Physical Training Facility
Naval Personnel Housing Complex
Bagram Air Base
Afghanistan.
Two days after Major John Sheppard's retrieval from Parwan.
"Whoa, what's with the pummeling fest on the bag Steve?"
Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel Williams swerved to avoid a face full of punching bag and wrapped his muscular arms around it, to stop it from returning to sender.
"Let it go, Danny." Steve said in irritation, glaring at his second in command. The man was interfering with his workout- well, that is if you could call the full blown venting he was indulging in, raining kicks and punches on the bag in their gym- a workout.
"Now, how well do you know me, hah? You know it's useless asking me to do that. So tell me, what's bothering you, babe? Why are you feeling guilty?"
"Why would you say I'm feeling guilty? Maybe I'm angry!" challenged Steve, making a grab at the bag. But Danny wasn't letting go easily. And Steve wasn't honestly feeling like engaging in a brawl over a punching bag with his annoyingly perceptive friend.
In fact, he must have been at it for a while because he felt the exhaustion taking over, leaving him feeling drained. He started to unwrap the tape around his knuckles slowly.
"Well, you see that is because I do know you. Now, if you were angry, you would be in the ring, sparring with that crazy Jap, Noshimuri, kicking each other's asses in to hell and back. Frustration would have taken you to the shooting range and there'd be many very-dead targets, shot through the head by now. This is where you come to, if the guilt is the winning contender in your crazy head. So I ask again babe, what's wrong?"
The New Jersey native let the endearment slip in, whenever he was concerned about his young charge. Danny was six years older than Steve and had been in the Navy that much longer than Steve as well. Danny was given this freshly-out-of BUD/S, green as grass, young Lieutenant five years ago to keep alive. And then to train him in the field, if he could manage the first task. He had managed to do all that and remain Steve's 2IC throughout the years. The guy needed a steady and a sane keeper.
Danny admitted to himself that the young officer had come a long way and had earned his respect and loyalty along with his friendship. The guy was as crazy as they came - laboring under utter delusions of bullet proof superman tendencies- in Danny's humble opinion. But the guy had proven his worth and mettle under fire many times over the years.
The Lieutenant had a keen intelligence and the base nature of a hellhound that was extremely useful when it came to tracking the baddies the brass let him loose on, disguised as missions. Danny had come to understand the obscure methods deeply hidden under the wild chaos that was Lieutenant Steven J. McGarrett of the Navy SEALs. And to somewhat his consternation, Danny found himself devotedly invested in the said Lieutenant's general well being.
...
Steve huffed and finished what he was doing. Then ruffled through his duffel bag until he found two bottles of water and sat down cross legged on the mat on the floor near the workout benches. Danny was not going to go away anytime soon and he might as well get it over with now, Steve thought to himself. All mental bitching aside, he found that talking things out with his NCO, did help him more often than not.
Danny left the punching bag and came to sit down beside Steve. Steve gave him the other bottle of water and let out a sigh.
"It's Sheppard. I can't get it out of my head Danny. I keep hoping and praying that those people got to him on time. But from what little I saw... it was bad, man. And to think that our own people did that to him, that I fucking hand-delivered him for that ... shit."
He stuttered and came to a stop, his breath hitching. Danny had a comforting hand on his back.
"It's been what, two days now since those classified fucks disappeared?" Steve asked out aloud, giving voice to the thoughts that had been swirling in his mind. "There's only a skeleton crew there in that village now, the one they'd secured earlier, right? And another one, milling around looking for those two missing assholes, that had John. Nobody's telling me shit except for an all polite 'I'm sorry sir, It's classified'. I spoke to Joe too. He says he doesn't know anything either. It's not like I'm looking for goddamn state secrets here, is it? Just tell me where they took him and if the guy is alive or not... Fuck."
Steve was mortified, realizing that he had worked himself up to a full blown rant. That was what Danny usually did. Steve was the stoic one. But the guilt and the frustration was eating away at him and he suddenly felt like he needed to go down to the firing range right the fuck now; ok- so Danny was maybe onto something there.
"Hey I know you two were close. Hell, I helped nudge you two knuckleheads along to get your acts together and get into it. And I'm sure that he is being taken care of, Steve. I mean they sent a fully fledged Colonel to the field, to a war zone, just to retrieve him. And they would not have done that, if they were not very keen on keeping the zoomie alive. Shep must be important to someone higher up there for something and you must believe, for now, that is a good thing." Danny continued.
