Monika looked around, and then back down at her gun. Her trigger finger was itchy. It had been almost 3 months since her last deployment. Although the last operation was a success, it did not come without sacrifice. She was determined to complete this new mission flawlessly. Unfortunately the parameters of this mission were a little bit different than the last one. A high profile celebrity from America by the name of Amy Schumer had been kidnapped and the kidnappers were demanding a ransom in exchange for her safe release. Her team had been specially assembled as a joint operation task force in charge of the safe extraction of Ms. Schumer.
Thin wisps of blonde hair flickered across her face as the chopper blades whirred loudly above. She turned toward the man sitting directly across from her. His name was Jordan and all she knew was that he was an American. He sat with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Next to Jordan was Eliza. She was a brilliant tactician, an excellent shot, and the only friend Monika had sitting with her in the chopper at the moment. Sitting next to her was Mike. While he appeared to be sitting upright, staring straight ahead, in reality Monika could tell from his position that he was asleep. Of all times to be asleep she thought. She nudged him with her elbow and he jolted up. The final individual in the chopper and final member of the team was a large intimidating man. The Russians had sent him with high regards. All Monika knew was that the facemask that he was wearing was absolutely terrifying and she was glad he was on their side.
As she looked around the bay one last time the pilot cackled through the headset, "ETA in 5 minutes." A sudden wave of anxiousness rolled through her as she could feel the chopper start its descent. They were heading to a house located just on the north side of Los Angeles. She had been to California before and it was such a wonderful experience. She secretly wished she had said no when they asked her to join the team. A few minutes later there was a gentle thump as the chopper touched down.
As she started to climb out Mike grabbed her by the arm and yelled, "Thanks for the wakeup call!" Monika nodded her head in recognition and continued to climb out of the chopper. A few moments later the chopper was starting its climb back up and out to a safe distance and all she could hear were the sounds of her squad members inspecting their guns and gear. Everyone was quiet and that was how she liked it. They had been briefed on the entry and exit strategies prior to their departure, and so each one of them was prepared to play their role. Although she did not agree with the decision and would have preferred someone else to have the job, she was deemed the squad's leader.
"Everyone knows their role and what's at risk so let's pull this off without a hitch," she whispered through the headset. As she started to sprint to the garage doors, Jordan, Eliza, and Mike fell in line behind her. As they got to the garage door on the left, Monika could hear some shuffling on the other side. She tossed a drone and maneuvered it through a small hole in the door using a modified cell phone. As she slowly rolled the drone into the garage she caught a glimpse of two individuals wearing white masks behind a car. As she got closer she was able to make verify that they were in fact armed. She positioned the drone so that its back was to a corner, giving her a full 180 degree view of the garage.
"Jordan and Mike, you're up," she said as she slid the modified cell phone back into one of her pouches. Monika took position behind a police cruiser that had been parked about fifteen feet out from the left door, and aimed directly towards the right side of the left door. She could see Mike toss an EMP grenade. "A big fuckin' hole comin' right up!" yelled Jordan, as he slapped his breaching charge onto the door. Monika heard a loud explosion, saw the garage door blast open, and immediate caught a glimpse of the two white mask individuals she had spotted moments earlier. She took aim and fired half of her clip through the right garage door. She could see her bullets penetrating the thin material. As she lowered her gun, all was quiet but she could make out the faint sound of someone gurgling. She pulled her phone out again and took a peek through her drone camera. One of the white masked terrorists was lying face down in a pool of blood and totally motionless. The other terrorists was crouching in the corner just above her drone. She again slid the phone back into one of her pouches. "Moving up," she whispered to the rest of her team. As she moved into the garage through the blast Jordan had made, she kept her sights focused on the right side of the garage. Just as she was about to round the corner, the terrorist ran from cover directly in front of her. She was so surprised that she hesitated to pull the trigger. She could tell the terrorist was just as surprised to end up in front of her, and hesitated as well. Luckily Monika had the faster instincts and instantly whipped out her combat knife and buried it into the man's neck. He clutched at the knife as he toppled over. Eliza sprinted forward into the garage and moved forward into the laundry room. She yelled, "Clear!" and the rest of the team moved up.
