"Time to get outta here, everyone", Lehm announced before leaning out of his cover to squeeze off a few rounds at his chasers from his suppressed AAC Honey Badger rifle. "We can't take 'em all in their own woods!"
Lehm and the others were all dressed in black with ski mask's and MOLLE vests with attached ammunition. The small team of personal guards were taking cover behind whatever tree or mound they can find, peeking over their cover to fire off a few rounds to hold off their chasers, who are well-trained, ex-military contractors. In fact, they were ex-Special Forces of various branches and countries.
Lutz, who took cover farther back behind a mound with his Blaser R93 sniper rifle, provided supporting fire while holding their objective in his combat pack: a large hard drive the size of a textbook that held a powerful AI, stolen by their pursuers. "You see, Lehm, we'd get moving if we had eyes on where we're going!" He shouted through his mic of his earpiece, missing yet another shot after getting a contractor in the cross hairs of his rifle. "Dammit...!"
Valmet crouched behind a tree beside Lehm, having to fire a MP9 at whatever shadow-like contractor charges from one tree to another, inching closer to the two. "These guys are way too fast, faster than those SEALs last time!" She shouted over all the gunfire. "Is the system up yet, Koko?!"
Koko, hundreds of miles away from the firefight, sat in her hotel room with her laptop in her lap, trying to type up codes into her mini-Jormungand system. She had a worrisome look in her eyes with slight frustration as she tried to manipulate the pursuer's GPS that they were receiving from their command, pinpointing Koko's team by the minute from each of their OPSAT's (Operational Satellite Uplink), a small data pad fitted to the contractor's forearms with multiple functions and capabilities. "It won't go through their satellite uplink, something is blocking off my signal...!"
Jonah, who was shoulder a Remington ACR, tried to keep his sights along each hostile movement that sped left to right, right to left. Yet, he couldn't quite get a clear shot; they were just too fast. "Do we fall back anyway?" He was right next to Lehm, trying to squeeze himself into cover as he felt a bullet scrape against his side of the large tree.
"We've got no choice", Lehm replied with a curse as he reloaded his rifle. "Tojo, you hear? We're falling back anyway!" He pushed himself from cover while pulling Jonah along with him, followed by Valmet.
"Just finished", Tojo announced as he got out from behind a small mound, hurrying after everyone else. He pulled a detonator from his bag, looking at it as he ran behind the three. "Let's just hope Wiley's IED teachings worked out..." He muttered to himself before setting off the detonator. After a couple seconds, the ground rocked with a large shock wave, followed by the sound of the explosion. He looked over his shoulder with a small smile.
"They're still coming", Lutz shouted as he aimed through his scope. He cursed aloud then got up once he saw more contractor's coming upon his left flank. "Fuck, these guys are relentless!"
...
A contractor picked himself up after ripping off his balaclava, throws up a bit from the close shock wave, then slid on his fabric mask back on before flipping his Four-Eyed NVG goggles down over his eyes attached to his helmet. "Ugh, fuck, these guys got a lot of surprises under their sleeves", the twenty-nine year old male contractor shouted.
"Yeah, Command even picked up on a faint signal trying to mess with our OPSAT's GPS layout", a bearded man added after patted him on the back. The two, along with the other contractors, wore Navy Blue Digital Camo with combat vests having a few magazine pouches attached and some with their sleeves rolled up. "Come on, we're pressing forward, brother!"
The masked twenty-nine year old nodded as he picked up his M4A1 and sprints ahead through the fire quickly enough to not catch a flame. All contractors were light with no packs or extra gear; just their rifle, spare magazines, helmet and NVGs, and a small first aid kit attached to the back of their vests. As the two sprints ahead, they were met with more gunfire coming at them by the small group of intruders. Immediately, the twenty-nine year old dived behind a tree with his shoulder slamming into the trunk before returning semi-auto gunfire. "Aye, Tex, they got a sniper on overwatch!"
The bearded man, Tex, just flipped on his Four-Eyed NVGs and took cover behind a tree across from him as other contractors dropped to the ground. "Yeah thanks KT, I see 'im! Some of our guys are flanking his left!" He then sprints out of cover up ahead once the gunfire lit up a bit. "Come on, push forward and circle them!"
The military contractors got up and charges ahead silently, the sounds of their boots crunching against twigs, leaves, and mud, aside from the gunfire that flew past them coming from their thieves, Koko's team.
...
"Fuck, there's at least two dozen of those guys on our front with at least half a dozen coming up on our left", Tojo shouted as he fired through the trees, trying to hit whoever came into his line of fire. Though, no luck. "We have to hurry out of here and forget these guys or we're dead!"
"Either way, we're going to die", Valmet yelled back over her gunfire. "We have to rely on Koko for now!"