"And Steve, you did what you had to do, babe. Arresting him and handing him over was the only play you could make with the intel you had at the time. We all heard Hart over the line, Shep could have taken off with all of them and instead he got crazy and ran away," he gave a moment to let that sink in. "Now, you told me that you believed this Sumner guy, when he said that Shep was away saving lives? Not running around like a maniac," Danny asked after the lengthy pause.
Steve gave a grudging nod.
"Then you've got to cut yourself some slack and believe me, when I say that you did the right thing at the time too;" Danny took the nod as a yes and continued. "Colonel Sumner wasn't there then and they didn't train you on telepathy or precognition at Annapolis or Illinois or anywhere else. So there is no way you could have known what Shep was doing. Anyone of us in your shoes at the time would have done what you did. Hell, orders came from Joe to hand him over to that fucker at Parwan and you couldn't have disobeyed a direct order. You think Joe would have ordered you to do that, if he knew they were going to torture the man?"
Danny answered his own question after a beat.
"No babe, I don't think so."
He seemed content to leave it at that, picking up on the reluctant agreement in Steve's face, even though Steve did not say anything.
"Then what the hell happened to Freddie?" Steve asked quietly after a moment. "Who or what killed him and his team? And what the hell could possibly have made him sound so pissed scared like that? You knew him too Danny, it wasn't like him at all!"
Danny contemplated his answer and let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I was thinking about it too. He did sound a little crazy on the line. But you've got to realize babe, he just crashed. Maybe he was a bit out of it? On the other hand, your Colonel said it was something to do with his mission and that they were targeted by something that we don't know about?"
"Sumner said they believed Freddie and his team were compromised the minute that call went up in the air or maybe before even that." Steve replied.
"Well then, there you go. There is so much classified shit around that chopper; we simply don't know what happened. Maybe it was like the Colonel said or maybe not. We just don't know. That's the job Steve. We all know what we get ourselves into when we take on our missions. And things don't always go our way and missions do go FUBAR. And then we die. We just have to hope that this Colonel of yours will find the people who were responsible. It was their op after all." Then Danny brought up the matter of more practical and relevant issues. "Besides, we have our own group of assholes to worry about. You need to get your head in the game Steve. That's our mission."
Steve didn't say anything for a while. But he knew Danny was right. There really was nothing he could do for Shep or Hart right now. But he could do something about the bad guys he already had in his sight. That would have to be enough for now.
Danny let him just sit in silence for a few more minutes. Then he stood up decisively.
"Come along, grasshopper- let's go get some grub. Maybe we can talk Kono into seducing one of the hush-hush fuckers to cave in and tell us something. Maybe it was your ugly mug that had them clamping up on you. Kono is way prettier than you. Fuck, even that Jap's got more charm; what with the husky bed-room voice and dimples…"
Steve felt his lips twitching involuntarily at Danny's muttered musings. He let out a chuckle and got up to follow his friend. His feelings were still dangerously close to the surface- but he felt somewhat in control of them. He was glad that Danny found him when he did; the man had a way of getting him out of his funk. He was not going to say any of that out loud though; it wouldn't help him one bit to let his NCO's head get any bigger.
Base Commander's Office
Bagram Air Base
Afghanistan.
Commander Joe White summoned Steve to his office the next day.
"Get yourself a coffee and sit down Steve," he invited.
Steve did as asked, knowing that whatever came next- had to be quite important. Commander White was like a father to Steve and often mentored him; in both his professional and personal lives. But the Commander rarely indulged in private chit chat while on active duty.
"I know you've been upset over the whole incident regarding Hart and that pilot Sheppard. Hell, I am a little upset myself." He gave birth to the understatement of the day.
"I've had contact with Colonel Sumner. Now, I can't tell you about whom he works for or what Hart and others were involved in. And I can't tell you where Sheppard is or how he is either. Why? Because I don't know. But, here is what I can tell you - according to Sumner, the chopper that went down with Hart and others was involved in one of their operations. They are investigating what happened to them still, because apparently they were way off from their destination-"
Steve nodded along. This was what the Colonel had informed him while he was taking Steve's statement as well.
