Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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LostNFound
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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Cassie and Jaclyn were the first ones to head back to the farm. They drove on the state route 36 to the Road 10 turnoff and headed north. Cassie could see the sheriff cars sitting on road 0 as she passed through the 4way. The Womack farm was just up the road from that intersection and she knew the sheriff cars were there just waiting for Heinrick Limorish to show up with more of his minions. She had caught some mention of the physical eviction today through the Haverstock boys mind thoughts. It wasn’t very clear because those boy’s minds were full of trash all the time it seemed. She turned onto the drive and stopped. She told her mother to get everybody into the house area in preparation for what was coming. She heard he mother tell her that they had already begun preparing because her father had sent word ahead while he was dealing with Heinrick to get the paperwork taken care of. She put the truck in gear and headed up the long drive to the feed barn where she and Jaclyn and some of the men began to unload it. Carl, Ammon and Danny turned on the Road 10 just as Cassie was turning onto the drive and rolled through the intersection not long after. Danny told them what was being said at the house and he could read the minds of the deputies as they drove by them. “Those people are going to come in force to evict the Womack’s and they mean to do physical harm to anyone up here.” Ammon spoke as he looked out toward the south. “I wonder it Garth has any weapons we can use. There is a bunch of people down there in some trees and I think they are going to come up here from the east so we might have to go and take care of them.” Danny smiled and said “well I can tell you that Tamara, Alisha and Alice have taken care of their transportation so they will have to walk through the fields. And they don’t have any ammunition in their weapons. In fact none of the sheriff deputies have any ammunition either, they have been disarmed in that respect and they don’t know it yet.” They all three smiled as Carl pulled the empty milk truck in to the big barn at the end where the big stainless steel vats and tanks were located.

Bobby and Tom were the next ones to drive up the 10 and through the intersection. The deputies that were in their cars with some of the hired hands from the YE had watched all three trucks pass through. Hymme cursed out loud and spit a wad of tobacco out the window. “Damnit, those people were supposed to be taken care of in town but here they all are. Something doesn’t seem right.” He picked up his radio and called Sheriff Buchanan. The static on the other end was deafening but he tried anyway. “Buck, hey Buck where the hell are you? Over. Static was all he got, he tried again but the same static made him grit his teeth. “Damnit all to hell this is peculiar.” Ralph was sitting in the passenger seat and Jose’ Rosterian was on the back. He reached up and grabbed Hymme’s shoulder just as the big rig came rumbling through the cross section. Hymme stared with an open mouth as the dust blew in his open window and made him choke. Damnit, Damnit, that was Garth and he is supposed to be locked up.” He pulled out his tobacco can and took a big wad and stuffed it into his lower mouth. He picked up the radio again and heard the sheriff calling him. “Hymme stop that damn truck we can’t let him get back to the house. We are just turning onto the 10 Damnit you better had set a road block up there.” Hymme swallowed the plug of tobacco and stuck his head out the window while he puked it up. When he straightened up he hit the gas pedal and the car spun out. He turned it onto the 10 and proceeded to follow the big rig. The others that were sitting with him spun out and followed. The dust was thick and he couldn’t see a damn thing. When he reached the driveway to the Womack’s he slammed his brakes and almost smashed into the big rig that was turned sideways and blocking the driveway completely. The tractor was stuck in the mud on one side while the tanker trailers were stuck in the mud on the other side. “What the hell” he said as he climbed out of his car and the others slammed into his rear and pushed the car into the undercarriage of the first tanker trailer. He swore up and down and screamed at the other deputies. They all began to crawl out of their cars. The sheriff pulled up and had to stop a few cars back. The other deputies slammed into his car and knocked Buck and Heinrick into the dash. Everyone was cursing now and then Butch and his toadies slammed into one of the deputy cars at the rear. The scene had become like one of those old time pile ups on the speedways that used to run like the stock car races. There was a good sized crowd of sheriff deputies and other minions of Heinrick standing on the road surface examining the chaos that had just occurred.

Garth and Chance were the last ones to arrive and when they saw the deputies at the cross roads Garth had stomped on the gas pedal and the big rig went through the crossing doing about 60 miles an hour. He down shifted to bring it to a stop at the driveway and he and Chance got out and levitated the truck to set in its crossway position. No one could drive up the driveway and they couldn’t get around it without getting stuck in the mud bogs on each side. Garth and Chance then levitated up to the house and met with the other folks that were preparing to defend themselves. Heinrick Limorish had finally declared war on the Womack’s and meant to either drag them off their private property so he could take it or kill them all so he could take it. Either way the man had finally gone stark raving mad and drug all his minions into hell with him at this point. All the men had found Garth’s Magazine full of weapons that had been stashed long ago, and were arming themselves for the coming battle. The girls were watching all the activity and finally told them that they had made all the ammunition disappear from the people down at the entrance. They had made the motors disappear from the cars of the Limorish boys that were hiding to the south. This battle was pretty lopsided at the moment and those people down there are going to have to walk up here if they want to do anything. Alisha stepped forward and said “this fight is really between the Limorish fellow and Garth, it always has been and these two men must end this battle. I can tell you that better than half the people of Saint Francis are going to come out here and there is a lawful Judge who is willing to stand up to these very nasty criminals.

All the folks standing around the yard listened to this little girl. They knew what she was capable of and they agreed that there shouldn’t be any blood shed here today but rather a justice that had been a long time coming. Garth and Elizabeth both knew Alisha was right. Chance and Cassie knew that this had to end and the city of Saint Francis needed to be healed from this criminal that ran rough shod over the people for far too long. Garth stepped out of the crowd and walked to where he could see the crowd of deputies and other minions of Heinrick. He could see the big dust cloud coming up from the south and understood it was the people of Saint Francis that were coming out to stand up for themselves finally but they had to witness what was going to transpire between Heinrick and Garth. Garth began to walk down the driveway knowing he was going to fight the one and only man that had taken over this county and had gotten away with it for so long now it was almost unknown how he managed to do it in the first place. He reached the halfway mark of the driveway and figured Heinrick would be able to hear him from this point. The mass movement of vehicles had finally come to a halt and the people had begun to come and arrest the deputies and any of the minions that stood with Heinrick and had caused pain and death to the good people all in the name of power and money. He watched the people chase down some of those that tried to run and carry them off. He noticed 4 school busses pull up and the people were taking the prisoners and putting them in the busses. In all the arrests and fights to capture, no one touched Heinrick who stood with the sheriff until three armed men came and took him away and left Heinrick standing by himself.

South of the farm house, a group of armed men came upon the Limorish boys and the few farm hands they had with them and arrested them. The oldest boy tried to run but slipped on a wet cow patty and fell on his back. When he hit the ground he broke his neck and died instantly. The others were taken to the busses and handcuffed. Butch Krieger and the 4 men that were with him had seen what was coming and tried to drive across a field to escape to county road 0. They were the only ones with guns that had bullets of all the criminals. Their car got stuck in a mud bog at which point they got out and started running for some cover and the ensuing gun battle left them dead. One good town folk was shot and killed but he saved two others in the process. South of State route 36 on the YE farm the main house had caught fire and was burning in a giant conflagration. Two of the big barns had also started burning and the animals were running into the big pastures to get away. The horse barn was left wide open and the horses began to escape. As the big barns burned the embers caught the big hay barn and the horse barn on fire and it seemed that most of the buildings on the farm began to burn. The embers found their way into the giant silos and the wheat dust and corn dust began to explode. Anybody that was still on the farm found vehicles and any mode of transportation and abandoned the farm to burn to the ground.. It seemed as if the YE was doomed to be cleaned off the face of the earth. In the town of Saint Francis, The people that didn’t go out to arrest the deputies and other criminals began to round up the minions of Heinrick Limorish that worked in all his stores and banks and at the big Grange. The city was experiencing a cleansing. There were those that did escape and drove toward Wichita and Kansas City never to be seen again.

Garth stood in the driveway and yelled at Heinrick. “WHY DON’T YOU COME UP HERE HEINRICK AND WE CAN SETTLE OUR DIFFERENCES ONCE AND FOR ALL.” The people were standing around watching and waiting now that they had taken the others into custody. They would never let Heinrick run away but they wanted to see what Garth, who had been wronged in so many ways, was going to do. Heinrick was enraged beyond belief. His Psychopathic mind had become calm and he was plotting to kill Garth now. He didn’t have a gun or he would have just shot him and taken his chances with the people. However he did have a knife and it was hidden at the moment. He figured if he got close enough he would stick Garth and then cut his fool head off. He was so deranged now that he though about cutting the man’s heart out and eating it. He wasn’t sure why the people didn’t touch him but that didn’t seem to matter to him now. His motor reflexes finally kicked in and he ran over to the truck and ducked under the hitch between the trailers and with deliberation walked toward Garth. He did not take his eyes of the man and as he walked he pulled the knife out that was hiding at his back under his jacket.

Garth could read Heinrick’s mind as he walked toward him. Garth had to flinch at the ugly, evil thoughts of this mans’ mind and heart. Heinrick had been corrupted from a very young age and had embellished his evil life. Garth watched as Heinrick took out his knife and began to walk faster. The thoughts of the man gave Garth the idea of a perfect place to send the man as he closed in. Heinrick had closed to about 10 yards from Garth and stopped. He could see a smile on the man’s face and it infuriated him. He had wanted to kill this man and his family ever since his first wife had died by the hands of a bunch of hoodlums. He blamed her death on Elizabeth Womack and that spilled over onto the entire family. Garth could see the uncertainty in the man’s mind and all the hate that had eaten his soul away through the years. The man was a savage and so he should die by the hand of savagery. “Are you ready to meet your destiny Heinrick?” Heinrick was confused with that statement at first and then thought that his destiny was to kill Garth in a vile and bloody way. He began to yell as he ran at Garth.

He swung the knife in a big arc and twisted sideways as he fell to the ground. The five almost naked men with long dark hair danced around him. The sun was hot and the sky was a deep blue dotted with heavy rain clouds scattered across the horizon. Looking up he had to squint his eyes and then one of the men stomped on his forearm and his hand opened. The man bent down and took the knife from his open hand. His mind was confused; he did not know where he was and who these men were. He looked around but all he could see was the ground and tall grass. The men grabbed him and began to drag him. He struggled as his head bounced off of rocks and other earthen debris. His back was scraped raw and finally he was dragged into a clearing of sand and rock. There were a few scrubby trees that looked dead to him. The sand was hot and he could feel the heat of the midday sun burning his skin. The men ripped his clothing off and he could see two of them pounding some limbs or something into the ground. He was roughly picked up and laid down on a mound of some sort and the men tied his wrists to the stakes they had pounded into the ground. His legs were tied down next so he was lying on his back with his arms outstretched and his legs stretched apart pinned to the ground and he was naked now. His mind was buzzing with unknowns and fear. The men stood around him and began to reach down and slice his skin with their knives. They didn’t cut deep, just enough to make the blood well up. The cuts were crisscrossed across his chest and stomach, across his arms and legs and the men stood up and looked at him. He was on fire with all the cuts but he refused to yell or cry with the pain. He began to or thought he understood what these men were doing until he began to feel his skin tingle with something crawling on him. He was able to raise his head and look at his body. He started screaming then. The men had tied him across a large fire ant pile and the little beasties where swarming for the moisture now. The men had set up a campfire a few yards away and watched as he screamed and screamed while the ants ate his body. Heinrick lived for two days while the ants feasted on his body. The pain was a slow burn to his existence until he finally gave up his corporeal body to the ants. No where is it known that a man was eaten by ants on the plains of Kansas during the year of 1841,

The people had watched as Heinrick ran at Garth and then disappeared. They did not know what had happened to Heinrick but they knew that his rein of terror was over. They all began to gather themselves back to their cars and trucks. It wasn’t long before all the people had left and the dust cleared. Garth was still standing on the driveway when Elizabeth came to him and hugged him. Chance took Cassie and Danny down to the big rig and levitated it up and straightened it out on the drive. Chance climbed up and started the truck and slowly drove it toward the parking place next to one of the big silos. Garth and Elizabeth had walked back to the big house and heard the people talking in the back yard. They went around and found everybody busy setting up the tables and grills for a good early diner. The bunk houses had been cleaned and set up for living and the construction supplies would help to patch and repair some things but it would have to be many trips into the lumber yard before they could get all the work done to repair the barns and the big house. The farm was going to become a thriving producer for the folks of Saint Francis and the surrounding towns in the County not to mention shipping to other cities.

