Wow, three chapters in as many days, you have to admit that is slightly impressive. That also means with all the new material everyone, yes EVERYONE should leave a review lol, it's the nice thing to do especially during the holiday season.
Invasion +11
2129 Krasnodar, Russian Federation
"I need to know if you're willing to do whatever is necessary," Price asked Pierce as they sat in the back of the van which had just entered the city limits.
Pierce looked at the Brit, hardly able to make out his face in the pitch black, "If it's standing between me and getting my men home, I'll do whatever it takes."
"Good, that's good Pierce," Price said as he reached down and retrieved a bag, removing two pistols.
He handed one to Pierce and set the other in his lap as he went back into the bag, fishing out other compliments to the pistols.
"Five-seveN, courtesy of some friends," Price began as he twisted the suppressor onto the barrel of the pistol, "Forty rounds, God willing we won't need them all."
Pierce attached the suppressor to his pistol and slid one of the magazines into the grip. He stashed the other in one of his pockets that lined the leather jacket.
"Remember," Price began, "We want to take him alive, but weapons are free other targets."
"Pierce you see him exiting," Price's voice filled the ear piece.
"Roger, brown jacket, black hat moving east," Pierce replied.
"Affirmative, stay on him but keep your distance, twenty meters."
"Copy," Pierce said as he stepped out from the alley he was posted up in.
They had been waiting outside the bar for forty-five minutes. Their target entered the establishment and had a drink or two with several associates who left in the opposite direction. They would be tracked by the other team. Pierce was now focused on the man that was walking down the street twenty meters in front of him.
Price had gotten atop the building opposite of the bar and from his vantage point saw the target exit. He was now moving across the rooftops above the target keeping an eye out on Pierce as well.
As Pierce walked down the street, he tried to avoid drawing attention to himself. The street was alive with activity as the drinking crowds moved about the town. He tried to act as if he belonged there. He stepped aside of the drunks that were swaying back and forth on the sidewalk, not wanting some belligerent drunk challenge him to a fight.
Pierce looked back at the drunks he had passed as one fell into a trash can on the street. As he returned to looking ahead he keyed his mic.
"Trouble approaching," he whispered.
A group of a half dozen blondes and brunettes were walking straight towards the Marine, laughing and enjoying their time on the town. Pierce smiled at the ladies while they eyed him up head to toe as they passed each other. Two of the blondes turned again for a second look after Pierce passed them, whispering to each other before they turned back with their friends.
He knew they had looked again, wasn't the first time it happened to the young Marine, but he was reminded as Price commented from above, "I think those two were sisters."
"Wasn't following this guy I'd tell you if it were true in morning," Pierce remarked with a slight grin as he looked up towards the rooftops.
"Cheeky bastard," Price laughed, "Keep your head straight mate."
Pierce had followed the target through the several side streets in the city until he reached a bridge going over one of the rivers that cut through the center of the town. He stopped and sat at one of the benches overlooking the flowing river as the target walked towards the bridge.
A figure appeared behind Pierce and took a seat next to the Marine, startling him, "Good work, not bad for your first tail."
"I don't see why we didn't snag him right here in an alley," Pierce protested as he put both his hands together and blew on them trying to stay warm.
"Want to see if he has any friends he could lead us to," Price said as the target walked across the bridge towards the middle.
"Like these guys," Pierce nodded as a car slowed and pulled up next to the target on the bridge.
As they observed from the bench, the target approached the car and talked to the drive through the passenger side window before opening the door and getting in. The car then accelerated as it drove across the bridge back towards the side Pierce and Price were on. The car turned right and drove directly behind the bench they were sitting on.
After it had passed, Price keyed his mic, "Nikolai, target's mobile, we need transport now."
Nikolai had picked the two up in the van within a minute of the target passing the bench. Nikolai navigated the streets of the city expertly as he avoided the drunks walking about town. The last thing they needed was to hit a drunk and have the local militia get involved.
They followed the car out past the city limits and into the country. The abandoned stretch of land would have made them stick out like a sore thumb but they had planned for this; Nikolai was driving with the aid of NVGs which allowed him to avoid using the headlights. The only thing that would give them away would be the brake lights at the rear, so before they left the city, Price had smashed out both the lights.
They trailed the car for twenty minutes into the countryside before it finally pulled down a dirt road which led to a house and private lake. The property was surrounded by a thick forest which made it difficult to see the house from the road. Nikolai drove the van another kilometer down the road before driving off the road and parking it just inside the forest. As the three left the van, they grouped around the hood of the van.
