Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kilts in a Cage

[Jock Scot]

All I know is that it almost the cocktail hour and Ensigns Splash, BEEDEE, and Mender are taking their sweet time getting here!

Gents, time is of the essence please make haste.

Cheers

Jamie

I wonder what Jamie's idea of haste is?If things are not going too well over there ,then we on this side of the pond could rustle up an expeditionary force and mount an opperation.You never know Jamie, we could be with you in well,say 6 months or so,if we got a move on.

[davedove]

Okay everyone, I am back from my trip and back at the keyboard.


Scene 20

Factory Compound of General Ricos

Ms. Stork quickly gave us as much information as she could. Unfortunately, she only had a short time as she had to return to her role as Rosalina and return to the women’s barracks so the old woman could continue her duties.

I told her to be ready for our signal. Once the signal came, she and the team she had formed among the woman prisoners would carry out their part of the escape plan.

We men had divided ourselves into three teams. The first team, led by Grant and his men, would move immediately to the children’s barracks to free the children and get them away from danger. The second team, led by Panache, would head for the women’s barracks to free them and link up with Ms. Stork’s team. The rest of the men would come with me as we headed straight for the General’s headquarters.

First, though, we had to get out of our barracks, or the rest of the plans were meaningless.

The ploy we used was one of the oldest in the book. I got into one of the bunks and pretended to be unconscious. Macdoc bent over me as though he we attempting to revive me.

Jaime went to the door and beat on it to get the guards attention. He heard the lock being opened and stood back when the sergeant entered with his pistol drawn. The other two guards also entered the room with their rifles ready.

“We need a doctor,” said Jaime. He pointed to where I lay on the bunk. “He never regained consciousness and his heart seems to be getting weaker, his breathing erratic.”

The sergeant moved over to my bunk and poked me with the barrel of the gun. “Weak Gringo,” he said with contempt when I didn’t respond.

This was my opportunity and I had to act quickly. My hand shot out to grab the sergeant’s hand holding the pistol and twisted. As I did this, I spun up from the bunk and bent the sergeant’s arm behind his back, twisting the pistol from his hand. Simultaneously, Jamie and Macdoc grabbed the sergeant from each side. I quickly bent the sergeant’s head back and placed the barrel of the pistol under his chin.

The guards at the door quickly raised their rifles, but they couldn’t shoot without endangering the sergeant. They seemed unsure of what to do.

“Gentlemen,” I said in Spanish. “Allow me to introduce Big Mikey.”

The big man had hidden behind the door as it opened and stepped out behind the guards. When the guards heard him step out, they started to turn, but he grabbed their heads and smashed them together. They slumped to the floor.

I took the pistol away from the sergeant’s chin and hit him over the head. He too slumped to the floor.

James MacMillan and some other men quickly moved to bind the guards with strips of cloth torn from the mattresses.

“I can’t believe that worked,” said Dee.

“The simplest plans are often the best,” I said. “The enemy doesn’t expect to be outwitted in such a simple manner. Team 1, go!”

Big Mikey grabbed one of the rifles and tossed it to Grant. Their team slipped through the door on their way to the children’s barracks.

“Is this a good idea?” Jaime asked. “We’re putting the safety of our children in their hands.”

“Well,” I answered, “I wasn’t sure about Grant, but they need our help to get out of here, and I believe we can trust Mikey. But it’s too late to worry about that now. Take you team and go.”

Jaime grabbed the other rifle from the guard and led his team through the door.

[davedove]

Commercial Break

Inside a clothing store

We see a large man making his way through the aisles of clothing, examining different pieces. This man has a large black sporran stretched over his head like a mask.

He picks out a black commando sweater and examines the size, smiling when he sees it is big enough for him.

The announcer speaks, “Black commando sweater, eighty-five dollars.”

The man picks up a pair of black boots.

“Black military boots, one hundred twenty dollars,” says the announcer.

The man chooses a black kilt.

“Black casual kilt, two hundred fifty dollars,” says the announcer.

We see the man paying for his purchases at the counter. He hands a card to the cashier. The camera zooms in to show the card. On its face it reads X-Charge.

The scene changes to several disreputable men walking into a room, apparently there to cause trouble.

The large man, dressed in his purchases, stands at the far end of the room with his arms crossed. He is considerably larger than any of the other men. He smiles evilly.

The announcer speaks, “Knowing you’re the biggest man in the fight, priceless.”

[davedove]

Scene 21


Factory Compound of General Ricos


After Panache’s team moved out, I motioned for my team to follow me. Our job was simple; we were to provide a diversion so that the other two teams could make their escape and then escape ourselves.

We all knew, however, that we were vastly outgunned. Right now, all we had were the pistol I had taken from the Sergeant and a few makeshift clubs. Not much use against a large number of guards armed with assault rifles. And if things went bad, we also knew that we were sacrificing ourselves so the others could get away.

We moved as stealthily as we could, making sure to keep a building between any guards and ourselves as much as we could. Apparently, the General wasn’t expecting his slaves to cause much trouble, as there weren’t many guards patrolling the grounds. I guess when you normally kidnap villagers and tourists; they don’t put up much resistance.

But we weren’t simple tourists. The first guard never knew what hit him. He was patrolling along the perimeter fence when he passed near us. Most of the men had held back to the deeper shadows while Mr. Livingston and myself snuck closer. As the guard moved by, we jumped out and grabbed him. I quickly silenced him while Livingston disarmed him. We drug his body back to the shadows and motioned the other men forward.

We moved along the backs of the building until we were near the headquarters building. Guarding the front of the building was a group of six guards. There were too many to disable quietly, so we needed to move around them if possible.

The space between the building we were hiding behind and the next was about fifteen yards. It was not well lit, but the guards would easily see any movement if they looked.

