The whole area past the gas station was mostly open—extremely dangerous, in other words. Across the main road were four buildings: two fast food restaurants to the right, a bank to their far left, and right in front of them, past some bushes, was a place called 'Nate's Restaurant'.
While crossing the main road, Foley looked around and saw nothing but chaos. On their side of the road, to their left, was a diner—apparently the building they just passed behind. Two Humvees sat outside it, as well as the front of the actual building, torn up by gunfire. The bodies (or what remained of them) of Russian paras dotted the main road as well.
Passing through the bushes, Foley got his first look at Nate's. The first thing he noticed was the remains of a Pave Low helicopter—an old workhorse that had definitely seen better days but was pressed back into duty a few months ago. It looked like it had crashed hard in the parking lot, leaving a long trench in the concrete before coming to a stop in a mangled heap. Foley had seen, and been in, his share of helicopter crashes, and he was honestly surprised anyone even survived that.
The building itself was a mess as well—its neon sign held up only by a single piece of steel wire. The windows had all been blown out, and part of the building looked like it had taken an RPG hit. Several of 3rd Platoon's Humvees were formed into a protective ring around the building, and two Rangers waved at them from the roof as they approached.
"Private," Foley called as he approached the first Humvee on the left side of the building. Two Rangers were operating it: one was on the M2, while another was peering over the hood at the bank.
"Who's in charge here?" Foley asked. One of the soldiers on the Humvee pointed inside and answered him.
"Sergeant Keating. He got hit about ten minutes ago."
Foley nodded and headed inside. Two Rangers were holding the main dining area, but most of the platoon was in the kitchen. Foley had not even seen I.E.D. sites as bad as he saw when he stepped inside.
The horrid and combined smell of blood and bodily waste overpowered even the smell of burning aviation fuel from the Pave Low. 3rd Platoon's dead and wounded were either lying on the floor or were propped up against a wall or an appliance, while one Ranger quickly made rounds between them. Only a few were lifeless corpses, although Foley recognized two of the dead bodies as belonging to the platoon leader and the company XO. As for the wounded, several looked up at Foley as he entered, including one who was propped up against a counter, whom Foley recognized as Sergeant Keating.
"Good to see you made it, Foley." Holes in part of the other NCO's armor and uniform revealed a tightly wrapped but blood-soaked left flank. He already seemed pale from the blood loss.
"Thanks for the assist; that assault wasn't breaking."
"Ivan's still disorganized—doesn't take much to break them. Dunn, give them a hand." Foley motioned to his medic before turning back to the sergeant. "I'll take command of the defense. What's the situation?"
"Overlord actually managed to redirect a supply drop to us after we landed, including an M5 Sentry Gun." Sergeant Keating was referring to an AI-controlled minigun the US had started to deploy as a defensive weapon in the last two years. It used infrared tacking to find and shoot at anything that was not carrying a US electronic ID tag on it—useful for when you wanted an area to be completely restricted. "Not any anti-armor weapons, though." Sergeant Keating coughed for a bit and continued.
"Raptor's in the freezer—thing's bulletproof. He is unconscious but stable—don't know if the Russians know about him. There is an underpass to our south, and they have not bothered coming from that direction. They've been coming mainly from the west and north—infantry only."
"MG Squad and half of 2nd Squad was in the diner across the road to help set up a crossfire. They got overwhelmed. I got two people on the roof and nine on the ground. Lost weapons systems on two of the Humvees—those are the ones on the south side. Overlord said a National Guard convoy would get here eventually. You just gotta keep this site secure till then."
"Understood," Foley said, taking all the information in and started giving orders. "Morgan, Ramirez, get on the roof." It was somewhere the M249 would have an advantage. "Ranger, what kind of injuries do we have here?" Foley addressed the medic who had been applying medical treatment when they walked in and was still moving from casualty to casualty along with Dunn.
"Eight wounded—six from gunshot wounds and two from RPG shrapnel." He said all that without even looking up. "They're stable for now, Sergeant, but we need to get them more medical care soon."
"I read you, soldier; do what you can. My squad medic will help you out." Dunn nodded to show he'd heard. Foley turned and strode out into the dining area. "Rangers, how are we looking on ammo?"