Tamara, Alisha and Alice sat around the big fire pit and talked with Danny, Chance and Cassie. Jaclyn was sitting close to Chance and shyly took his hand. Chance felt her warmth and spoke into her mind. He was pleasantly surprised when she answered him in the mind and they both stood up and excused themselves as Chance said he wanted to show the swimming pond to Jaclyn. Both of them walked off as the others smiled and continued to talk. The girls had asked Danny to go with them to destroy the weapons. Danny had made up his mind to help them but he wanted to come back to the farm after they were done. He said that he had something to do here that was incomplete and after he helped the girls he would be able to complete his journey here. They sat around the big fire and talked about other things that were happening in the world when Garth and Elizabeth walked over from the big table and thanked the girls for saving their farm and the town of Saint Francis. Alisha told them that is was all the people that saved themselves from the evil wicked man that had controlled them for so long. “It is the people of Saint Francis and you and these folks from the underground that have brought about the healing of this place. All we did was bring you together in our quest to save this world from a very bad timeline. It was later in the evening when everybody had completed the chores and were sitting around the big fire pit that the girls finally took Danny and said farewell. They disappeared in a swirling action and the farm and big family started to settle into a wonderful place. Down at the only base that was operational for the Emperor outside of Carlsbad New Mexico a General sat at his lonely desk with a big bottle of whiskey and contemplated his attack on the Nation of Texas just a mere 14 hours in time.
Last edited by LostNFound on Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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68 RED BLUFF LAKE

Captain Wyatt Harper looked through his infrared binoculars at the old interstate highway 285 gate that had been erected on the border when Texas seceded from the US. He was looking to see if any activity was happening. It was close to 2200 hours and the sun had set a few hours earlier. He and a squad of 10 men and their machines had been concealed in the large stand of juniper trees almost due east of the road. The border was only ½ mile from their position to the North and to their east was the big Red Bluff Lake and beyond that were the old abandoned oil and gas fields. The border had been very quiet for days or weeks now and it was nerve racking. He had received the INTEL about the invasions north on the Panhandle and how they had failed. The big base that was close to Carlsbad had gone quiet also and it was now two days past the invasion of the three places to the north. Oscar had told him that Amarillo was safe as well as Farwell. Captain Johnson had reported that the snake fort had been completely destroyed and they picked up some deserters from the Emperor’s army. This Carlsbad base gave him the willies because there was quite a bit of armor plus a large amount of soldiers stationed there. His sorties to the base with his men had shown that the Choppers had been dwindled down as well as the man power but there were still a good amount of tanks and Humvee’s and those damn Howitzers. There were two roads that came from Carlsbad and that base sat almost at the v where they connected to Carlsbad. Lieutenant Shawn Morgan had 10 men with him and was watching the other road that came down. They both had big gates and the border fence that was almost 15 feet high in most places could only be gotten through by blasting it or tunneling under it. He and his men had a secret passage through the fence wall that they had created a few years back. It was prudent for them to do it to be able to make their sorties to watch the base.

Today felt different to him and his men as something was electric in the air. Lieutenant Morgan had radioed him and told him that the three men he had sent up to the base the night before radioed and said the fields where the choppers and tanks were parked was lit up and ground crews were busy doing refueling and mechanical work. They had seen special trucks on the fields that looked like they had ordinance and it was being transferred to the choppers and tanks and even to the howitzers. This activity was telling that something was going to happen and soon. Wyatt had been told by Oscar that they could expect some help from the northern areas. He was glad to here about Michael, Susanna and Daniel and his wife Theresa. Those people had special powers that he and his men had been told they could receive in time. With the time counting down for a sure invasion from the sick General that commanded the base he wished he and his men had those special powers right now. As far as he knew these folks were already at the fort.

Sergeant Jesse Bradford sat with half of his squad in the small grove of Junipers located about 600 yards from the border and where the old highway 18 had once came into Texas from New Mexico. The landscape was dotted with the old abandoned oil pump rigs and Juniper trees. This was smack dab in the middle of the old oil and gas fields that stretched up into the Southeastern desert of New Mexico. He was in charge of a 12 man squad to cover this old road bed and as much of the border to the east and west as he could. Six of his men were running along the border at the moment to the west. They had seen some activity along the border fence as of late. It wasn’t something that was too noticeable but he and his men where very aware of the small groups of men that seemed to be walking along the fence. The old 18 highway had been scraped up and bulldozed into heaps of asphalt. It could not be traveled on by any vehicle and had been that way shortly after Texas seceded from the UNITED STATES. The fence out here could be crossed but it would take some doing because of the razor wire that was strung along its base and top. The fence had only been built a mere 8 feet in this barren area so the razor wire was a must. There was no gate at the road bed and the fence ran across it. The team had spotted two squads of soldiers wondering along the other side within the last two days. They had watched them as they split up and walked in different direction. Jesse and his men had 4 dune buggies outfitted with the .50 cal heavy machine guns and 4 military dirt bikes. If someone tried to come across the fence they would be hard pressed to stop them depending how many there were and what kind of vehicles they might be bringing. Jesse radioed the sightings in to the fort and was told to keep a close eye on them. Captain Harper and Lieutenant Morgan had both reported in about activity up at the base and since the invasions had happened just 2 days prior they could be on the verge of an invasion down here at any moment.

Michael sat in the big lounge area of the main headquarters building of the Mentone fort. He took another sip of his coffee and looked out the big window at the choppers. Daniel and Samuel had just come in and were fetching their coffee. “Heard anything from Ian yet?” Samuel asked Daniel as both men walked over and sat down. “No when we left the rangers up north he said he would catch up to us after he took care of some other business. The young lad does get around. I suspect he may have gone to see about our girls, but couldn’t tell for sure.” “Well it has been two days and I am a bit worried.” Michael had to smile; he knew Ian could do anything and go anywhere in time and space so he wasn’t going to worry about him but he sure had Susanna and for that matter Mary and Theresa on his mind. All three of them had left yesterday to go and ride with Nancy. Susanna told him that they would be riding up around the Red Bluff Lake. Nancy had become a scout to help the squads of men keep an eye on the border. She and a few others rode their horses to different areas from the Lake to the western line of the panhandle. They would spend nights out there and then report back what they observed. They knew the rangers and the soldiers that patrolled the border and Nancy’s dogs were the best. She had known that the choppers of the Emperor would fly sorties over the border at times and their cloaks were no match for the dogs who would let her know when one was in the air. Samuel and Daniel both had similar concerns he was sure but those three women were just as powerful as Ian and he suspected that Nancy was also. They all knew that Kevin and Kristyl had helped up at the Farwell skirmish and were now over at Houston helping Sam out. They would be going north and east to give INTEL on the movements of the Emperor’s troops.

Michael stood up and moved to the coffee pot. He looked at the chronometer on the wall and noticed it was almost 2200 hours. He poured the coffee and Oscar walked in. Oscar walked over to the coffee pot and poured his cup full. Both men walked to the big window. Oscar turned to all three men and said nonchalantly, “are your choppers ready gentlemen? I am ordering my flight crews to get in the air by 0200 hours. I think we need to be off ground or in another place by that time. The INTEL I received earlier today is that the Carlsbad base is on full alert and they were preparing their birds and armor to possibly move out. My feeling is that crazy General up there is going to attack and very soon. With the failed invasions up north that insane bastard is hot mad by now and he has wanted to take this fort back for a long time.

Nancy had led the small party of women into an open cavern that was carved into the side of the cliff along the creek that ran into the Red bluff lake from the north. She had found this place a while back and it was shielded from the day and night time skies. They could build a good campfire and cook their food and have a safe place to stay for the night. They could also use this as a base of operations when they rode to the border that was only a mile north. The 5 women and their horses came up from the southeast and dropped into the canyon by a narrow path at the northern end of the big lake where it took a big s shaped turn to the west and eventually switched back to the North into New Mexico. The forests were quite thick around the top of the canyon as well as down in the bottom so anyone could move around without being seen. It had been 6 months since Nancy was last here. She knew there was a team of men over at the old state route 18 as well as further to the west around the old interstate highway 285. She had volunteered to patrol the border from the beginning of the Red Bluff Lake to the east where the other men took over. She and Rosa Henshaw would usually ride together and sometimes a couple of other women would join them. These outings lasted sometimes, up to a month and Sherman her husband always worried about her but he was the sheriff and had to cover the entire county of Loving with the few deputies he had, so his time was spent away just as much as hers but they always came to together somewhere.

The path from the creek banks led up a winding course through trees and brush, until it finally leveled out into the cavern entrance. Nancy led the way with her horse ShadowBoxer while Ketchin and Elsie her two dogs had ran ahead. The opening was huge and the boulders lay in scattered patterns at the front and down the bank. The climb to the leveled area was some 50 feet in elevation so they could look out over the lower trees and see the other side of the canyon as well view the upper creek and the lower creek. The party disappeared over the edge and into the deeper recesses of the cavern. The Sun had fallen below the top rim of the west side of the canyon and it was quite shady and almost dark inside the cavern when Nancy finally came to a wide area that was level. She hopped down from ShadowBoxer and Rosa did the same for her horse who she called Juniper. Susanna, Theresa and Mary were behind them and as they came up they could see that this was a camp site with a big fire pit and plenty of wood stocked up in a big stacked row. There were logs lying around the fire pit and it looked like someone had built a small shack further in. The two pack horses were led over to a corral of some sort and tied up. Nancy spoke up “This will be our base of operations for the next few days, so you all might as well get comfortable. The shack has sleeping gear for all of us and there is some stocked up foods in there. Sherman comes up every so often and keeps the place stocked and who ever comes and uses it usually restocks it before they leave. That small corral back there is where we can leave the horses.” The women hopped off the horses and led them back toward the corral. They discovered that there was feed for them in another enclosed shack to the corral. There was tack in the shack also. Susanna had checked it all out and said “wow Nancy, how often do you come here, this place looks like it could be lived in kinda like the rangers up north?”

Nancy and Rosa were busy removing the packs from the two horses that they used as pack animals when they heard a sound like rocks rolling down the path. Nancy pulled her .45 auto from its holster and motioned for everyone to be quiet. She and Rosa both moved away from the camp sight and almost disappeared into the darkness of the cavern. Rosa had also taken her MP8 from its scabbard and both women were lost to sight very quickly. Theresa and Mary both reached out with their minds while Susanna stood with the horses and calmed them. It was clear that something or someone was coming up the path toward them. Theresa was preparing to disappear and had told Mary and Susanna to do the same and they would deal with whoever might be coming. They were not afraid but the speed and agility they saw Nancy and Rosa move was impressive to say the least. The sound of the creek below was all they could hear now so they sat still watching the crest of the path. The mind thoughts that Theresa and Mary picked up were confusing but they could tell that some men were silently making their way up the path and the slope. Theresa realized from their thoughts that these men had come here on horses and had left them up the canyon a few hundred yards. In fact she read from a man that seemed to be a leader that there was at least one man still with the horses. Whoever was coming was very close to the top and would be entering the level area of the cavern any minute. She gave the word and all three of them became invisible and levitated.