"Ok, Jordan and Mike you take the main stairs, Eliza and myself will take the stairs next to the laundry room," Monika barked through her headset. She could see Jordan and Mike run up the main stairs and she took off behind Eliza at the same time. As her and Eliza reached the top of the stairs Eliza pulled off a three round burst and Monika could hear a man cry out in pain. At the same instant a firefight had obviously broken out between Jordan and Mike and some more terrorists. She could hear Jordan yelling to Mike. Monika decided she would flank while the terrorists were distracted. She crouched and moved slowly through the front entryway and through the library. As soon as she got to the corner she stood up and aimed down the sights of her AUG. She quickly strafed the corner of the bookshelf, saw two more terrorists and squeezed the trigger. They both crumpled to the floor. Monika could hear more movement upstairs and decided to have everyone regroup.
Monika quickly recapped, "Ok, se we know that the hostage is in the master bedroom. Fuze should be in position within the next few minutes. Eliza, we will continue up the main stairs and into master bath once Fuze clears it out. Mike and Jordan you will head into kids room, and breach through the closet. If all goes well, we should have the hostage in and out fairly quick." Monika and Eliza moved up the main stairs and took out two more of the terrorists that were on the second floor landing. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Mike and Jordan rush into the kid's bedroom. So far, so good. She heard another blast as Jordan blew a hole through the kid's closet. That was to be their exit route. They patiently waited to hear Fuze breach and clear the master bathroom.
After two antagonizing minutes, Monika attempted to reach out to him but was rewarded with static instead. Everything from that moment seemed to happen in slow motion for Monika. She heard the distinct ker-thunk of Fuze placing one of his cluster charges on a barricaded window. She yelled again through her headset, "Fuze, YOU HAVE THE WRONG WINDOW!" Monika knew that he wouldn't hear and instead sprang into action. She bolted up the rest of the stairs, turned right, and flipped another left into the master bedroom. There were two terrorists standing behind the hostage. She quickly snapped her AUG up and caught both of them, each with a single shot to the head. Before their bodies had even hit the floor, she snatched the hostage and dragged her towards the breached wall Jordan had created through the closet. Just as she was making her way through the breach, she heard pop-pop-pop-pop as Fuze activated his cluster charge.
There were six separate explosions behind her and a hole opened up about four feet wide right where she had been standing seconds before. She continued down the stairs and out onto the porch. She could hear the footsteps of the rest of the squad following. She veered towards the garden, still dragging the hostage. As soon as she stepped foot in the garden she saw and felt a bullet zing by just a few feet from her face. Adrenaline kicked in, and she vaulted inside the gazebo almost throwing the hostage in with her. As she peeked her head from cover she could see Eliza had taken cover behind one of the retaining walls that separates the garden from the yard. She glanced slightly to the right and saw that more of the white masked terrorists were starting to funnel outside from the door they had just come through.
Almost as quickly as they started to run out they dropped dead thanks to the suppressive fire Mike and Jordan were laying down. Monika realized this was her chance. She grabbed the hostage again and made her way to the red smoke and the chopper. As she approached the chopper she untied the hostage and helped her in the back. The rest of her team jogged up to her with the exception of Fuze who was still nowhere to be found. Monika congratulated her team, "Excellent job everyone! Everything was pretty flawless, except for Fuze almost killing myself and the hostage". As if right on cue, Fuze appeared from the shadows. "My apologies for my late arrival comrades," he echoed through the headset. Before anyone could react the hostage leaped out of the chopper, walked right up to Fuze, and backhanded him with the fury of a thousand suns. At the top her lungs Amy Schumer screamed, "YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED BOTH OF US! HOW DID THEY SELECT THIS DUMMY TO COME RESCUE ME? I COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB AT RESCUING ME!" All Monika could do was laugh.