Tyson Rios. Elliot Salem.
ARMY OF T.W.O:
DEADLY ACCORD
Prologue
"You fucking shot me!"
The voice of Elliot Salem rang out through the small Motel 6 Hotel room in Miami. It had been eight months since Tyson and Elliot took down the Shanghai attack, and the two hadn't any words for one another. Actually, it was Salem who did not have much to say at all to his former friend. Salem wasn't much of the young punk he once was, but the anger in him was only salted by what he felt was betrayal. If Salem had bathed or shaven more than once a month, it would take a polygraph test for Tyson or Alice to even begin to believe it.
"Salem," Tyson Rios' deep tone was calm as he stood across from his friend. "I said I was sorry for that. It was one of us or millions of people. That was the right call…at least it seemed."
Salem paced over toward the window and propped his tattooed forearm up against the opened window after parting the curtain. He kept his back to Tyson and Alice, who was sitting with her arm in a sling with some of her injuries still visibly healing.
"We shouldn't have been there." Salem continued on with disdain in his voice. He needed a drink. "We should have gotten Alice and bailed the hell out. We nearly got her killed out there, Rios!" He turned around and jabbed his right index finger downward to drive his point. "We nearly got her killed, and ourselves in the process! For what? Is that what T.W.O. about? Meaningless sacrifice?"
"We live as a team, we die as a team." Rios said softly. "I thought you were with me. I thought you wanted to do the right thing, Salem."
"Do the right…" The younger man chuckled as he turned his back. He palmed his forehead as he faced the window again.
Alice sighed gently as she sat on the bed. "Elliot…" She set up this meeting unbeknownst to her friends. It was a bit comical at first when Salem thought it was some kind of 'official date' for the two of them, until Rios showed. She was starting to feel guilty about bringing this hostile situation to a head-on collision. "We saved those people. It could have happened here in the states. Are they no more important than anyone else?"
"I was raised on the streets, Alice." Salem responded. "Blu-Bludz raised me out there…" He grimaced a little. "First thing I learned was you never turn on one of your own, and you never do more than you gotta do to survive. That's a good way to die." He still had some of the tattoos from the gang. It was a life he had long before he became a ranger and got tagged up with Rios. "Military wasn't my life like Rios. It was an escape. I guess he's the one with a death wish since he can't fix his failin' marriage."
Tyson's lips pursed with mild anger. "You really gotta bring that into this?" Rios narrowed his eyes and kept his distance. "Do you really have to sink that low, Salem?"
"Yeah, I do!" The man turned around with a grimace. "Clearly you've got somethin' rattlin' around in your head that makes you think…that makes you think nothing else matters but what you want. Nothing else matters but what you think is right. I followed you all these years, and it took taking a bullet for you to realize how selfish you are."
"Guys…" Alice stood as Salem walked closer.
"How many bullets have I taken for you, huh kid?" Rios wasn't going to back down, but he didn't want to damage getting his friend back. "When I dragged your carcass through the dirt and got you to safety? Did you forget any of that? Did you think I forgot when you saved my ass? I made a mistake, and-…"
"Go screw yourself, Rios." Salem interrupted. "I'm never working with you again. I don't care if you try to drag Alice into this, I don't care if you pay me, you and I are done. I'm out of T.W.O." Salem shoulder bumped Rios on his way to the door. "Call you later, Alice."
"Salem!" Rios turned as the door was open and in turn slammed shut. The large man palmed his large forehead as he paced the room. "…What are we gonna do…? I need Salem. He knows these guys better than anyone…"
Alice shook her head while she sat back down on the bed. "…The Blu-Bludz can be worked around. I just fear that this take-over in Mexico with the Sicario Cartel that supplies them is going to get worse. I hear that…a few of the Insurgent Dragons will be present as well. A lot of people are going to die…"
Alice knew all too well. The Insurgent Dragons were a group of American terrorists that formerly made up the working class and wealthy class of America. They'd separated from the United States, claiming it to be 'impure' and no longer going in a direction the founding fathers set for them. They were as bad as any terrorist organization, and especially deadly since, unlike most enemies overseas, they could blend in extremely well and cause mayhem on brief, but furious scales with their explosives. They worked with the Cartel to pull off assassinations and build their impressive military. It was suspected the mastermind behind Shanghai was a ranking member. If one man could cause such devastation, the group itself was a monster to reckon with.