"For her to scramble their GPS", Lutz asked over their gunfire. "Sorry, but these guys are RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!"
And that was no lie. A contractor dived out from behind a tree and right in the face of Lutz as he fell back. It was like slow motion in Lutz's mind, having to see the fearsome look of one of these guys up close. His Four-Eyed NVG goggles staring deathly through Lutz's eyes, his lips not curled in a smile or frown, but hinting that his expression was passive that he was about to end the blonde's life, his fingerless-gloved hand drawn back with a bowie knife held tightly in his grip, ready to thrust it through where it seemed to be Lutz's throat an inch above the center of his collar bone. Even the ray of green the contractor's Four-Eyed NVGs that sways through the night air. Then, everything went back into the same speed as a bullet slammed into the contractor's face, knocking him back dead in the ground.
"Get up, we're falling back", Jonah shouted to Lutz.
Lutz was fallen back, dumbfounded with widened eyes. "R-Right...!" He scrambled to his feet, grabbed his rifle, and hurried after the others, who were already retreating behind Jonah. Then, he hurriedly followed Jonah, hopping over fallen tree limbs, large uprooted tree roots, and, at the same time, trying to avoid incoming gunfire.
"We're almost to the treeline", Lehm announced, nearly out of breath from all the running. "Just keep it up and don't get hit!"
Though, Lutz fell forward with a yelped, having to have Valmet hold him over her shoulder. "Fuck, I got shot in the ass again!"
"Is the package okay", Valmet asked with a huff.
"Yeah, yeah, it's fine, but my goddamn ass hurts like hell!"
"Then we're all good, Lehm!"
"Good, keep moving", Lehm called back as he took point, hurrying off ahead.
Tojo looked over his shoulder at Lutz, shook his head, then took cover behind a tree to provide covering fire for Valmet and Lutz. Jonah joined in with covering fire for a couple seconds before bringing up the rear of the retreating group.
...
"Uh oh", Tex said as he looked down at his OPSAT fitted on his forearm. "GPS is getting hazy, who else got the problem?"
Surrounding contractors quickly checked their OPSAT.
"Yep, GPS is getting fucked", a contractor called out.
"Yo, one of our guys are down", another contractor announced aloud as he returned fire to the shooting fleeing intruders. "Fucking Gunther is dead!"
KT cursed under his breath then hurries out from cover. "Let's get these fuckers, I'm not letting them off now! First, our AI and now Gunther?!"
The other contractors behind him roared out their battle shouts before sprinting behind KT, their dim green lights dancing side to side in the dark air.
Then, the small fleeing group began firing, trying to hold the contractors back. Yet, they didn't stop; instead, they kept running ahead at full sprint, quickly closing ground between the two opposing groups. The bullets whizzed past the contractors, the contractors unnerved by the sound of incoming bullet zipping past their faces.
"Circle around to their right", Tex called out.
Everyone turned to their right, sprinting off once they were out of the fleeing group's sight.
"GPS is back up", a contractors announced, "and they're right in front of us, FIRE!"
Everyone crouched down and raised their rifles, opening heavy fire at the trees ahead of them. After emptying their clips and quickly reloading, they walk in their crouching stances over to the area they lit up, finding blood soaking the leaves through their NVGs.
...
Valmet and the others stopped once they heard a barrage of heavy gunfire from a distance. This made Valmet and Lehm smile.
"Looks like the little lady did it", Lehm said with a cheeky smile under his ski mask, then nodded his head to their front. "Let's keep moving before they catch on."
Valmet giggles softly as Tojo sighs in relief. Though, Lutz still cringes in pain.
Jonah looked over his shoulder, then heard more distant gunfire. "Lehm, is there another force in the area?"
Hearing such a question sent a chill up Lehm's spine, even more so as he heard more gunfire off in the distance. "Let's hurry the hell up, fast."
And they did so, with Tojo trying to contact Koko. "Koko, is there anyone else in the area? Koko?"
Koko stares at the screen of her laptop with a sigh, then cursed under her breath before picking up her headphones. "Yeah, but I dunno who. Either way, you guys better make it out of there, fast. The helicopter is one minute away from the exfil."
"Did the system work?"
"Yeah, I managed to inject a trojan and everything I can to make them believe the signal I was sending was more layout of the land. They were led by my system, but accidentally met with another military force."
"Is our route clear?"
"Yeah, it's clear. Just stay on your route."
"Hear that guys? We keep going this route."
"Gotcha Tojo", Lehm said as he stopped by a river. He looked up and down stream, then wades through the slow current with his rifle held above his head, followed by Valmet and Lutz, then Tojo and Jonah. Once they made it across, the heard a distinctive sound of another being getting out of the river behind them. Then, gunfire in their direction. "Run for it!"
