Anatomy of a Rebellion

Chapter 18

Will We See Combat?

Riane knew nothing of Percy's men. What she had heard was limited to the nonsense Jordan spouted and whatever the media decided to report. Jordan had a horrible reputation as a liar whenever he spoke to women, so she naturally trusted only the news outlets. None of those in the media had ever said anything particularly nice about Percy's Company. In fact, she was a little bit afraid of them thanks to the rumors.

Percy himself was a mystery to her and she couldn't recall seeing him smile since she arrived. The squad leaders all acted like wild animals; they were loud and passionate about seemingly everything. They reminded her of a pack of wolves. Rumors stated that they would disobey a direct order from the President himself in order to protect each other. Nothing was more important than themselves.

This was manifested in the truly ugly rumors. Some said that while they were in Turkey, they had burned down entire towns to reach Istanbul. It didn't matter if they were enemy combatants or civilians, if they got in the way they were killed. They looted every house and every shop they came across. The entire company was a group of thugs; they were all rapists and murderers. "Baby killers," one reporter had said to her. The story about Laredo was that they assassinated a Mexican official, disobeyed orders from a General who mysteriously disappeared, and shot at the backs of innocent immigrants as they ran for cover.

They scared her, plain and simple. Yet when Percy called for her to report to his office, she made her way there with as much confidence as she could. Straight through the wolf cave she traveled; in order to reach Percy's office, she went down a hallway and then had to brave her way past a room full of his squad leaders. They paid her no mind, as they were all too focused on pretending to appear busy rather than being interested in her.

From the middle of that room she could see Percy. A large glass window took up most of the wall that separated his office from the others. If he were to sit at his desk, he would merely have to turn to the right to see if his men were behaving. At that particular moment, however, he was not seated at his desk. Riane got to witness the seemingly rare sight of Percy laughing – and he was laughing hard.

With him inside his office were Wallace and Goldwin; all three of them stood in front of Percy's desk in a rather casual state. Whatever had been said sent Percy into a fit of laughter so great his eyes were tearing up. She caught the sight of him wiping away a tear that threatened to fall. His face was flushed so red he looked almost ready to pass out. The other men were roaring with laughter, too, but it wasn't unusual to see normal people laugh. It was just unusual to see him laugh.

Finally, she braved to enter his office. A few quick strides sent her to his open door. Out of courtesy, she prepared to knock before entering. Percy noticed her before she could even have her hand full raised. There was no attempt to compose himself. With a hint of laughter still in his tone, he said, "Please come inside, Miss McDermott. Make yourself comfortable."

Slowly she slinked inside and gazed around. The walls were painted an ocean blue color with wood trim; they were mostly bare, save for a few photographs behind his desk and two flags on the opposite wall. One flag was American and the other was that of the United States Army. Both were tattered and worn. Then she turned her attention to the three men: Percy was dressed sharply in his dress uniform, his hat on square; Wallace was in his fatigues, with his shirt partially tucked in and the pants covering only one boot; Goldwin had his cadet cap strapped on tight and his fatigues looking precise.

Wallace said, "Why do you have a girl visiting you, Percy? Is it mating season for you yet?"

Percy smiled and said, "No, I've got business to take care of."

"Well what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Wallace jokingly cursed.

Goldwin was the only one to truly recognize Riane's appearance. He introduced himself to her when he said, "My name is Lieutenant James Goldwin, ma'am. Please excuse these two, they're being quite rude."

"Ah, can it, Goldie," Wallace said, his smile still on his face. "You're always acting so smooth to the ladies but I've never seen you land a girl around here."

"Your attitude really isn't befitting a man who just lost his sister, Wallace," Percy said. He moved himself after he made that statement. While Wallace reacted to it, Percy placed himself behind his desk and prepared to sit down.

Wallace showed no outward signs of depression. Instead, he merely joked, "I've had a lot of pity sex."

The sigh that escaped Percy's lips was very loud. "You two are dismissed," he said. Goldwin offered a salute before he spun around; Wallace only sent a wink Riane's way as he strode out. Another sigh was heard after the "click" of the door shutting broke the silence. Percy requested, "Please have a seat." Riane took the only chair that was across from him. She swore he muttered under his breath, "Wallace is still so immature."

Once seated across from him his attention was focused solely on her, and hers solely on him. He removed his hat and unceremoniously threw it onto the table. For the first time she observed him in the light. The brown locks atop his head swooped to the left; his brown eyes were the same color as his hair. The bridge of his nose looked almost rectangular at that angle and his jaw seemed a bit round. Nothing about him was interesting or fascinating. Despite his reputation, he appeared to be a very average and boring man.

