“Yeah, that Second Amendment has been a real pain in our asses,” smiled Deloitte. “You know, I tried to explain it to those civilians. They just didn’t get it. You remember back in the teens when those two untrained Muslim pussies in Boston shut down the whole city with just a couple of handguns? I tried to warn the powers that be what a few thousand NRA members with dug-up deer rifles out here in the sticks could do, but they wouldn’t listen. Now it’s my problem.”
“That’s the thing about our progressive betters, Colonel. They never listen. Especially when it’s something they don’t want to hear.”
Deloitte pulled out his own canteen from his battle rig and took a swig, then leaned back again on the leather La-Z-Boy recliner. It was comfortable, especially after that kidney-walloping hummer ride. He thought about getting one, but these chairs were recently banned in the PR for constituting “comfort privilege.”
“You know, it works the other way too, Kelly,” Deloitte said. “You have the power to stop this war too. How about I bring my men in, I run things with a soft touch, and your people get left alone? Life as usual.”
“Except for the tanks on the street corners.”
“I’m offering peace, and no one in body bags.”
“Fake peace,” Turnbull said.
“What’s not fake is that nobody gets killed.”
“Sure. They get to live. All they have to do is submit. All they have to do is give up their freedom, and they get to keep on breathing.”
“For now. Until things get settled in the PR and we get back on track.”
“You think there’s hope of getting the PR back on track?”
“Like the guy who just replaced Lincoln in the old Lincoln memorial, I believe in hope and change.”
“Here’s our proposal. We live as free men and women however we choose.”
“I don’t think that’s in the cards in the short-term,” Deloitte said sadly. “Sorry.”
“Well, I will bring your proposal to my people as a courtesy to you, because I respect you, but I think I can safely say that they’re going to reject your deal.”
“A lot of people are going to die,” said Deloitte. “Do you want that on your conscience, Kelly?”
“Assuming I had a conscience, it would be crystal clear. These are adults. These are Americans. And if they weren’t committed, willing to live free or die, then those fake cops would still be strutting around Jasper like they owned it.”
“Let this go, Kelly. Before it’s too late.”
“Not happening. You know, when the country split, our Special Forces kept the old motto. De oppresso liber. To free the oppressed.”
“My brigade’s motto translates to ‘Down with phallocentric role paradigms.’ Though it does sound slightly better in Latin.”
“These people are being oppressed, and now you’re part of it.”
“They’re disobeying a lawful elected government,” Deloitte said, ignoring Turnbull’s snort of derision at the idea. “And they’re doing it in conjunction with a foreign power. That means I’m their enemy, Kelly. If it didn’t, my oath means nothing.”
“They’re going to tell you to move your brigade down here, aren’t they? Because if the US forces come north and you want a chance of holding them back, you need to hold Jasper.”
“I want to have a nice chat Kelly, maybe try and work this out, but I’m not going to discuss my war plans.”
“I can read a map, sir. You helped teach me to. If you want to hold Southern Indiana, you have to hold Jasper. And thanks to my guerrillas, right now you don’t.”
“I’ve got an armor battalion and infantry battalion,” said Deloitte. “That’s a lot more firepower than you have.”
“I’ve got ground forces too. And unless you get sliced some sorties from the F-16s and F-15s the PR inherited, you have no air power. That’s a conventional counterinsurgent’s big edge. And those squadrons have, what? A ten percent operational readiness rate on a good day?”
“Well, you saw to that. You killed a lot of my men, Kelly.”
“It was nothing personal.”
“It feels pretty fucking personal.”
“Join us,” said Kelly. “Those politician bastards don’t deserve having you fighting for them, much less dying for them.”
“When have any politician bastards ever deserved us fighting and dying for them?”
“We have a place for you in the USA, sir. In our Army.”
“Not going to happen, Kelly. I raised my hand. End of story.”
“Someday you’re going to say or do the wrong thing, Colonel, and these PR sons of bitches are going to shoot you.”
“That’s entirely possible. I wouldn’t be the first soldier stabbed in the back by civilians,” Deloitte replied. “And Kelly, are you so sure your civilians aren’t going to do the same to you?”
“Maybe,” Turnbull said. “But I think the difference is that I might die because I am expendable in the fight for freedom. You might die because because you’re not dependable in the fight for oppression.”
Deloitte smiled wanly. Turnbull continued.
“I know that in there, you still believe in the real Constitution and not in that crap some professor invented for a gender study course at Harvard and wrote into the PR’s fake constitution.”
“Then isn’t it that much more important that I stay here, Kelly? Because if I go red, who’s going to be left to fight for those rights here in the blue?”
“Why aren’t you doing it now?”
“I’m trying.”
“I’m just worried that they kill you before you can.”
“If you and your guerrillas don’t kill me first.”
“True enough. If you guys come, it’s on. The next time I see you down here, I’m lighting you up. No offense.”
“None taken. I wouldn’t expect or ask for any less. But there’s another side of that coin, Kelly. When we roll down here, we will take Jasper, and we will destroy anybody who gets in our way. I like you and respect you, but we’re now soldiers on opposite sides, and I will not hesitate, not even for a second, to blow you and your little army of farmers, insurance salesman, and truck drivers to kingdom come if that’s what it takes to accomplish my mission.”
“So there we are, I guess.”
“There we are.”
“One thing. You know we haven’t taken any PV or PSF prisoners?” Kelly said.
“We’ve noticed.”
“That’s because fuck them. But I’m betting you have a different standard with your soldiers, and that your soldiers are something like soldiers.”
“Most of them. There are some you can go ahead and shoot.”
“Well, we won’t. We’ll treat them like real EPWs if we capture them or if they’re wounded.”
“And your prisoners will get the same fair treatment as long as they’re in my custody. Of course, that’s all I can promise. Once they are out of my hands…”
“All I can ask for.”
“So what now, Kelly?”
“I guess you go back and get your staff finishing up your op order for the move south. You are coming south, right? Not going to try and flank me from I-69, are you?”
Deloitte laughed a bitter little chuckle. He wished Turnbull was on his team instead of his OPFOR.
“It’s more fun if it’s a surprise, Kelly. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve got eyes on all my units already.”
And you’ve got your cavalry scouts inserted in here. You still call them 19 Deltas in your army?”
“No, they had a lot of problems with military occupational specialty designators. There was a lot of racism and sexism in there that we were apparently unaware of for decades.”