Escalation Read online

  PINNED DOWN

  More return machinegun fire raked the ground next to me as I shrank back against the wall, kicking up little showers of dirt and shredded vegetation. I heard three shots from behind me, the muzzle blasts smacking me in the back of the head, and then Phil was yelling at me to get up and get back inside.

  On my elbows and knees, I scrambled backward until Phil reached out and grabbed my belt, hauling me back through the door. I knocked an elbow painfully against the jamb as my rifle almost got caught up. More bullets smacked splinters off the door overhead as we drew back inside the house.

  “Can’t go that way,” I panted.

  “There are more on the street,” Jordan said. “They’re canalized by the courtyard out front, but we’re not getting out that way, either.”

  ESCALATION

  MAELSTROM RISING BOOK 1

  Peter Nealen

  This is a work of fiction. Characters and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Some real locations are used fictitiously, others are entirely fictional. This book is not autobiographical. It is not a true story presented as fiction. It is more exciting than anything 99% of real gunfighters ever experience.

  Copyright 2019 Peter Nealen

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, to include, but not exclusive to, audio or visual recordings of any description without permission from the author.

  Maelstrom Rising is a trademark of Peter Nealen. All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America

  http://americanpraetorians.com

  Also By Peter Nealen

  The Brannigan’s Blackhearts Universe

  Kill Yuan

  The Colonel Has A Plan (Online Short)

  Fury in the Gulf

  Burmese Crossfire

  Enemy Unidentified

  Frozen Conflict

  High Desert Vengeance

  Doctors of Death

  The American Praetorians Series

  Drawing the Line: An American Praetorians Story (Novella)

  Task Force Desperate

  Hunting in the Shadows

  Alone and Unafraid

  The Devil You Don’t Know

  Lex Talionis

  The Jed Horn Supernatural Thriller Series

  Nightmares

  A Silver Cross and a Winchester

  The Walker on the Hills

  The Canyon of the Lost (Novelette)

  Older and Fouler Things

  Prologue

  Missiles Fly Over the East China Sea

  Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ships exchanged antiship missile fire with the Japanese Kaga task force off the coast of Fuke-jima in the early hours of Wednesday morning. It is unclear whether or not the Chinese ships had actually passed into Japanese waters, though Beijing denies any such incursion. Japanese Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Hideo Hayashi insisted that the Chinese ships entered the Kaga task force’s exclusion zone, the fifth such incursion within the last three months, though he did not deny that the Japanese ships fired first.

  The Chinese deny that any major damage was done, claiming that their point-defenses shot down all incoming missiles. However, sources claim that the frigate Yiyang was observed listing seriously and possibly burning.

  Violence Spreads to Palawan

  The battle over the Spratly Islands has spread to the Philippine Island of Palawan. While the PLAN remains offshore, Filipino authorities are insisting that the increasingly effective paramilitaries operating on Palawan are in fact Chinese proxies. Senator Joniel Bautista has even accused the People’s Republic of China of smuggling PLA commandos onto the island. Paramilitaries have seized control of Puerto Princesca International Airport, and a combined force of Filipino and Vietnamese troops have been attempting to regain control of the airport for the last three days. The death toll continues to rise.

  Korean Unification Talks Continue to Stagnate

  Representatives from the ROK and the DPRK met again on Tuesday, only to go into recess for the fourth time without progress. While the official statements from both governments insist that talks are continuing, there have been no changes in the last six months. Sources say that Pyongyang is under increasing pressure from the People’s Republic of China to remain in Beijing’s orbit, and that any unification that does not include a close partnership with China will have serious consequences. Meanwhile, increasing Japanese navy patrols near the Korean coast have Seoul worried about taking sides between the increasingly hostile Asian powers.

  Day Four of Coup in Kiev

  As the fourth day of the pro-Russian takeover of the government in Kiev comes to an end, the level of violence is still strikingly low. More Russian armored columns have advanced out of the annexed Donetsk region, taking up security positions around the capitol city. More have pushed toward the west, ostensibly to bolster Ukrainian border control points with Romania and Poland. While Ukrainian Patriotic Union holdouts still hold Odessa, Vinnitsya, and Lviv, they appear to be simply holding their positions. It is believed that the attempted capture of Ukraine Alone politician Kyrylo Stasiuk by European Defense Council special forces in Kharkiv last month contributed to the turn in public sentiment toward Russia. The EDC troops are estimated to have killed nearly a hundred people in their botched attempt to escape after Stasiuk’s security and Kharkiv police cornered them in the Kharkiv Palace Premier Hotel.

  More Russian Forces Observed on Estonian Border

  The Estonian Defense Forces remain on high alert, as more units of the 138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade and the 268th Guards Artillery Brigade began conducting maneuvers around Volosovo, less than 45 miles from the border. While Russian authorities insist that the maneuvers are simply scheduled training, recent Russian moves in Ukraine and Abkhazia have made the Estonians and Latvians increasingly nervous. Estonian Prime Minister Evelin Ainsalu has repeatedly requested support from both the United States and the European Defense Council.