The Sicario Cartel was the proverbial 'Scarface' of most Mexican cartels. They had the money, the power, the respect, and the fear of all their rivals. They were protected by the Insurgent Dragons or 'I.D.s', and they were given passage to and from Mexico by the connections the I.D's made. The last link of the chain were the Blu-Bludz street gang. They were the ones getting the drugs, chopping them down, and putting them on the streets. The problem was that some of the cocaine they were shipping was actually wired with explosives. When confiscated by police, they were promptly detonated when the Bludz saw fit.
The Bludz also helped in the human trafficking in Texas and Louisianna, which made them particularly useful to the Cartel when they got a big slice of the profits.
It was an alliance of guns, drugs, explosives, and sex. A deadly accord established between the three groups.
The reason Alice said many people would die, was because the operation they were trying to recruit Salem for involved a lot of innocent people who would be slaughtered or enslaved to the increasingly powerful Cartel. She'd seen their videos of dismembering victims to send a 'message' to the American people who were trying to counter-act their growing forces.
"…We'll have to start recruiting and pray we can intervene." Tyson lowered his head and approached the door. "Get some rest, Alice. We'll be in touch."
"Tyson." She spoke as the man froze in the doorframe. "You did what you felt you had to do. Don't be ashamed of that."
"Salem's still alive…" Tyson trailed with his words. "…But I killed my best friend…" As he gently shut the door, Alice was left to her silent room…
Chapter 1: One Year Later
It was pitch black out.
On board the massive T.W.O. owned chopper, a group of T.W.O. operatives were well on their way to land in Mexico City to deal with a particularly powerful man who had taken one of the Vice President's sons from his vacation and into the city as a hostage. The city was chucked full of Insurgent Dragons and Sicario Cartel members. Their recon team had discovered the complex that the young man was being held in had several RPGs, sub machine guns, pistols, grenades, and more ammunition than the U.S. Military ready to go at whoever was stupid enough to try and rescue the boy and not bring their ransom.
The job was simple for T.W.O; five ops would take the mansion in teams of three and two. The main three would take the front gate while the other two would go around the back while fire was drawn. It was a simple 'Pincher' attack, but they had to play it smart.
Tyson was on board looking over the city as they were getting ready to land far enough where they could approach strategically. Things were tense for him, as he knew they were in for a firefight. He, as well as his other operatives were armored head to toe, with their masks currently up.
Rios sported his classic 'half-skull' blue mask, and two of his new guys had their own designs on their masks. One had tribal-looking designs and the other had three white stripes running down the lower face. These two were James Guerrero(Bravo) and Charlie Weston (Alpha).
Sitting across from them were two women who were in similar armors. One of the women was Black, and the other Puerto Rican. The olive skinned woman was very beautiful with black war paint on her face in form of a giant circle over her right eye. The Puerto Rican girl was equally as lovely, but seemed slightly more tomboyish with her neck tattoos of tribal designs visible along the right side of her neck. The dark skinned woman was Rochelle Wilson, and her partner was Suzy Ortiz.
Rochelle had a black mask with a toothy grin on it, but also it had a Glasgow Smile painted on it in deep red with 'blood' trailing to the bottom of the mask. Suzy had a Green and Black mask that resembled Iron Man's mask, with the formerly gold section of the faceplate now being dark green.
The ride was far from silent…as the last few minutes was filled with singing from Rochelle and Suzy…
"Babe, I like the way you move! Way you work it on the floor! Keep on doin' what you do!" Wilson sang while bouncing in her seat with her partner.
"I might!" Suzy added in, while laughing.
"Take ya home and watch it some more! Ain't nothin' wrong with, havin' a little fun is it? Let's keep on bouncin' baby til the party's done with!" Rochelle continued, but the two women now sang in unison with amusement resounding in their voices.
"We can bounce like my checks did back in the day! Before I got this paper! Before I got paid!"
Weston coughed. "Geeze, you two gonna keep on singin'?"