Captain Mica Isazi had taken 5 Texas Rangers with him after the Farwell incident and made their way through the New Mexico eastern side and crossed the border into Texas above the Red Bluff Lake. They had scouted the Carlsbad base before making their way to the border. The situation did not look good because they saw the preparedness going on. Mica had wondered why this base had not attacked on the 7th of May like the others and that was a big concern for him. He decided to get to the fort outside of Mentone and warn Major Oscar Leroux about the immanent attack coming. They had witnessed small squads of the Emperor’s army moving south and spreading out. Mica got out ahead of them and knew that whoever was commanding that base was dividing his troops into small groups to invade as many areas as possible into Texas. That was a bad sign. He did not know exactly how many troops Oscar had and where they were but it was a sure bet that those soldiers from the base were going to penetrate Texas and play gorilla war. He was sure the Armor would come in from anyone of the three roads and possible on all three of them. The commander of the base was Wiley and sneaky to boot. Splitting his soldiers and armor up like this was going to make it real hard on the Texans. He also knew that the county below the border was big and did not have much population. This could mean that the fort North of Mentone could be placed under siege. If that place was lost it would be a real bad moment for the Texans because that is a back door right over to San Antonio and straight into Houston.
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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Mica and his men had been camped just below the border in the beginning of a canyon that a creek ran through. They had stayed close to the border to gather as much INTEL as they could before heading south. Their trip from Farwell was a hard push and they managed to make it to the base by the early morning of the 8th. They spent around 4 hours watching the base and had to remain in cover, until the following nightfall when they watched the first telltale signs of preparedness. The night of the 8th was when they moved out and headed south. That is when the saw the small squads of men beginning to move toward the east and west and south. They crossed the border before sunrise of the 9th and found a good camp to sortie from. Mica was more concerned about the Red Bluff Lake Reservoir because it stretched up into New Mexico and a small group of men could raft themselves down into Texas. He had thought about stationing his men on that snaky water course and watch for anyone that tried to raft it while he made his way to the Mentone fort. They had spread out as best they could during the daytime of the 9th and reported back to the camp just as the sun was beginning to set in the west. Two men had told him that some men indeed had entered a raft and were slowly paddling their way down that reservoir. There was another squad of men moving along the fence looking for a way to cross. They didn’t know what was happening further to the east or the west but it was a sure bet that those small squads would be making their way toward the fort when they crossed the border. This was turning out to be a full border length invasion of small teams or least from the Carlsbad Caverns to the western side of the Panhandle border.

Mica was getting ready to head to the Mentone fort and send his men to the west and east when they heard the quiet talking and horses snorting down the canyon. This was not good. They were thinking that some of those troops had already made it into Texas and were behind them already. Mica told Iver Engles to stay with the horses and took the others and made their way to where the noise had come from. The men had reached a path that seemed to wind up a sloping bank and disappear into a big open cavern. Mica motioned for his men to spread out and climb up the slope. It was littered with boulders, brush and juniper trees he notices as he began to climb the path. They all had their weapons at the ready when Randle Jeffers slipped on some loose rocks and they rolled down the bank. All the men froze and waited for any sign of people to show themselves or shout out. The silence made them all think that they might have been heard or at least something had been heard from the disturbance. The creek was almost quiet itself but still gave off a sound of water flowing over a rock bed. They all waited for a few minutes then began to move slowly again toward the top.

Nancy had been taught through all her time with law enforcement how to react to sounds such as they just heard. She pulled her 1911 .45 semi-auto pistol and motioned to Rosa to do the same. She moved her hand in the direction of the slope and took off silently like a panther stalking its prey. Rosa pulled the MP8 from her saddle scabbard and quietly pulled the primer latch back and let it quietly move back as it shoved the first round into the chamber. She moved off to the other side of the cavern from where Nancy had gone. They both had practiced these moves many, many times and were seasoned. She knew that the three women that had come with them were very special and would be able to take care of themselves. In fact she would not be surprise if Nancy mind spoke to her sister. The dogs were very quiet and had known something or someone was coming. They had come and stood next to Nancy who then spoke to them in the mind and told them to move to a position where they could attack if need be. Both of them silently disappeared into the darkness that was permeating the cavern. Nancy moved to the far northern edge of the cavern and dropped down into a lower area that allowed her to move to the outer bank. She peered around a big outcrop of rock and studied the slope in front of the cavern. The moon had not risen yet but the fast fading light of the day was enough for her to see the five figures moving slowly up the slope. They were very good because she couldn’t hear them move now and they appeared to be moving without a rhythm to their footsteps. This confused her for a moment because that is how the rangers moved stealthily. Rosa had done the same thing on the southern side. She watched, as the closest man moved slowly up the bank.

Nancy felt something different about these men but her survival sense was on full alert at the moment. She had made her way down the slope and waited for the man that was closest to her position to walk past. When he got about 5 feet from her she stood quietly and moved to his back. She stuck the pistol against the back of his head and whispered to him to keep moving but make no sudden moves. Ira Green froze and then kept moving as instructed. Whoever had come up from behind had a weapon stuck on the base of his scull and he sure wasn’t going to try a defensive move on this crazy slope of rock and bush. The person took his weapon and pushed him. He moved slowly toward the top and thought that once he was on a level surface perhaps he could overtake whoever was behind him. On the far southern side Rosa had waited for the man to pass her position and then came up from behind and stuck the barrel of the MP8 into the man’s back. She was careful to watch for a strike from the man. The silencer on the barrel would not completely muffle the sound but the man would not hear it when his stomach blew out. She did not want to shoot this man but she would not hesitate if he moved to strike her. She whispered for him to drop his weapon carefully and he did. This surprised her but she nudged him to keep moving. She would come back later and retrieve the weapon but for now she and this man were going to the top and into the cavern.

The path was a switchback so Mica cut straight up and crossed it. He could barely see Randle and Chris who were on each side of him, Ira was on the far north side while Warren was on the far south side and it was too dark now to see either one of them. He figured Randle and Chris could at least see or hear them. It was getting harder to see where he was stepping when he finally reached the top and the ground leveled. He stopped and waited for a few minutes to give his men the synchronicity to reach the top. The cavern, was pitch black and it was going to be very touchy to move into it. None of them knew who was in here or how many so this was a gamble at best. Mica was thinking about the mission and getting word to the fort about the tactics being played out but if there were already soldiers inside the border this could get very touchy and if he and his men were captured or killed the fort was going to be overrun by the sneaky gorilla play that was coming. The few minutes were up and he began to move slowly. He drug out his pin light and narrowed the beam so it would only shine directly in front of him. This was a dangerous move and he knew that a bullet could whiz into him at any moment. He figured the others would be doing the same and he was looking deeply into the darkness to see any sign of a weapon or hear any noise that would alert him. He planned to hit the ground immediately if any of those factors did alert him. Little did he know there were two dogs watching him and every step he took?

Susanna was in mind communication with Nancy who told her that she was bringing a man to the center camp and she had talked with Rosa and she was doing the same. Theresa and Mary were watching the two men on either side of the man in the middle who was being watch by Ketchin and Elsie. They all could see perfectly clear in the dark and it looked funny to them as these men stumbled into the cavern using some sort of little pin light to try and see without giving their positions away. All five women had scanned the men’s minds and knew they were not the Emperor’s minions but rather Texas Rangers from up north. Nancy had to laugh in her mind as did Rosa and soon all of them were giggling as the men were brought forward and the others stumbled their way toward the camp sight. The dogs were told to just watch and wait and it wasn’t long before the three men found their way into the big flat camp sight and shined their lights on the fire pit. Nancy pushed the man named Ira out of the deeper dark and Susanna was told to turn the lanterns on that were hanging close by the fire pit. Rosa pushed the man called Warren into the light then and all five men stood in amazement at the women who suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Mica had only been to the fort once but he had met Sheriff Alexander and his wife Nancy while he was there. He holstered his weapon and told Chris and Randle to do the same. “Hello Nancy, I should have known that you would be up here by now.” Nancy holstered her weapon and stepped out from behind Ira “Well Mica, what brings you and your men to Red Bluff Lake in such dangerous times? I thought you were up around Amarillo these days?” Rosa touched Warren and moved around him with her weapon still at the ready. She walked to her horse and replaced the rifle into its scabbard. The smile on her face gave her away and Warren sat down on one of the logs with a smile on his face also. Before Mica could answer, Susanna walked up and said “How about one of you go and fetch your other man and bring those horses up here?” Mica turned to Warren and motioned for him to go and get Iver and the horses. Rosa came over then and said “I will go with you and on our way we can fetch your side arm that is lying on the ground.” She smiled at the man as he stood up and took her hand. The two walked off into the dark and Nancy said “Let’s get the camp fire started first and get some food cooking and you can tell us about your venture.” Mica motioned for his men to get the fire started and help with the cooking. He and his men had been living on cold food for the last few days and it would be a welcome relief to eat a hot meal and perhaps get some welcome rest for a few hours. He still needed to relay the INTEL and that was a high priority. Ketchin and Elsie both walked into the light and the fire was lit. The four men looked at each other and knew they had been bested and Randle was the first to pet the dogs because he was a dog lover of known quality by his men. He had his own dogs back at the Amarillo base and missed them. Kitchen and Elsie both could sense his heart and moved to him.

Iver Engles stood close to the horses and was wound tight. It was dark now and the team had left around 30 minutes earlier. He was listening to the north and the south now. He knew there were at least two squads of the emperor’s soldiers moving along the border fence and a raft full of them floating down the reservoir toward the big lake. There was no fence on the reservoir so those men were going to enter Texas without a barrier to stop them. His senses were at their most heightened state when he heard the twig snap. The horses seemed to be restless. He pulled his sidearm out and moved to a big clump of brush by scooting under the horses. He slid into the brush and lay on his belly. The moon had risen and he could see the open areas well but the trees and brush made dark areas. He was hardly breathing when the horses started to dance around and snort. Two figures ran out from the trees and straight at the horses. The two muffled bangs of a pistol dropped both figures on the ground. There were two more shots fired from the dark off to his south. He belly crawled to the next clump of brush and was able to get up without being seen. Whoever was in the trees was shooting toward the south and then saw another figure drop in the trees. Iver did not know how many people were out there but it was clear that one or maybe more of his team had come back. Whoever was in the trees were not friendly and that was obvious.

He scooted around the brush and darted behind a tree just as a round blew some bark from the trunk. He hit the ground and peered over a downed trunk of tree to see three more figures standing behind the trees to the west of his position. This could be those troops in the raft I saw in the reservoir he thought and crawled his way along the trunk. The automatic rifle fire emanated from the trees toward the south and it clearly gave away the position of the man that was firing his AR25. He fired one round from his pistol and the man jerked backward as his weapon kept firing into the sky. The next thing that happened was all hell breaking loose as the automatic rounds from another man’s rifle ripped across the top of the trunk and blew wood slivers and bark over the top of his head. The horses had broken loose from their rope and ran off toward the north Iver had buried his head under the tree trunk and then the noise stopped. The echo of gun fire reverberated off the canyon walls for a few minutes it seemed and all went quiet. Iver peered up over the trunk and didn’t see anyone standing in the trees. He knew he would have to get the horses but not until whoever had shot up the place was dead or ran off. He kept looking and then Warren stepped out from the trees and called his name. “Iver, are you alright?” He stood up then and said “yeah” as he dusted off the pieces of tree trunk and moss. “What the hell, who are those guys?” “They got the markings of the Emperor’s soldiers so they must have crossed the border. There were 6 of them and they are dead.” Iver shook his head and then shook himself just as another person came walking up the path way with the horses. “Come gentlemen, if those men are from the base up north, no telling how many more could be in the area, help me with the horses and let’s get back to the camp Warren.”
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Iver was confused for a moment but his instinct took over and he grabbed the reins of two of the horses. The woman had brought all six of them back herself and that was a wondrous thing in his eyes. He could see a tall dark haired woman, slim in figure and dressed in military camo gear. He could see she had a side arm strapped to her left thigh as she walked by with the horses following her without any reins. Warren had gathered up the weapons he could carry and began to place them into the saddle bags and pack sacks. He had already drug the bodies to a big clump of brush and made sure they were out of sight. “No time to bury these boys so let’s get going.” They began to walk south into the canyon deeper. Rosa walked for a minute and finally turned and told Iver her name and how they were part of the militia of Texas. Warren was all smiles with this woman, Iver could see so they had met further down the canyon. He figured this would be a good story when ever they had time to talk They ran into Mica and the others as they approached the path that led up to the cavern and all of them climbed up into the cavern.