"About fifteen hundred rounds among us," one answered. Some were even taking the lull in battle to thumb more rounds into their empty magazines. Radioing in, Ramirez and Morgan reported there were a couple of Stingers on the roof, along with a few belts of 5.54 mm rounds since the remaining two support gunners were already up there. Ramirez had even found another sniper rifle among the cache. The sentry gun had a full load of ammo and was deployed to the north. As an added bonus, they had passed down a stock of claymores, which the Rangers quickly set up around the perimeter while they weren't being shot at.
"Good." Foley nodded. "Make it fast." He then stepped outside. There were seven Humvees: four facing to the north, one to the west, and two to the south. The southern ones were the ones that had their weapons knocked off line. Two of the ones on the north were out of ammo. The remaining three with offensive capability boasted two 50. cal MGs and an MK19 grenade launcher, although they were low on ammunition as well.
Overall, it was decent defensive position: they had machine guns and long-range fire in an elevated position, Humvees shielding the building from enemy fire and acting as weapons emplacements, and another defensive line behind all that. If enemy air power wanted to show up, they could fight back, too. However, even the sturdiest defense would bend if pressed hard enough. Ivan had proven that before Two-One even got here.
Foley went inside to check one more thing before reporting in to Overlord. "Raptor's in the freezer?" Foley though aloud as he entered the kitchen again.
"Yeah; come and see, Sarge." Dunn got up to show him, and Foley got his first look at the man half a company of Rangers had died for. It was a middle-aged white male, a little round in the waist.
"I checked his I. D." Dunn handed Foley a leather wallet. "C.I.A." Foley checked for himself. The HVI was a spook. "Wonder what he knows that makes him so important?"
"He's important to Ivan, which makes him important to us. Stay here, keep him alive and guarded, Corporal." Foley ordered.
"You got it." Dunn nodded. His inspection complete, Foley decided to radio in.
"Overlord, this is Hunter-Two-Actual. I've taken command of the crash site. We have multiple casualties, including Raptor, and are low on heavy weapons. Ivan's pulled back for now, but we're going to need more support if they press us again, how copy?"
"Copy that, Hunter-Two-Actual; there's a National Guard convoy heading your way, ETA twenty five minutes. You'll have to hold until then. Goliath One and Two are still over the area. We'll let you know if the enemy attacks again."
"Hunter-Two copies—out." Foley got off the radio. Twenty five minutes—with as many Russians as there were in the area, that would seem like an hour. They were set up as best as they could, and all they could do was to hold on. Foley relayed that to the assembled men and joined the Rangers in the dining area, picking a spot near the corner where he could watch both the north and west. It was all quiet for now.
"Hunter-Two, come in!" Foley wasn't even in his spot for more than a minute before Overlord contacted him urgently. "Goliath reports enemy armor rolling your way from the south, over."
"Copy that!" Foley darted to the opposite side of the diner to watch, although he couldn't see anything. "Overlord says we got armor to the south? Ramirez, do you see anything?"
"Hold on," the private responded. He was back in only a few seconds. "He was right!—two BTRs coming up the main road!"
"Damn!" Foley swore, knowing they didn't have anything to counter them. "Get away from the windows!" He didn't even bother asking Overlord again if there was any support available. The BTRs came roaring into the parking lot, and the Rangers outside quickly abandoned the Humvees for the slightly improved safety of the building. Those BTRs had 30mm cannons. Foley had seen 25mm Bushmasters down two-story houses with enough effort in Afghanistan. Those APCs could level the entire restaurant if they wanted, but they didn't.
There was a roar of diesel engines as the BTRs drove right up to the building, and then there was the ugly sound of crunching metal as they rammed into the Humvees surrounding it, pushing them into each other and away from the building. When they were a few yards away, the BTRs reversed and opened fire on the now dented vehicles, destroying them. Both APCs then turned around, headed back onto the main road, and started driving. It soon became apparent that they were doing loops along the road. Not once had they turned their cannons towards the Rangers in the building.
"What the fuck was that about?" a Ranger wondered aloud. Foley already had an idea why they'd just done that.
"Overlord," Foley radioed, "is this comm. line secure?"
"Affirmative, Hunter-Two; this line hasn't been compromised."
"Ivan's two vehicles could've just finished us, but they didn't. They merely destroyed our barricade around the building. I think they know, Overlord. Either they know Raptor is here, or they know we have something in here they want."