"They're not sure yet if any foul play was involved from their end or how the enemy got to their transport in the first place. And they are still investigating everyone who was included in that operation."
Steve felt himself bristle at the insinuation that Freddie might have been consorting with the enemy. He had known the guy for a while and been down range with him several times. He was pretty sure Freddie wouldn't do that.
Commander White held up a hand to forestall the argument he could see coming his way.
"I know he was a friend. But it's their op and they have to find out what happened. Anyway that's not the point. The point is that Sumner agreed to let us keep the bodies of the three SEALs with us. The team he has here will take the bodies of the civilians with them. He said that Hart and the other two SEALs were recruited in Canada. Apparently Hart was a part of NORAD exchange. God knows how he managed that."
Steve wasn't sure whether his CO was referring to Freddie or Colonel Sumner. But he kept his doubts to himself and sipped his coffee.
"So he offered to return their bodies to the base in Canada, but I said we'll take care of it. That's what I wanted to let you know. We have the bodies with us and I'll be making arrangements to return them back to the States within the week or so. I thought that maybe, if you wrap up your mission here by that time, you can accompany them."
"Thank you for arranging that, Sir." Steve said with heartfelt gratitude. Escorting his friend's body home was the least he could do for him.
With that he left his CO's office to get back to the operation he was running. He was on the field team today, for the surveillance on the enemy base.
Naval Command and Control Center
Bagram Base
Afghanistan
Four days after Major John Sheppard's retrieval from Parwan.
Steve and his team found themselves gathered in the CIC (Command and Information Center/Command and Control) after dinner, for the day's review. Well, what was left of his team at the base anyway; since some of his team was still in the field. They were discreetly observing the activity in the enemy base they had tracked the weapons convoy to- earlier.
Thanks to several GPS trackers they had managed to install on the trucks, they now had the exact co-ordinates of the hidden base, the infamous Hesse brothers kept disappearing into.
….
The SEAL team had been tracking the four suspicious vehicles, that split up from Kandahar and had been cruising all over the whole northern region of Afghanistan. The team had also split up, in order to tail each of them.
Finally, around about ten days ago, the vehicles, now full with illicit cargo of weapons, money, ammo and other assorted inventory enough to invade the whole country, had regrouped and continued towards the valley of Panjshir.
Anton Hesse had got into a truck along the way and continued with the convoy as well, which Steve considered an added bonus. Wherever the elder brother was, the younger was not far behind and that saved them the trouble of locating the two assholes later. The convoy had continued until it ran out of road and then into a barely navigable route in a jungle terrain, leading towards the Hindu Kush mountains.
Continuing for about another day, deep into the jungle, the convoy had finally reached a small yet well hidden base right up against the valley. It was located well away from the smaller villages scattered around Panjshir, but nestled quite close to Hindu Kush mountain range. Steve suspected that they probably had a network of cave entrances and even underground bolt holes, apart from the base they could see from the surface.
So nine days ago, this was where they were, when Steve had to divert to help the unfortunate Black Hawk; which then led to Sheppard's subsequent arrest.
Steve and his team had been taking turns in keeping up constant surveillance around the clock on the hidden base to get a feel of their operation. After the initial convoy they tracked, there had been three more arrivals. The brothers never left the place- but they were seeing evidence, that somebody even higher up in the terrorist food chain had shown up. Only the previous day, the security had been beefed up all over the base considerably, after an armored SUV had delivered the said leader.
They had been gathering in the CIC every day since the discovery of the enemy base, to view all the information and footage whichever field team of the day managed to send through. They had been making plans for attacks; war gaming various scenarios and adapting the plans according to the changes that were happening at the enemy base.
….
Today was different because their CO, Commander Joe White was present for the live review with them. Usually Steve just handed over the day's report to him after the viewing session.
"Alright, listen up people!" Commander White called everybody for their attention.
"We've got the word down the line today. The mission's been green lighted by the Naval Intelligence Command. They want your platoon to move in and shut it down. Strategy is kill or capture on the two known targets and the unidentified target. Whatever other resistance, you deal with as you see fit. They want you moving within the 24 hours. This is it ladies, the operation 'Mountain Goats' is a go."
