Chapter 5

We looked through the mess Sarah's RPGs had made to see if there was anything that we wanted. Sarah immediately claimed some RPGs to replace those that she had used. However, John and Aubry were delighted to find a crate of the French 51 mm LGI mortars. Each took a mortar tube and 15 rounds of high explosive warheads. The advantage we gained was that the RPG was a direct fire weapon and the mortars were indirect fire, kind of like a miniature howitzer. The mortar range was around 700 yards, but the RPG range was somewhat shorter.

We piled up the rest of the still-usable stuff and Sarah fired an RPG into it to destroy the last of the shipment. Our only problem now was what to do with the surviving donkeys. We didn't need them, and they would die if we just turned them loose. Well, we compromised by taking them with us until we came close to a small village where we released the animals. Somebody would find them and become the richest man in town.

We scurried away at about 25 MPH until we were well away from the village before we considered what to do next. Alonzo had his own ideas, but he was willing to listen to suggestions. Sue's suggestion was the one we followed up on. We went back to that road which had been used by the trucks we destroyed and followed it toward Pakistan. We were looking for more trucks carrying war goods that we might ambush. Dammit, we had no luck with that. We guessed that the trucks ran at night to try to avoid being spotted by American drones that were looking for just that sort of thing, but the drones operated mostly in the daytime.

Hell, we could use the rest anyway, so we found a good ambush point and set up a simple camp. During this time until dark, we rested and played with sex. The only exceptions were the sentries, and their duty was limited to one hour. We didn't know for sure how long after the treatment it would take before pregnancy was possible, but we figured that it must be for at least 18 months. I was the exception, but I wanted to be pregnant, and Alonzo was always willing to help me out with my problem.

We ate an MRE for supper as the sun set. Because of the mountains, there was a long wait between the apparent sunset and actual night time. We were getting pretty antsy before a truck convoy actually showed up. I called it a convoy because there were four cargo trucks this time, and they were led by a pickup with a heavy machine gun mounted on a long-legged tripod in the truck bed. It was very much like the "Technicals" from Somalia.

That pickup was the key identifier. We might have let the convoy through without reacting if it had not been led by the pickup. No civilian truck convoy would have had that much firepower, and there was a second Technical bringing up the rear. We had not noticed it at first because of the darkness. Our plan was for Sarah to hit the lead Technical with an RPG and force the convoy to halt. She would then go after the pickup at the rear end with her RPG while Aubry and John hit the larger trucks with the mortars.

Sarah was going to run as fast as she could to get close to the second pickup. With her running at over 50 MPH, the people in the second pickup would probably think that they were facing a second RPG shooter. That little bit of confusion might be of some value. Meanwhile, the rest of us were going to be pouring automatic rifle fire into any men we could find. We didn't have tracer ammunition, but we figured that the light from the RPG and mortar rounds would be enough for us, especially if the trucks started to burn.

The convoy was moving at around 20 MPH when Sarah fired her first RPG. This was nearly a straight-on shot because we were set up at a curve in the road. Therefore, she had very nearly the equivalent of a stationary target. She put the RPG warhead square into the pickup's cab, and that was the end of that. The one shot killed the four men aboard the pickup and destroyed the machine gun. That shot was so good that she had earned a free beer at the first bar we found back at our base.

The leading cargo truck plowed into the burning hulk of the pickup and was set on fire. Only moments later, John put his second mortar round into the cargo bed of the truck. A spectacular explosion was the result. The rest of the trucks had come to a screeching halt, and Aubry and John were aiming for them.

Within 10 seconds, Sarah was in position and launching her RPG at the second Technical. That hit was not the thing of beauty of her first shot, but she did make her kill, and that was what counted. The mortar shots were not as precise as the RPG shots, but the remaining trucks were all hit within seven rounds of mortar fire. Our rifle fire was effective in killing all of the ISIL personnel, so we managed another clean sweep.

Because the trucks were all loaded when they were hit, we did not bother to wait around for them to cool off before we left the area. If anything survived the explosions and fires, it would probably not be worth picking up. We decided to leave before we attracted too much attention. We might be in Pakistan with this ambush, and we didn't want to be around for an international incident.

Alonzo figured that we had been pretty effective with this little excursion and had proved that we could do what we had trained for when we did not have various government regulations to get in the way. Therefore, he thought that it was time for us to head home. The only thing left to test was a supply drop, and we could do that after we had adequate daylight. That was not something that we wanted to try at night because of danger to the aircraft making the supply drop.

Alonzo called for a drop of miscellaneous supplies, especially ammunition for the M-14s. He realized that there had been a mistake when he failed to request tracers be included when we started out. He also ordered two more magazines for our rifles and a combat radio for each of us. Other than that, it was a standard drop of three days worth of consumables.

The supply drop was scheduled for noon tomorrow, and he gave the GPS coordinates that he wanted to use. We reached the drop zone well before noon, so we established a defensive perimeter with sentries and waited for the plane to get here. On the spur of the moment, Alonzo sent our two snipers, Emily and Sue to opposite sides of the drop zone. There were two natural stone "pill boxes" that were perfect for supplying cover while the plane was here.

On further thought, Alonzo sent our mortar experts with them. That left eight of us in the drop zone to move the supplies when they arrived. Given our superior strength and agility, we should have the supplies picked up in a very short time.

The supply plane arrived right on time. It was an Osprey, and I wondered if the Marines were showing off to a bunch of SEALs. There was enough flat space, so the pilot decided to land. He rotated the engines to the helicopter mode and dropped almost on the exact spot pointed out by Alonzo. That's when I was certain that he was showing off.

The loadmaster opened the rear door or hatch or whatever it's called, and our stuff was pushed out. It all fit on one pallet, so the unloading took only a few seconds. The rear end was closed, and the Osprey was airborne in a flash. He was hardly off the ground when the fuselage was stitched by machine gun bullets. Nothing serious was damaged, and the Osprey was away in only a few more seconds.

Those shots had certainly gotten our attention. Shit, we couldn't allow that kind of action right under our noses! We were not surrounded. The shooters were formed in an arc about 200 yards away on a low ridge that was mostly rocks of various sizes. Some of the rocks could legitimately be called boulders. Now, Alonzo's hunch was going to pay off.

Apparently, the enemy did not realize that not all of us were under their guns. However, they found out soon enough. Two rifle cracks were heard, and they could only have come from M-14s. Two screams of pain closely followed the sounds of the shots. We knew that Emily and Sue had found targets.

It couldn't have been more than two seconds later that we heard the CRUNCH made by mortar bombs going off. Aubry and John had not even needed ranging shots to put hits right on the ridge. Six more mortar bombs landed on the ridge, and no one was still shooting at us from there.

Alonzo waved us out, and we went to take a look at what was left of the ridge. These guys must have been fairly new to the game, because they did not figure us for having anything more than M-16s, and those bullets would have made little difference against the rocks. As we walked to the ridge, I heard Alonzo mutter to himself, "Maybe it's time for me to retire. I should have put a man on that ridge. Something like this won't happen again."