The fire was made small and a big piece of sheet metal that had somehow made its way into the back of the tack room structure was placed on poles and places over the fire. This caused the light to keep from reflecting onto the cavern ceiling. The lanterns were turned down low so their reflections would not attract any attention. The 5 women and 6 men sat around the fire and ate a good hot meal. There was plenty of coffee and as the men finished eating they made there way to the edge of the slope and found places where they could keep a good watch. They had decided to switch off every two hours so each of them could get a few hours of rest. Rosa had told them what had happened when they went to gather the horses and Iver figured the men that had attacked him were the ones that they had spotted rowing down the reservoir earlier. They knew of the other two squads of soldiers that were moving along the border fence and at some time those men would find a way over or under the fence. Mica was drinking his coffee and had stood up and moved in a circular motion. “I really need to get down to the fort and tell Major Leroux about the strategy of this invasion. We all know now that whoever is in charge of that base plans to send his troops in small groups all along the border so it is sure some of them are going to get through. His armor and those choppers he has are going to come down one or perhaps two of the roads, hell he may split them up and come down all three roads.”

Nancy had heard what Mica was saying and spoke up. “Listen Mica, we have squads of men posted at each of those roadways and the fence will have to be blasted or run through which I have no doubt they will do. We have quicker ways to notify Oscar and his force as well as the militia throughout the county.” Theresa knew there was a radio in the packs but rather than alert the enemy, which she had no doubt they would be monitoring any kind of radio messages, she stepped forward and looking at Nancy for just a brief moment, she reached out and touched Mica. She and Mica both disappeared and the men all stood up quickly. Ira was the first to say “What the hell! What just happened and where did those two go?” Susanna and Mary both stifled their giggles as Nancy began to explain. “Do not worry Ira, Theresa has taken Mica to the fort and I suspect they will return shortly so relax.” “But, how did she….” “Sit down and I will tell you all a story. Randle and Chris will learn later after their watch is over.” Nancy told them how Theresa, Susanna and Mary could do the things they did and how it all had come about. She told them how her and Rosa could speak telepathically and could levitate and were still learning how to open their minds to other gifts, as they were called. Mary and Susanna showed them some of the special gifts they had come to have by opening locked doors in their hearts and minds.

Oscar, Michael, Daniel and Samuel sat in the big lounge discussing battle tactics for the oncoming invasion that they all knew could and would happen at any time. They talked about what had happened up North and how those missions had failed for the Emperor. They were all a little baffled that the base across the border had not yet invaded. Daniel stood to get another cup of coffee when Theresa and a man appeared in the room. Daniel was relieved and rushed to his wife. Oscar stood up and exclaimed, “Mica, how in the divine creation are you doing and what brings you here?” Mica smiled and was confused as to how he got here also but he walked over to the couches and sat down. “You got trouble brewing on the north border Oscar and it is happening as we speak.” “Perhaps we had best be hearing about it so we can alert our forces up there if they already haven’t seen what is coming.” Daniel and Theresa walked over and Theresa handed a cup of coffee to Mica while she sat down with Daniel. Mica had been so anxious to get the INTEL to Oscar, how he just showed up at the fort did not register to him until Theresa handed him a cup of coffee. One moment he was standing around a campfire with 5 women and his men and the next he was in the main lounge at the fort with Oscar and three men and the woman who had reached out and touched him.

Time and motion caught up to Mica, He sat his coffee down on the center table and stood up suddenly. He turned around and looked at everyone and out the window at the field that was lit up showing the choppers being charged and loaded with ordinance. His confusion resurfaced and he finally looked directly at Theresa and said “how did you do that or what did you do, I don’t remember anything other than sitting around the campfire and talking to all of you or the others anyway. Where are my men?” Theresa smiled and said “your men are fine; they are still at the campsite with Nancy, Mary and Susanna and Rosa. Mary and Susanna are going to make those dead soldiers disappear. I will take you back when we are done here. Everybody is needed up along that border now.” Oscar stood up with Mica and told him that they had already had suspicion of the General that ran the base up around Carlsbad and his plans to invade. “We got word yesterday from a small team that the base was preparing for something. Your Intel about small groups of men coming across the border in various places is news though and that info must be relayed as best it can to our men along the border. I am sending the choppers into the air around 0200 hours and the tanks and howitzers are preparing to move out also. You think that mad man is going to split up his armor and artillery?” “Yes Oscar, from what we saw it looked like they were being split into three groups so we figured they may be going to use all three roads to invade. We could see at least two tanks and maybe two or three Howitzers in each group. That base used to have a lot more armor if I am not mistaken?” Oscar moved away from the window and went back to the chairs and couches. Mica followed him and sat down. He was still very confused as to how he got here and how Theresa planned to get him back. He picked up his cup of coffee and tasted it. Cold coffee was never his cup of tea so he sat it back down and let his mind rove back to the base up north.

“How many choppers did you and your men count?” Mica turned his attention back to Oscar and thought for a moment. Theresa picked up his cup of coffee and walked over to the coffee machine. She dumped the cold fluid into a small sink and refilled the cup with steaming hot coffee and walked it back and handed it to Mica. Mica took it from her and said thanks. He looked at Oscar who was looking at him and said, “We counted 5 in the one place we could see but there could be more. That is a pretty good size base although it looked deserted when we first got there. Damn Oscar, did you just say there is a General running that base?” “Yes, General Sanchez, the same one that has been trying to get this fort back since we took it from him the first time.” Mica took a sip of his coffee and looked at Theresa. “How quick can you get me back? We need to get back now. That damn crazy man will be moving his assets and probably has already got them on the move. He is a very devious psychopath.” He turned back to Oscar and said. “How soon can you get your heavy armor up to the border where those roads are blocked? Damn if I would have known this earlier I would have known why those armor movements were split and the small squads spread out across the border. Oscar, we were up there yesterday. I think that man has already sent his heavy armor and more troops on those roads and they could be close to the border by now. How many men do you have?”

Master Sergeant Mitch McConnell walked through the double doors. Three lieutenants had walked in behind him. They all stopped close to where Oscar and Mica were standing and the three men and the woman was sitting. Mitch gave a nod to Michael, Daniel and Theresa but he had not met the third man before. Samuel and Mary had come to the base while Mitch was on recon so he had not had a chance to meet them yet. Oscar had become anxious with Mica’s Intel and his alarm about the General and the possible movement of troops and artillery. This all was a surprise and he was getting ready to get everyone at the fort into battle stations. “What news have you received Mitch?” was all he could say at the moment. Mitch spoke with urgency in his voice. “It is time to move Oscar. I just got a cryptic message from Captain Wyatt that says there are a couple of tanks and some howitzers plus a number of those Humvee’s gathering at the other side of the 285 gate. He also said that Lieutenant Morgan sent a cryptic message that the same thing is happening over at the 180 gate. We haven’t heard from Sergeant Bradford yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of that stuff shows up over there also. We did get a cryptic message from Nancy Alexander about some troops coming across the border around the Red Bluff Lake and they are waiting for orders. She has contacted Sherman who hopefully is gathering the folks in the county to be ready and they could already be heading up there. Sheriff Andrew Jackson over in Odessa County has been alerted and he is gathering his militia as we speak.”

Mica listened to the report and spoke to Theresa. “You gotta get me back, there ain’t enough at that cavern to keep those damn rovers from coming in and it is going to get real hot now.” Mitch did not know the Texas Ranger but he did know where Nancy was by her message. “You got men up there at the lake?” Mica turned and said “Yes and there are 4 women and all their horses also. I and this Lady here” he motioned to Theresa, “came from there and we really need to get back.” Oscar walked to the wall and pressed a big red button, the sirens that begin to ring out was very loud and they all could see people running out to vehicles and armor. “Okay Gentlemen and lady, we are going to the border. Michael, you and Daniel should get in the air, Samuel you need a co-pilot?” He turned to Mitch and asked, “You want to be Samuels co-pilot? His wife is up at that cavern so get with him and you boys get in the air. I will be with Captain Travis in one of the other choppers. It is going to take a couple of hours for our drivers to get the tanks and howitzers up there and the Humvee’s are all ready, we got around 7 of the LAV-25’s so we need to split them up as well as the tanks and howitzers. We only got two tanks so they should go up to the 285 and the 180.” He looked at the three lieutenants that had come in with Mitch and gave them orders to get the men and artillery split and headed north. “Oscar we got three tanks one just came in from San Antonio earlier today and we also go another howitzer with it oh and we got a small platoon of men with all of that. Seems Sam picked up some support and thought we might need them.” Oscar smiled and looked at the three lieutenants who had smiles also. “Get them all on the move, Send a tank to each road and lets get our butts in gear people, damn that bastard has caught me with my pants down.” He turned and looked at Theresa just as she touched Mica and both of them disappeared.
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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69 THE BATTLE for FORT MENTONE PART 1

Lieutenant General Juan Sanchez sat in his big office on the second floor of the main head quarters looking out the big window at the small squadron of choppers sitting idly on the pads. He shifted his sight to look at his Tanks and the howitzers sitting in nice neat rows along with the Humvee’s. The Carlsbad base was his baby. At one time he had 4 full companies of troops and all the officers for the choppers and other armor. He was angry that his Battalion had been whittled down to one full company and a half. He commanded just 300 troops now and he had to send a minimum of 100 of them to the Mexico border to fill the small posts that were strung out all the way to the California border. Damn he thought. 5 choppers ain’t enough. That damn emperor and his stupid plan to invade Texas made me give up two of my birds to the north and I had to send another 4 to the border posts. Not to mention I had to send one full platoon to those damn forts up north and two of my tanks. His thoughts were aflame with rage and disgust at what he was hearing from the Fort up at the I-40. An obscure message had come in yesterday that Major Cramer had been killed in the initial push to secure Amarillo and the damn fort was under siege. He was figuring that Amarillo was still under Texas control so that put the plan into non-existence from that direction. The second message that came in was from a lone soldier that said the post at Texico had been destroyed and he was heading north. That really pissed him off. That Damn Captain Ritter was so stupid he probably let the Texans destroy everything he had. There was no word from the no-nuke fort so he was thinking maybe they made it in and killed all those damn rangers in the process. It wasn’t odd that they would be under radio silence if they were inside of Texas.