The only lady that was present at the CIC, Agent Kono Kalakaua tried her best to hide a snicker at that, but only partially succeeded. White sent her a look on his way out of the room. Steve could have sworn he saw a smirk on his Commander's face; but he was much better at hiding it than Agent Kalakaua.
Those two had a long debate going on about the silly little names the Naval Intelligence (ha ha) came up with, against the professionalism, the alphabet soup agencies displayed, with their use of alpha numeric IDs, for operations. And Steve was wisely staying away from it.
….
Steve had been on the trail of these particularly troublesome Hesse brothers for a few months now; all the way back from India. He had followed them around half the world from India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand before finally settling up for the long haul in Afghanistan.
The Naval Intelligence had caught wind of a strange deal going on- Victor and Anton Hesse had come up as big players. Therefore the NI had Steve on the field following them on ground discreetly, hoping to put a stop to whatever the Hesse brothers were planning. Although he was given the support of various SEAL teams available in every country he found himself in, Steve had managed to keep his second in command SCPO Danny Williams, Lieutenant JG Bradley Jacks, PO 1st class Junior Reigns and PO 1st class Clay Garcia as permanent fixtures on his team.
Special Agent Kono Kalakaua of the Special Activities Division of the CIA, formerly of the DEA and with two tours under her belt as a soldier in the US Army before that, had been following a trail of arms deals when she had crossed paths with Steve. Realizing they were after the same terrorists, they had joined forces in Pakistan to continue the observations. She was a beautiful woman with Korean heritage and Steve thought he saw Danny always go a little bug eyed, every time she flashed her dimples at him.
Lieutenant Adam Noshimuri had come with Kono, as a package deal. He was an American/Japanese dual citizen with experience in JMSDF (Japanese Maritime Defense Forces) and Japan's PSIA (Public Security Intelligence Agency) and had been tracking a Yakuza connection to illegal arms dealing and smuggling. He had been seconded to the CIA almost a year ago, as part of a Japan-American Intelligence sharing venture. Kono and Adam had made a number of arrests and shut down some major smuggling routes. But the leaderships of the enterprise had proven elusive. The CIA, in conjunction with its' Japanese counterpart, had given the blessing for the dynamic duo to join the SEAL team in order to get to the bottom of it. Danny believed that Adam was the calm, steady and reasonable presence to the wild hurricane that was Kono; much like he was to McGarrett.
Fourteen other enlisted SEALs from the Naval Base Bagram, including two more NCOs, completed Steve's platoon for the operation 'Mountain Goats'.
Navy SEAL Ready Room
Bagram Base
Afghanistan
The team was divided into four groups. Lieutenant Steven J. McGarrett had the overall tactical command of the operation and was going to be on the lead attacking team. He had four other SEALs and one Adam Noshimuri, whose field MO (Modus Operandi) was not that different from a real-life ninja.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Danny Williams would be leading a team into the base from the right flank and if anything were to happen to Steve, would be taking over as the ops lead. Petty Officer 1st class Junior Reigns had command of the team that would be attacking from the left.
These ground attack teams carried their standard primary weapons, HK MP7 4.6X30mm submachine guns with suppressors and Sig Sauer P239 subcompact 9mm hand guns strapped to their thighs, as secondary weapons. They all put on their standard body armor, night camo and face paint with their tac vests and field kits filled up with extra ammunition, several kinds of grenades, field med kits, comms gear, batteries, field rations and water. The team leaders also carried portable compact screens that they could use to tap into their night drone feeds that were observing the enemy base even now. They were all equipped with NVGs (Night vision goggles) and cameras with live feeds connected to their CIC, as it was the standard for any SEAL team raid.
PO Higgins was seen lovingly hugging his affectionately called Pirate Gun, a modified M79 grenade launcher as he carried it along with his standard kit to the helipad. The big man easily over 6'4" with a width to match, made the big gun look positively tiny and harmless.
Agent Kono Kalakaua, who was equally enamored and just as lethal with her beloved Sniper rifle McMillan Tac-338 that fired the deadly .338 Lapua Magnum rounds, had the lead of the snipers. She and three other SEALs made up the team that would take the 'Over Watch' position when they were at the field, keeping the asses of the ground team covered. Lieutenant JG Jacks, carrying an M82-50 caliber, extreme long range, anti-material sniper rifle and SEALs Garcia and Terrance with their MK-11 medium sniper rifles, completed the team. They also had special image intensifiers, thermal imaging cameras and sound suppressors to aid the night vision and stealth.
