Chapter 11:
Wednesday 29th February 2012
6th Fleet Staging Area
Black Sea, Eastern Europe
0330 Hours
It had been nearly 7 hours after hearing of Bobby Thompson's death, the Special Forces members of Thomas Donarelli, Joseph Lafayette and Steven Lafayette's teams were deadly silent.
Thomas Donarelli was writing in his temporary quarters; a letter was addressed to Bobby's mother Lucy.
On the floor were more than 8 pieces of paper, Thomas had been struggling to write this letter and it would only hurt more to piece together the words and put them to paper itself.
Thomas was already aware that his mother and Bobby's mother were in a relationship, but it would be hard to think of what to write to the mother of his closest friend.
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"Dear Miss Lucy Thompson,
It is hard to find the words to tell you this, but it is hard to tell you this heart-breaking news.
Your son, Master Gunnery Sergeant Robert Thompson died after suffering horrible injuries in combat. He was returning from combat because of his injuries sustained and he was admitted into Ramstein Airbase in Germany.
Your son was one of the most courageous Marines I had the honour and privilege of knowing. He was my best friend from all the times we grew up together in Brooklyn. His dedication and commitment to the security of our country has been one that I have marvelled at.
This hurts me because I thought of him as another brother, we all did. Our families have known Bobby since either childhood or in combat fighting for the safety of New York City.
This military family all loved Bobby, he is one of us, he is a brother and he is a pillar of what we hold dear in our hearts. I know Bobby would not ask you to blame us for everything, but I can't imagine that the blame rests upon myself.
I don't know if I would be able to look you in the eye, to tell you about the heroism of your son, I know that this won't provide the comfort but I can't help but blame myself for this loss that we have suffered today.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
1st Lieutenant Thomas M. Donarelli."
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Thomas folded the letter delicately as he placed it into an envelope which had the address of Bobby's mother on the front of it.
He sealed the letter and left his quarters to place it into the mail, it was fortunate because the mail would be sent out in an hour and Thomas wanted to make sure that the letter would be given to Lucy personally, but he couldn't help but wonder if he should have done more to help Bobby Thompson.
But what happened, happened and he couldn't change it, no matter how much it hurt him and his brothers in arms.
He headed for the briefing room as everyone stood to attention, Thomas then began, "Alright, you may not all be aware we have a 2-fold objective to achieve here. We uncovered an Ultranationalist base hidden in the Middle East led by General Smirtine, Force Recon, led by Robert Cole are on the ground just outside Dubai and are attempting to find the base and destroy it."
Joseph Lafayette then stood up as he pointed to the map, "A small team of operators will join up with Cole's Marines and attempt to destroy the base. Nomad, you'll be the first man on the ground, you'll land 2 meters to the north of Cole's Marines."
Joseph then turned to face Thomas and Alexander, "Deadeye and November will lead a team behind you consisting of Bacciarelli, Bear and Junior Sokolov and Matthew Lafayette, they'll land to the south-west of your RV point with Cole and his boys."
Brooklyn nodded, "Copy that."
Thomas and Alex stood as they said, "Just like old times, Nomad?" "Ain't it just that?" Brooklyn smirked.
Everybody chuckled in response to the Delta Force Lieutenants and their banter, it did a little bit of good to have some laughter in the atmosphere seeing that Bobby's death hit them all hard like a ton of bricks.
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Joseph then turned to everyone and said, "We've also uncovered another base, thanks to Lieutenant Romanova's help in decrypting Russian radio channels, there's a base in Azerbaijan, the ultranationalists currently commanded by this man, Colonel Gregovich Nevsky. One of Skorenzy's right hand men who fought beside him in the Soviet-Afghanistan War."
Michael then took over, "Aim is to get Nevsky out of the picture, eliminate him at all costs, without Nevsky and Smirtine, we've cut the heads of the snakes off."
He then turned to Giuseppe and said, "Lieutenant Capelli, you'll lead a team consisting that off Sergeants Zelinski, Lynn, Rossi and Corporal Sokolov to attack the Ultranationalist base. Secure the perimeter and knock off Nevsky. We'll try to send help to you when we can, the Loyalist government thought it'd be kind to lend us some helicopter support for the mission."
Giuseppe nodded, "Got it, we'll hit 'em with everythin' we've got."
