Texas Nights - Book 13 of the Damned of the 2/19th

Prisoner Exch... OH MY GOD!

Logbase-Tango
(Decomissioned Urban Warfare Center)
Jackingtonville, Abanstan
(North Fort Hood, Texas)
Eastern Europe
(CONUS)
26 February, 1992
2300 Hours - Monday
Day Nine of Operation Copperhead (Field Training Exercise)

The tap on my boot woke me up from dreams of Atlas. I had taken to sleeping beside my cot, my Kevlar vest against the outside of my GP Small Tent. My hand found my M-3 before I was even fully awake, before my eyes were open, and I'd half lifted it up before what was going on had even registered.

Peel was crouched down, her face sweaty even with the cold of the Texas winter night.

"Colonel Krait wants you right now," Peel said softly. I noticed she had her SAW hanging from her modified sling. "Something big's going down. A Ranger patrol just got back, they've got a prisoner from Red Faction."

That made me sit up and grab my pants. I hated sleeping with underwear on, but ever since Panama I'd decided it was better to put up with my gash getting swampy than having some of the local wildlife decide to go spelunking between my legs. I got dressed quickly, pulling on my battle-rattle and leaving quickly with Peel.

We'd learned to dart from cover to cover over the last week. Stillwater's men were everywhere, constantly harassing us. Hardly an hour went by before someone got sniped, or a CS grenade was thrown into camp, or someone ambushed a vehicle, or snuck in and 'blew up' the ammo or fuel points. All night, every night, there were constant flashbangs going off, illumination rounds going off.

Two nights ago the maniac had blown off a simulator that apparently had required III Corps authorization to use. The flash had lit up the entire night and more than a few windows had shattered.

III Corps graders told us that he'd 'blown up the bridge', cutting the city in half.

He'd actually blown up several buildings, simulated mined roads, had female soldiers disguised as civilians throw (practice) grenades into passing vehicles or pull out an AK-47 and shoot (blanks) at the convoy. Everyone was slowly but surely just coming to grips with the fact that Red Faction might attack at any second, and that the majority of the activities by Red Faction were harassment often with the motto "you can always take one with you." It was largely harassment to keep us on our toes and leave us sleep deprived.

Except for the three times they'd made a serious push at overrunning our Logbase that at first was mistaken every time as a diversion or just harassment.

Everyone was obviously hammered after the last week. True to form, Stillwater and his band of thugs had kept up the pressure on everyone. Blue Team OP4 had surrendered to us first in exchange for "safety", then Orange Team OP4 had lost all objectives when Stillwater burned one of the "temples" to the fucking ground after gathering up a bunch of captured Orange Team soldiers and made them watch.

Oh, and he kept 'executing' their leaders. Then making speeches to the "civilians" that populated our little Urban Warfare Center area.

The III Corps graders had allowed the big thug to recruit.

I stopped, halfway across the camp, realizing something.

There was no weapons fire, no explosions.

"What's going on, Peel?" I asked as we went by the two guards at the door.

"Not sure. Just the Rangers came in with a prisoner and ten minutes later the Colonel has me looking for you," She told me.

Captain Jane and Lieutenant Johnson had been captured the day before. Lieutenant Hendricks and Lieutenant Bradshaw had been in his hands nearly four days.