….
The three SEALs who were already at the enemy base conducting surveillance, would keep on aerial surveillance with the two drones they had in the air and would provide live feed for the team leaders and if the need be for the snipers to tap into, during the raid. They would also provide back up and act as field medics.
….
After the order from his Commander, the whole team had gone over the objective and attack plan in detail. Steve had encouraged everyone to ask questions and state concerns. After two hours of intense discussion and planning, he had dismissed the team for a quick break with the order to be ready and report to the helipad at the west end of the complex by 0200 hrs. He had then gone to update his commander on the agreed plan. Joe White had given his approval, seeing that Steve and his team had everything covered.
West End Helipad – Meeting Point
Bagram Air Base
Afghanistan
0155 hrs
Being the professionals that they were, Steve found them ready and waiting eagerly, when he reached the meeting point at 0155 hrs with Commander Joe White in tow.
"Alright team, just so we are clear on the plan again. We go there, make sure the things are as they should be, go in hard and fast. We don't let them regroup. Stealth is the name of the game for the entry. You know what the Hesse brothers look like and we ID the other leader on the go. It's kill or capture for those three. And all the Intel we can get, we need to keep intact. That means keeping an eye on Anton, as he's the tech guy. For the rest of the base, it's open season." He re-capped the quick and dirty version of the game plan.
"Go give them hell boys!" Joe White delivered the traditional order.
"Hooyah!" Came the enthusiastic reply from the platoon.
The Enemy Base
Panjshir Valley
Afghanistan
0245 hrs
The two Stealth Black Hawk helicopters had delivered the team some distance away from the objective due to the landing difficulty in the jungle terrain the enemy was based in. A half hour trek through the jungle had brought them near the entry points and they were ready to begin.
Steve sent out a roll call.
His team, designated H1 through H5, stated each of their readiness into their comms. Steve was designated HL as he was the team lead.
Danny and Junior also had similar checks running through their own teams, designated R and L respectively. They were positioned at their entry points in right and left flanks and were ready to move on mark.
Kono reported to Steve the readiness of her team last; when all of the snipers had dispersed and taken various Over-watch positions. They were perched on hills, trees and in Jack's case, on top of a Humvee parked at the highest point behind thick vegetation closest to the mountains. They had the enemy base covered from four positions and the three ground teams would breach from the points in between, providing each other maximum cover.
The ground teams would also change into hand signals after Steve's order to move in and only the snipers and drone teams would make verbal reports, keeping everyone on the loop. PO Higgins, acting as the team's demolitions expert, would divert from Danny's team after the initial entry, to place explosives on strategic locations.
They would leave nothing behind when they were done.
Steve checked in with the ops controllers at the CIC in Bagram some 60 miles away, who were watching over the live feeds, for the final Go/No Go order.
"Hotel Lima, you are a go. I repeat you are GO." The confirmation came from the tech at the CIC.
Steve took a deep breath; sent a quick mental prayer to any god who watched over the crazy SEALs to keep his team safe, and gave the order to move in.
The Lions of the Valley
Hidden Freedom Fighter Base
Panjshir Valley
Afghanistan
0300 hrs
Salim Khabir positively hated the night shift as a sentry. It was cold, humid and the mosquitoes would not leave him alone. There were three others guarding the main building tonight, sharing the misery with him; a fat lot of good that did...Not.
The flat-faced, dead-eyed, Chinese guy had everybody on their toes and Khabir had had to chip in as a guard, to keep up round-the-clock security. He was their official cook. There were altogether fifteen of them on duty tonight. Four for the main building, two for the storage shacks, three of them for the barracks where the soldiers were based and six patrolling the perimeter. And there were many others awake and guarding the miserable nights away inside the buildings as well.
"Shit. I had to draw the short straw again! What wouldn't I do to be inside the cozy guest house guarding that?" he thought to himself sourly.
"Whatever that Chinaman is about, he must be important. I have never seen the Hesse brothers cower away like that from anyone ever before," Khabir slapped at a mosquito on his forehead.