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Brooklyn and Thomas lead their men out of the briefing room after there was no questions about their mission.
Brooklyn picked up an M4A1 and dressed in plain clothing, usually consisting of either black or tan colours.
Thomas picked up an M4 with a holographic sight and a foregrip with a suppressor. Alex opts to do the same but picks up a HK416, the rest of the team pick up weapons that they feel comfortable with, mostly marksman rifles or sub-machine guns.
Brooklyn leads the team onto the plane picking up a parachute, the rest of the men follow him as they proceed to the transportation.
The cargo plane was fuelled up and ready to go with the men all onboard. Brooklyn put on a helmet as he tightened the straps.
The Special Forces team looked at each other with no fear in their eyes but only determination.
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The plane ascended into the sky flying to the drop zones just outside of the Dubai desert.
The men either held onto their lucky charms or anything that they could use, Thomas picked up his Christ on the Cross necklace as he mumbled in Latin before doing a sign of the cross himself.
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1400 Hours
After 10 hours of flying, the red light came on, Brooklyn stood up as Thomas said, "Get ready!"
Brooklyn then said, "STAND UP!" before saying, "Hook up!"
The team hooked up as the pilot said, "Lieutenant Zelinski, we're coming up on your drop zone, you've got 90 seconds to green light."
"Copy that!" Brooklyn shouted.
The ramp was lowered as the team watched as Alex and Brooklyn made their way to the opening, Alex shouted, "30 seconds!"
The light turned green as Brooklyn jumped out, his parachute deployed seeing as the team weren't HALO jumping in.
Descending to the ground, Brooklyn freed himself of his harness and brought up his M4 as he checked the compass, he was only 1.5 miles till he reached Robert Cole's Demon Team.
Pulling his goggles down to protect his eyes, he made his way forward. It was quite hot out here in the Arabian Desert, but Brooklyn didn't let it get to him.
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Ahead of him, Brooklyn could see smoke, where there was smoke, there was fire as he brought up his radio and said, "Overwatch, this is 0-1, do you have eyes on Demon 0-2 or any of his boys?"
"Our drone surveillance is currently down in that sector, they should in the exact position they're in right now." Joseph had said. Brooklyn nodded, "Solid copy, I'll assess situation when I link up with them."
Joseph replies, "Overwatch copies all, good luck out."
Brooklyn advanced close to the site of the rendezvous point and he could see that a battle had taken place here. Bringing his M4 up, he checked to see a full clip of ammunition as he levelled it against his chest, he could see 2 dead ultranationalists including a couple more of them lying in the sand dead with holes in them.
Brooklyn looked around as he asked himself, "What the hell happened here?"
Hearing a sound that sounded like coughing, Brooklyn charged to investigate the scene, he then saw Robert Cole lying on the ground with a bullet hole in his leg including two more in his stomach as he said, "Shit! Hang on Gunny, you hang I, buddy!"
"Nomad… goddamn, good… good to see ya." Cole said in heavily breathing tone of voice. Brooklyn put his M4 down as he applied pressure to his stomach which looked to be in the worse condition.
He pulled out some sulphur as he ripped it open and poured it onto the wound as he said, "What the hell happened, Gunny?!"
"Fuckin'… Ultranationalists… fuckers attacked us, John got hit in his shoulder but he's okay, it ain't too severe. Bartlett's dead though." Cole reported.
Brooklyn then looked over at John Capelli before asking, "What happened to the others?"
"Fuckin' Daughtry, Mitchells, they double-crossed us, Daughtry put a few in me, they took Rousey and they headed towards the base, it's an area in Sharjah, industrial sector. They've got an OP in Dubai, Al Quoz Industrial Area 4!" Cole growled out.
Brooklyn keyed his radio, "Overwatch, this is 0-1, I need an CASEVAC for two wounded, Gunnery Sergeant Cole and Staff Sergeant Capelli, they're down injured, I don't know how long we've got."
"Roger that, scrambling the nearest CASEVAC for those men, do you have a location on the base?" Michael asked.
Brooklyn replied, "Copy, it's a small area in the industrial sector of Sharjah. Be advised, they've taken Sergeant Rousey as prisoner and are holdin' her in Dubai, area known as Al Quoz, Area 4, over?!"