"You gonna keep on being useless?" Suzy playfully kicked her foot at Weston while sitting. She missed by a mile, but he got a point.
"We're gonna get the kid before you guys do, for sure." Guerrero chuckled. "Your singing is gonna attract all kinds of attention. Just like it did in Calcutta."
Rochelle rolled her eyes. "That doesn't count. We were trying to save Steve."
"Poor Steve." Ortiz added. "Such a good soldier. Rest his soul."
"Steve's still alive, right?" Weston sounded perplexed as he looked to his partner. "I mean…he took a pretty nasty boot to the face but…"
Guerrero shrugged. "Hell if I know. Maybe he died after we got out of there? It was his fault for leaving his partner behind and chasing some naked chick."
"He's alive…" Rochelle interrupted while drumming her hands impatiently on her knees. "Last time I heard, he was knocking back beers and going to love hotels with chicks that dug his one-leg."
"Still's got two legs if you ask him." Guerrero chuckled. "Guy's never had a problem gettin' chicks. Good soldier, just an addict."
Tyson was getting a little tired of their banter. It reminded him a little bit about some of the silly things he and Salem used to talk about even during the heat of combat. "Alright guys, settle down. We're getting ready to touchdown."
"Got it, Mr. Clean." Weston nodded. "We going in with code names, sir?"
"Yeah. I'm Reaper Blue." Tyson said while looking among them. "Eko," He pointed at Ortiz. "Greek," Then to Wilson. "Alpha," Now to Weston. "And Bravo." Then his finger settled toward Guerrero. "Simple enough to remember.
"Why'd we get the boring names again?" Alpha sighed as the chopper started to descend.
"Rios isn't any fun, that's why." Rochelle scoffed.
Tyson started to pull his mask down and activate the HUD systems and night vision. "Alright guys hush up. We're all going to stay in touch during the trip up. Alice is gonna keep us posted on any developments."
It was late at night, and the darkness would serve them well when they approached the mansion from afar. It was about a two mile hike, but they were going to do it in stealth with all of their gear. It was a lot like the hell week some of them were used to in training.
Once the chopper landed in a clearing outside of the city, the group left and hurried along their paths…
Division #01: Monsters in My Head
"Yeah, that's right! We OWN this place!" Salem heard his voice echoing as he fired off rapid rounds into the armored soldiers along the ascending stairs. He recalled the firefight in quick flashes. Gatling guns, grenades, snipers, and adrenaline rushing hard.
He remembered Rios watching his back and he doing the same. They took on the stairs separately, but their individual skill was greater than this entire group combined.
However, something was different in this memory. He was crouched down beside a stair railing…he was waiting for the gunfire rattling over his head to cease so he could stand and return fire.
When he stood, Rios was there with a gun aimed at his face.
"RIOS!"
There was a loud thunderclap and Salem sat up in bed in a cold sweat. He just had the sheets of his bed over his torso, and all of his tattoos and stars on display. His bedroom was dark with just the lights of New Orleans pouring in dimly through the curtains. He reached for the other side of his bed…but it was vacant. It seems Alice left to handle the work she mentioned earlier. He was glad she was at least able to stay until he fell asleep.
Salem cleared his throat and pinched the bridge of his nose. He started to stand up out of bed and began to slip his boxers and sweat pants on, not wanting to walk past his window stark naked at all. His nightstand had a couple pill bottles beside it to help with his sleeping and anxiety, a four empty beer bottles, a Rolex watch, iPhone, and a box of Kleenex.
As he was making his way to the bathroom, his phone began to ring, which lit up the display of he and Alice together. The display also showed the name 'Ryan', which was not the actual name of the caller, but a code-name for his old partner in crime Ryo.
Salem picked up the rectangular phone and answered with a gruff and groggy tone. "Yeah, what's goin' on man?"
"Twenty minutes." The shady figure on the other end spoke. "Goin' on a little adventure."
"I had my last adventure bro. I'm out." Salem said while he paced toward the bed again. He sat down and spoke with a light groan. "Gotta find another guy for this one."
The other person was silent for three heartbeats. When he spoke, he sounded less than pleased. "Not an option. This is your farewell tour, we need you for this. Double the profit. Better for the honeymoon you and your girl want."
