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And Delta Force.

Fallen Warriors. Lance, Bat, Sniper, Raddock, Owl, Worm, Hercules, Equaliser, Rocket,

Blast, Firefly, Panther, Kiwi, Wildcat, Siren, Patriot, Phantom and Havoc.

Delta Force. Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob Reeves, Major Gilbert Cunningham, Master Sergeants Jonathon Kind, and Harris Botham. Corporals Dennis Morton, Al Guard, and Chris Lennon Privates Hank Denver, Tony Boden, Leo Tomlinson, and Hudson Smith.

Lance – a day before the attack .

“T his is where we’re going to hold,” Lance stated, pointing at the map he was showing Jacob.

“Not a lot of cover there,” Jacob mused.

“Telling me retired Delta Force can’t make their own?” Lance prodded. He smirked as Jacob’s eyes narrowed.

“Listen here, you little whippersnapper, I was shooting men and leading raids while your ass was still being wiped,” Jacob retorted.

“I don’t know, old man, you seem a bit tired,” Bat said.

His head rocked forward as Cunningham slapped him hard around the back of it. Lance snorted.

“Be grateful we split our team to support your pansy asses,” Cunningham replied.

“Dude. Marine here, I do not need no Delta Force pussy,” Bat shot back.

“Let’s leave the rivalry aside for now, guys. Jacob, you got some shit you wanna bring to the target area?”

“Yeah, we can make that a fuckin’ nightmare. Wait, Magic ain’t been out this way, has he?” Jacob asked, worried.

“No. Hellfire and Devil’s Damned Disciples got him,” Sniper reported with a laugh.

“Chance will kill the lot of them before they even fight the Fangs. Fuck, that’s a nightmare because Zoom and Zippy are on that team,” Raddock announced.

“Thank fuck, it wasn’t us with those three. Magic, Zoom, and Zippy? Shit, Chance will be putting a bullet through his own brain,” Jacob agreed.

“No bullshit there,” Kind said, shaking his head.

“Couldn’t happen to a better man,” Lance declared cheerfully, and everyone laughed.

Lance watched as his brothers and sisters slid into place. They’d moved some cars alongside some barriers and haystacks. Jacob had grabbed some blocking sleds from the local high school, sandbags were piled tall, creating walls and a couple of steel-reinforced wooden barriers.

Lance had got hold of piles of tyres and had them stacked. There was plenty of cover for them despite the wide-open space.

They’d set up machine gun bunkers, sniper points in two buildings and a few little extras the Fangs wouldn’t expect.

Lance nodded at Jacob as they took their positions. Sniper, up in one of the buildings, had already spotted riders heading their way.

“Your other team okay?” Lance asked Jacob. He knew Jacob had received word they’d engaged.

“Yeah. Having a blast by the sound of it,” Jacob answered with a grin.

“Our turn coming up,” Lance agreed and pulled his radio out.

“This is Lance checking in for zone six. We have eyes on hostiles heading our way.”

“Gotya,” Antony Parker Jones replied, the Senator for South Dakota.

Lance sensed Antony needed reassurance, but he couldn’t offer it. The senator sounded worried, but Lance couldn’t worry about that right now. He watched as the Fangs stopped about half a mile away. Those in the lead were clearly weighing up what was waiting for them.

Two bikers rode forward, their eyes peeled.

“Shoot at will,” Lance ordered.

From their vantage point, Sniper and Botham shot the two front men. Lance nodded at the quick, clean kills and saw the Fangs start talking.

Some of them drove away, and Lance’s gaze narrowed. These guys were up to something.

Ten minutes later, his eyes widened as three eighteen-wheelers barrelled towards them.

“Clever fuckers,” Lance muttered as the Fangs fell in behind them. His men began firing instantly.

“Take the wheels out!” Jacob yelled.

