Chapter 43 – Surrounded and Surrender

The FBI units pulled back to a nearby bridge. There they waited for back-up. And back-up came.

The national guard was deployed, along with some armored vehicles. Helicopters swirled in the skies.

The Director of the FBI and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Vuono, had also arrived. Looking through a pair of binoculars, Vuono saw little dots along the 50-foot walls of Apollonia. Each dot being a security guard with an automatic rifle, ready to shoot anyone who came within range.

Putting his binoculars down, General Vuono continued to stare at the fortress before him. He never imagined he'd have to lead troops to siege an American city.

"Where the hell is everyone," Sessions asked. "I was here last month with my kids, there were crowds everywhere."

"Last week, Apollo Enterprises released a press statement that Apollonia would be closed for a month for renovations," Wolfe explained.

General Vuono looked over the notes from the FBI agents. They had observed no traffic going in or out of the city. Not a single truck, car, or pedestrian.

"Did you not find it suspicious Special Agent," Vuono stated in an authoritative tone, "that there was no traffic in the area in the past week? Such a renovation would surely require resources and contractors."

"It's my mistake general, I underestimated the mission," Wolfe admitted honestly. "But, I think it would have been unreasonable for me to expect them to shoot our armored car with a missile! A god damn missile!" Wolfe said waving his hands.

"Indeed," Vuono agreed, looking over the map of Apollonia laid out on the table. It was a simple guide map that was given to every tourist that came to Apollonia. It wasn't much, but it was the best the men had to work with.

"Do you have a plan general?" Sessions asked the Vuono.

General Vuono pointed to a location in the Apollonian Wall, about 45 degrees clockwise of the gate. "The plan is simple. First, we'll start with bombarding the enemy with our artillery. Then, we'll have a unit feint a frontal assault, distracting them. At the same time, our transport helicopters will land a force inside the walls, surprising and surrounding the enemy, forcing them to surrender."

Wolfe and Sessions nodded. The plan was simple enough. Too complex and some may forget it while under gunfire.

"What about the missiles?" Wolfe asked, "The helicopters will be vulnerable to missiles like the one that destroyed the armored car."

"Yes, I read your report regarding the unknown source of the missile," Vuono admitted. "Considering it came from above, it is most likely that it was fired from a handheld missile launcher from the top of the wall. The pilots will be made aware and will not be a significant issue for the helicopters."

"What?" Wolfe exclaimed. "That missile was larger than a human! There's no way that could be fired from a handheld weapon!"

"Your imagination Wolfe," Vuono waved away. "Put aside your delusions and face facts. Your FBI squad was driven back by 3 men. The army's here to do the real work."

.

Dankus and Piotr were scrambling. A week ago, they were personally told by Apollo that Apollonia would be closed for a month, and that outside forces would be assaulting the city at some point. Then, Apollo and Artemis got on a quinjet and left.

After talking it over, Dankus and Piotr believed the most likely assault would come from a Mexican cartel. Not the American military.

And yet, Piotr sighed as he stood from the Apollonian Wall, looking at what was essentially an American military encampment set up a couple miles away.

"Any news Dankus?" Piotr asked on his radio.

"We've intercepted their communications," Dankus replied. "Did you know the nutjobs were planning on unloading their artillery on us? Luckily one of the higher ups in Washington called it off."

The two of them talked and formulated a plan.

.

That night, the US military launched their operation. Without the artillery bombardment.

A hundred helicopters landed a 500 meters behind the Apollonian Walls, in the clearing between the city and the walls. Soldiers rushed out and prepared to move forward.

"Captain Ramirez!" Lieutenant Wilson saluted. "The battalion is ready to move!"

Captain Ramirez nodded. Putting a cigar in his mouth, he calmly lit it before giving the order. "Move out!"

800 airborne troopers marched towards the wall as their transport helicopters flew back. With the sun shining blindingly bright in their eyes, it was near impossible for any of them to clearly see their enemy.

"Damn the sun!" Ramirez cursed as he threw his sunglasses to the side. "These stupid shades are useless!"

