Chapter 178: Taking Command
Everyone's eyes were focused on Hobbs, but he didn't know what was wrong and was a little overwhelmed by the stares.
"Hey, what are you all looking at?"
"We have a mole." Ron paced and came to Hobbs.
"You don't think that person is me?!"
But Ron walked right past Hobbs and came to his deputy: "Time to drop the act, isn't it?"
"Coming, boss." Shaw flashed a triumphant smile. Hobbs's deputy obediently walked to his side and unlocked his restraints.
"Like I said, you'll never win this game."
Now all the advantages went to Shaw's side. He naturally put forward his demands: release all his people, no tracking, and hand over the chip to him.
"Bullshit! That's not happening!" the base commander exclaimed. "The safety of one hostage can't be weighed against the safety of millions of civilians! Sorry, but that's not how this works."
"But it does for us!" Hobbs, desperate to make up for his screw-up, immediately put his sidearm to the commander's head.
"Click-clack!" The sound of safeties being disengaged filled the air as every soldier aimed their M4s at Dom, Shaw, and the others, awaiting the order to waste them all.
"Hold up," Ron said, stepping in to defuse the situation. "If I remember correctly, this is our own NATO facility, right? You're also sworn to defend American interests? You know who Phantom is?"
The commander's face went pale, but he nodded.
"Okay, give me sixty seconds, I can bring him around." With that, Ron, regardless of anyone else's input, pulled the commander aside and whispered urgently. Less than a minute later, the commander returned, his expression completely changed.
"I've agreed to let them walk."
"What's your angle? How did you flip him?" Hobbs leaned over to Ron and whispered curiously.
"I just dropped my callsign and promised to keep Shaw on the base," Ron said with a knowing smile. "But I can't guarantee how much collateral damage the facility might sustain."
"That's it?" Hobbs looked confused.
Ron didn't elaborate, giving him a sideways glance. "This is why you'll never make Deputy Director, you know that?"
In reality, Ron had told Hobbs exactly what he'd said, but there was a subtext that remained unspoken, something that was crystal clear to everyone except Hobbs.
Ron had a small team, but he always managed to resolve every crisis successfully. If there was one consistent flaw, it was the massive amount of collateral damage he caused each time! This had made him legendary in certain circles.
Ron had asked about "Phantom" simply to confirm the commander knew his reputation. Once his identity was confirmed, Ron offered to keep Shaw's people breathing in exchange for cooperation, and then offered to absorb financial discrepancies through "operational expenses."
Why would this trade for damage secure cooperation?
Simple: nearly all US military installations overseas, to varying degrees, have some creative accounting, the profits of which are generally shared between the site commander and Pentagon contractors.
Sounds like conspiracy theory nonsense? But truth is stranger than fiction. At US military bases overseas, off-the-books operations are commonplace, and some bolder installations have even engaged in the business of "lending" surplus equipment to friendly warlords for regional stability operations. Wild, right?
So, if the damage Ron inflicted appeared significant, regardless of the actual cost, it meant that years of creative bookkeeping could be written off as "battle damage" and covered by emergency repair budgets.
This was the key insight Shawshank had taught Ron after their previous encounter with Phantom.
Even CIA station chiefs had mountains of unaccounted expenses, let alone the commander of a small overseas NATO facility.
"I told you from the start, you'll never win this war." Before leaving, Shaw didn't forget to turn around and gloat.
Ron kicked Shaw in the ass: "Get moving! Don't make me drop you right here. Dom has issues with killing you, but I sure as hell don't."
"Just wait, I'll settle the score someday!"
Shaw picked himself up and jogged away. Only after he was sure he had distance from Ron did he dare mouth off again.
He was using the most cowardly actions to say the most vicious words.
"What's the play now? Just let them walk?" Roman shouted. "They're trapped on base. I don't get it. Even if we promise not to tail them, where can they possibly go?"
Ron looked up: "Into the wild blue yonder, obviously."
"You mean..." the base commander was thrilled.
What a windfall! What if they had commandeered a military aircraft? Who knows how much damage that could justify?
Maybe after clearing all the old ledgers, there'd still be budget left over. He could even buy a little condo near Arlington and start collecting rent!
He'd already planned the listing: Arlington adjacent, metro accessible, two Starbucks within walking distance...
"What's our next move?" Dom locked eyes with Ron. He'd had enough of Hobbs's amateur-hour leadership, and compared to that, his old friend Ron seemed infinitely more competent.
Ron easily gained the support of Dom's crew and the local base commander, successfully taking command from Hobbs. Hobbs, who once had one subordinate, was now completely sidelined.
He looked pathetic, but this wasn't the time for sympathy.
"Tej," Ron thought for a moment before issuing his first order: "Jam all communications in this sector so they can't coordinate with outside assets."
"Copy that."
Just as Shaw knew Ron, so did Ron know Shaw. He'd never expected Shaw to honor their agreement and release Mia, but Ron was certain Shaw would have his crew standing by with the hostage as insurance. Shaw was absolutely the type to have his people execute Mia the moment they cleared the perimeter, so step one was cutting his communications with his external assets.
"Dom, Brian, grab the two fastest rides and be ready to move with me to intercept their bird and extract the hostage."
"Roger." Brian, falling back on professional habits, automatically responded.
"Everyone else, I don't care what method you use, just disable that aircraft so it can't achieve takeoff in the short term, but don't make it a total loss so they don't get desperate. Once we extract the hostage, we can light them up—both the plane and everyone on it."
(End of Chapter)
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