Money talked, as Salem often said. However, despite his damaged outlook on the 'jobs' he did, he still held some of his morals. He couldn't help but see Alice's face in his mind's eye. He did want to give her the best when they moved to a bigger city with more job opportunities for him. "Alright, alright. Just this last one. No more surprises, pal."
"See you in twenty."
The phone was hung up. Salem went to get himself ready quickly as he could while groggy and only…slightly buzzed from beers. He knew he wasn't supposed to drink with the pills he took, but he enjoyed complaining to Alice that they didn't 'work' so he wouldn't have to take them anymore.
As he showered, he couldn't help but recall gunfire and the heat of war. He flinched every time he turned on.
After a quick shower he dried off and found a decent tank top to wear under his Kevlar vest. A baggy T-shirt was placed over it and it was left un-tucked to conceal the protective gear.
He tucked a pistol at the crotch of his pants just in case things got a little troublesome beyond his expectations. When the floor creaked as he walked, he constantly looked over his shoulder. He expected Rios, his brother in arms, to be there watching his back in case someone was following him.
"Got a bad feeling about this, Salem." The 'ghost' of Rios said. He was fully geared and crouched down with a massive assault rifle in his grip.
Salem looked toward the window while his thumb twitched. He pulled his pistol out and got low to the ground. "Let's check the window, man. The bastards probably are watching…" The duo snuck to the window nearest Salem's bed. Elliot peeked through the window to view the streets and rooftops.
He saw monsters on the rooftops. They were humanoids with black tendrils flailing about their bodies. They wore masks that were exactly like his old one. Slightly camouflaged with flames along the jawline. The monsters paced back and forth along the roofs slowly, as if waiting for Salem's arrival. Of course in reality, no one was there.
"Tagged." Salem said as he saw one of the bigger demons get highlighted as if by one of Alice's devices. "We'll take that bastard down first."
"Hey, Salem." The Rios ghost said while checking the magazine of his weapon. "You need to watch your back out there, kid. Remember when you told me about this gang?"
"Yeah…" Salem crouched down with his back to the wall now. "After our first tour, right? Got a couple of drinks going and all…" Salem chuckled. "I grazed your ass when we were in a shootout before that."
"Don't forget I kicked your ass at beer pong after that." Rios responded, but the ghost got back to his point. "Thing is, kid. This Ryo guy…, you saved his life when you were younger right? Let's not forget what happened when you came to the Rangers and quit the gang though. He said you'd never be allowed back in town for betraying the gang. What do you think your 'retirement' will be like with this same guy?"
Salem exhaled in annoyance. "Things changed."
"You became who you are now, Salem. That's all." Rios furthered his plea. "He had use for what you learned. Tonight he's going to try to end it and end you. I know you feel it in your guts."
"Coming from a guy who shot me to save a city that really wasn't in any nuclear trouble…" Salem grimaced. "I trust me, and I trust Alice. All I need is for you to watch my back."
"I will." Rios said as he stood up, still concealed beside the window. "I'm sorry, brother. If you want to get it over with…shoot me."
Almost without flinching, Salem drew his gun up and aimed for Rios armored chest. He held the gun steady as he could, but sometimes trembled due to his recent fit of drinking. His heart was beating as the pain of being shot raced through his body from the wound he suffered for Rios in the name of Shanghai. His jaw tensed, his finger twitched over the trigger, but he did not pull it.
After a few tense seconds, Salem lowered his gun… "…I'll do it when I'm good and damn ready, Rios." Salem said to the ghost. "…I have a lot of changing to do. I'm willin' to do whatever it takes to get out of this crap with Alice. This is the last job, man. Ryo's not gonna screw me over…this…this is what I gotta go through to get out the game."
"Being enlightened is no longer enough; you must apply." Rios said while looking down at Salem. "Being willing is no longer acceptable; you must do. Make it count, kid."
