turned 90 degrees. Sean watched as incandescent eyes looked at him. He also watched her breasts sway seductively just out of reach. She moved closer to Sean and placed her breasts in his face, “motorboating” him. As the song finished, the crowd clapped loudly. She started to moved away.

“Can I get a lap dance?” Sean asked as he put some money in her garter belt. She nodded yes. Sean smiled and lifting his bottle of beer and drank up. Carmen collected all her money and walked off the stage. Sean met her at the steps.

“Private Lap Dance” He suggested.

“Of coarse” She answered and grabbed his hand pulling him to the backrooms. The first floor rooms were all full, so she headed upstairs. She found an open room, entered, and asked him to take a seat on the couch as she pulled off her dress. She was naked except for her high heels.

Sean did not take a seat, instead he remained standing, blocking her way to the door.

“I don’t want a lap dance, but I need to talk to you.” He explained. Carmen’s eyes looked at him wondering what the hell was going on.

“I need some information from you, and in exchange I will provide you information that will save your boyfriend’s life and yours. Sound fair?” He asked.

“What are you talking about, gringo?” She asked defensively. She reached down and pulled her dress back on.

Sean pulled his wallet out and handed her 100,000 bolivares (~400 US Dollars). “For the lap dance.” He said. Then he motioned her to one window in the room. She followed cautiously.

“Look… see that man on the roof top. Over there” He asked, as he pointed out one of the snipers. The man was clearly holding a rifle pointed at the El Eden entrance. He was barely visible from reflected light from the neon sign over El Eden. Then Sean pointed to the other tall roof, this sniper was far more visible, also crouched down holding a high powered rifle.

“Those men are just a few waiting to kill Enrique Perez.” Sean said. Of coarse, in reality, those men were there to kill Sean, not Enrique, but Carmen would not know that.

“What do you want to know?” Carmen asked.

“Crimson Vulture… captured someone, I need to who that person is. I will not let anyone know the information came from you. But I need a name and why the person is important.” Sean asked.

“Why should I tell you anything? You have already told me what I need to know” Carmen asked.

“Because I still have more to say…” Sean said with a knowing smile.

Carmen thought about what Sean asked. Then she said “I want 1000 dollars US, if I tell you what I know.” She said.

“Ok, but it better be good.” Sean warned her.

“Enrique has told his men… Her name is Dragoon. I don’t know her real name. But she knows something about where oil is located. Vast oil reserves. That is why Venezuelan government and other governments want her.” Carmen explained. “That is all I know.”

“Thanks” Sean said. “Here is the 1000 dollars you asked for… and that other piece of information I promised is… Jack Cauten is the person that sent the hitmen to kill him.”

Carmen grabbed the money and walked out of the room in a hurry. Sean smiled as he watched her sexy ass leave. He sure loved it when a plan came together! He waited a minute and then went back down stairs. He stayed behind the beaded curtain and watched. He saw Carmen whispering to Enrique.

Wild Dog Johnny

Car headlights cast sharp shadows canceling out the pale ambient moonlight. Unseen men behind the army vehicles exchanged remarks. Johnny's confidence was crumpling, he had driven in an encounter that promised trouble, not only to him but persona he enacted alike, without a clear concept of how it should unfold. And the other jeep was all girls, how unusual that would be seen to be? He had no idea are female thugs a thing around here, but hoped the country's past of inequal prosperity, revolts and socialist ideals would provide enough room for such a concept. Above all he hoped the soldiers be too busy with their current mission to deal with what he hoped to portray here.

“5000 bolívares por una cogida” (5000 bolivares for a fuck) Codi announced.

Well, that could work too, Johnny thought, at the same time feeling pang of responsibility if the situation would go out of hand.

“Detener!” the platoon commander identified himself. He had been quietly arguing with one of those men Johnny considered to be mercenaries. What exactly is their chain of command here, Johnny was wondering. That man seemed eerie familiar, he wouldn't even be surprised to run in someone he knew between that crowd.

Johnny had to stop too, one of Tiunas partially blocked the trail, and reacting on commander's gesture one of the soldiers beelined directly to Johnny.

"Show your papers," was how Johnny understood the Spanish phrase.

"Like cargo invoice?" Johnny played stupid.

"That too," the solder grinned.

"Right there," Johnny rummaged through his pockets, letting a roll of banknotes, taken from the guy he had yanked out of the truck, fall to the floor. He haven't bothered to count it, but had assumed it was probably prepared just for something like this.

"Hey, I think you dropped this," Johnny displayed badly acted surprise picking the package up and offering to the soldier.

"Hm," man took it and quickly examined, "are you sure it's not yours sir?"

"No," Johnny confirmed, "so... there," he didn't really need to act nervousness taking out the dead man"s driver license.

"Alright, I have seen enough," soldier smiled, not really looking at it. "Local farmers," he announced to the commander.

Blocking vehicle backed away clearing the way; they were waved through and turned on the road.

Soon the forest give way to developed countryside, or rather, what once had been developed countryside. It could be an artifact of their path planning, but Johnny could not wonder how abandoned the land seemed: fields overgrown with dried out grass and dotted by bushes indicating they're not merely laid fallow but aren't worked for several years already. Rare farmhouses in the distance looked to be in rather bad shape too. Then, the climate didn't really require much from housing, so the looks could be deceptive. At least it all promised their 50 mile road trip ahead to be rather uneventful.

"Any ideas how everyone got forewarned about our arrival?" Johnny asked Codi and all the others, "I mean, I don't know where their base is, and those Tiunas may be quite fast on the highway perhaps, but still."