"Bravo, eighty-one", a lieutenant said in a bit of a singsong, finishing an X on the easel.
The ruined building had once been a hair salon. The man with his arm in a sling tried leaning back and resting his head in a debris-filled washbasin.
"Scouts are reporting traffic on Five-One-Five southbound", one of the radiomen said in a loud but calm voice.
"Rafferty, we'll pick this up tomorrow", Thunderbird said. "You dumb bastard. I told you I'd court-martial you". He turned to the men at the radios, clicking his tongue in thought. "Sound recall to all teams. Delay red column if possible".
"Recall, repeat, recall", the men at the radios echoed.
"Tell the scouts to mine the roads and haul ass", Thunderbird added.
Valentine saw a camouflage-painted pickup truck roar up the road. Two soldiers in back sat in a sea of children. Baby carriers with squalling infants stood in a crash cage.
The sergeant marched Rafferty out. "Rape", the sergeant muttered to Valentine under his breath as he passed.
"Anything for me?" Valentine asked.
Thunderbird looked startled for a second. "Valentine. How was the drop?"
"Completed".
"No, we're good. You can get out of here".
A long rattle of gunfire from across the street dropped Valentine behind cover, but no bullets zipped the headquarters. Valentine saw the athletic building the civilians had been run into alight with the reflection of gun flashes.
The hell? Were they ambushed?
The men at the vehicles guarding the headquarters didn't so much as change the covered arc of their weapons.
"Gamma-Gamma, forty-four", one of the men at the radios said.
"Gamma-Gamma, forty-four", the singsong lieutenant repeated, drawing a big X on the map. Valentine blinked.
He'd just put an X through the athletic building. Yes, three concrete apartments around it in a U. Jesus Christ!
"What kind of op is this?" Valentine asked, knowing, not wanting to know.
"We're clearing this housing complex", Thunderbird said. "Dee Oh Ee Ar".
Valentine heard isolated shots as the executioners in the athletic building finished off the wounded.
"Team Kostwald is loaded and leaving", one of the radiomen said, and an officer made a note on a clipboard.
"Of what?" Valentine asked.
"Destruction of enemy resources", Thunderbird said. "Can't stand to actually see a DOER?"
Enemy resources. "Enemy resour... you mean the population?"
"Without a population to feed on, the Kurians pull out", one of the lieutenants said.
Valentine looked at the Xs on the map.
"No objections, I hope", Thunderbird said. His subordinate officers tensed, and Valentine saw the man with the busted arm shift his rifle around.
"Objections? Hell yes! For starters..."
Tok tok tok. "Hop off that high horse, Valentine. Clearing operations work. Your old man invented 'em, after all".