After Rios' words…Salem heard a black SUV pulling up outside the apartment complex. He peeked over, and all of the demons were gone. He recognized the vehicle as Ryo's…and he knew it was time to go. "Hey Rios, thanks-…" He turned to see the ghost was no longer there…
(Division End)
"The kid we're rescuing's name is Andy Vogart." Rios said silently as he crept with Alpha and Bravo through the city, closer to the large mansion that stood in juxtaposition to the rather shabby are it was in. "Eko, I'll need you to get a visual for us before we go in. Tag him and we'll get a route planned."
"Roger that, Reaper Blue." Eko responded. She and Greek were a little further ahead with their route already set up. Eko was the sniper of the team, and Greek was going to play 'ninja' and sneak in and remain undetected, hopefully.
Bravo peeked over his shoulder as the team snuck through alleyways of the nearly dead cityscape toward the large white mansion that seemed much like a mockery of the White House than a legit mansion. It had two large fountains on either side of the lawn that was split by concrete walkways. The fountains were about a meter deep and in the design of odd-looking demonic statues. There were several large trees on the lawn as well, as their recon had detailed that the owner of the mansion, Ryo Nagasaki, was a fan of birds. He had several bird houses on the trees, and hoped to attract them toward this particular mansion.
The first floor had a dozen and a half windows on the front of the large white double doors. There was a railing on the second floor to match the 'C' shape of the building. The red roof shingles looked like they'd seen better days, but the rest of the house was very well kept. At least, for now. There were several cars in the circle drive that followed the concrete along the walkways and fountains. There were armored guards pacing in front of the open gate…it was like they were waiting for trouble. "Did communications come up yet, Reaper?" He said in question about Rios' communication with Alice.
"Not yet…must be some signal issues." Rios started to look around their surroundings before he motioned for Alpha and Bravo to hold their positions with a closed fist. "We're sitting ducks here in a bottle-neck. I'll take the gate…I need you two to breach the stone wall linked to their gate. We move once Eko and Greek are in place."
On the other side of things, Eko and Greek had taken out more than a couple of Cartel members silently. Eko climbed onto the side of an abandoned building near the mansion and set up shop near one of the busted windows. The perps inside were all dead, and she felt confident being left alone in there while Greek descended back down and headed for the back.
Eko got her sights on the building, and set up her gear to see through the walls. Her digital read-out came in on everyone else's HUD display, showing the number of confirmed targets, as well as a blue highlight of their kidnapped young man. "Confirmed. Target is alive, scared pissless, and tied up on the second level in the bathroom. It's connected to the master bedroom looks like. Heavily guarded. Kid is tagged."
"Good, now watch my back." Greek spoke in a whisper. There was a slight grunt over their communication systems as well as the sound of a snapping bone. "Giving these guys a quick break."
Rios sighed. "…Hate that I laughed at that inside."
"It was kinda funny, old man." Alpha patted the big man on his back as he awaited the go-ahead from his superior to go ahead and proceed.
Rios gave them the motion to move forward. He had his gun ahead of him in case they were spotted early. He wasn't going to risk them being shot down before they could get over. "Eko, track Alpha and Bravo's path. Any trouble?"
A second later when Greek stopped moving, Eko swung her vision toward Alpha and Bravo's location. "Two heavies are posted. Be careful."
Alpha and Bravo could handle themselves, Rios knew. He exhaled slowly and watched the young men scale the tall wall by boosting one another up. Once Bravo was on top, he reached down to catch the jumping Alpha's hand to pull him up onto the thick top of the stone wall.
"Greek, how're we looking?" Rios said quietly as he began to emerge from his hiding place.
"We're set." She said with a slight exhale. "Got the freaking Cheetahmen 2 theme stuck in my head…"
"Che-tah-men, we are the che-tah-men." Alpha sang in a whisper as he propped up on the fence.
"Let's move!" Rios announced as he rushed from his hiding place and slid into place beside one of the parked Beamers across the street from the mansion. He aimed over the hood of the car and fired rounds at the guards. The rapid gunshots got everyone's attention. They began shouting in Spanish as gunfire started to thump against the vehicle and its general area. Rios was pinned down, but this was by design.