"Hunter-Two-Actual, do NOT let Raptor be compromised. Do whatever you can to keep him safe." Overlord paused for a moment. "Hunter-Two-Actual, Goliath is reports enemy transports to the south east, over."
"Roger that. Heads up, ladies! We got trucks to the south!" Foley warned the rest of Hunter.
"Trucks coming from the north as well!—I say again, enemy transports coming from north and south: possible company-sized force heading for your position, Hunter-Two-Actual." Foley's grip on his rifle tightened slightly.
"Roger that, Overlord. We'll hold them back." They may have lost their Humvees, but they still had sniper and machine gun support, not to mention the minigun and claymore perimeter. If the enemy wanted to get close to them, they'd have to cross a lot of open and vulnerable ground. They could pull it off.
"Hunter Company, listen up! Ivan is coming our way. We got a good defensive position here. Stay in cover. Make every bullet count and we'll drive them back, Hooah?"
"Hooah!"
"Good! Keep that sentry gun pointed to the north. Morgan, Ramirez, watch the south—and you two as well!" Foley redirected two of the Rangers in the dining area with him. "Dunn, keep an eye on Raptor."
"On it!" Everyone was in place, and they knew what was coming. All that remained was to give them a warm welcome.
"Trucks just stopped on the road," Ramirez reported. "Parking lot's wide open, easy picking—" The private suddenly swore in his native Spanish. "They deployed smoke!" Foley glanced behind him to see white smoke rapidly filling in the open ground between the road and their position. He turned back forward just in time to see canisters land in the parking lot in front of the bank.
"Does anyone have thermal optics?" Foley demanded. The Russians were playing it smart now. The fighting would get really bloody if they managed to get close or even inside the building.
"The rifle's got some, Sarge!" Ramirez fired off a shot as he said it. "They're running this way, but I got them!" The smoke had gone up before Foley could see the trucks coming from the north, but they must have finally arrived. The M5 Sentry Gun on the roof started to spool before unleashing rapid-fire hell towards something in or beyond the smoke cloud. It had its own targeting system, thankfully, but that was only two guns against many Russians.
"Damn!" Foley cursed. This wasn't a good situation. "Keep that sentry gun firing at all times! Support gunners, spread your fire!" Those guns were used for suppressive fire. Even if it was a waste of ammo, they might be able to net a few kills by firing into the smoke. A familiar explosion outside grabbed his attention—the claymores they'd set down earlier. That was an added bonus. "Everyone else, fire at anything that comes out of the smoke." While it had been laid down to protect their advance, there was still a small gap of open ground between the edge of the smoke and the windows and doors into Nate's. It was a small window of opportunity, but it was a chance for the riflemen not to waste their ammo.
Without thermal optics, Foley and the other Rangers in the dining area were forced to do nothing but stay where they were. Sniper rifle, machine gun, and minigun fire filled the air, punctuated occasionally by the sound of a claymore being set off. One Russian managed to wander through the smoke and right into their sights, and then another. The few who survived the sentry gun died to the gunfire the Rangers began laying on them.
"Sergeant!" Morgan warned over the radio. "They just tripped the claymores at the back of the building!" There was a backdoor in the perimeter, and it was the least defended. Foley stood up and turned just in time to see it happen.
Most of the wounded Rangers had given their rifles and ammo to their able-bodied comrades, but they had kept their side arms. When they'd heard the detonation right outside, seven M9s were drawn, and Dunn emerged from the freezer with his rifle. When the door broke open and the first Russian stumbled in, brandishing his AK, he was immediately hit by multiple rounds from several directions and collapsed in a heap.
The second learned from his dead squad mate's mistakes and did not repeat that move. Instead, he angled his rifle through the doorway and let off a few rounds. Most struck metal surfaces and pans and everyone ducked as they ricocheted, one hitting a wounded Ranger in the leg and another in the throat, killing him. Three hit the Ranger who had been performing first aid for the wounded in the back, and he collapsed onto Sergeant Keating.
"Son of a bitch!" Keating had chosen to keep his rifle, and as soon as the second para poked his head around the door he got a round straight between his eyes. Foley didn't wait for another to come through and ran out the back door, Dunn right behind him.
The smoke had barely wafted over, but it was still providing the Russians a chance to get close. Just after the two men got outside, a trio of Russians emerged from the cloud, hands over their mouths rather than on their rifles. They had no trouble downing them.