It was late afternoon on the 9th day of May. He did not attack on the 7th because he wanted to see how the others proceeded and if they would be successful. His mind had become a one track road to attack and secure the Mentone fort when The Emperor told him to do it. He had waited for ever it seemed to take that fort back and make all the deserters suffer. He had watched with madness as the other forts or bases he controlled along the southern border of New Mexico and Arizona were shut down. There was one base left in southern California but it was almost a ghost base now. The Mexicans had steadily quit attacking the southern borders for about a year now and he thought that was because they were suffering the same fate he was facing and that was loss of money and troops. That damn war was ferocious for many years and the battle fields were littered with bones of the dead. The ambiguous news from the I-40 and that one brief com about Texico and Farwell made him settle his decision to invade and take the Mentone fort back. He was thinking that once the fort was taken back he could take his armor and choppers across Texas and lock into Houston. He was going to take out San Antonio first and that would put him within striking distance of Houston. He figured that General Brad Thomar and General Louie Boudreaux could come in from the North and East and take out Fort Worth and Dallas on their way to Houston. He would wait for them after San Antonio and together they would lay waste to Houston. His fantasies were powerful at this moment. He called Colonel Howard March and Major Clyde Grissom and told them to get up to his office to discuss the strike on Mentone before daylight on the morrow

It was just past 18:00 hours as the three small platoons with the divided artillery and Humvee’s began to move out toward there goal. General Juan Sanchez had spent little time with his officers discussing the tactics to invade. He made it perfectly clear that the main goal was to take back the Mentone fort or destroy it one of the two, his preference was to recapture it and have all those that might survive the initial attack face a firing squad. He took one entire extra full platoon and broke it up into squads and sent them to the border. They were to spread themselves out along the border from the Carlsbad Caverns to the old state route 18 and enter Texas that way. Each team was given one Humvee to get them to the border where they would leave it and cross the border on foot. They were to make their way to the Mentone fort from there. He told them to kill any Texans they came across on their way.

Major Clyde Grissom had been given the command of the 3rd armor group to strike into Texas on the old state route 18. This road was close to the south eastern part of New Mexico and ran south into the sovereign nation of Texas. The big fence or wall that blocked it at the border was going to be blasted to breach it and he would take the two tanks and two howitzers plus the small fleet of Humvee’s and his full platoon of troops south into Kermit Texas and destroy that entire city before they turned west and took the old 302 into Mentone. The timing had to be coordinated but he knew it was going to be a fly by the seat of your pants operation once he got into Texas. He had the longest travel distance so General Sanchez had told him to leave at least 1 hour before the 1st and 2nd armor groups were to leave. He was suppose to come in from the west while the 1st and 2nd would come from the north and North West to surround the Mentone fort. Sanchez had already sent the split squads to the border to enter in various places and meet up at the fort. His group had left around 1700 hours and he had just passed through the town called Jal. The border of Texas was less than hour away and Sanchez had told him to be at the border by 20:00 hours. One of the scout squads was suppose to give him Intel about what is on the other side of the border. The time schedule was thrown completely off when one of the howitzers broke down on the west side of Jal. It took 2 and half hours to get it repaired. He had sent three Humvee’s ahead and told them to wait at the border for them. He looked at his chronometer and swore. It was almost 21:00 hours and he still had a good hour to go if nothing else happened to his vehicles.

Colonel Howard March was in command of the 1st and 2nd armor groups. He was riding in the lead Humvee as they drove on the old 285 toward the Texas border. He had assigned Lieutenant Hervey Bannister to be his second in command and take the 2nd armor group to the border on the old 180 route. He had been contacted by Major Grissom about the unfortunate breakdown of the howitzer and it pissed him off. General Sanchez had neglected his armor over the past few years this latest breakdown was a blatant sign of the General’s distracted hate toward the deserters that took control of the Mentone fort. Howard had two of the 6 tanks and three howitzers. The troop carriers and Humvee’s numbered about 10 altogether. He had argued with the general about the amount of armor that was available and when the stupid idiot split up the forces he became outraged at the move. He told the General that if they were to take all the armor across the border at the old 285 they could make a major push directly to the fort and The Texans would not be able to stop them with the small amount of armor they had according to the Intel he had received from the aerial surveillance. Breaking up the armor into three groups meant that there would be only two tanks, two howitzers and a few Humvee’s at the 180 and the 18 while he had three howitzers and two tanks at the 285. The whole damn invasion was going to be out of sync and especially now that Grissom was 2 and a half hours behind, this invasion was all boogered up. He was going to have to blast the big gate at the border and had no idea what was on the other side because his drones had been shot down over a week prior. He looked at his chronometer and marked the time as 22:10 hours and understood that they should reach the border around 23:00 hours.

Lieutenant Hervey Bannister stood in the turret that was attached to the Humvee he had ridden in to get to the border at the old interstate 180. His force of two full battle tanks and two self driven 185 howitzers plus the troop carrier and 4 other Humvee’s had come to a stop, at 2130 hours 1 half mile from the big gates in the fence or wall that ran east and west along the Texas Border. He was looking at the gates through his infra red binoculars to see if any activity was going on. He did not know what He was really supposed to be looking at here because he could not see anything on the other side of the wall. He had expected to meet up with the squad of spec ops that were sent here two days earlier. He was told by Colonel March that two squads had been sent down here plus others strung out along the border all the way over to the old 18 on the east side of New Mexico. These squads were supposed to infiltrate into Texas and move toward the Mentone fort. That was the ultimate objective. Just over the border there was a road that took a course to the south and back to the east to connect into the 285. His orders were to blow the gates and destroy any opposition and take the road that was number 652 and meet up with Colonel March at that junction. From there they would go south on the 285 until they connected to the 302 that would take them into Mentone where they would split up and come from the south to the Fort. Major Grissom was supposed to come from the east on the 302 and all three groups would then be able to surround and lay siege to the Mentone fort. They were told to lay waste to the town of Mentone and take no prisoners. They would be killing any Texans as they made their way to the fort and after taking control they would leave a small contingency of men and possible a tank and then make their way across the Nation to San Antonio. It all sounded so easy but Hervey knew it was not going to turn out that way. The Texans had shown a strong resistance to any invasion and from what he had heard most of the invasions that were supposed to take place up North had failed in one way or another. His mind was preoccupied with how he might get out of this alive when the radio bleeped and Sergeant Goddard told them that the border wall was quiet and that it appeared there weren’t any Texans on the far side. He sent word to the tanks and Howitzers to move out at a slow pace. His force began to move toward the gate where they would blow it open.

Lieutenant Shawn Morgan and his men minus the three that had not returned from the surveillance ops were watching the road on the other side of the border wall. It was around 16:30 hours when the first group of vehicles came up from the south on the 180. The jeeps and pickup trucks rolled up to the wall gate and stopped. A few men climbed out and proceeded to set up a couple of extension ladders. Shawn and his men watched for a few minutes and Shawn finally took Sergeant Tom Jensen and the sand buggy he was sitting in and drove out of the trees and toward the people. The people heard him coming and the two men on the ladders said it was someone from the fort. Jasper Niles stepped forward from a group of people with Hanna Westfall and walked toward the sand buggy as it got closer. Shawn pulled up and stopped as the two people came along side and Jasper said “afternoon Lieutenant, we were wondering if you were still out here?” Shawn smiled at the man and the woman and said “Yeah me and my men are over in that clump of trees close enough to the border to look through the fence. There is a small squad of soldiers on the other side but they have moved further east at the moment. I suppose you all have come to guard this gate?” “Yes Lieutenant, we got word earlier that something was going down and were ordered to gather as many as possible to come up here and hold the line. We haven’t heard anymore from the fort or Major Leroux.”
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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Shawn looked at the group of people who all seemed to be armed with the AR25’s or MP8’s and they all had side arms strapped on also. “Do you folks have any RPG’s and or heavy machine guns?” Jasper smiled and said, we have them and there is another group headed up here also. We have three cases of Claymores and plenty of Rockets for the RPGs. There are two of those LAV-25’s on there way and one has the SRM’s, Do you know what we might be facing here lieutenant?” Shawn began to see the people moving their vehicles away from the gate. There was a small group of folks with shovels and they were planting the claymores oddly in front of the gates and further out on the road. Shawn looked at Jasper and said “we are not sure what is coming from the Emperor’s base but it could be at least two heavy tanks and some of those howitzers. Not sure how many men and Humvee’s equipped with the heavy machine guns but it could be maybe 10 or mores. I still have 3 men on the other side that should be getting back here and they could have more Intel. We received a coded message earlier from them about the high activity at the base and relayed that to the fort but so far it has been quiet.” Jasper looked at the folks planting the claymores and glanced back at the others that had driven the vehicles into the sparse trees to the south. “We plan to dig some shallow trenches and when whoever comes through that gate will hit those mines first and then we will cut loose with our small arms. Those two LAV’s will be spread out to fire on the heavy artillery as it comes through. We are not sure about any choppers and if they come at us cloaked we have dogs in our group.” “Okay Jasper, set your radio on frequency 35 and we will keep you informed of the activity. This road runs almost east along the border before turning north so it will give us time to know in advance if and when the heavy stuff comes at the gates. You get everyone coordinated and let me know when you are dug in.” With that being said, Shawn motioned to Jensen to get them back to their post. As they drove back He said, God help us here today Tom. Those folks are brave and they are doing the best they can. I only hope Oscar can send some heavy artillery up this way. I suspect the 285 is going to get a lot of action later or tomorrow.”

Captain Wyatt Harper had split his team up and sent them toward the east as far as the Red Bluff Lake reservoir and toward the west to go past the 285 along the fence/wall and check for the Emperor’s soldiers. They had seen two Humvee’s come down the old 285 two days earlier and split up. One drove toward the lake and the other one drove along the dirt road on the New Mexico side of the border toward the west. It was awhile after the sun had set in the west that they heard the gun fire. It was a distance away but sound traveled across this desert and especially across water. He sent 4 of his team toward the lake while sending 4 toward the west. He and Corporal Yonny, Peters did not know exactly what was happening but the Intel he had received told him that the commander of the base at Carlsbad was preparing to move his forces out. He knew the base had quite a few heavy armor vehicles and somewhere around a half dozen choppers maybe more and at least a few full companies of troops. If they hit this gate with no opposing heavy armor it would be a good clear run south and the fort could be overwhelmed. He suspected the commander of that base had a vengeance toward Oscar and whoever had been involved in taking fort Mentone away from the Emperor’s minions. Whoever was running that base would not hesitate to kill anyone in his way to retake the Mentone fort. He had sent a cryptic message to Lieutenant Morgan and Sergeant Bradford about the small squads appearing to patrol the other side of the border wall. He had received messages back that they both knew of the squads and had them doing the same thing at their locations.

He was glad when Shawn had told him about the civilian militia that showed up and had brought two LAV-25’s he had hoped that some of the civilians would show up here also but it was getting late and if they did show up it would be in the dark. The message of the civilian militia told him that something definitely was coming. It was 2030 hours when the 4 men from the west came back. The team that had gone to the lake had not reported back yet and that gave him cause to think something might have happened. Sergeant Arthur Burns pulled his dune buggy into the thick trees and hopped out. He walked over to Wyatt and squatted down next to his dune buggy. Wyatt Looked at the wall gate once more, through his binoculars before asking Burns what they had seen. “See any more of the Emperor’s troops?” “No sir and we couldn’t find the first group that came down yesterday. We did find their Humvee parked in some trees but no sign of the men.” “You think they may be on foot further west then?” “I think they are on Texas soil sir. We did find tracks on our side of the wall and they led off toward the south. It appeared there could be at least 8 maybe 10 of them.” “Damn, send a message to Major Leroux and tell him we got invaders coming over the walls and moving south and tell him that we could be seeing artillery and perhaps a whole lot more troops soon. Get Walters and Simmons over to the wall and in the position to see the other side. We could be overrun and will be if that commander sends his tanks and howitzers down here. We need to get word to the fort before the Emperor’s men get through.”