Alpha and Bravo dropped down with their knives in their grips. They pierced the backs of the heavy armored soldiers necks with a single strike, and took them down. Bravo pulled his target up as a shield when sudden gunfire shifted his way from a man who was dressed in a white suit as if he thought he was Scarface. After the first shot, the man was down on the ground after Alpha lit him up with two shots to the skull. While the body hit the ground, Alpha held his pistol forward as he raced across the grassy lawn with Bravo in tow with his assault rifle spraying off each time they came across some of the armed cartel members.
They found shelter behind two large trees on the lawn. Bravo was the first to aim backward and spray at the backs of the men pinning Rios down. Alpha was covering the front, looking around for an entry point. Thank goodness for the night vision, because he saw one of the gangsters heaving a rocket into a rocket launcher on the west end of the mansion's roof! "RPG on the roof!"
Suddenly the man holding the RPG had his head taken right off by a single bullet.
"And he's gone." Eko said with pride in her perfect shot. "Get to the door. They're racking up their defensive line around the boy."
Down on the ground, Greek was putting her parkour skills to use as she jumped off one of the trash bins and gripped the storm pipe along the side of the building. She climbed up it like a monkey and gripped the roof's ledge. She shimmied across and drove her feet forward to land on the balcony nearby. She shot out the glass door and climbed through as alert as a crook in a dark house. As all the gunfire happened outside, she was lucky to not have any trouble in the trophy room she landed in.
She paused when she examined the room. There was quite an impressive collection of katanas and swords inside. She watched the door…then took a double take to one of the katana sheathes that came with a shoulder strap hanging on the wall.
"..Gearing up!" Greek said as she quickly rushed to the wall to loop the katana strap over her shoulders, armor, and various weapons she had strapped to her chest and back. The door was kicked open and three armored men rushed in. The first one had his entire head blown from his shoulders from a single distant shot from Eko, and this stunned the other two long enough for Greek to draw her katana in her right hand and close the gap. She swung the weapon skillfully, first cleaving through the upper portion of the first man's skull, then delivered a back-hand slice across the throat of the second. As he clutched his throat, he let off final shots into the ceiling before she finished him off with a stab directly between the eyes. "Thanks Eko!"
"Don't mention it. Actually, do mention it when Bravo and I hook up later and you buy the drinks." Eko said jokingly.
"Keep dreamin' sweetheart." Bravo said over the radio, still in a heated fire fight down below.
"I'll take that spot then." Alpha said quickly as he chucked a grenade across the lawn to try and take down some of the man finding cover behind one of the large fountains in the area.
Greek continued into the hall once her sword was held aside. After the explosion outside occurred, she used her pistol in her left hand to fire at a few of the men watching the hall and used what little cover she could to get through to a new hallway to press her back to the wall. "We need to take the door! I can't get too far!"
"I'm up, then." Rios said as he finally placed his firearm to his chest and pulled the real deal from his back. It was the legendary AA-12 that he fell in love with. The machine-shotgun was ideal for general mayhem, and that just so happened to be his specialty. With most of the men at the front gate now taking focus onto Alpha and Bravo, Rios was able to stop playing dead and now play Reaper.
The rounds fired from the AA-12 were like Zeus' thunderbolts. The bullets ripped through everyone who was unfortunate enough to be in Rios' way as he walked toward the front gates. Bodies piled up as the gunfire continued. This cleared Alpha and Bravo from their position and let them begin to advance toward the front door. They paused, however, when one of the windows broke and several grenades hit he grass!
"Grenade!" Alpha screamed out as he dove aside!
Bravo did the same, and lucky for the two men no major damage or shrapnel came their way as they dove into the fountain area that was just previously blown up. The half-drained fountain was the perfect cover, but this left Rios wide open as the attackers began to unleash gunfire from the first floor windows.
Rios moved as quickly as he could to duck aside the gunfire and get behind one of the trees.
Alpha peeked over the meter deep 'bowl' of the fountain and began to return fire near the broken windows. "I'll hold em! Go, go, go!"
Bravo didn't argue with his partner, and instead rushed out of the fountain while keeping low. He moved swiftly toward the mansion and put his back to the wall beside the furthest window.
The men on the other end were reloading and keeping low beside the windows…until a metal object hit the floor.
It was a grenade…and as they looked up, they caught the middle finger of the fleeing Bravo just moments before it went off, cancelling their attempt to run themselves!