  Russia Issues New Protest Over US Deployments to Poland

  Russian Ambassador Evgeniy Suvorin repeated the Kremlin’s protests about US military deployments to Poland when he met with Secretary of State Gordon today. “Given the tensions that exist in Eastern Europe at this time, placing additional NATO troops in a country that has grown increasingly hostile to Russia cannot be seen as anything but adding fuel to the fires of instability in a Europe that is already suffering.” In the press conference afterward, Suvorin refused to answer questions about Russian moves in Ukraine.

  Night Clashes Across Saudi Border as Violence Increases in Anbar

  Artillery fire thundered over the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border last night, while Iranian Azarakhsh ground-attack aircraft bombed Saudi positions near King Khalid Military City. Unconfirmed reports suggest ground incursions near Rafha, and Saudi attacks north into Kuwait. Meanwhile, a new rash of bombings across Ramadi, Fallujah, and Baghdad targeted Iraqi Security Forces and Shi’a civilians.

  Turkish Forces Consolidate Gains in Iraqi Kurdistan

  Kurdish Peshmerga attacks on Turkish positions near Zakho were beaten back yesterday, while fighting in Duhok continued, with Turkish forces having secured approximately half the city so far. Turkish forces are pushing out of Soran, as well, though Peshmerga forces have successfully ambushed a column making its way through the Ali Bag Canyon. There are unconfirmed reports of hundreds of civilians being slaughtered in Soran, in retaliation for Peshmerga attacks on Turkish headquarters in the area. KRG officials have asked for assistance from the United States, but there are reports that they have approached the Islamic Republic of Iran for help, as well.

  French and Belgian Crackdown

&nbs
p; European Defense Council Security Forces continued their roundup of far-right groups following the burning of three South Asian enclaves outside of Paris, and one in Brussels. Some commentators have remarked that the EDCSF are not discriminating between traditionalist groups and true extremists, but the EDC denies it, insisting that there is no longer any room in Europe for nationalist violence. When questioned about the connection between the burning of the enclaves and the rash of bombings and truck attacks across Brussels, Antwerp, Reims, Metz, and Paris the week before, EDC spokesperson Clara Hausler refused to answer and ended the press conference.

  Senator Billings Killed in Bombing

  In the third such killing in the last six months, Senator Tyrone Billings of Michigan was killed by a VBIED outside his Ann Arbor home last night. This comes after three months of threats, following Billings’ vote against S.8853, the “Hate Speech” law that would bring the US into line with European Union standards. Most of Senator Billings’ security was killed in the blast. Police have no leads.

  Shots Exchanged in Slovakia

  American peacekeepers exchanged fire with European Defense Council troops in the Slovak town of Slovenský Grob, early yesterday. While the Pentagon insists that the brief firefight between US Marines and a Swedish contingent of the EDCAF was a case of mistaken identity, the EDC has issued official protests and demanded the US ground commander be harshly disciplined. Reports that the Marines were attempting to intervene in what some have described as a “massacre in progress” have been dismissed by all official spokespeople. However, what appears to be photo evidence has already leaked to the internet, purporting to be images of Swedish troops watching as militia rounds up Slovak civilians and lines them up against walls, with other dead bodies in the background. The Pentagon has refused to comment, while EDC spokesperson Raymond Thibault has denounced the photos as blatant forgeries. Pentagon reporters confirm that the Marine unit has been recalled from Slovakia, and is currently in Germany, in transit back to the United States.

  Chapter 1

  The bad guys suddenly started moving about an hour after sunrise.

  We had eyes on two sides of the house from our hide site, and so it was impossible to miss when the front door slammed open and half a dozen men rushed out, bearded and armed to the teeth. The only one who wasn’t in a rush was the guy with the Talib beard, wearing all Russian camouflage and talking into a radio. We were so close that I could actually pick out a few of the Albanian words.

  I was already nervous about being within a hundred meters of the target building, but having what looked an awful lot like a terrorist react force come rushing out made my guts pucker. Only training and discipline kept me stock-still, though my hand was already on my OBR’s firing control, finger hovering near the trigger. If we’d been made, it was going to get really loud and really messy, really fast.

  We were also probably all going to die in the process. Not to mention the hostage whom I was already pretty sure was tied up inside that house.

  “Deacon, Weeb,” Scott Hayes’ voice said in my ear. “I think I see what’s got ‘em all stirred up. There’s company coming.”

  I didn’t answer right away. I was keeping my eyes fixed somewhere just above Camouflage Jacket’s shoulder as I inched my off hand toward the push-to-talk clipped to the strap of my chest rig.

  None of us had wanted to set up so close. Phil had been downright adamant that we needed to find some other way of handling the situation, as the night had worn on and we’d had to get closer and closer just to see the house through the trees. The hills we’d hiked in through were heavily forested, and just the crunch of leaves under our boots had been excruciatingly loud.

  And if I could hear the guy who I was pretty sure was Ibrahim Baruti, then he could hear me.