"Captain!" Wilson exclaimed, "Each pair of shades is over five hundred dollars!"

Ramirez simply waved him off and continued leading his battalion.

About a couple hundred meters away, a gunshot rang through the air, and Ramirez's battalion stopped. Captain Ramirez made his way to the front of his battalion.

Squinting with all his might, he saw what was ahead. Ramirez's blood ran cold as his mouth dropped, his cigar landing on the ground.

At the base of the wall were 3 lines of trenches. Each row shielded with sandbags, dotted with machine gun nests, and lined with automatic rifles. The periscopes of each rifle reflected the sunlight perfectly, adding to the annoyance of all the soldiers.

"Shit!" Ramirez spat. "We got a snake within our ranks! Wilson, call HQ, tell them to send back the choppers and let's get the hell out of here!"

Lieutenant Wilson relayed the message. However, after furiously arguing with one of the men, he turned back to the captain.

"Captain Ramirez," Wilson stated, eyes wide, "it appears our communication equipment does not work."

Captain Ramirez remained calm, picked up his cigar, and placed it back in his mouth. After a few deep puffs, Ramirez turned to his lieutenant. "Lieutenant Wilson, prepare the mortars."

"We didn't bring the mortars Captain," Wilson gasped. "'No bombardment' was an order straight from Washington."

Ramirez huffed and puffed his cigar. "Wilson, take 6 men and a white flag. Inform the rebels in the trenches that we have them surrounded, and we will blow them with our artillery if they do not surrender by the hour."

"But Captain," Wilson said, "There is no bombardment coming…"

"We know, Wilson," Ramirez said, staring into the lines ahead of him, "but they don't."

.

Time skip 10 minutes later

[3rd POV]

Wilson stood, about fifty meters from the trenches, holding a white flag. He was soon greeted by half a dozen enemy soldiers. Everyone had avoided calling them soldiers. Either calling them 'rebels,' 'security forces,' or 'the enemy.'

But there was simply no other word to use. Each soldier had an earpiece in their ear, an automatic rifle in their hands, and were dressed in desert camo that perfectly fit with the Texas environment.

"Greetings," one of the Apollonian soldiers said in a thick Russian accent, "we will happily accept your surrender."

"Uh," Wilson stammered, "we're not surrendering."

"You have white flag," the soldier noted, "so you surrender."

"Uh actually," Wilson stated louder, "we're here to negotiate your surrender."

"Yes, you surrender, we –"

"Uh, no," Wilson interrupted, "Apollo Enterprises will surrender."

There was a moment of silence where the Apollonian soldiers simply looked at each other. Then they burst into laughter.

"We will not surrender," the soldier stated, "you are surrounded, you will surrender."

The Apollonian soldiers then turned and marched back to their trenches. Thoroughly confused, Wilson turned and marched back to his captain.

.

"I'm guessing they won't surrender?" Captain Ramirez asked with a smile.

Wilson nodded. "The negotiator was a Russian."

"You think FSB?" Ramirez asked with his eyebrow raised.

Wilson shrugged.

"Alright then," Ramirez huffed, "no point in dilly-dallying about that now. Prepare the troops Wilson. We're going to make a push for the gate."

"Sir," Wilson saluted before going to implement Ramirez's orders. The lieutenant then paused before turning back. "Sir, he mentioned something else. Something about being surrounded."

"Well of course," Ramirez casually said. "We have them on the inside. Our other forces are on the outside. We have them surrounded."

"No sir," Wilson corrected, "he said we were surrounded."

As Ramirez was about to respond, both of them heard a car driving. Actually, everyone heard a bunch of cars.

All around Ramirez's battalion, hundreds of pickup trucks rolled up around them. Apollonian soldiers jumped out of the backs and aimed their rifles at them.

"In the name of the lord and all that is holy, surrender now or prepare to die!" a voice from a loudspeaker spoke.

"Ah shit." Ramirez said. He had smoked his cigar down to the nub. And he really needed another one.