Ashes - Standoff In The Ashes Part 1

STANDOFF IN THE ASHES.

William W. Johnstone.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, sweat, and tears.

Winston Churchill

Prologue

If a war had not engulfed the entire world, plunging every nation into b.l.o.o.d.y chaos, the government of the United States would probably have collapsed, anyway. Personal income taxes had been going up for years, and the hardworking, law-abiding citizens were paying well over half their incomes to the government. The left wing of the Democratic party had taken over and pa.s.sed ma.s.sive gun-grab legislation, effectively disarming American citizens- except for die criminals, of course, and about three quarters of a million tough-minded Americans who didn't give a rat's a.s.s what liberals said, thought, or did. Those Americans carefully sealed up their guns and buried diem, along with cases of ammunition. When the collapse came, those Americans were able to defend themselves against the hundreds of roaming gangs of punks and thugs that popped up all over what had once been called the United States of America. The great nation would never again be accurately referred to by that name.

8.Slowly, a growing group of people began calling for a man named Ben Raines to lead them, but Ben didn't want any part of leadership. For months he disregarded the ever-increasing calls from people all over the nation. Finally, he could no longer ignore the pleas.

Months later, thousands of people made the journey to the northwest part of the country and formed their own nation of three states. It was called the Tri-States, and those who chose to live there based many of their laws on the Const.i.tution of the United States, on die original interpretation of that most revered doc.u.ment. Basically, it was a commonsense approach to government, something that had been sadly lacking during the years when the liberals were in control of the old United States of America. After only a few months in their new nation, Ben knew that only about two out of every ten Americans could (or would, more to the point), live under a commonsense form of government. Under diis form of government, everyone, to a great degree, controlled his own destiny. The Rebels, as residents of the Tri-States were named by the press, took wonderful care of die very old, the young, and diose unable to care for diemselves. If a person was able to work, he worked ... like it or not. There were no free handouts for able-bodied people. If they didn't want to work, diey got the h.e.l.l out of the Tri-States-very quickly.

The first attempt at building a nation within a nation failed when the federal government grew powerful enough to launch a major campaign against the Tri-States. The original Tri-States was destroyed, and the Rebel army was decimated and scattered.

The federal government made one major mistake: they didn't kill Ben Raines.

Ben and the few Rebels left alive began rebuilding their army and then launched a very nasty guerrilla war against 9.the federal government that lasted for months: hit hard, destroy, and run. It worked.

Before any type of settlement could be reached, a deadly plague struck the earth-a rat-borne outbreak, black death revisited.

When the deadly disease finally ran its course, anarchy reigned over what had once been America. Gangs of punks and warlords ruled fromborder to border, coast to coast. Ben and his Rebels began the long, slow job of clearing the nation of human slime and setting up a new Tri-States. This time they settled in the south-first in Louisiana, in an area they called Base Camp One-then spreading out in all directions as more and more people wanted to become citizens of the new nation called the Southern United States of America: SUSA.

Ben and the Rebels fought for several years, clearing the cities of the vicious gangs and growing larger and stronger while the SUSA spread out.

In only a few years, the Rebel army became the largest and most powerful army on the face of the earth ... with the possible exception of China.

No one knew much about what was going on in China, for that nation had sealed its borders and cut off nearly all communication with the outside world.

A few more years drifted by while the Rebels roamed the world at the request of the newly formed United Nations, kicking a.s.s and stabilizing nations as best they could in the time allotted them.

Back home, the situation was worsening: outside the SUSA, the nation was turning socialistic with sickening speed. The old FBI was gone, and in its place was the FPPS, the Federal Prevention and Protective Service.

Its' fancy t.i.tle fooled no one. The FPPS was the nation's secret police, and they were everywhere, bully boys and thugs. Day-today activities of those living in the USA were highly restricted.

10.William W. Johnstone The new Liberal/Socialist government of President-for-life Claire Osterman and her second in command, Harlan Mil-lard, was now firmly in control.

There were border guards stationed all along major crossings in every state, and now many of them had been moved south, to patrol the several thousand mile border of the SUSA.

A b.l.o.o.d.y civil war was shaping up between die USA and the SUSA. A bounty had been placed on the head of Ben Raines: a million dollars for his capture, dead or alive. Ben was accustomed to that. He'd had bounties-of one kind or another, from one group or another-on his head for years.

Anna, Ben's adopted daughter, had been kidnapped by the FPPS. She was to be tried as a traitor to the liberal/ socialist government and executed.

A highly irritated Ben knew the taking of Anna was to draw him out, for the FPPS was certain Ben would come after her .. . which he did, with blood in his eyes. That abortive move cost the FPPS several dozen agents, and accomplished nothing else for Ostermann and her henchman. It also further heightened the already monumental legend of Ben Raines . .

. and made Claire Osterman and her government look like a pack of incompetent screwups.

It also brought the USA and the SUSA closer to an all-out b.l.o.o.d.y civil war.

11."It doesn't have to be this way," Ben radioed the commanding general of the federal forces facing the Rebels across the wide expanse of landseparating the two armies. No-man's-land was silent and deadly.

"I guess it does, General," the CG replied. "You don't give us any other choice."

"What is your name, General?"

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not. But it won't take me ninety seconds to find out."

The Federal chuckled. "Berman, General Raines. Walter Berman."

"You regular army, Walt?"

"You know I'm not."

A very large percentage of Federals were mercenaries, drawn from all over the world. Many of the officers and enlisted personnel in the newly formed United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps had bluntly told President 12.William W. Johnstone Osterman they would not fire on American citizens. The men and women in the regular armed forces of the USA who did elect to wage war against the SUSA had been shifted to other units, and were green and had never been combat-tested. All that was about to change ... in a hurry.

