Disclaimer: I do this strictly for my own amusement. No profit is made.
Authors Note: I fully intended to write a Mike Franks story this weekend. However everybody and their sister was writing a Season 7 opener story. I didn't want to be left out. Since I added a character to my story some may consider this AU. In the real world, snipers work in pairs.
Spoilers: Well, duh.
"Kill one man, terrorize a thousand."- Translation of a Chinese proverb on a plaque hanging in the
USMC Sniper School, Camp Pendleton
Technical Notes: I'm going to use some words and terms that bear explaining
USS Bataan- Wasp class amphibious assault ship. Can land its Marines either by air or sea. Currently
serving with the 5th Fleet in the Indian Ocean near Somalia
M24A3- Sniper Weapons System(SWS) based on the Remington 700 bolt action rifle in .338 Lapua
Magnum. Has a 10x scope. Gibbs' favorite rifle. Max effective range, 1000 yds +.
Six(6)- As in "Bluejacket6". Commander of the unit designated Bluejacket.
Actual- As in "Bluejacket6 Actual". On the radio the commander of Bluejacket, not his RTO.
RTO- Radio Telegraph Operator. The comm. guy for a unit.
The Ridge line, 800 meters from Saleem's HQ, the Day, 0600 local
Senior Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was happier then he'd been in four months. If all went according to plan, sometime in the next four hours or so, he'd get to kill a man who desperately needed it. Saleem Ulman, a Yale educated terrorist was responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. He also was responsible directly or indirectly for the death of one of Gibbs' people, Ziva David, Mossad liaison officer to NCIS.
Jethro's brain told him that Ziva was dead. Drowned when the freighter she was onboard sank with no survivors. His gut said she was still alive. He hoped his gut was right.
Gibbs glanced to his left. His spotter, SEAL sniper, Gunners Mate 3rd Class Toby Smith, raised an eyebrow. Gibbs smiled thinly and gave a tiny shake of his head. The kid was all right. It had taken Gibbs and Smith three days to go from their insertion point to the ridge line. They had evaded several patrols and set up their hide. Yesterday a four man patrol had come within ten yards and not spotted them.
Now it was a waiting game. DiNozzo and McGee were grid searching the area, waiting to get picked up by Salem's people. Their next box should bring them into contact.
Gibbs used the ten power scope of his M24A3 to again check out the suspected interrogation room in Saleem's HQ. The room was empty except for some chairs. The sturdiest was in the center of the room with its back to the large window. Hopefully Saleem would bring Dinozzo and McGee to this room. At the opportune time Gibbs would shoot Saleem, kicking off the assault on the HQ by two platoons of SEAL's. At least that was the plan……
Four days earlier, Briefing Room, USS Bataan(LHD 5), 1300 hrs, local
The briefing was winding down. Present were the two SEAL platoon leaders, their respective platoon Chief's, the SEAL Lt. Commander in charge of the op, Gibbs, and Smith. The Lt. Commander reached the last item on his list.
"Agent Gibbs, callsign for your element?"
Gibbs gave the Commander a wolfish grin.
"Archangel."
The Ridge line, 1000 hrs, local
Gibbs watched thru the scope as Saleem's thugs prodded DiNozzo into their HQ. Two others were carrying McGee.
Jethro got on the radio.
"Bluejacket6, Bluejacket 6, this is Archangel, Over."
"Archangel, this is Bluejacket6, pass your traffic."
"Bluejacket6, start the clock. The bait's in the trap, Over."
"Roger that Archangel. Break. Bluejacket One, Bluejacket Two, move into position, Over."
"Bluejacket One, Roger"
"Bluejacket Two, Roger."
It would take the SEAL platoons 15 minutes to get into position.
Gibbs moved his scope back to the interrogation room. He was willing the door to open.
"C'mon, C'mon."
The door was flung open, DiNozzo was hustled to the center chair and wire tied to it. McGee was unceremoniously dumped on the floor off to the side.
While DiNozzo was being tied to the chair, Gibbs put the scope on the one thug standing by the door. Using the mil markings in the reticule, Gibbs checked his range calculations. Just a hair over 800 meters. Well within the the range envelope of the .338 Lapua Magnum. Gibbs smiled.
"Payback is a Medevac, Saleem."
The Ridge, 1020 hrs. local
Ziva was alive!
When the hood came off the person in the chair facing Dinozzo, it took all of Gibbs' willpower to stay focused.
As Saleem put the knife to Ziva's throat, Gibbs had taken up most of the slack in the M24's trigger. But he had no shot. At 800 meters, a head shot was out of the question. When Saleem got his, it was going to be a body shot. Saleem stormed out of the room.
Gibbs got back on the radio.
"Bluejacket6, Bluejacket6, Archangel, Over."
"Archangel, Bluejacket6, pass your traffic."
"Put the Actual on."
"Bluejacket6 Actual, go ahead Archangel."
"Commander, my missing agent is in the trap. Standby to execute on my shot."
"Roger that Archangel. Break. Bluejacket6 Actual to all Bluejacket call signs, standby to execute."
Gibbs was back on his scope as Saleem came into the room.
"Have you got him, Smith?"
"Yes."
When Gibbs took his shot, if the glass deflected the round, Smith's shot following right after Gibbs' would take out Saleem.
Gibbs was now totally in his "zone". He was breathing regularly and timing his heartbeats.
When McGee tried to leg sweep Saleem and failed, Gibbs almost took a shot. But DiNozzo must have defused things, because Saleem got to his feet without killing McGee.
"C'mon, DiNozzo, get him to stand up nice and straight."
Gibbs kept the crosshairs right on the crown of Saleem's forehead.
Saleem's eyes widened and he straightened up.
Gibbs' heart beat.
Trigger squeeze.
Saleem disappeared from the scope.
Gibbs heard Smith.
"He's down."
After a hiatus of over twenty years "El Fantasma" had struck again.
A/N: I didn't even think about tackling the whole "How did Gibbs get off the ridge and into Saleem's HQ so fast" situation. I'll let someone else write that story. Hit the green button and let me know how I did.