"Oh, I wonder what's up with all the hush-hush dealings going on in those caves? Nobody goes in there except for the brothers. And the weird China guy of course..." he kept up his mental dialog while scanning the surrounding area. It was a hopeless gesture though; the night was dark and the visibility was quite poor.
"And what the hell kind of name is Wo Fat, anyway?"
All the private musings that were keeping the hardships of the night sentry duty away, also kept Salim Khabir from noticing the red cigarette light, ten yards to his left, disappear into the night.
By the time he did notice, there was nothing he could do anyway. He may have opened his mouth to shout out a warning- but the knife across his throat put a stop to it, before the thought to shout even fully formed.
….
Steve had sent Adam and Leonard to take care of the patrolling guards on their side of the entry. Those two had disappeared into the moonless night to neutralize the guards without breaking stealth. Two patrol guards with their throats slit and one guard shot in the head with a suppressed MP7 later, it was done.
Steve and his remaining three SEALs had silently trekked through the dark, while the patrol was busy dying. They had gotten close behind each of the sentry guarding the main building- and all of them- including clueless Khabir, were dispatched thoroughly and quietly, with their throats slit open.
Steve then directed two of his SEALs to drag the bodies away while waiting for the team leaders to signal in, with clicks on the comms.
….
Danny spared a couple of seconds to watch his two guys- Ruiz and Hicks- taking off after the two guards who had the misfortune to wander towards the entry point- where Danny and his team were positioned. Third guard held Danny's full attention now. Poor sod had taken a detour into the thicket to relieve himself only maybe three yards off to his left. Danny waited patiently until the guy finished and tucked himself in; then blew his brains out with his suppressed MP7, point blank.
Signaling Steve and Reigns with pre-arranged clicking codes on his comms, he moved his team towards their target, as Higgins went away to plant his deadly gifts.
….
Team leader PO Junior Reigns was listening to the signal of all clear/moving in from Williams while watching his point of entry. Lt. Jacks, the sniper who was closest to him and had the birds' eye view of Reigns' entry, was giving him a terse report.
"Six patrol guards are down. Reigns you are clear to move. You've got two at the shacks and one moving from the barracks towards them. You got about thirty seconds to move before the third joins the party-"
Reigns directed Jones and Derrick to take care of the stationary guards and moved towards cover behind the shacks, to meet the arriving guard. He heard the soft gurgles that erupted from the dying guards and then the swish, as the bodies were dragged aside by his team. He observed the arriving party getting a little bit agitated and waving his torch around, as he couldn't see his fellow guards where they were supposed to be. Junior had seconds to act before the guard panicked and raised the alarm.
He took his k-bar, calmly took a breath and sent it flying. His aim proved true as the knife found its mark, burying itself deep in the third guards' throat.
He signaled his advance as the rest of his team joined him after tucking the bodies behind the storage shacks.
….
The smaller building they had identified earlier as the point where the base security was coordinated, was tucked away to the side of the main building. Danny's team had the task of breaching and securing it while Steve and his team breached the main building from its entrance and exit simultaneously.
Danny directed Bryce and Klein from his team to detach and reinforce Reigns' team according to the plan- Junior had the unenviable task of breaching the barracks where the terrorists slept.
Danny, Ruiz and Hicks made their entry through the only door the security hut had. Hicks, who was on point, mule kicked the door and Ruiz threw a frag grenade. They entered, leading with their MP7s and the still stunned and confused enemy had no hope of putting up a reasonable resistance.
There were ten of them in all and within ten minutes all of them lay dead where they were with shots to the chests and heads. Danny then got busy with the computers. He inserted the data retrieval units they were all issued prior to the raid by the Naval Intelligence Command for this purpose. The NIC was anal about collecting every scrap of data they could.
Ruiz quickly cleared the rest of the building while Hicks kept watch.
….
Steve, Riley, Wilkes and Nelson positioned themselves at the front entrance of the main building as Adam and Leonard made their way toward the exit. This team had to be cautious with their entry because it was suspected that the leaders were housed in the upper section of this two storey building. They breached at the same time Danny's team did, to preserve stealth to the last possible minute. Wilkes kicked the door in and the grenades were thrown in. Steve heard Adam and Leonard making entry through the back as well.