"Confirmed, we've just picked up Sergeant Rousey's emergency transponder, the same area you've identified. Deadeye and November are on the ground and are just on top of your position." Michael had said.
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Brooklyn turned to see his brothers turn up as he said, "'Bout damn time, Robert's worse for wear over here."
"We got you buddy! We're gonna get you home, Johnny, you too. Getting all of us home in one piece." Alex said.
"Ooh-rah to that, tired of fuckin' taking lead." John said gritting his teeth. Thomas smirked as he said, "Oh you love taking lead."
John laughed, "Tell that to Haley, fuckin' hates that I'm taking lead all the time."
Bear and Alex were patching up the wounded as Bear asked, "What are we gonna do 'bout getting these guys out of here?!"
Thomas explained, "Bacciarelli, Junior and November stay behind and wait for the bird, Bear, me, Nomad and Matthew are gonna initiate search and rescue, get Rousey out. We'll destroy the base and link up at the carrier!"
"Kick some ass out there. Rousey's got the C4, you're gonna need it if you plan to hit those ultranationalist bastards." Cole said.
Thomas nodded as he patted the two Marines on their shoulders, Thomas and Brooklyn signalled for the remainder of the team to follow behind and head to the City itself.
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Heading to the city itself, Brooklyn and Thomas kept their eyes open, they headed to a nearby grate as Brooklyn pried it open with a crowbar, they headed down as the team were in the sewers, Thomas then said, "Minimize our presence, 2 light sources."
Thomas and Matthew turned their flashlights on as they moved through the sewers, Brooklyn followed behind protecting their rear, with Bear Sokolov who said, "Wasn't your fault, what happened with Cole and Capelli, they did their job, when we get our hands on those bastards, I'll let you have first crack at 'em."
"Traitors don't deserve mercy; you speak with your dad?" Brooklyn asked. Bear nodded, "Yeah, he's doin' fine, reckons he'll be back in the field the next 2 days."
Brooklyn nodded, "Your old man's a tough son of a bitch, anyone can go through hell, it's him. I'll tell ya that." "Thanks for reassuring me, it means a lot because he's the only one that ever believed I could be a SEAL, we're all he's got left." Bear said.
Nodding slowly, Brooklyn then patted Bear on the shoulder as they continued onwards.
Thomas ordered the team to a stop as he said, "Alright, we're about 10 miles till we reach the Al Quoz Industrial Area, once we're there. We'll break Rousey out and make our way to the base, we're gonna hit that base with everythin' we've got."
Everyone nodded as Brooklyn lead the team above ground, they hid their weapons as they proceeded out into the busy streets, their Kevlar vests hidden underneath hoodies or jackets.
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Al Quoz Industrial Area 4
Dubai
1457 Hours
Making their way to Industrial Area 4, the team were out of sight of any onlookers, Brooklyn pulled a mirror as he held it under the security office door, he then said, "One ultranationalist."
Thomas nodded to Brooklyn to move in as Brooklyn equipped a suppressed pistol, Brooklyn stealthily grabbed the man as he said in Russian, "Спрошу однажды, а где американец?"
"Иди нахуй себя!" the guard had said.
Brooklyn fired a shot into the Russian's stomach as he said, "Где она, или я покажу тебе вещи похуже смерти!"
The ultranationalist then said, "Она на командном посту, Северная сторона. Она там с вашими «американскими друзьями»."
Brooklyn detected to see if the man was telling the truth, but the man was being truthful and could tell by the facial expression.
Brooklyn shot the man twice as he said, "She's to our north in the command post, Russians are holding her there along with those 'Marines'."
"Alright, Bear, you and I will enter through the front, Nomad, Lafayette you go in the back." Thomas strategized.
The 4 nodded as they headed out of the security office, they moved quickly through the industrial area as they reached the command post, they could hear chatter, "Where are the others?"
"Rousey, 678452051." Rousey had said. The interrogator growled as he said, "We know you didn't come alone, there are more of you on the way, this can all go away if you answer my questions."
Brooklyn nodded as he said, "This is it, ready NODs!"
Pulling down his NVGs he then severed the power to the building, he prepped a flashbang as he tossed it to Bear who in turn tossed it inside, another flashbang flew inside as well thanks to Matthew Lafayette as they went off.
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Brooklyn and Matthew kicked the doors down and killed the ultranationalists, Bear then freed Rousey who said, "About time, good to see you guys."