Lieutenant Michelle Thompson stood in the trees that lined the bank of the Red Bluff lake reservoir and looked through her infrared binoculars. She had split the 4 troop team up when they reached the reservoir; she and Sergeant Kent Lancaster had taken the path southward into the big S curves. They both had the dirt bikes that ran almost quiet with the electric motors. She had sent Sergeant Gary Numarian and Corporal Janice Klassen north to the border to watch the water course for any intrusion by boat. They all knew that was a venerable area for anyone to enter into Texas and the reservoir and Lake were heavily forested so anyone could disappear once they got across the border. She and Janice weren’t the only women soldiers or Texas Rangers for sure but she and Janice had both trained very hard to be stationed at Fort Mentone and they both trained in special operations to do just what they were doing at the moment. Her and Lancaster had drove their way around the S and stopped every few hundred yards to scope the far side of the water course as well as the western side for any sign of entry. They had to cross the water course that ran west to get back along the main reservoir and were on the lower S part when they stopped and now she was looking at the raft on the Far East side. It looked as if it had been dragged hastily onto the bank and maybe tied off. Whoever had been in it were gone now and the gun shots they had heard earlier gave her wonder about what had happened over there. She had no way to get across the reservoir or the lake without going south and around. There were many offshoots of this lake that caused pathways to go out of the way. She looked at her chronometer and noted it to be 2100 hours.

Jesse Bradford looked at his chronometer; he could see it was close to 2130 hours. 6 of his men had left earlier to keep a watch on the squads of men from the Base at Carlsbad. He had 6 men still with him. Private Seavors and Corporal Wainscot were watching the fence close to the old road. They had two of the dirt bikes while he and Corporal Reese had one of the dune buggies and Corporal Terrance and Private Chance had the other one. He heard the message over the radio from Seavors that they could hear traffic on the road to the North which was highly unusual so he figured this was it. He called the fort but the signal appeared weak and he couldn’t get an answer back. He tried Captain Harper but that signal was also broken up. He was surprised when a women’s voice came on and then smiled. It was Rosa Henshaw asking him what his position was. “Hello Rosa, we are at the old 18 road, half of my crew is west of here, closer to the lake. Where are you and how many are with you?” It took a few moments of dead air then Rosa came back on. “Nancy and I are at the Lake with three others and we have some guests from up north. We got 6 rangers from Amarillo that came down and have some good Intel. Captain Mica Isazi is in charge and presently has gone to the fort to inform Oscar of some situations happening at the Carlsbad base.” “I can’t seem to get the fort or Captain Harper, something seems to be causing interference but you are coming through loud and clear. We have spotted two squads of Emperor Troops moving along the fence. Both of them were heading toward the lake earlier. I have sent half my team to follow them and haven’t heard back from them. We are also hearing traffic on the old road to the north and that tells me that there could be a contingent of armor and troops moving this way. Can you get through to Major Leroux at the fort?”

Mica was anxious as he listened to the Intel and about the additional troops and artillery and turned just as Theresa touched him. He completed his turn and Warren spoke to him. “Did you get them warned? We sent a message via the crypto radio. There are two more of those squads that came over the border one is in the canyon and one is somewhere up on top. We got reinforcements coming?” Mica spun around and looked at everyone except two of his men. He looked at Theresa with raised eyebrows and said “you gotta show me how you do that.” He glanced at his chronometer and noted it was exactly the same time it was in the lounge at the fort.2135 hours. “The fort is at battle stations and Oscar is moving his armor and men toward the border as we speak. It appears that General Sanchez is invading this very night.” Warren and Iver both jumped up and said at the same time “Sanchez”. Both men looked at each other and Warren shook his head, God Mica, that psychopathic bastard is in charge of that base?” Iver began to walk around. “If he has any chance of having a nuclear missile, fort Mentone and the surrounding areas are going to be laid waste to.” He looked at everyone sitting around the campfire and then directly at Mica. “We all know just how insane that idiot is and how he has sworn to recapture or destroy Mentone.” Iver was clearly agitated and finally Warren told him to settle down. “Think about it Iver, if that bastard had a nuke he most likely would have used it by now.”

Sergeant Patrick Jacobs and Corporal Ronny Sanderson stopped the dune buggy next to the wall. Private Mark Yarrow spun his dirt bike into a circle and stopped it also. He looked up at the rolled Constantine wire that had been cut and was hanging from the wall in two places. Patrick motioned to Ronny to call Corporal Mike Roberts who was driving the other dune buggy. Private Chuck Hargis answered the call from Ronny, He and Corporal Roberts were following one of the teams that had come over the wall. They figured the soldiers had a good 4 hour start from where they had come over the wall. The soldiers were on foot so it was slow going to follow them. The tracks led almost due west for awhile then split and one group veered off toward the south west. Private Billy Vanderholz was on the bike and they split up at that point. Billy followed the wall while Mike and Chuck followed the other set of tracks that moved to the south and west. Hello Ronny, We are west of your position about 10 miles. Mike and I are following one group of soldiers while Billy is following the other group. I guess those two squads came across the wall at the same place and then split up.” Patrick heard the conversation and took the radio from Ronny. Chuck, you say your about 10 miles in front of us? Stay put for now, we are on our way. Tell Billy to stop also until we can all meet up. If there are two of those 6 men squads it will take us all to try and stop them. I am going to call Jesse and tell him what we are up to. Wait for us and we will be there as quick as possible.”
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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Master Sergeant Jack Holtz led 5 of his men into the canyon. They had come over the wall into Texas earlier this morning. He was in charge of two teams of 6 soldiers each. When they finally came across the wall they all headed west toward the Red Bluff Lake. He finally split the team and sent Sergeant Lament with 5 men toward the south. They were suppose to meet at the southern end of the lake and make their way down the big wash and canyons to arrive on the west side of the Mentone fort where they would meet other squads and form up at least a platoon that would attack the fort at the right time. The canyon was north of the lake and dumped into the bigger part of the lake at the end of the big S shaped reservoir. He knew of one other team that was supposed to raft down the reservoir and meet them at the North end of the lake where they would inflate another raft and float there way to the southern end. The town of Red Bluff would then be overtaken and the people would be eliminated before they moved south. His team had entered the canyon around 2050 hours and slowly moved into the narrow gorge from the northern border. They had heard the gun fire earlier as they made their way along the border wall so they were being very cautious. They could see by the moonlight a crude path, as they made their way deeper into the gorge. It was now 2130 when they came to an area that had been disturbed. Corporal Linst and Private Kraus both found the splintered bark on the trees and found the footprints of men and horses. Jack told everybody to make sure their rifles and pistols were in the class 1 positions or locked and loaded as the saying went. He did not want to risk any communications with his crew on top as they continued to move south.

Sergeant Lament led his team across the flat land that was dotted with old oil pumping rigs and small buildings erected close to these pumps for supplies. The land was also dotted with scrub juniper and yucca trees. He had taken his men after Sergeant Holtz had split them up and traveled southwest toward the southern end of the big lake. There was a small town called Red Bluff that they would invade and eliminate any people that lived there. He did not really like the idea of killing innocent people but the orders from the General were clear that they were to kill any Texans they came across. To the west they could see the darkness of trees that were thick and they had managed to stay away from the offshoots of canyons and water filled canyons. He glanced at his chronometer and noted it was close to 2130 hours. He wasn’t sure how far they had to travel to reach the small town but he would have to stop and wait for Sergeant Holtz and his team plus there was supposed to be another team coming down that reservoir that would be meeting with Holtz and floating to the south end. The moon shown bright out here on the plains and he was always looking for shelter incase they were attacked. He had not seen any Texas soldiers or rangers since they crossed the border but that did not mean there weren’t any of those people around. In fact the very absence of them gave him the creeps. His men were spread out and walking in odd patterns so as not to be tracked as easily. It was the gun fire from the west and north that brought them all up short. Lament studied the gun fire for a few moments and then told his men to start seeking some shelter. Something was happening at the northern end of the big lake and he couldn’t be sure what was happening. He had been told to go silent so he could not communicate. There was an old oil rig directly in front of them that had a couple of sheds. He motioned his men to head toward them and they would wait out this business for a while until he was sure they weren’t being followed.

Randle hurried over to the campfire and quietly told everyone that there were people in the canyon and heading their way. Chris was on the south side of the cavern and was watching from there. Randle had been on the North side and had actually gone down to the main trail below and wiped out the tracks he could see with some brush, He paid close attention to the path that led up to the cavern and had even drug some loose brush over the beginning. He had climbed almost to the top when he heard the sounds of some men talking. It was clear that there were people in the canyon and they could be moving in their direction. Nancy and Rosa both dowsed the fire and motioned to everyone to take positions. She and Rosa disappeared once again but Rosa took Warren with her this time while Nancy took Mica. Susanna, Mary and Theresa became invisible and levitated themselves into the canyon. Mary was thinking they could possibly make these men disappear but Susanna said they could get some Intel first before sending them to a place where they would not be able to cause any harm. Chris, Ira, Iver and Randle had placed themselves at the top of the slope and were watching the trail below that wandered down the creek toward the Lake. It wasn’t long before they saw the 6 man team weaving their way along the path. They could see 4 men on their side and two of them had crossed the creek and were slithering through the trees and brush on the far side. Susanna had floated across the creek and was hovering above the trees watching the two men slowly and cautiously making their way forward. Mary and Theresa were doing the same on the east side and following the 4 men that made their way to the bottom of the slope that led up into the cavern. All three women were reading the thoughts of the men and finding that they would be meeting another small squad that was supposed to be floating the reservoir. Mary caught the thoughts of a man she thought was the leader and he was thinking of his other team that had split off and were up on top working their way toward the southern tip of the lake. What she caught was the death of the people of Red Bluff and how the three teams would make their way south to the west side of the fort.

Nancy and Mica had dropped down the interior passage on the northern side of the cavern and come out on the cliff side of a large clump of brush. Nancy touched Mica and spoke so quietly that he almost couldn’t hear her. “We can get behind these people and surprise them. Follow me.” Mica watched her move along the cliff toward the North and followed quietly. His Ranger training of walking in a broken stride gave him an advantage of not making any sound. It was dark in the brush and trees but the moonlight lit up the open areas. On the south end of the cavern, Rosa had taken Warren and quietly slipped down the slope and into some thick trees that lined the bank of the creek. She could hear the soldiers walking along the path. She thought for a minute that these soldiers, if they were trained soldiers, surely did not know how to be stealthy. She was sure that every body else could hear them also. She showed Warren that she was going hot with her weapon and slowly jacked a round into the chamber of her MP8. He did the same and they both spread out on the path. Rosa had a premonition and entered the creek and made her way to the west bank and up into some brush. Warren laid down in a clump of brush himself and waited.

Susanna caught the thoughts of one of the men that were walking on the west side of the creek. She could see that this man was a tried and true patriot to the Emperor. The man’s thoughts were filled with killing Texans and he could not wait to start doing that. Red Bluff Township was on his mind heavily and he was looking forward to the job of killing the people and burning the town. Susanna shivered from this man’s evil thoughts. She wasn’t sure where to send these two so she thought to just freeze them, remove their weapons and talk with Mary and Theresa about these men’s destiny. She was just behind them in the air and dropped herself to the ground and became visible to reach out and touch them. Across the creek, Jack Holtz just happened to be looking in the direction of his two men on the west side when Susanna appeared. His first thought was confusion at what he just witnessed and his second reaction was to raise his weapon and pull the trigger. The fiasco and destruction that followed was a nightmare. Jacks weapon discharge caught both of his men with surprise and they turned to fire their weapons on whoever fired on them. Both men were hit and went down as their weapons discharged across the creek. Susanna took a hit in her left leg and fell to the ground with a yelp. Jack tried to yell at his men but they had already fallen. Their weapons discharge had caught him and the other three in their bursts before they fell. Jack went down with a hit to his right side. The other three men had triggered their weapons also at the far side but they could see nothing. The fire from the rangers on the slope above caught them at that ungodly moment and two of them went down in a spray of bullets. Private Kraus was the only one that didn’t get hit and he screamed out to stop shooting as he dropped his weapon. The cacophony of noise ceased and Jack looked up at the stars. Two women became visible and dropped to the ground. One seemed to jump across the creek and disappeared again. His mind was filled with thoughts of angels as he passed out.