Gun-fire erupted as the confused and injured guards started firing blindly. Steve took cover behind an upturned sofa and returned fire, covering his fellow SEAL's entry. They moved in tandem covering each other and within seven minutes, they had cleared the ground floor of the mail building. Eight enemies lay dead with kill shots to heads and chests.
Meanwhile, Kono reported in, saying she had taken care of two guards upstairs. Both were unfortunate enough to move towards windows wandering into Kono's crosshairs. Taking the stairs that was the only way up from inside was proving difficult, now that the enemy was up and alert. But the element of surprise and shock and awe tactics were still working to their advantage, keeping the enemy somewhat confused. Steve managed to shoot down two more as they peered down from the upstairs railing.
Then five of the enemy got organized and positioned themselves behind cover from above to block the SEALs from gaining the upstairs. Steve waited until Adam and Leonard joined him. He then signaled Adam, who nodded in response.
Both of them popped from the cover they were behind and lobbed two grenades in perfectly timed simultaneous throws; both grenades sailed in elegant arcs and landed near the two clusters of enemies upstairs. The SEALs were already moving and at the base of the stairs when the grenades went off, killing the five targets instantly.
Steve and Adam got to the top together and Steve turned left while Adam turned right. They had three main rooms to clear on the second floor.
Riley and Nelson followed Steve to the left with Leonard and Wilkes following Adam to the right. Steve moved cautiously with his two SEALs flanking him, clearing closets and bathrooms. When they reached the bedroom door, it exploded outwards showering them in wood splinters. They all ducked on reflex and rolled to find cover.
"Come on you mother f #$s! Come get me, I dare you. You f #%% c #$%!"
They all heard the hysterical screaming and swearing coming from the room. They had found Anton Hesse. It made things easier for them. If Anton was here screaming at them, he was not busy deleting their data-bases.
"Come out with your hands up Anton. It's over." Steve calmly ordered while keeping his weapon pointed at the door. Sound of a breaking window was followed by a report from Garcia on the Over Watch. Anton had tried to take a leap off the balcony and Garcia had firmly discouraged the notion.
Anton Hesse did not come out with surrender as ordered. He came out shooting his shotgun in a blazing arc trying to catch the SEALs in a sweep. It was a dumb thing to try to use a shotgun as a machine gun and he only managed to make a couple of massive holes on the walls and a wooden closet door. Steve and his team were again showered with splinters, pieces of bricks and dry plaster of walls but none of them were seriously harmed. Steve took careful aim and shot the maniac on the thigh. Anton let out a squeal; dropped his gun and then dropped to the ground hugging his injured thigh, wailing miserably.
Riley calmly secured Anton Hesse while Nelson quickly patched the wound with a field dressing. They would properly treat it after they had him transported back to Bagram. The field bandage would keep him from bleeding out and going into shock.
Steve was about to order them to take him to their exit point when Garcia came on his comms again.
"Boss, I've got movement. One bogey on the roof moving fast towards the back of the building. He is making a run to the caves. I repeat bogey moving north on roof top. I do not have a shot."
The urgency of the report had Steve running into the room Anton had just vacated. He ran into the balcony and jumped on the railing. Using it as a step to propel himself up, he managed to grab hold of the rain water drain at the edge of the roof. He hauled himself onto the roof and took off running after the enemy, whom he could see already gaining distance. He had a feeling this might be the third and the unidentified target.
He barked orders to Nelson and Riley to secure the prisoner and take him to the exit point while on pursuit. He ignored Danny's shouts through his comms to wait for goddamn back up before running after maniacs by himself. Steve knew Danny would follow and get to him on time anyway, despite his bitching.
….
Adam, Leonard and Wilkes were having a relatively easier time compared to Steve and his team. They were clearing the right wing, when they came face to face with Victor Hesse. He had a bomb strapped to his chest and a dead man's trigger clutched tightly in his right fist.
"Now, just lower your weapons and raise your hands."
The older Hesse ordered calmly with his German accented English. Seeing Adam and the two SEALs obeying his order- boosted his confidence.
"I will be slowly walking out of here, down the stairs and out of that door. And you will let me- otherwise all of us go to hell in an ugly boom, and sort our shit down there in front of the devil." He informed them with an arrogant smirk.
Adam tracked Hesse's slow movement towards the stairs with a slight smile. When his mental count reached six seconds Adam said "Ouch."