He caught her intense stare and said, "What is it?"

Without a moment of hesitation she said, "I'm curious about the stuff on your walls. Where did those flags come from, and who are in those photos?"

Percy did not shift his gaze from her eyes. He explained, "Those flags were both flown in Turkey. With Prince Brunhart's men having ravaged most of Europe, we chose to enter Turkey by landing in Kuwait and marching forward. We liberated every town we passed through on our way to Istanbul. Those flags were carried by every man in my unit until we destroyed the rebellion in Turkey. We raised them at the border of Turkey and Greece to show Brunhart's men we had taken the Middle East."

"I don't believe a hundred men could withstand armies of thousands," she said.

"Well we did," Percy stated flatly. "The photographs behind me are proof of that."

It was his turn to observe her. All he remembered from when they first met was the soft feeling of her palms. Yet now that he looked at her, he realized she was probably not a "soft" individual. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, a dirty New York Yankees baseball cap rested atop of her head, her clothes looked beat up and worn, and he wondered if she even thought about putting makeup on. He had never seen a woman so carelessly present herself to him. He wondered if it was a sign of disrespect, or a complete disregard for such foolish things.

No more time was wasted on getting to know each other. The stare was broken when he pulled something out from a drawer. An electronic notepad was tossed toward her. He said, "Explain to me why Jordan spends months writing an article about us, loses his job and can't get it published, but you can crap that out in a week and have it published in every major newspaper in the country."

The screen presented the headline from an article she had just published. "The Lawlessness of Martial Law." Now she understood why she was called in to his office. His expression displayed his disgust. The notepad was placed back on his wooden desk. She said, "You're supposedly smart. You tell me."

He scowled. "This article paints every police officer and soldier as complete monsters. I cannot allow something like this to be published."

"Then you prove my point," she countered. When he nearly growled, it just made her smile. "You can't deny that the tension between the military and law enforcement has grown to uncomfortable levels. And regardless of how much you want to argue, the truth is an innocent civilian was killed on this military base by soldiers. You're ignorant if you think the people aren't boiling on the inside. They hate you."

"You have a lot of guts to come in here and talk like that," Percy said.

"I'll be honest with you Major. I have no respect for you or your men. The real heroes of this country are the ones who refuse to kneel before tyrants like you or President Kenning."

"Then why are you here?"

"Like I'm stupid enough to refuse the chance to get the inside scoop on the enemy."

Percy let out a snort. He opened his mouth to say something but a shout from the other room silenced him. Both he and Riane looked out the large window and into the squad leaders' room. Barton was standing, a phone placed to his ear, and the others watched him curiously. A second later, Wakeman's phone rang. He answered and again another shout was emitted. One by one, Percy watched his squad leaders leap to their feet or shout in surprise as phones began to ring.

He stood from his desk to see what the commotion was. Before he could reach the door it flew open. In front of him stood Mackenzie and Freddie; the combination was not one he wanted to see together. The Captain informed him in the most strained voice he ever heard her use, "Major, Marine One has been shot down."

"What?!" Percy yelped so loud it sent everyone into silence. "How do you know this? When did it happen? Who informed you?!"

"Please Major, calm down," Mackenzie stressed. He felt himself exhale and relaxed instantly.

Freddie said, "I'm sorry to be the one to inform you of this, Percy, but all five have been missing for about four minutes now."

"Get me satellite footage of the last location of every helicopter! I want a live feed of every major news outlet and every radio channel being used by the federal law enforcement! Decode the f**k out of them if you have to!" Percy barked. His men moved with great efficiency at every order he spoke. Within seconds the office space of his squad leaders had been turned into a conference room. A large screen of the satellite footage was being uploaded when he turned to Riane and said, "It looks like your 'heroes' have struck the evil President before you could."

Then he promptly left her and joined his squad leaders. Not in the mood to be alone, she followed. The only voice she could hear and understand was Freddie. "Huck was not sent to assassinate the President!... I heard it through a source!... I'm serious it's for real!..." With great interest she watched as the men she once believed to be savage dogs transformed into an excellent machine.

"Which one contained the President?" Wallace asked.

"We don't know," Wakeman answered.

"Find out!"

"Where are they?" Percy asked.

"Looks like… one crashed near the Ozark National Forest," Wakeman again answered.

"That's like five hundred miles away!" Barton lamented.

"I'm assembling my squad right now!" Chen said. Before another word was said, he was gone. Riane looked to Percy to see if he was irritated. He was not; in fact, he appeared to have to not heard Chen at all. The truth was he had heard and was pleased Chen had made such a decision. Regardless of how far away it was or if it was the one that contained the President, someone with authority needed to check it out.

