299 Days: The 17th Irregulars

Chapter 182 Local Control

Rich and Dan had come into this meeting with low expectations of the Patriot forces, but they hadn’t known the pathetic condition of the Loyalists. The news Ted and Sap had, especially the Utility Treaty, was powerful. It got Rich and Dan to start thinking it was possible to take on the FUSA.

In particular, Rich and Dan started to realize that they were better off with professionals, like Ted and Sap, than just holding out on their own. They had always thought of Pierce Point as the whole world. In their minds, there wasn’t much outside of the gate, but now they realized they were just a little village in a bigger region of western Washington State. They needed the whole region to be stabilized and restored before their little village could get back to normal, let alone thrive. For things to get better, the whole region needed to get better. Maybe the whole state and country, but that may never happen. However, the few counties around them needed to be functioning or Pierce Point would never make it. Even people who only cared about their own little communities quickly realized that they needed stability outside of their communities.

Now that Rich and Dan were starting to understand the low-tech nature of this situation, having a Special Forces unit out at Pierce Point was an asset, not a liability. They now thought they were lucky to have pros, like Ted and Sap, who could help them. There wasn’t a high-tech and all-powerful enemy that would crush them for having a Special Forces unit out there. They were fortunate to be part of the Patriot supply system, to get grenade launchers like Ted and Sap had, for example. By being in the Patriots system, Pierce Point could have a team of trained and well-equipped fighters, not amateurs like the Blue Ribbon Boys on the other side. Much like the Team was a gift for them, Rich and Dan were starting to think of Ted and Sap as a gift, as well.

Dan looked over at Grant who was slowly nodding like he was reading Dan’s mind. He realized that Dan was officially willing to consider letting Ted and Sap come out to Pierce Point and train, and Rich was, too. But they still had some items left to hammer out.

“OK, if we were to let you come out here,” Rich said, “we have some questions.”

Ted and Sap knew they had persuaded them on the big picture and now it was down to details. “Sure, ask away,” Ted said.

“We don’t want our guards and constables, like the Team, to be poached,” Rich said. Dan was nodding.

“We need to continue to protect ourselves from external and internal threats,” Dan added.

“Of course,” Sap said. “And speaking purely selfishly, we want Pierce Point to be very secure. We’ll be here, too.” He smiled.

“We won’t poach anyone,” Ted said. “We will bring in fighters. Many will be former military.”

“Whoa,” Dan said. “How many former military?” he asked. He was afraid that a big gang of well-trained military were coming in and could easily take over Pierce Point.

Ted knew why Dan was concerned; they dealt with this in Special Forces training and planning. Local leaders were often afraid of letting in a strong outside unit, but the truth was on Ted’s side. He wouldn’t be bringing in too many seasoned troops because he didn’t have too many of them.

Ted answered Dan: “I dunno. Maybe a quarter of the unit will be military. We would like a 100-man irregular unit out here, so that’s maybe twenty five. Probably fifty, at the most. They won’t all be infantry types. We have lots and lots of non-combat military joining us. Navy and Air Force technicians, that kind of thing. They no longer have any technology to work on, so we can use them as irregulars. While they’re technically military guys, most of them never had any combat training so, in many ways, they start off with less training than you guys, but we train them like we train locals wanting to join us.”

That was semi reassuring to Dan. “Who is in command of the unit?” Dan asked.

“One of you guys,” Ted said. This, too, was a topic Special Forces often dealt with when recruiting local fighters. Local leaders wanted to know that they were still in control of their people, which was perfectly understandable.

Ted continued, “Whoever the unit elects. He will get a commission as an officer in the Free Washington State Guard. Sap and I, as NCOs, are under your person’s command.”

Grant knew exactly what Dan’s concern was and had a solution.

“Hey, Dan,” Grant said, “you know how we talked at one of the first Grange meetings about the checks and balances out here of the guards and the Team being a check on each other becoming too powerful? Well, the guards and Team will be a check on the irregular unit.”

“Which is another reason we want most of the guards to remain here,” Sap said. Everyone noticed that Sap was now saying “most of” the guards, not all of them, would remain.

“You deserve the assurance,” Sap said, “That you’re protected against external and internal threats.” This was going almost according to the script of how Special Forces trained for solving the political problems of working with local leaders.