  I reached the button and pressed it once. I didn’t dare try to talk; squelch breaks were going to be about all I could do until the Kosovars, ethnic Albanian jihadists who had fled Serbia after the recent unpleasantness there, went back inside or we got in a firefight. But the single break would tell Scott, in his cozy little lay-up site in an abandoned barn, ten miles away, that I was listening.

  “There’s a formation of four M5s coming up the road,” Scott continued. He was watching the drone feed from the little tricopter buzzing around at treetop level over the town. “Can’t tell yet whether they’re heading for Marianka or Zàhorskà Bystrica, but it looks like the bad guys are getting ready for them in Marianka anyway.”

  Shit. I could feel Dwight glance at me from his position immediately to my left. Everybody was on the same radio channel, so he’d heard it. Dwight being Dwight, I knew he had something to say about it, but you don’t talk when you’ve only got five guys ghillied up and covered in leaves, less than a hundred meters from the enemy.

  Three more bad guys came running out of the house just then. One had a PKP machinegun over his shoulder. Another had what looked an awful lot like an RPG-29. They ran toward the far end of the town, while Baruti walked around the front of the house, leaving us in the clear for a moment.

  And leaving me with a decision to make.

  “What the hell?” Dwight whispered, momentarily relieved of the necessity to keep absolutely silent. “I thought the peacekeepers were locked down after Slovenský Grob?”

  “They were,” I whispered back. “I guess that the lockdown got lifted since the poor bastards who decided to do the right thing got hauled back Stateside.”

  “Or they’re here for the same reason we are,” Dwight muttered. He was watching the house intently, his thick, pugnacious features hidden under his ghillie hood and a thick application of camouflage face paint. The Mk 48 was in front of him, draped with another camouflage net that he’d brought along for just that purpose.

  I glanced at the house. It made sense. Our intel didn’t have much good to say about Colonel Banks, who was commanding the Brigade Combat Team assigned to peacekeeping duties in Slovakia. By all accounts he was a ladder-climber, and, shall we say... less than enthusiastic about sticking his neck out. He sure hadn’t done a damned thing to step up for Lieutenant Randolph after Slovenský Grob. But a hostage situation that was already in its third week might be enough to get him to pull his thumb out and send his men on patrol.

  Carefully, I keyed my radio and subvocalized into my throat mic. “Weeb, Deacon. Does it look like that platoon is looking for our target?” If they were, that was going to both simplify and complicate matters at the same time.

  “Negative, Deacon,” Scott replied. “These guys don’t look like they’re on the hunt. This looks like a presence patrol. They’re buttoned up tight and rolling like they don’t really have a care in the world. I don’t think they’re expecting trouble from the locals.”

  “These ain’t exactly locals,” I murmured in reply, even as I scanned the yard and the nearby houses. Sure enough, there was quite a bit of movement. Those M5s had kicked the anthill, and they probably didn’t even know it yet. “Looks like a lot of Albanians and Arabs.” Those Slovaks still in Marianka—I didn’t think there were that many left—were keeping their heads down.

  “You get the idea,” Scott said with a touch of exasperation. “I can see more of the streets than you can, and these guys are about to walk into a hornet’s nest.”

  I heard a faint rustle of movement behind me. “We’re here for the hostage,” Jordan muttered.

  “Yeah,” I whispered back, even as I started to get my hands under me to get up. “But we can’t just sit here and let those kids get slaughtered, either.”

  I didn’t get up immediately; I was planning in my head as I watched the town and added up what I knew about the enemy’s dispositions.

  We couldn’t get into position to flank the ambush being set up on the road, not in time. Judging by what Scott had said, the American vehicles were already on the outskirts, and it would take us twenty minutes to work our way through the woods. They’d be smoking hulks by then.

  We didn’t have solid c
onfirmation that the hostage was in that house, but we were going to have to take the chance. We might not be able to head the ambush off, but we damned well could create a hell of a diversion.

  “Dwight, you and Greg are the base of fire,” I whispered, as I got up on a knee behind the bush that we’d been hiding under. “The rest of us are going to hit that house. If we make it to the door without being spotted, give us a five count and then open up. Try not to shoot where the hostage might be.”

  “That’s some great advice, right there,” Dwight grumbled, settling himself more solidly behind the Mk 48.

  The rest of the team was starting to move, though still keeping low and moving carefully. It wasn’t quite time to go loud just yet.

  “This wasn’t the mission, Matt,” Jordan whispered again. “We’re here for the hostage. If we’re blown now, then they might just kill the hostage.”

  “And if he’s in there, we kill two birds with one stone,” I whispered back. “Otherwise, we cause some noise and escape in the chaos. They won’t know for sure that we weren’t just a security element for the peacekeepers.”

  “They’re not that stupid,” Jordan hissed.

  “Guys,” Greg whispered. “The cell hits point to this place. Matt’s right.”

  One of the functions of the drone that Scott was controlling from the barn was cell phone tracking. What had narrowed our search down to Marianka in the first place had been multiple targeted cell phones pinging around this very house.

  “Jordan just doesn’t want to risk it to protect a bunch of white boys in the Griffins,” Phil said. He was crouching at the edge of the bushes, his rifle already held across his knees, his eyes trained on the house.