"How the f**k does Marine One get shot down?" Percy mused aloud. "Something isn't right. We haven't even been mobilized. We're the only force left in this region with any fighting power."

As Percy thought out loud, the satellite imagines they were viewing went blank. Wakeman reported, "They've started a fresh encryption. I can't break it."

"We're going to the Ozark National Forest!" Percy commanded. "Corporal McGill, take your squad airborne in five minutes. Sergeant Sun, you'll be copilot. Mister Chevalier and Skipper will lead the ground charge. Meet up with Chen and hustle to Ozark! Wakeman and Barton will follow suit. Lieutenant James will be attached to Barton's unit and I'll be with Skipper. Captain Ross, you're in charge of operations here; I want you and Sun's men working –"

"Major," Mackenzie interrupted. "It would be in your best interest if I escorted –"

"You must stay here and remain in command!" Percy shouted. It was evident he was on edge; the near snarl in his voice made it clear.

For a brief second her annoyance flashed upon her face. Quickly it was replaced with a rather neutral expression. "Yes, Major," she said.

"Move out!" Percy's voice demanded. Everyone immediately began to grab what they needed from their desks and take off. He turned to Riane and asked, "Are you coming with us?" She stared at him blankly. Again, he sighed. "If you are coming with us, we'll need to ensure you get a helmet and Kevlar."

"Will we see combat?"

"I don't know."

By the time Percy decided to join the rest of his Company they were waiting patiently for him. Wallace stood near a Humvee, the door open, in anticipation of the Major. A few last minute preparations were being finished up by the others as the first few vehicles began to move. In the sky, the roar of McGill's helicopter was already fading into the distance. The Warrant Officer rocked his head a few times to ensure his helmet was on tight enough.

Riane was behind the Major, an extra helmet placed on her head and a vest over his torso. Wallace merely raised an eyebrow at her. "You were in such a hurry to leave, but you kept us waiting for a girl?" he joked to his superior.

Percy made no expression. As he climbed inside the vehicle he said, "You keep me waiting every day, Warrant Officer." Wallace could only grin, as he knew full well Percy simply had no reasonable excuse for being delayed. He continued to wait as Riane hesitated to enter the Humvee. It wasn't until Wallace made a very deliberate motion did she finally climb inside. Before she was situated, Wallace entered and slammed the door shut. Whoever was driving accelerated in a flat hurry.

The passenger in the front handed a headset to Percy who wasted no time in placing it on his head. "Alright," he breathed into the mouthpiece. He and Wallace made eye contact long enough for the Major to know he could be heard.

"Major," Mackenzie's voice rattled in his brain. "A report has just come through the wire. The 20th SFG is approaching."

"Green Beret," someone whispered back.

"They're expecting a firefight," she continued. "It's been confirmed the escorts have been shot down. I'll give you all the intelligence I can. Everyone, be careful out there. Come back alive."

Riane couldn't hear the conversation, but she felt Wallace's body stiffen. The Warrant Officer rarely heard the Captain speak like that. It made him nervous. Were her words because she couldn't be with them? Or was she truly afraid that this was going to be a tough fight? Either way, the uneasiness crept through his body and sent it into a violent shiver.

For Percy, however, he remained motionless save for a small smile that almost graced his lips. He said, "Your Captain just gave you an order. I expect a reply!"

Simultaneously, everyone shouted, "Yes, Captain!"

It took Riane off guard. Her attention was turned to Wallace, who leaned over and asked, "So you're like Jordan, right? You've seen combat?"

She shook her head. "No, no," she answered. "I did a report on militias. All they did was train and some petty vandalism. Why?"

Wallace felt his lips fall. "I see," was all he said.

"Ignore him," Percy interrupted. "He's trying to scare you. The Green Beret will have the area secure by the time we show up. And if for some reason there are still enemy combatants in the area, we will protect you. Combat isn't something to be afraid of. It's not the worst thing mankind has done."

"Then what is, Percy?" Barton asked over the walkie. No one outside of the Major's vehicle knew the origin of the statement, but they were witness to it regardless.

"Corrupting itself," Goldwin's voice answered. "Creating excuses for the wicked deeds we've done, refusing to hold ourselves accountable for past mistakes, being unable to accept every achievement and misstep at face value… For every murder and m******e, for every r**e and assault, we devil our ways out of responsibility. It's sickening. Combat is an action of mutual consent. g******e and slavery, greed and envy, the manipulation of those weaker… the hand that tightens its grip around our throats, cutting off our voice so we don't dare to point out the hypocrisy… that's worse. Yeah, there's nothing worse than that."