"Nice!" Alpha said while rising from his cover to fire on the remaining shooters with help from Rios' AA-12 as he peeked from around his nearby cover. The walls and windows were getting punched full of holes while Bravo was picking himself up from the floor.
"Eko!" Greek called out as she now sheathed her katana to start to get her assault rifle ready. "Getting the kid! Cover me!"
"Roger that, sis." Eko said while getting her scope back on the building. There was a soldier that fled out onto the balcony to escape Greek's gunfire. While the others were trading shots with the woman, this guy snuck along the outside wall to get closer to where Andy was being guarded. "…He was sitting at the table, you could see he, was unable…" Eko sang lightly to herself as the man climbed into a window and approached the guarded bedroom. "Then he ran into the bedroom…" She watched the man go into the bedroom with his pistol up. She knew he was going to shoot the kid…but he caught a bullet from her right in the back of the neck. "He was struck down, it was his doom. Andy are you okay? You okay Andy?" Another shot was taken as one of his pals started to figure out there was a sniper. "You've been hit by," Another shot to the next. "You've been struck by…a smooth criminal."
"Will you cut out the singing?" Alpha groaned while he, Rios, and Bravo rushed the front door. The big man went through first while Alpha and Bravo covered him.
While the shootout with the remaining cartel members bled over into the living room on the first floor, Greek was rushing the hall leading to the master bedroom. Her vest caught a few shots that knocked her onto her backside, but the shots she squeezed off ripped the unfortunate mooks from crotch to throat as she fell.
"Shit!" Greek groaned. "I'm hit!"
"You're okay." Eko said softly. "I've got your back, partner. Someone get up there if she needs medical help. Are you bleeding?"
"I'm good…" Greek grunted while she started to roll away from the railing near the steps when shots from down below thumped through the carpeted flooring near her body. "Going for Andy, keep your eyes open."
Couches were overturned downstairs, used as makeshift cover for Alpha and Bravo as they handled the situation. Rios made the motion that he was going ahead, and he rushed out from his hiding place and squeezed off more powerful rounds as he began up the bullet-ridden steps. The flames building on the first floor from the grenades was eating their extraction time away. "Call in the chopper! We're getting the Prom King!" Rios said as he met up with Greek near the door.
Greek went through shoulder first with her rifle drawn. She fired off six shots, taking down a single guard and punching him through the window behind him with the force of the shots. Rios was right over her shoulder, chopping down the larger armored men with the godly firing power of his weapon. Blood and armor rained down on the bedroom. The mission was finished, as far as they were concerned. The gunfire downstairs ceased as Greek and Rios secured the room to be sure there were no explosives or surprises waiting on them.
"We're good!" Eko called out as she'd already called in their air support before the order was given. However…there was the sound of a chopper on approach…that did not belong to them. "…Guys, we've got a chopper on approach that's not one of ours. Can only assume its enemy support." She started to get the chopper in her sights, using the night vision to try and find any features, logos, or anything that could help distinguish it.
Rios and Greek untied the target and Tyson picked him up over his shoulder while Greek took the lead for the escape. The large man continued to communicate with Eko, however. "Hold your fire. Unless they fire at us, we're not drawing any unwanted attention. Alpha, Bravo, keep your eyes up with Eko."
As the partners confirmed Rios' order, the big man was trailing behind Greek to the base level of the now bullet-hole-covered mansion. As they got closer to the doorway, Rios hung back so that Greek and the others could confirm any weaponry or if it was safe to pull the target out of the mansion.
"Reaper, there's a cameraman." Eko said over the radio. "Want me to scare them off?"
"Negative." Rios responded as he started toward the exit. "Our chopper's comin in hot any second now. No time to spare, we move."
"You sure that's a good idea, boss?" Alpha looked over his shoulder to Rios, questioning this choice to go out into whatever this camera was recording. "It might be a local news crew, but it might be a trap too. What are the odds at this hour, even with the gunfire?"
Rios had to make the call here. He couldn't help but to flashback to Shanghai when he made a bad call with Salem. "…We move." Rios made the order, and swallowed his saliva in hopes it didn't get them all killed. "Eko, pack up. I hear our ride coming."