The desperate struggle continued for just a few deadly seconds more. From the roof, Ramirez and the sentry gun continued killing Russians while Morgan and the other gunners sprayed wildly into the haze to score a few lucky kills. Occasionally, a Russian would emerge close enough to the restaurant, only for him to be shot by one of the Rangers in the dining area. Foley and Dunn killed two more Russians who tried to outflank them.
Suddenly, the smoke dissipated. The Russians advancing at the south of Nate's were caught in the open and disappeared under a hail of bullets. Some of those at the north of the building faced the same fate, but the rest managed to escape into the bank because the sentry gun chose that moment to expend its last bit of ammunition.
They had just held off an entire company of Russian paratroopers.
"Holy shit; I can't believe we got through that," Dunn remarked as they went back inside.
"We're Rangers, Corporal," Foley reminded him. "Keep that door guarded and take care of the wounded." He returned to the dining area. "Any casualties in here?" Even before he'd finished his sentence, he saw a body lying across a bloodstained stretch of floor. Foley merely shook his head. "Overlord, we've repelled the enemy assault."
"Copy that, Hunter-Two. Excellent work. Your reinforcements are still on the way. Be advised, a Russian fireteam is approaching from the west."
"Hunter-Two copies; we'll hold out for the convoy. Out." That fireteam was most likely stragglers, and not an immediate concern. The BTRs were, until their support arrived. Foley got into the radio.
"Rangers, stay down and away from the windows. Those BTRs are still out there, and we got more infantry coming from that direction as well. Support gunners; try to put some fire on that bank. Ramirez, look west for those stragglers."
Foley then took a spot along the wall with the surviving Rangers and waited until the support gunners started laying down suppressive fire on the bank. He switched to his grenade launcher, and intended to send a round through the window as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Before one could, the Rangers' attention was caught by a sudden shrill whistling sound, one that only lasted a few seconds before ending in a great explosion in the parking lot only a few meters away.
The sound was deafening and the resulting shockwave blew down part of the restaurant and knocked most of the Rangers over, Foley included. The survivors were soon smothered when the resulting dust cloud came in through the windows.
"Was that an airstrike?" someone asked as they got back up.
"There's an aircraft above. We'll try and hit it with the Stingers!" Ramirez reported.
"A fighter?" Foley asked as he finally got up while keeping his head down.
"Too slow for one," the private responded. "It's circling around."
"That's a fucking drone!" Dunn sounded sure. "I don't think those stragglers are stragglers, Sarge!" To Foley's knowledge, the Russians didn't have anything like the Predator drone. Then again, you don't let the enemy know you had new toys.
"Whatever it is, take it down," Foley ordered.
"Firing!" Ramirez called, and Foley heard the whoosh of the small missile above them. "Miss!" he shouted almost immediately after.
"Oh shit…" a Ranger next to Foley muttered, and he already knew what the other soldier was thinking.
"Get off the roof!" Foley ordered. Whoever had fired on them wouldn't miss for a second time, and it sure as hell wouldn't give them enough time to try again. "Get the fuck off the roof!" Foley again ordered. The four Rangers all managed to get off the roof before a successful strike destroyed the last of their supplies, shook the entire building, and rained debris down on them. Two came down the maintenance hatch in the kitchen. The other two—Ramirez and Morgan—hopped over the edge and used the bushes to break their fall before vaulting inside. They were all safe from that drone, but now they were even more trapped in their position.
"Stay in cover and protect the wounded!" Foley ordered. The Russians in the bank were still sending rounds their way and those BTRs were still on the road outside.
"Is it still firing?" Dunn called.
"No," Foley responded after a moment of peace. It had fired on the roof to eliminate their height advantage, and it had fired near the restaurant to knock down the walls and their cover. No doubt about it now: the Russians were definitely trying to avoid leveling the building, which only meant they wanted Raptor or knew there was something in here they wanted.
"Overlord, this is Hunter-Two-Actual," Foley radioed in. "We're now under fire from a Russian UAV as well. We need support if we're going to keep Raptor secure." As he did this, he pulled out his binoculars to observe the diner across the road, immediately spotting what looked like a control rig laid out on the counter. Definitely a control team.
