[ IP ] Hollow Point

Surgeon Benjamin Holt was just finishing his shift when the car came squealing up to the small space they were using as their medical ward, a brace of men rushing out of the doors with another man slung between them on a makeshift stretcher. Blood dripped over the edge of the rear door and spilled to the ground. It was then that the doctor noticed the numerous bullet holes in the sides and windows of the vehicle, the armored glass cracked in spider web patterns. Two uniformed soldiers carrying with submachine guns threw the doors open and held them, eyes scanning back and forth the way they came. A young man not even twenty raced inside, his splinter camouflaged field jacket soaked red with blood. Holt rocked to his feet. 
 
 `` Jesus Christ, Langley! What the hell happened to you.'' 
 
 Staff Sergeant Quentin Langley shook his head and wiped the back of his hand across his brow, smearing more on it. 
 
 `` None of it's mine, Doc. Listen, they shot the Major.'' 
 
 The veteran surgeon swore as four men used an old blanket to carry Major Tycho Novak, their hands gripped at the corners of the sheet. Blood dripped down through the cloth, leaving a trail of drops behind in the their wake. The Major was pale with blood loss, his tunic a uniform red. 
 
 `` Into my operating theater... now goddammit!'' He reached for his phone, pressing the emergency button. 
 
 `` Chris, Cindy, get the room ready and clean. We got a casualty coming in, with more to come I think. 
 
 The grunting mercenaries followed him with their precious burden while Langley gave a breathless account of what happened. 
 
 `` It was an assassination attempt. We had just turn onto Baker and Emmett, by the old cemetery when all of a sudden the first car of the convoy just exploded. Bastards were waiting with a short-range missile launcher. Took out a handful of civvies in the blast and another dozen opened up with assault rifles. Sergeant Dooley in the third car engaged as we pulled out. We got ten dead and seven wounded so far.'' 
 
 Doc Holt began to pull on his scrubs, washing his hands with disinfectant before pulling on his gloves and mask. 
 
 `` Put him on the table... *poor son of a bitch*, what did they shot at you with? No! Stay outside my operating space, you stupid boy!'' 
 
 `` Fuckers were using dumdum rounds, Doc. I saw a few on the floor of the car.'' 
 
 `` Great, just fucking great,'' the surgeon nodded as his nurses came wheeling in his cart full of tools. 
 
 `` I need blood in our patient now god fucking dammit and 5 ccs of Pero-trihexcate. We ca n't let the Major go into shock. How you feeling, sir?'' the doctor asked, waving a flashlight in the eyes of his commander. 
 
 `` Like hammered shit, Doc,'' came a sluggish reply. 
 
 `` Well, with what we're about to give you, you'll feel like the greatest piece of shit in the entire Inner Sphere.'' 
 
 `` Where's Langley?'' Novak asked. 
 
 `` Here sir,'' the NCO answered from the back of the room. 
 
 `` Captain Kyle has temporary command, tell her to kill these bastards, give... them... Tarleton's quarter....'' 
 
 `` Alright. He's out and all you gun totting fools are going out as well. Let the professionals handle this.'' 
 
 With that his nurses ushered the soldiers out of the theater, leaving them to do some real work. The doctor shook his head at the bloody mess before him. 
 
 `` Jesus Christ, I'm starting to think I see the Major on my operating table more than I see steak on my dinner table....'' 
 