Private Jerry Kraus stood very still as a woman and a man stood in front of him. The man picked up his weapon and slung it over his shoulder. The woman looked at him and asked his name. He told her without hesitation and then she asked for his sidearm. He wasn’t sure how to get it out of its holster without being shot. He slowly unsnapped the strap and reached across his body and pulled the pistol out with two fingers on the handle. The woman reached out and took the pistol and motioned for him to move. He wasn’t sure but she seemed to be pointing up a slope. He started to climb up a path that didn’t seem to be there earlier and noticed other men and another woman. Across the creek, Theresa knelt beside Susanna who was semi awake. The pain in her left leg burned furiously. “Hold still sister, you have to help me. We are going to remove the bullet you got in your leg and heal it.” Susanna looked at Theresa and tried to smile through the pain. She knew this could be done but she was thinking of the two men that had gone down in front of her. Theresa looked at her with tears in her eyes and said “They are dead, it is too late to do anything for them” Susanna shook her head and Theresa touched her leg. They both reached into their minds where the healing doors were wide open and the bullet was removed. The wound was healed in a few moments and Susanna sat up. Theresa stood up from her kneeling position and reached out to her. They both stood up and Susanna walked to the two dead men and sent them away. They both crossed the creek and stood with Mary who was standing over the man who was in charge of this squad of men. Mary had searched his mind and found that there had been at least 10 of these squads sent to infiltrate the border in various places from the Carlsbad Caverns to the old 18 highway on the eastern side of New Mexico. “This man is a Sergeant and will soon be dead from his wound. He was the one that started this entire thing and virtually killed him self in the process. I am going to send him into the past and he will die at the old fort called the Alamo during the beginning of the fight for Texas independence.” Neither Mary nor any of these women had to physically touch anyone anymore to send them into time or place. They had evolved beyond that in the past year. Mary looked at the man and he disappeared.

Jack Holtz woke to the sound of cannon and rifle fire. He was lying in a bed of some sort and noticed adobe walls around him. There were several other men lying on matrices and or on the floor and they all had bandages wrapped around their wounds. He looked down at his side and saw the big wrap around his waist. The blood had soaked through the wrap where he had been shot. He tried to get up and rolled off the bed. He got to his knees and managed to pull himself up on the edge of the bed. He did not know where he was and it all seemed like a dream. A man was knocked through a door violently and the gun fire became louder. He turned and watched the man fall on the floor with a bullet hole in his head. When he looked up there were three men in some kind of uniform that was blue and white. The clothing looked very odd to him and then one man raised a very old fashioned rifle and pointed it at him. He looked into the man’s eyes as the rifle exploded with a giant puff of smoke and enormous sound. Darkness enfolded him as his last thoughts were of a woman that mysteriously appeared behind his men in a canyon that seemed to be far away.
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Re: Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

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Jerry Kraus sat on the ground staring at the small fire. He had been pushed up a path into a rather large cavern in the side of the canyon wall he and his team had been traversing. He was the only one left alive after the crazy fire fight that ensued from his Sergeants actions. He looked at the 5 women and 6 Rangers he presumed and knew he was a dead man no matter where he went from here. He had told these people that there was another team of 6 up on the top over in the old oil fields and they were supposed to meet up at the town of Red Bluff. He then told them what was supposed to happen at that place and about the other team that was supposed to pick them up on the lake. He told them about all the squads that were infiltrating the Texas Border and approximately where. He then told them about the three armored groups that would be invading this very night on the three roads that used to lead into Texas from New Mexico. He didn’t have the exact time or the amount of armor or even men but he did know the ultimate plan and that was to retake the Mentone Fort and execute anyone left alive there. The best news he gave was the pitiful amount of men and armor that was still stationed at the Carlsbad base and why it was so. He had sketchy details of the invasion from the north out of Oklahoma City and from the east out of Shreveport. All the plans of mice and men did not seem to work for the emperor as Jerry told about the failed invasions up north. Theresa took pity on the poor soul and asked him if he still wanted to be a soldier in the service of the Emperor. Jerry did not want to continue to do that and told them all where he had originally come from. So Theresa found his home in his mind and sent him to it.

Sergeant Lament Looked out of the little window that was in the north end of the maintenance shack he and his men had taken cover in after the gun shots had been heard. Corporal Greg Hertz asked him what they were going to do. “We are supposed to meet Sergeant Holtz at that little town and the longer we sit in this dust trap the further behind schedule we get, you know how mean Holtz gets when his orders aren’t followed?” Corporal Hans Lieberman joined Hertz and said “I for one do not want to be the brunt end of Holtz’s sadistic anger; I think we need to get moving again.” Hertz carried on, “there ain’t anyone following us Sergeant; we haven’t seen anyone since we jumped that wall. I would really like to get into that town and find some decent food.” Lament looked at the two corporals and the three privates. “Are you so anxious to go and kill a bunch of innocent people? We don’t know if someone is following us or not. You all heard the shooting earlier and that could mean that Sergeant Holtz and his team could be dead or captured.” Hertz looked at him with disgust. “You know Sergeant, Holtz could have also killed whoever confronted him and he is now floating that lake toward the town. You don’t seem to have the guts to do this job, maybe we should take over and you can go running back to the main body of troops that are coming.” Lament could hear the mutiny from Hertz’s mouth and stood up. “Okay Hertz we’ll do something. You take Lieberman and Private Mooge and backtrack for at least 20 minutes and see if anyone is following then get your butt back and report. We will wait and then leave for the town when I get good info that we ain’t being followed. You got 40 minutes before I leave so get going.”

Patrick pulled the dune buggy up next to Mike Roberts’s dune buggy. Mark Yarrow slowed his bike next to the wall and stopped where Billy Vanderholz was sitting next to the wall and his bike. Patrick asked Mike what the situation was. “It looks like the troops split up here. Billy followed six of them along the wall and says it looks as if they might be heading toward the north end of Red Bluff Lake. Not sure why that is but then again there could be other squads coming into Texas over there.” He turned to Chuck and said “tell us what you found Chuck?” Chuck looked off toward the south and said “as best we can tell six more men have split off here and are heading in a southwestern direction. I would say they may be heading toward the south end of the lake and you know Red Bluff is down there? The big wash and those small canyons run down past Mentone and the fort is real close to that big wash and north of Mentone, so I figure those men may be going there ultimately.” “We got anybody close to the town of Red Bluff?” “No sir, but Sheriff Alexander has alerted the county and His wife and some others are out doing patrols from what I hear, so someone may have warned the good folk of Red Bluff about what is happening.”

Patrick was left with a decision that wasn’t good. He wanted to call Jesse over at the old 18 and tell him what was happening and how he was splitting up the team to go after two squads of the Emperors men. They heard the booming of thunder toward the southwest and could see the distant flashes of lightning. There was a storm moving their way this night and it would be on them soon enough. That would wash away any tracks they might be following if they did not get moving right now. “Mike, you, Chuck and Billy go along the wall and see about catching that squad. If you catch them ping me and give me a Sitrep. Don’t engage them unless you think you can take them out.” He turned to Ronny and motioned for Mark to bring his bike. “We are going South after those others. We will do the same.” As they started to move out, Ronny who was driving the dune buggy slammed his brakes and stared at the figure in front of him. Mike Roberts did the same and the two men on the bikes almost dropped the bikes in the sand. The two teams were staring at two women standing in front of them. “WTH”, Patrick said as he jumped out of the buggy and walked to the front. All of the men had walked to the front of Patrick’s buggy and stood in silence as the two women began to walk toward them. Both of them were dressed in camouflage clothing and had side arms strapped to their hips. The tallest woman with dark long hair was the first to speak and said “Sergeant Patrick Jacobs?” Patrick stood with his mind running circles around his head. “Yes that is me and who the hell are you if I may ask?”

Theresa moved up next to Mary and read these men’s mind. She could see their determination to stop the enemy soldiers that had invaded Texas. They definitely were brave souls. Mary spoke again, “Sergeant Jacobs I and my partner here are from the militia group that are over in the northern canyon of the big lake you are heading for. Nancy Alexander and Rosa Henshaw have asked us to come and tell you that you must go back to your post at the old 18 road.” Patrick’s eyes raised open at the mention of Nancy and Rosa, he knew both women and there patriotic duty to Texas was ferocious. He spoke then finally, “there are 6 men headed your way and there could be more, coming in from the north, how many folks you got?” Mary smiled and so did Theresa. “The ones you have been following did come into our canyon but they are gone now, and there was a small squad that tried to come down the Reservoir but they also came to a bad end. We also have a 6 man team of Rangers with us and we can take care of that part of the border. That team of men you were going to go after that is heading south toward Red Bluff will not succeed in their mission. We will deal with them so you must return to your commander. That place is going to be invaded soon with heavy artillery and many men so prepare your selves.” Patrick did not know how this woman knew all of what she just said but he did know that there could be the invasion force she spoke of. “How is it you know so much about what is coming?”

Mary could see that these men would be stubborn because they were very dedicated to their mission. She reached into Patrick’s mind and told him who and how she was and Theresa did the same. Mary and Theresa both knew that time was slipping by so after telling these men about what was needed, they began to send them back to Jesse Bradford’s position, vehicles and all. Patrick was going to tell the two women to go back where they had come from but he could not see how they had come to them in the first place, when he heard the tall woman speaking to him in his mind. He was frozen in place or so it seemed and the woman showed him who she was and how she could do the things she could do. It all made perfect sense to him and he was filled with hope. He fell forward and stuck out his hand just in time to stop his forward motion into the dash board. Ronny was gripping the steering wheel and turned slowly to him and said “what just happened?” Patrick did not know and jumped out of the buggy. He looked around and began to see that all of his men and their vehicles were parked around the trees. Sergeant Jesse Bradford walked over and asked him what they had found. He knew that something was strange but decided to wait to get answers. Instead he said “we were told that heavy artillery forces with many troops are heading down the old 18 toward us right now.” He couldn’t explain how they come to be here at the moment so he let that drop. We found that there are Rangers and militia guarding the border over there and they got the situation under control. Jesse smiled and knew who the militia was. “Get your men situated and ready for the coming invasion, we have already been hearing the vehicles. I got some Intel that Oscar may be sending us reinforcements and the city of Kermit is sending some militia groups our way also, and they have a couple of those LAV-25’s so that will be a big help until Oscar gets his force up here. He has to split the men and armor up to go to the 285 and the180 so it is going to be touchy at the get go.” Jesse looked at his chronometer again and it read 2150 now.
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70 THE BATTLE for FORT MENTONE PART II

Michael, Daniel and Samuel had all three received telepathy from their wives who were up at the Red Bluff Lake. It was almost 2200 hours and the three forces from the fort were on their way toward the border. The women had captured a man from a squad that had invaded and Mary had read the mind of the leader of the squad before he had died. They told them of the plans of a General that commanded the base of Carlsbad. The invasion was going down this very night and was expected to start in three different phases. Phase 1 was supposed to begin at 2100 over at the old 18 highway but something had happened and it still had not come to any shelling. The man and his men that were there had radioed through Nancy and Rosa but they were not able to get through to the fort. Phase 2 was going down at 2200 hours over at the 180 and would allow the 2nd armor force to come in from the west. The main thrust would began at 2300 over at the 285 and drive straight down where they would meet with the force from phase 2 and then come and surround the fort. Phase 1 was supposed to come from the east after spearheading into Texas.