"Soap, this is Price, do you copy?"
After several moments Soap's voice came alive in each ear piece, "Copy that Price, where'd you run off to?"
"Lakeside house about thirty kilometers northwest of town," Price began as Nikolai tossed a large duffel bag onto the hood, "We're going in quiet, bring up your team and provide security on the road, no one in or out."
"Copy that, we'll be there in ten, out."
"Right, Nikolai what do we have in the bag," Price said turning to the others.
"Night vision optics," Nikolai began as he handed Price and Pierce equipment, "A banger each, and some toys for later," Nikolai finished as he looked at Price smirking.
"Alright we approach the house together, five meter spread," Price said, "After that we split up, I'll take the back, Nikolai front, Pierce through the side, weapons free on all targets."
"Even the primary," Pierce asked.
"As long as he's alive in the end," Price said, "He can have a round or two in the leg."
The three men equipped the night vision optics and turned towards the house; Price in the center, Nikolai on the left and Price on the right. Through the green tint, Pierce could see the Russian pine forest quite clearly. It reminded him of over a week ago when his MARSOC company was infiltrating the airfield several thousand miles away.
Now he walked, Five-seveN in hand, held in front of him pointed down as he stepped as quietly as possible through the forest. After walking for ten minutes, he could finally see the white flares of the external lights on the house. They stopped just short of the tree line and knelt for several more minutes, observing the house to see what they could quickly gather about enemy strength.
Crouched behind a large bush, Pierce surveyed the house and could see nothing in the windows. Nikolai reported that he saw three tangos inside by keying his mic three times, sending three bursts of static to each ear piece. As Pierce swayed his head he caught movement to his right. He turned his head and saw two tangos walking towards him fifteen meters away and closing.
The two men were armed with AK-74s slung over their shoulders, this would give Pierce the several second cushion he would need for what he did next. They were now ten meters away, chatting to each other and enjoying a smoke, not aware of what lay in front of them. Pierce checked his Five-seveN and clicked the safety off as he stood and took aim at the first tango.
An infrared laser invisible to the naked eye, projected from under the barrel of the Five-seveN and hit the first man just under his right eye. Pierce standing up made him visible thanks to the external lights of the house that flooded the area with light; guess that's why they call them flood lights.
The tango who was targeted saw the figure in front of him, but before he could move a muscle to unsling his rifle, Pierce fired. The Five-seveN coughed and a round exploded through the tango's head, sending blood, brain matter, and fragments of skull showering across the grass behind him.
The second tango had not seen Pierce, only his comrade's brains being blown out the back of his head. He barely had time to watch his partner fall to the ground before he himself was struck by a round cutting through his neck. A waterfall of blood began gushing from the wound as he fell dead next to his comrade.
Quickly Pierce keyed the mic, "Two tangos down in the open, we need to move."
Price replied as he stood and moved towards the back of the house, "Copy get into position and move in at will."
The three men quickly moved towards their breach points, Pierce dashed across the lit ground as fast as he could, pulling the night vision optics off his head so as not to be blinded by the light. He reached the house and threw himself against the siding. Inside, he could hear several sets of voices.
"Nikolai, gimme a distraction from the front," Pierce quickly whispered, "I can surprise them from the side."
"Da, one moment," Nikolai responded.
Pierce waited several seconds near the door when a crash from inside could be heard and the several voices raised their tones. Pierce reached up with his left hand and swung the door our and slid through the opening.
He entered the kitchen area of the house, several stools and tables were insides along with all the usual appliances of a kitchen. Three men were moving in the opposite direction of Pierce when he entered; each was carrying a weapon or retrieving it from a shoulder sling. None of them were wearing the brown jacket of their primary target. Pierce raised his Five-seveN and drew a bead on the closest tango. He fired the third round of his magazine at a tango who held an Uzi submachine gun in one hand and a radio in the other. The round struck the man in the back near the spine. Pierce quickly fired another round that struck almost where the first had. The man dropped, spinning to the ground, hitting one of the chairs and taking it clattering to the ground.
Pierce didn't follow the man as he fell, instead moving to a second target who was turning back to face the mysterious shooter who just killed a comrade. The man raised his rifle and tried to aim at the shooter; however, it was too late as he too was struck by a round in the shoulder. Another impacted near his heart, his shirt puffing in the air as the round tore through his clothing and flesh.