I moved out first. I waited until the guards seemed to be looking elsewhere and moved as quickly as I could while also keeping as low as I could. I dove behind the building before peeking around the corner at the guards.

Apparently, they had not seen me. I kept watch on the guards and motioned for Livingston to move. He copied my movements and soon joined me behind the next building.

Still, the guards had not noticed our movement. Our luck was holding.

Still watching the guards, I motioned for Coemgen to make his move. He started to move from behind the building.

Unfortunately, our luck failed at this point. One of the guards saw Coemgen moving and called out. The guard quickly raised his rifle and began firing.

Since he had just started his movement, Coemgen quickly dove back behind the first building.

The guards now began firing at the building behind which the other men were hiding. The guards quickly moved to flank that building.

“They’re unarmed!” said Livingston. “Those guards will cut them to pieces!”

“I know,” I said. “We’ve got to draw the guards away.”

Livingston looked at me and I knew the thoughts going through his mind. If we drew the guards away from the others, that meant they would move on us. We were simply two men with a pistol and rifle with limited ammunition against the six guards and however many others joined them.

“Let’s do it,” he said, with determination in his voice.

[davedove]

Scene 22


Factory Compound of General Ricos


“Move to the other end of the building,” I told him. “Don’t start firing until I do.”

He quickly moved to the other end of the building and readied himself. I glanced around the corner at the advancing guards and picked my target. I checked the pistol to make sure it was ready, then looked across at Coemgen and the other men.

“Fall back!” I yelled and moved to fire. Leaning around the building, I aimed quickly and fired at the lead guard. The shot caught him squarely in the chest and he fell backward.

My shot was quickly answered by the rifles of the other guards, who began shooting in my direction. I ducked back behind the building and looked towards the other men. They were quickly moving away while the guards were occupied with us.

After I had fired, Livingston opened up with the rifle he held. Another guard fell from this unexpected gunfire, but the other guards quickly took up defensive positions.

Just then, a siren began to blow. I knew that someone had raised the alarm.

I leaned out and fired off another couple of shots, then ducked back behind the building. The other men were now no longer in sight, so I could concentrate on Livingston and myself. I quickly moved to his end of the building.

“The others are gone,” I said to him. “We’ve got to keep moving.”

I pointed to the next building. “Cover me.”

Livingston swung the rifle towards the guards and fired off three rounds. As the guards ducked down, I dashed to the next building.

When I was safely behind the building, I looked back to Livingston. I motioned a three count to him and on three I swung the pistol around to fire at the guards. He quickly made his own dash towards my building.

Just as he was almost to safety, one of the guards got off a lucky shot and a round caught Livingston in the leg. Fortunately, he had made it far enough that when he fell it was behind the building. The rifle flew from his hands as he hit the ground.

Quickly grabbing the rifle, I slung it over my shoulder. I bent to help Livingston to his feet. I supported him as we moved as quickly as we could behind the building.

I kept watch behind us as we moved along. Apparently, the guards had noticed the lack of gunfire because one appeared around the corner of the building. I fired the pistol and him and he fell. The pistol locked into the open position and I knew it was out of rounds. I threw it aside and grabbed the rifle.

Just as we neared the end of the building another guard stepped out in front of us. Before the guard could shoot, I fired off a quick burst from the rifle and he fell. This time, the rifle also locked open. We were out of ammunition.

I was going to grab the guard’s rifle but I heard more men rapidly approaching. We couldn’t go forward or back, so the only direction was towards the fence.

Livingston knew that he was slowing me down. “Leave me here,” he said. “Get away while you can.”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “We started this together and we’ll end it together.” I continued towards the fence.

Just as we got to the fence, several rounds from an automatic weapon peppered the ground around us. Livingston and I stopped and raised our hands in surrender.

[davedove]

Scene 23

Factory Compound of General Ricos

We slowly turned around to face the guards who had caught us. They quickly came to us and took the rifle I was still carrying. All the while, other guards kept their rifles trained on us.

They motioned for us to move and we walked in the direction indicated. I noticed that Livingston seemed to be getting weaker. He was probably losing a lot of blood from his wound.

As the guards led around a building, we were taken to the man standing there. Lieutenant Secuaz was now awake and apparently directing the guards as they struggled with the jailbreak.

“We captured these two trying to get through the fence,” the Corporal said to Secuaz in Spanish.

The Lieutenant turned to look at us and sneered. “So,” he said to me. “It’s you, the same one who caused the problem when you arrived. Did you really think you could escape from here?”

I knew I had to buy time for the others. “I thought it was worth a shot,” I said. “We almost made it.”

“But the guards caught you.”

“Yes, but that was pure luck. They’re not trained very well.”

I could see the anger rise in the Lieutenant. He motioned to one of the guards, who stepped towards me and drove the butt of his rifle into my stomach.

I doubled over in pain and dropped to the ground. Livingston, too weak to stand on his own, fell beside me.

“I trained these guards myself!” said Secuaz. “They are more than trained enough to stop the likes of you!”

Secuaz barked an order to the guards. “Go help the others! Round up all the prisoners!”

“But Sir,” one of the guards objected. “Shouldn’t someone stay here with you to guard these two?”

“It is only two unarmed men, and one of them is wounded. Do you question my ability to control them?” It seemed his anger might soon be directed at the guard.

“No sir,” the guard quickly answered and moved away with his companions.

“Now,” said the Lieutenant after the guards had left. “It appears you are just a trouble maker. I would have killed you before if the General had not stopped me. But the General is not here now. I’m afraid I will have to shoot you two as you attempted to escape.”

He raised his pistol and pointed it at my head.

[Livingston]

I get a new job offer and take a vacation but look what happens to me. Shot in the line of duty again.