“Yeah, but hasn’t the Team already joined the irregular unit?” Rich asked.

“Yes, we have,” Grant said. The rest of the guys were nodding.

“So you’ve already poached our best guys,” Rich said to Ted.

“Kinda,” Ted said with a smile. “But it’s not like I own them. If I want to take over Pierce Point, they’ll shoot me. There are just two of us. The Team can off us easily. There’s your assurance you’re still in control.” Everyone knew that there were two of them now, but the plan was to have up to a hundred trained irregulars out there, so the gate guards and the Team as a check on irregular unit was a pretty bad argument.

“Besides,” Sap said, “If Ted and I wanted to take over someplace, we have a lot of choices. We would have gone AWOL and started a gang. We wouldn’t try to take over a place with guards like yours and guys like this,” he said gesturing to the Team. “I’m here instead of home in Wisconsin. I’m making quite a sacrifice. I’m doing it because I want my country back. I want to train here, but then move on to fight elsewhere. Get this damned war over with and return home to a fixed Wisconsin. Pierce Point is a step in that direction, an important step, but just a step in the bigger picture.”

Rich and Dan thought about it for a while. Ted and Sap could take over Pierce Point if they wanted to. Instead, they were there asking to work with Pierce Point. Once again, Rich and Dan were thinking of Ted and Sap as a gift.

“OK, but you only get as many of my guards as I say, and that’s not too many,” Dan said. “I decide.”

“Roger that,” Ted said.

“I want the Team, and now the support team, the ‘Crew,’ to remain on call for me here,” Rich said. This was a big concession from Rich; he only wanted the Team and Crew on call for Pierce Point. He had started off this meeting by saying Ted couldn’t have the Team at all. “I will start having more crime here and other uses for a SWAT team. The Team and Crew can train with you guys, but are on call for me. Understand?”

“Affirmative,” Ted said. “When I say that Pierce Point needs to be secure, I mean it.”

Rich and Dan weren’t sure that their people wouldn’t get poached, but all they could do was lay down the rules and hope Ted and Sap would follow them.

“How are you going to train a hundred fighters in secret?” Rich asked.

“A very fair question,” Ted said. “Before I answer that, I want to remind everyone that these kinds of issues—locals retaining control over their people, training in secret—are exactly what Special Forces does. My people have done this for decades all over the world. We’ve come up with some methods of making this work and spend a lot of time sharing what we have learned with each other, because if it doesn’t work, we die. You guys will benefit from what we’ve learned.”

“The precise answer to your question,” Ted continued, “depends on the facilities we have here and whether the people out here are down with the program. If we have secluded facilities and the local population supports us, we can keep this secret.”

“Hey, wait,” Rich interrupted. “I almost forgot something.”

“What?” Sap asked.

“The Marines,” Rich said. That got everyone’s attention.

“I told the cops in town,” Rich continued, “that we had about fifty Marines and some ex-military contractors living out here. I told them that so they wouldn’t try to mess with us. When we go into town to get FCard food, we keep up the appearance of having the Marines. I have some military-looking guards go into town and make vague references to the ‘Corps’ around the Blue Ribbon Boys. I’m sure that rumor has gotten out by now.”

“So,” Rich went on, “we say to our residents, if they notice a secret group of people living out here, that they are the Marines and ex-contractors. We can tell our people that we’re just keeping up the appearance of having the Marines.”

Chip wasn’t so sure the fifty Marines thing would work. He said, “There will be some people here who see the irregulars, who are all strangers, and will ask, ‘I thought the fifty Marines were made up.’ We need a second explanation.”

“I got it,” Grant said and clapped his hand. “How about we tell the residents that we are training a few people out here? As undercover cops to go fight corruption and the gangs, and that they are some special government police force.”

It sounded hokey, really hokey. There was no real government, and what little government existed was corrupt and working with the gangs. And no one would think Grant would be working the government.

“Well,” Chip said, “I’m not sure anyone would believe the undercover cops story, but all we need is a counter rumor to throw out there. Just to get people saying, ‘No, I heard it was a special undercover police force. Maybe the FBI.’ As long as the rumor isn’t ‘Some Special Forces guys are training guerillas,’ then that’s good enough.”

Marines and contractors, Grant thought.

“Hey,” Grant said enthusiastically. “I’ve got an idea.”