Rapid fire came from the defenders as the trucks kept heading for them. One squealed as the brakes were hit and turned sideways as the driver was shot. It took out the second one and their containers on the back overturned. The third continued coming and suddenly skidded sideways across the road. It stopped abruptly, and gunshots came from the other side, and the tyres deflated.

“Not an idiot,” Lance muttered as the Fangs had bought themselves cover. Somebody had brains, which was dangerous.

Wildcat leapt up and began laying down covering fire as Panther grabbed her grenade launcher and shoved something in. Panther fired, ducked, reloaded, and shot again.

“The wind better be blowing the right way!” Kiwi screeched at her sister.

“We’ll soon know,” Panther replied blithely.

“What the fuck?” Cunningham boomed.

“Panther loves her science sets. Someone’s about to get a rude awakening,” Lance shouted over the two explosions that happened.

“What she put in it?” Kind asked.

“Probably pepper spray. That’s one of her favourites,” Raddock answered as screams began bouncing off the trucks.

“Wind’s blowing the right way,” Panther yelled, and Lance swore he heard a giggle.

“Army ranger,” Raddock informed Jacob, who nodded in respect.

“Those bastards are hard-core crazy,” he muttered.

“Ain’t we all, though?” Bat called out.

“Fuck yeah!” Botham exclaimed with a grin.

“Concentrate on the fight,” Lance ordered.

They shouldn’t underestimate the Fangs. Just because they were bikers, it didn’t mean they weren’t a worthy enemy. His thoughts were proved true when a barrage of grenades was launched at them. Lance dived to the side and tossed the grenade near him back at the Fangs. It exploded near them, throwing dirt high into the sky.

Pretty soon, like all battles, it became a free for all. Smoke and dirt impaired vison as the battle turned nasty. Both sides were launching grenades and missiles and using machine guns. As the Fangs pressed forward, Owl hit a button on a pad, and IEDs blew under their feet.

Two dozen Fangs went down as Fallen Warriors and Delta Force fired on the wounded men.

However, they also suffered losses. Delta Force had lost Smith and Boden to a grenade. And Morton, Siren, and Patriot were injured.

Neither team was surrendering, and Lance was wondering whether to call for reinforcements. Both sides were clearly hunkered down and had no intention of giving way. A Fang poked his head up, and Lance’s bullet took him straight through the brain. Lance recognised the signs of this turning into a stalemate and started to think of a way to tip the balance in their direction.

He aimed his gun at the fuel tank and began firing at it. Bat, seeing what Lance was doing, copied, and with a huge boom, the tank exploded. The cab lifted off the ground and slammed back down as flames burst into the air. Behind it, pained screams filled the air as fire engulfed the truck’s side.

Damn, whatever was in that thing was flammable, Lance thought, as a series of explosions began from the inside. He ducked below his haystacks as the container blew itself apart. Luckily, his men hit the ground in the nick of time. Although, that didn’t help Raddock much when he got struck by a large piece.

“Did you intend to do that?” Jacob asked, amused.

“Fuck no, but what a good result,” Lance yelled .

Blast grabbed Raddock and was knocked flying by a stray bullet. Cursing, Blast rolled over and behind cover.

“Through and through,” he shouted.

“Get Raddock and go to the ambo point,” Lance replied as he called for an ambulance. Siren and Patriot were already there, waiting with Botham and Morton.

They’d taken Boden and Smith’s bodies with them.

Lance shuddered as smoke wafted over him from the burning vehicle, and, for a moment, his mind snapped back to being overseas. The smells and sounds were almost the same, and Lance closed his eyes before counting to five. Straightening his shoulders, he opened fire again, and several approaching Fangs went down.

◆◆◆

An hour later, Lance reckoned they’d halved the attacking crew, but they were still outnumbered by at least three to one. The Venomous Fangs were being more cautious now as they attacked. Neither side was prepared to give up, and they had a standoff.

Lance knew all they had to do was keep these at bay; his team held the stronger position. They could sit here all day defending, but the Fangs needed into the city to back their comrades up.