The force of the rounds impacting send impulses through his body as he depressed the trigger on his AK, firing wildly into the ceiling as he fell to the ground. Pierce dove to his left behind cover of one of the islands in the kitchen to avoid the bullets.
By this time, the third was fully alerted to the shooter behind him and had drawn a bead on where Pierce had dove to. The tango fired, burst after burst struck the wood and granite counter top as he kept Pierce suppressed behind cover. The tango began angling himself around the kitchen to get a shot at Pierce who was still stuck behind the counter.
As he walked across the kitchen, he finally got the drop on Pierce, lining him up in his sights. Pierce saw this as he looked to his right, realizing he should have moved quicker. There was no time to raise his pistol to shoot back, his eyes met the tango who's were filled with fury.
As the tango went to pull the trigger and put several rounds into the helpless Marine, his life was snuffed by a round that entered the left side of his head and exited just above his right ear. He dropped to the floor instantly as his brain matter was sprayed against a painting hanging on the wall.
"Pierce you still with me," Nikolai's voice rang out.
"I'm here," Pierce said as he rose from behind the counter and saw the Russian entering the kitchen from one of the doorways.
"Are you hit," Nikolai asked as he moved about the kitchen and checked one of the darkened rooms that was attached to the kitchen area.
"I'm fine, just a close encounter," Pierce said, "Any sign of the target?"
"Negative, took out two tangos but no sign of the primary," Nikolai said as he reappeared in the kitchen.
"Upstairs it is then," Pierce said as he spotted the stairwell in the other room.
However, before Nikolai could respond, the sound of glass shattering could be heard from above and a figure fell from the second floor landing on the yard outside the kitchen. Pierce could see the brown jacket the figure wore as he got up from the ground and began running into the darkness towards the lake and boathouse.
"Shit that's him," Pierce shouted as he ran back towards the door, kicking it open and running in the direction of the lake.
"Price, the primary is moving towards the boathouse," Nikolai said as he ran out the door after Pierce.
There was no response, "Price, this is Nikolai, I say again the target is moving to the boathouse!"
So began the chase to the boathouse which lay about two hundred meters from the house, connected by a path of wood-chips. The target had about thirty meters on Pierce who was leading Nikolai by another fifteen. Price still had not answered leading the two to believe he had been captured or killed.
The boathouse was little more than a shed attached to the end of a dock. Housed inside the shed was a speedboat; not one of the fancy racing ones, but one that would provide quick getaway if needed. There was a single floodlight attached to the top of the shed which illuminated the entire area at the end of the dock which was thirty meters from the shore.
The target was quick, reaching the dock in record time and rushing across the wooden surface towards his escape. Pierce reached the dock but was still at least twenty meters behind the target. Instead of continuing his pursuit, Pierce stopped and took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. He raised his Five-seveN and tried to draw a bead on the target. This was complicated by his heavy breathing which caused his arms to sway.
The target was close to reaching the shed, at that point he would have no shot. Pierce took another deep breath and centered the bead on the target's lower back. Nikolai had caught up to Pierce as the Marine stood there taking aim with the pistol. As Pierce drew his finger onto the trigger, the target was hit by an object that sent him to the deck hard.
A figure emerged from the shed holding a two by four in hand. The light above him showed the figure to be Price; who threw the wooden plank into the water before kneeling down and punching the target. Nikolai and Pierce both began jogging down the dock to the boathouse.
"Nikolai you have the bag," Price questioned as the two stopped several feet from the target lying unconscious on the dock.
"Right here," Nikolai said as he pulled a black bag from one of his pockets and tossed it to Price.
"Perfect," Price said as he caught the bag and proceeded to throw it over the head of the target and tightened it, "Nikolai go bring the van around and get the toys."
"Da, I'll be back before you know it," Nikolai said as he took off back down the dock and disappeared into the woods where they had came from.
Price had bound the target's hands with flex-cuffs before finally looking at Pierce, "That got the blood pumping didn't it?"
Pierce just chuckled as tried to hide his deep breaths from the older soldier.
Price keyed the mic, "Soap, we have the target, how's your end holding up?"
At the road, Soap and the other four Marines had hidden themselves away in the tree near the driveway, ready for anyone that might try to interrupt their party.
"We're set here," Soap answered as he laid down in the tree line, "Let you know if there are any guests."
"Copy that, out," Price said before reaching down and grabbing the target's arm and pulling him up, "Help me get this bastard into the house."