"Negative, Hunter-Two-Actual, all air support is still engaged. Friendly convoy is still several minutes out—that'll be your armored support. We'll task air support as soon as it becomes available, over."
"Understood, Overlord. Hunter-Two, out. Damn!" Foley said the last word only after he was off the air. Those BTRs may have not been firing now, but there was no guarantee they wouldn't later. Now they had that damn drone above threatening to do them in. If they wanted to survive the next hour, they had to rectify that.
However, how could he do it?
He could send men out to see if any of the Russians had AT on them, but then the drone would certainly nail them. This was a situation only air support could solve, but the Russians were the only ones with… An idea came to the sergeant's mind. An unconventional idea, bordering on the insane, but it was the first survivable solution he'd come up with. Rangers did whatever it took to succeed in their mission.
"Ramirez, Dunn!" Foley called the two over to him. "Private, you know written Russian?"
"Not as good as the spoken language, but yeah!" Ramirez confirmed.
"If you got your hands on a Russian drone rig, you think you can take control of it?" Foley went on. The private looked stumped for a moment, but nodded.
"What are you thinking, Sarge?" Dunn asked.
"We need to take out those BTRs, and that drone's the only thing nearby that can do it," Foley explained. "I want you to take a squad and two other men to the diner and kill that S.O.B. Ramirez, take control of that drone and give us some fire support. You'll have to move fast if you don't want it to notice you. Can you both do that?"
"Crazy. I like that." Dunn managed to grin despite the odds. "We're on it, Sarge. Morgan—you two!" Dunn called the men together. "Get your asses ready; we're crossing the road as soon as those BTRs pass by."
"Stay alive, Rangers!" Foley called as the men poised themselves by the entrance. It was a lot of open ground between them and the diner. They'd need more than just timing. "Platoon!" Foley rallied the remaining able-bodied men. "Put suppressive fire on the north; don't let them get a shot off!"
There were only ten of them, but even less Russians in the bank. The Rangers were more than capable of making them keep their heads down. For an added benefit, it probably turned the drone's camera on them for a few critical seconds. As the Russian armor began to make yet another round, Dunn's team took off, running like hell across the parking lot. Foley paused shortly to watch.
The only time they paused was by the hedge just before the road, where they exchanged brief fire with the Russian drone team in the diner. After that, they charged right across the road, shooting from the hip. The BTRs noticed this quickly and turned to charge at them, but by then they'd already vaulted through the windows. The BTRs pulled up outside, uncertain as to whether or not to fire.
"Corporal, you have that building?" Foley radioed but got no response. If there was still a firefight, the BTRs blocked his view of it. "Corporal?" Foley called again after getting no response. There were a few moments of silence before another shrieking sound starting descending on them and…
"Hell, yeah!" someone cheered as a missile struck the area between the two BTRs, the explosive force strong enough to destroy both of them.
"We're in business, Sarge!" Dunn finally got to radioing back.
"Sir, hostiles are retreating from the bank!" Another Ranger informed him. Foley nodded to show he'd heard.
"Good job, Corporal." Foley congratulated. "Ramirez, what do we have?"
"Russian R&D have been busy," the private reported back. "This thing still has three missiles left on it." That meant the drone carried six missiles in total, assuming they hadn't fired any off before getting to them. Definitely on par with any US drone Foley had seen. That was worrisome, but they could report it to the higher-ups only after they got out of this engagement alive.
"I got her in a holding pattern above the lot. There's an enemy squad holed up in that Burger Town. Do I engage?"
Foley contemplated it for a moment before shaking his head to himself. "Hold your fire, Private. There might be more armor where they came from. Get back here and set up surveillance over the area." Foley would have to contact Overlord and have him repurpose Goliath-One and -Two, hopefully to where they'd get a more advanced warning on enemy movement.
"Hunter-Two-Actual, come in!" Overlord radioed them at that very moment, and it didn't give Foley time to answer. "Russian aircraft are approaching your position at high speed!" Foley turned his gaze from the diner back into the sky, and just behind the smoke from the BTRs he could see two low-flying specks, charging right at them, obvious in their intent.
"Fast movers!" Foley yelled, sending the Rangers scrambling. "Take cover!" He'd already turned away from the windows and was running to cover when the bombs dropped, and the last thing he remembered was that smoke and fire filled his vision as his feet left the ground.