They’d stopped using the missile launcher because whoever picked it up was shot in the head by Sniper and Guard. Between the two of them, they had a full coverage of anyone standing behind the burning vehicle to fire it.

Shouts erupted from behind the truck, and Lance got a gut feeling.

“Watch out, guys, I think they’re going to rush us,” he called out.

He wasn’t wrong. A flood of Fangs suddenly appeared, weapons firing, making everybody duck as they approached. Wildcat was back on the machine gun, hidden behind her shield. Rocket was manning one to her left, and Lennon was on a third to her right. Between them, they began cutting a swathe through the attackers.

But they didn’t get everyone, and Lance sprang to his feet as one came at him with a knife. Lance shot him in the face and turned to fight someone else. This was where he and his team excelled. Despite them all having amputations or disabilities that stopped them from fighting in the armed forces, they were still a massive threat. The government might not let them fight, but that was their mistake.

Lance leapt into action, as did his people. Fangs weren’t used to fighting men and women who’d been taught every dirty trick in the book to survive. They’d have been better hiding behind their barriers. Up close and personal, with trained Delta Force former operatives? Yeah, that was suicide, which the Fangs were quickly finding out. Hand to hand, the Fallen Warriors were deadly experts.

With the smoke also covering them, they soon made short work of those who’d survived the rush against bullets .

“Clear,” Jacob announced as Lance’s team began calling in.

“Dog is down!” Kiwi called and Lance knew by her voice they had lost him.

Grief hit Lance; Dog hadn’t been with them long, but he’d been a good brother. They’d bury him with full honours. But for now, he needed to check none of the injured were waiting to ambush them with a lucky shot or two.

Lance checked the rest of his brothers and sisters as they began moving amongst those on the ground.

“Got a live one here, what do we do, Pres?” Wildcat called.

“Give him mercy,” Jacob said before Lance could reply. Wildcat shrugged and shot the Fang in the head.

“Fair do,” Lance murmured.

He didn’t blame anyone for how they felt. The Fangs had caused chaos for several years, even being behind burning his clubhouse down. There was a lot of hate directed at them because of their first two victims. Justin Goldberg and Dan Horton had been highly respected officers. Horton was now permanently paralysed while Goldberg was dead. Since then, others had fallen.

Today, the Fangs had arrived intending to claim Rapid City. They didn’t care who they’d hurt or kill in doing so. The murderous bastards would have raided the city, taking what and who they want.

The Fallen Warriors and Delta Force had stood strong against them. The Fangs had been taught a lesson—and one Lance hoped was continuing throughout the other defenders.

“What we doing with the bodies?” Kind demanded.

“Stack them up for now, but pat them down. I don’t trust one of those cunts not to be playing dead,” Jacob called back.

“You gonna call Casey?” Lance asked. Jacob’s daughter Casey was married to Mac as well as Mac’s old lady in Rage MC.

“Not yet. Not until we know the city is secure, because sure as fuck, Casey would be on the first flight home,” Jacob replied.

“That’s probably true.”

“Ain’t no probably about it. We had a whale of a time getting her on the plane in the first place. I thought we’d have to drug her for a bit, the girl takes after her daddy too much,” Lennon complained.

“Was just as hard getting her fuckin’ Mama on,” Jacob cussed.

“Claire dug her heels in and wouldn’t leave until the last minute,” Lennon explained.

“That’s where Casey gets it from,” Jacob moaned as Lance and Lennon exchanged glances.

“Yeah, of course it is, man. Come on. Let’s get this shit sorted, fuck knows what else we’ve got coming our way,” Lance said, slapping Jacob on the back. Jacob scowled as he looked over at the bodies.

“Gotta ask, was it really fuckin’ worth it?”

“No. It never is,” Lance agreed. He radioed in to Antony, gave him the dead and injured list, and then began helping move bodies.

Random shots echoed every so often. They were taking no prisoners today.