Oscar had sent the middle force across the big wash to connect with the 285. He figured that was the shortest route and it did prove to be so. The tank and howitzer along with three of the LAV-25’s and 4 Humvee’s equipped with the .50 cal heavy machine guns had already practiced crossing that large wash area and knew their way around the crevasses and rises. They managed to cut off a good hour of their journey and were expected to reach the border around 2330 hours. That could be almost too late according to the Intel but that was the best they could do at the moment. The force that drove toward the 0ld 18 cut across the oil and gas fields to save time also and their progress had them arriving at that border wall around 2330 hours. The ones that were heading for the 180 gate at the wall traversed with the 285 group until they reached the 285 and then split up to go across the Texas bad lands to reach the 180 before 2400. They knew they could meet in battle before they reached the wall because the emperors force was suppose to enter around 2200 hours

Samuel and Mitch took their chopper up to the 18 wall and would do their best to hold off the main force up there until the 3rd armor group of the Fort could reach the battle zone. Michael and Daniel said they would go to the 180 and do the same. Lieutenant Richard Lamont and his co pilot Master Sergeant Louie Jordalhski took there chopper and flew with Samuel and Mitch while Lieutenant Jordan Cisco and his co-pilot Sergeant Barbara Weston flew with Michael and Daniel. Oscar took the other three choppers up to the 285. All the choppers had been equipped with the new cloaking devises and stealth gear plus they all had a full compliment of SRM’s and 30mm auto cannons.

Sergeant Lament looked at his chronometer and noted that the 40 minutes had passed by and Hertz and his team were still not in sight. It was 2210 hours and he knew he was supposed to meet Sergeant Holtz at that town around 2300 hours. He told Banks and Kilgor to get up, “we are leaving, I don’t know what happened to Hertz but it we were being followed he could have been captured. Let’s go.” Just as they exited the little shack, Hertz and the two others came into sight. Lament looked at him and asked “well did you see anyone or anything?” Hertz was pissed and tired, he had just been given an extra duty for nothing and he and the other two did not get the rest that Lament and his two toadies got. He was going to report him to Holtz and watch the mad man beat the hell out of this little puke. “No sergeant we didn’t see anybody as I told you before and now you have wasted our time for nothing.” Lament understood this man was going to cause trouble but he didn’t have time to deal with him until later. “Okay you lug nuts let’s get moving, by my compass and map we still got about 4 miles before we reach that town and we got 50 minutes to get there so move out.”

A few hours earlier Lieutenant Michelle Thompson and Sergeant Kent Lancaster had stood on the west bank of the reservoir scoping out the raft that had been abandoned on the far side. Michelle knew that the squad of men they had seen the day before were most likely on that raft before they abandoned it. She wondered why they would do that but the gun fire she had heard earlier made her think that militia folk were over there somewhere and that gun fire could have come from them and those infiltrators. She could not go any further now so she told Kent that they would be heading back to the main station. She wanted to meet with Gary and Janice to get any Intel they might have before going back to Captain Harper. A most odd and strange thing happened to her at that moment. Kent was at a loss for words as was she when the Tall dark haired woman suddenly appeared in front of them. The woman was dressed in army camouflaged fatigues just like she and her crew were and spoke quietly and quickly. “Those men you were tracking are no longer a threat and you must return to Captain Harper. Gather your other team mates and go back. This area is protected by the militia and Texas Rangers for now. There is an armored force heading toward the gate and you will be required to hold them off. Do not worry; there will be reinforcements from a small town at the southern edge of the lake.” Michelle was speechless but something inside of her felt this woman was on their side and as she started to ask a question, the woman disappeared.
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A. THE 180 GATES

Lieutenant Hervey Bannister had directed his force to slowly move toward the gate. The old 180 ran at a 30 degree angle to the wall as it ran northeast toward Carlsbad. He brought the force to within 600 yards and stopped them again. This time he directed the lead tank to go off road to the north and turn its cannon on the gate. At exactly 2200 hours the shelling would begin to blow the gate. His thoughts about this time line of entering were ridiculous. He would have blown this gate when he first showed up and would probably be half way to the 285 by now. Lieutenant Jamur Miahl rolled his tank off the road and drove the 600 yards in the low scrub trees until he was perpendicular to the wall and in front of the big gates. He was looking forward to some wanton destruction on this damn wall. Before the Texans seceded from the rest of the country he used to spend a lot of time in the southern Guadalupe Mountains. He was just a kid then but he knew those mountains very well. He directed Sergeant Himinez to spin the turret and aim the gun at the center of the gate. As the turret began to swing around Jamur noticed something off that could not be seen from Lieutenant Bannister’s position. The damn gate appeared to be open, just a crack but it was open when he looked through his infrared binoculars. He called Bannister and told him the gate was open and it looked like they could drive right through. “We just have to pull it open enough to get through.” Bannister told him to keep the cannon barrel pointed at it while he sent a scout to check it out.

Lieutenant Shawn Morgan watched from his concealed position as the Humvee pulled up to the gate that had been opened a couple of feet. He and everyone knew that the Emperor’s minions would be suspicious of the gate being open and they would be very cautious. He and his team watched in quiet anticipation as two soldiers came through then two more followed and they stepped past the open gate a few yards and spread out. They seemed to be looking for something on the ground and then flashed their torches into the night at the landscape. The people had erased all signs of vehicles and footprints earlier as they set the trap. There were around 50 militia folks that had come over from Dell City. They had dug trenches about 700 yards from the wall on both sides of the road and Frank Tillman and his two ranch hands parked one of the LAV-25’s in some thick trees where they could fire the SRM’s that had been equipped with the newer 30mm chain gun directly at the gate or vehicles that came through. Jack Sommers and his two sons placed the other LAV where they could shoot their 30mm chain gun at the junction of the 652. They could cripple a tank and take out the Humvee’s, hell they could even cripple one of those howitzers it they hit it in the right place. He could even out maneuver the slower bigger armor so it would be touch and go.

Jasper Niles was on the west side of the road and had set up three .50 cal. Heavy machine guns and two of his neighbors had the RPG’s loaded with extra rockets. He watched the 4 soldiers cautiously come through the gate and sniff around. Hanna Westfall was on the east side of the road with her people and they had about the same amount of firepower. They were going to be shooting the soldiers if it came down to it. The claymores had all been planted at the gate and further in so they could be detonated by remote rather than have someone step on them. They had wanted to wait for those howitzers to come through before they began to detonate. Those were the main targets to disable.

Sergeant Bernie Greene cautiously stuck his head through the opening in the gate; the hair on the back of his neck was standing up. This was very unusual and he was half expecting to be shot. He wanted to get down and crawl through but the others behind him were very anxious. His AR25 was at the ready with a round in the chamber and he darted through and moved to the side as Corporal Clacker came in on his heels and did the same. The two privates came through next and stood close to the gate. Bernie flashed his torch on the ground and the others began to do the same. He was looking for tire tracks and human foot prints because the old pavement had been torn up here and the ground was exposed to dirt. There was no sign of any type of activity which was strange to him so he flashed his torch across the landscape and could see nothing. The other three men were doing the same and it was eerie. It was as it there was no one or anything on this side of the wall. Bernie’s sense was on overload, he could feel something was wrong and he walked a little further in on the old road bed just to see if there might be some sign of people or vehicles but to no avail. He finally turned and walked back to the gate. This was it, what everybody had been in anticipation for, the crossing of the Texas border the start of the war to reclaim this wayward State that seceded. Bernie Greene still had butterflies in his stomach but he could do nothing but signal that all was clear. He told the men that were with him to hook up the winch to the left gate and drag it open. They would do the same with the right side and then the signal would be given for the main force to enter. The tank that was sitting a few hundred yards due north of the gate would be the first heavy piece of artillery through right behind his Humvee and the two that had driven forward. He and them would drive in and create a defense barrier on the south side of the 652 intersection. They then would follow behind after the main force came through and started on that road toward the southeast.

Daniel was in communication with Barbara Weston and was giving coordinates to come in from the south and west and wait for the Emperor force to begin to enter through the wall. He and Michael would come in from the south and east and they could at least blow the first big machines and perhaps block the force from going forward at that time. The small armor vehicles would probably get in but they could be engaged by the Texas troops until the birds could fly in to help out. Daniel did tell Barbara to be on the alert and lookout for cloaked birds from the base.

General Juan Sanchez had waited for the armored forces to be on their way to the three points of entry. He knew that Major Leroux would most likely have spies close to his base but that is what he was hoping for so they could relay the operations or movements of his forces. He was counting on Leroux to empty the fort and send all of his troops and armor to the border to stop his own forces. He sent one of the choppers to the 180 gate and one over to the old 18 wall. Two of the five birds he had were directed to the 285 gate. His main force of armor and two birds plus more troops than he sent to the other points would be the frontal attack and shortest route to the fort at Mentone. He held Captain Nigel Bosley and his co-pilot Lieutenant Dirk Ventnor, plus three special ops men that were excellent snipers for the last chopper. He meant to take that bird, cloaked and stealth mode activated and circle way south and come back to the fort where he could gain control while it was empty. He knew there would be some personnel still there but figured he and his team could overcome them. This way he could gain the foothold behind Leroux and his forces while they fought and hopefully his forces would devastate Leroux’s and he would have the fort to re occupy without destroying any part of it. The time on his chronometer read 2200 as he climbed aboard the chopper and his thoughts were with the force that would be attacking the 180 at this time. “Captain Bosley, take us over the Carlsbad canyons and then cross into Texas on the far side. I want to go south and then come back around on that fort. Leroux and his troops and armor are going to be tied up along the border for quite some time. Our objective is to retake that fort while it is empty. Let’s go.” The chopper lifted off the pad and disappeared.

Shawn and his men watched the 4 soldiers go back through the open gate and a few minutes later they heard the revving of motors from the Humvee’s and the gates began to slowly with loud screeching noise from the rusty hinges, open outward. The gates had been designed to open inward and outward when the wall was first built. The minions were pulling it outward toward the New Mexico side and that had been the plan to begin with. The gates would have scraped the dirt badly if they had swung inward and that would more than likely expose some of the mines that had been buried in front and away from the opening. Their patience was to wait for the few small vehicles to enter and then when the heavy armor started to come through they would blow the second biggest piece and the LAV’s could take care of the ones that made it inside. Shawn had caught a quick coded message from the Major about the force of vehicles and men that were moving his way but they would take time and he would have to do his best to hold the enemy force long enough to receive the main Texas force. There was also a message about two choppers coming his way from the fort and that made him feel a little better as to the force of armor on the other side and how they could be hurt badly with just two birds equipped with SRM’s and the auto cannons aboard each one. He had two snipers stationed on the west and east side of the gate hidden well and up on a higher position. They had the infrared night vision scopes attached to their .50 cal rifles. The militias had dug their trenches and were hidden quite well from any thing coming through the gate. The biggest worry at the moment would be the damn tanks. They hoped that at least one would come through first after the hummers and they could blow it to semi block the road way or gate area. The hummers could be taken out with the RPG’s and the LAV’s. The howitzers would have to set up on the far side if that be the case and damn near point their cannons straight up to hit anything as close to the gate as possible. That would take time and meanwhile the troops that might rush through could be mowed down by the .50’s and more RPG’s. My god thought Shawn. This is going to get real bloody if something is not stopped sooner.
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