Jonah and Tojo returned gunfire. These guys were dressed entirely differently from the contractors. Then, their language gave it all away: Russian.
"Spetsnaz", Lutz questioned as he looked over his shoulder to see Tojo and Jonah bringing up the rear, along with silhouettes of at least four others behind them. "Yeah, it's Spetsnaz, Lehm!" He took out his pistol and fired behind them as Valmet kept dragging him along.
"They were able to avoid detection from Koko", Tojo asked himself.
...
After finding out the people they accidentally shot up were Spetsnaz soldiers, the contractors were caught in returning gunfire. Heavy returning gunfire. Tex tackled and grappled a Spetsnaz soldier into the mud before quickly his neck, then ordered everyone to get out of that area.
KT got lost as all he could think about was escaping the surprising firefight from such large numbers. At any way, more military contractors will be dispatched to the area to provide support, but still... It surprised him and everyone else.
As KT came upon a stream, he found a soldier crouched down beside another soldier, his comrade, speaking to him in Russian. Supposedly, the one lying down was injured while the other crouching beside him was providing first aid. Though,KT immediately shot two rounds each into the soldiers before crossing the river. Seeing these guys out here in the state they were in, they had to have come upon their intruders.
"All contractors, this is Tex", KT's earphones started. "We suffered 0 casualties, thank God. More support is on their way. If you are scattered, rally up to where I marked on your OPSAT's GPS. We have to regroup."
Lehm, Jonah, and Tojo took cover behind a rock as they returned fire at the advancing Spetsnaz squad as Valmet treated Lutz. "What happened to our LZ again", Tojo asked.
...
"It took an alternative route to avoid radar detection", Lehm answers as he reloaded. "Can't help it but to hold off our extraction zone."
"What the hell, this wasn't on the damn map", a voice off in the distance exclaimed in English.
"Let's just on and take care of whatever's going on over here", another replied.
The Spetsnaz looked aware of this, having to shift their positions quickly while avoiding gunfire from Lehm and the others. "Looks like we're going to be in real trouble", Valmet announced over the gunfire.
A contractor peeked from behind a tree, firing at Lehm, who quickly took cover behind the rock. "Shit", Lehm exclaimed out loud.
"KT, make an arc so we can take out both of these fuckers", a slight muffled voice shouted, the voice coming from behind a beard seemingly.
"Copy that Tex!"
Tojo cursed as he reloaded, looking to his left and to his right: his left having more than two dozen contractors and his right having slightly over a dozen Spetsnaz troops trying to fan out. "We're in deep trouble..."
Jonah fired in burst fire to the contractors as Lutz shook off the literal pain in his ass and took out his pistol, firing off to the Spetsnaz with Valmet. Tojo aided Jonah with the contractors as Lehm would alternate between the Spetsnaz and contractors to make the firepower even.
"Shit, fuck", Valmet cursed aloud at their situation.
Koko watched her screen, clutching her fists on the keyboard before digging her fingers in her hair and screaming out in pure frustration and worry. "Where the hell is that helicopter?!"
...
"Dmitri, all of our squads are engaging hostiles farther back", a Spetsnaz soldier shouted to the lead man. "We're on our own on this one."
"I hear you, Kuvchenko, keep up the heavy...", Dmitri stopped as he looked up at the night, rainy sky to see lights hovering over the sky. And more lights. Helicopters. A transport and attack helicopter. "RPGs, get the RPGs, Leznov!"
Before anyone can do anything, the large caliber rounds of the attack helicopter's .50 cal rains down along the circling treeline, forcing the forces to retreat. As the Spetsnaz retreated, sustaining two wounded, the contractors engaged the attack helicopter by firing an AT4 at the helicopter. Yes, an anti-tank shoulder-fired missile at a helicopter. The missile itself scraped the wing of the Apache, making the helicopter to sway and shutter as it had blown up right behind the tail.
...
Lehm carried Lutz with all his strength up the rope with Valmet's help quickly while Jonah and Tojo provided covering fire from the Chinook helicopter. Seeing their attack helicopter retreat due to malfunction issues, the Chinook immediately lifted off the second Lutz crawled inside. The contractors below fires at the helicopter with small arms gunfire, but missed, leaving them to focus on pushing back the Spetsnaz forces.
Koko, having to see this through live feed of satellite imaging, sighed in relief as she fell back in her bed, staring at her ceiling. Wiley peeks in through her door. "Everything alright? They made it out?"
"With the package, yes. They made it out." Koko's voice was worn out as she closed her eyes, utterly stressed. She then shuts down her mini-Jormungand system then sets her closed laptop aside. "I'm done raiding military bases for parts."