"In it strictly for the money, hey, General?"

"It's a living. As a matter of fact, it's quite a good living."

Ben smiled grimly. True mercenaries never changed. "I suppose so, Walt.

But aren't there enough wars around the world for you and your people to fight? Why come here and get involved in a conflict you can't win?"

Most of the world was involved in civil war, to one degree or another.

Eyes in the Sky reported especially large troop buildups in Russia and China. Those two nations were about to have a go at one another.

"Oh, I think we can win, Ben. As a matter of fact, I don't have any doubts about the outcome."

"Neither do I," Ben responded softly. "And I think you're well aware of that."

There was no immediate response from Berman. Actually, Ben had not expected any.

"We'll see," Berman finally said.

"Don't waste your men," Ben warned him. "If you send them at us across this strip, they're going to die. And that is the only warning you're going to get from me."

"It's a long strip, Ben, and I'm not the only commander."

"I'm telling you. Personally. Like right now. The strip is the same anyway you look at it. And that is something you already know."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"You'd be a p.i.s.s-poor commander if you didn't know, that's why. And you didn't get to your status by being p.i.s.s-poor at your job."

"Thank you, Ben. Yes, I know all about you Rebels and 13.13.your infamous strip of no-man's-land. But every barrier has its weak spots."

"Not this one. A couple of months back, yes. But not now."

There was a long pause from the Federal commander. "You're being very honest with the enemy, General," he finally said. "I don't know what to make of that."

"I don't consider you my enemy, Walt Berman. Not yet. When the first shot is fired or the first attempt is made to cross our boundaries, then you become my enemy. And from that moment on, there will be no quarter shown or mercy given. I want you to understand that."

"I am aware of your tactics. I've been studying you for years," Berman said.

"You must have been fighting in some very obscure wars, Walt. Or else working under a variety of names."

The mercenary general laughed. "One of the two. Look toward the east.

It's becoming light."

"I know what time it is. Still time for you to take your people and find another war."

"Can't do that, Ben Raines. I've signed an agreement. And I always keep my word."

"I'll be certain that is chiseled on your headstone. Providing your body is found, that is."

"You are a c.o.c.ky son of a b.i.t.c.h, aren't you?"

"No. Just very sure of myself."

"We'll see, won't we? Well, time for talking is over, General Raines.

Too bad I can't wish you luck."

"Same here, General Berman."

Ben waited in silence for half a minute. Corrie said, "He's finished, Boss. I guess it's show time."

"I suppose so. Do they have anything in the sky anywhere, Corrie?"

"Nothing reported anywhere up and down the line."

14"h.e.l.l, we know they have gunships. Where are they? Why don't they use them?"

"Don't diey have airborne troops?" Cooper asked, standing off to Ben's left.

"They have remnants of one division," Ben told him. "Over half of the newly reorganized Eighty-second stood down. The rest have very limited access to air transport."

"Ground all the way, then," Anna remarked.

"For the most part," Ben said. "But they do have a lot of artillery.

This is not going to be any cakewalk."

"It sure won't be for them," Corrie said. "Everything on this side is ready. We're sitting on go from the West Texas border all the way over to the Atlantic Ocean."

"But we're thin," Cooper said.

"So are they," Beth reminded him. "A lot thinner than we are. We've got civilian militias and home guards. Those are two very valuable a.s.sets we have that they don't."

"We're picking up movement on the other side," Corrie said. She paused for half a minute while the others waited. "The push is about to start.

Ordering artillery to stand by."

"Fools," Ben said. "Stupid fools to pull a ma.s.s advance all at once, one several thousand miles long. They really must not know our strength.

What kind of idiot is running the show over there?"

"Maybe it's your friend, Sugar Babe Osterman," Anna suggested. She looked at Ben, questions in her eyes.

Ben glanced at her, a frown on his face. "Kiddo, you just may have hit it right. She'd certainly be arrogant enough to attempt to do just that."

Artillery rounds began landing in the no-man's-zone as the Federals began attempting to cut a path through the minefield. Corrie cut her eyes to Ben.

Ben nodded his head. "Answer that, Corrie. Let's get this show on the road."

15.15.Then there was no more time for conversation as both sides began hurling artillery rounds. What talk there was had to be shouted over the crashing and roaring.

When the Federals stopped sh.e.l.ling in Ben's immediate sector, the Rebels knew the human push was only seconds away. The Rebels came out of their bunkers and holes and made ready their mortars, heavy machine guns, and Big Thumpers.

The zone fell silent, the Rebels holding their fire, allowing the first wave of Federals to begin slowly and carefully picking their way across the wide and deadly no-man's-strip.Ben and his team waited on a ridge, in a carefully dug and fortified and camouflaged bunker just a few hundred meters south of the strip, and watched and waited.

"It's going to be a slaughter," Ben muttered. "They should have sent airborne troops in behind us last night." He shook his head.' 'They're doing everything wrong. Who the h.e.l.l is giving the orders for this lash-up?"

"Federals advancing on Ike's sector, in half a dozen locations," Corrie reported.

"Thisjust might turn out to be the shortest major a.s.sault in modern warfare," Ben muttered.

"Somebody who doesn't know what the h.e.l.l they're doing has to be giving the orders," Cooper said.

"It must be Osterman and her dips.h.i.t advisors," Ben replied. "But those mercenary commanders won't put up with this for any length of time.

They'll start acting on their own before very long."

"FO's all up and down the line reporting those are regular Federal troops leading this a.s.sault," Corrie said. "But they're spread very thin."