"They didn't get anythin' from ya?!" Thomas asked. Rousey smirked, "Told 'em to go to hell. I'm okay, just a few bumps."
Rousey noticed the dead Marine that was Daughtry as she walked over and put two bullets in him, "Payback's a fuckin' bitch."
"Where's Mitchells?" Brooklyn asked handing over a rifle to Rousey who said, "Command Base, there was some radio chatter 10-15 minutes ago, I heard Azerbaijan get mentioned." Rousey had said.
Brooklyn smirked, "Looks like our boys did us a job, we better get this base destroyed then we can hustle to the Chechnya base."
"That's the idea, come on, we gotta move!" Thomas had said as the team got on their feet and moved out.
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Industrial Area, Sharjah
2307 Hours
By the time the team arrived at the Forward Operating Base of the Ultranationalists, the sky was clear night, not a cloud in the sky, but a sandstorm provided a perfect cover for Thomas and his team to attack the base.
Brooklyn readied his M4 as he fired 2 shots at the guards, he then charged the front with the team following behind, they hit the alarm so that reinforcements couldn't be called in, radios were down due to the sandstorm, nearly everyone was either killed or due to be killed.
Mitchells appeared armed with a MK48 as he said, "You ruined everythin'. It'd have been perfect."
"You betrayed our country; you betrayed the Marines, you disgraced us all." Rousey shouted to her former squad mate.
Mitchells growled, "I did it to protect our way of life, this only ends one way, war. A war with both Russia and America fighting." "Millions of people will be slaughtered, drop the weapon now and it won't end badly." Bear shouted.
"Maybe we all want war, maybe you are too blind to see it happen." Mitchells snarled firing his weapon at the team who took cover behind any crates that were strong enough to not get demolished.
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Lafayette signalled to Brooklyn to cover him whilst he went to get the intel they needed. Brooklyn nodded and appeared from cover and fired on Mitchells as Thomas had done the same.
Thomas shouted to Rousey, "ROUSEY, MOVE NOW!"
Rousey moved quickly on the right flank, she took cover by a ladder as she took hold of it and moved up, she got clear line of fire and fired on the traitorous Marine, who took a bullet to the back from Rousey.
Dodging the deadly crossfire of the MK48, Rousey shot the weapon out of his hand and charged at him, the pair fought hand-to-hand combat as Rousey delivered a right hook. She then pulled out her knife and slashed Mitchells' arms quite deep before delivering another right hook to him.
Mitchells headbutted Rousey who fell back, but Rousey pulled out her sidearm and fired several bullets into his chest who then fell back to the ground dead and blood poured from him.
Rousey breathed easily as she fired another two shots into him, just to be on the safe side.
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Getting to the ground floor, Matthew approached the team as he said, "Found somethin', looks like the ultranationalists are gearing up for an assault, looks like they're headin' for Azerbaijan. Then there's this one, the grand finale in their plan, I think whatever this is goin' to involve, it's got somethin' to do with missiles."
Brooklyn took one of the papers looking over it, he then said, "The Ultranationalists just stole an Oscar-II Class Submarine, that means ballistic missiles to launch against any fleet in the entirety of Europe or maybe launch against America itself..."
"Get Lafayette on the horn, tell him of the missing submarine, get our boys on this." Thomas ordered. Brooklyn nodded and keyed his radio whilst Thomas returned to the situation at hand and said, "We gotta hurry, we gotta get to those boys and back 'em the hell up."
Brooklyn walked back over and said, "Chopper's on the way, they'll meet us in the Gulf. Capelli and Cole are fine, Cole'll be out of action for a couple days. Capelli will be back in the fight come tomorrow." "Glad to hear that. Let's get it done, move out, people." Thomas said as they proceeded to get on with what they needed to do.
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English to Russian Translation:
I'll ask you once, where's the American? - Sproshu odnazhdy, a gde amerikanets?
Go fuck yourself! - Idi nakhuy sebya!
Where is she or I will show you things worse than death itself! - Gde ona, ili ya pokazhu tebe veshchi pokhuzhe smerti
She's at the command the post, Northern side. She is there with your 'American friends'. - Ona na komandnom postu, Severnaya storona. Ona tam s vashimi «amerikanskimi druz'yami».