Victor Hesse had about a second to wonder about the strange reaction to his seemingly working plan to get away. Then he heard a splat and felt a spray of liquid on his face. His brain went offline for a moment and when it came back online, he registered a bloody stump where his right fist used to be. The dead man's trigger and his right fist lay scattered to tiny pieces on the floor. His eyes rolled back his head and he fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Ouch is the word brah." Said Kono in Adam's ear jubilantly.
Adam kneeled down by the passed-out Hesse to put a tourniquet and wrap up what was left of his hand. Wilkes slowly divested Hesse of his deadly ornament now laid on his chest harmlessly. Once finished, Adam directed Wilkes and Leonard to take Victor Hesse away and join the other two from Steve's team. Adam himself took off with the intention of finding Steve. He had a feeling Steve was going to need help.
….
PO Junior Reigns and his team were engaged in a fire fight with enemies in the barracks. One of them somehow had woken up before they could breach and alerted his buddies. They had barricaded the entrances to the complex and started shooting at Junior and his team. Enemy had the cover of their building and Junior's team was scattered around the building behind whatever cover they could find. They had both the entrance and exit of the building covered and had already killed three enemy combatants who tried to come out of the building. Now they were locked in an impasse; with Junior's team outside and the enemies inside.
Junior popped up from behind the truck he was taking cover and took a couple of shots at the enemy who was aiming at a running SEAL. Derrick was moving from his cover to get behind another nearby tree. The terrorist ducked inside and Derrick made it behind cover safely.
Then Reigns spotted the man he was waiting for. Higgins had been busy planting explosives. He had just finished the shacks and the security hut and was moving towards the main building when Reigns signaled him to divert towards him behind the truck instead.
"Ah Junior, you want me to break up the tie?"
PO Higgins was all smiles realizing he was getting to use his Pirate Gun, the modified M79 grenade launcher.
"Yes, Higgins. If you would please do the honors,"
Reigns gestured him with a sweeping hand and took a step back to make space for the big SEAL and his big gun. He signaled his team to take cover and cover their ears.
Higgins took a knee, aimed his grenade launcher towards the housing complex, and let loose.
Four strategically placed shots from the Pirate Gun later; the housing complex was reduced to half collapsed rubble. The terrorists, suffering from various injuries, came spilling out and it was shooting fish in a barrel for Junior and his team then.
Higgins took a mocking bow and sauntered away to complete his original mission.
….
Danny cursed when he heard Steve taking after the bad guy all by himself. He hurriedly directed the rest of his team to finish data retrieval from the security hut and then continue to the rest of the available identified data points to keep gathering everything they could. He then took off after Steve, berating him about the back-up all the way.
….
The target had continued his mad dash over the roof, taken a running leap onto a truck that was parked below, rolled off its' hood and continued running through the thicket towards the mountains.
Steve caught up to him just as he was stepping into an obscure area that most probably led into a cave or a tunnel system. He didn't want to lose the guy in a maze; so he took a couple of shots on the run, trying to steer him away while closing the distance.
The man was quick on his feet as he veered away and continued running alongside the hills still aiming to take his chance disappearing into the jungle. Steve matched his stride and vector and put on a burst of speed.
Then the man somewhat surprised Steve, as he changed direction again; this time running straight at Steve. Caught off guard, Steve went down with his target on top of him in a tangle of limbs.
They fought fiercely. The bad guy didn't waste time raining punches on Steve's face while trying desperately to grab his gun. Steve held on to his gun with all his might and managed to aim an elbow to his opponent's face. The man took it on the jaw and rolled with it; when he disengaged from Steve, he had Steve's MP7 in his hands.
The man got to his knees in one smooth motion and aimed the gun at Steve's face. His finger tightened on the trigger and a smirk graced his face.
What he didn't realize was that when Steve aimed an elbow at his face, his other hand was going to his hand gun which was strapped to his thigh. That move loosened Steve's grip on the MP7, letting the bad guy have the weapon.
So by the time he rolled off Steve and took a knee to aim Steve's own weapon at him, Steve already had his hand gun tucked close to his chest, aimed at the smirking asshole's face.
A second later, the bad guy fell to the ground face first; a neat hole in his chest, because Steve had changed his aim at the last second to keep him alive.
….
Adam and Danny both made it to Steve at the same time. They had been directed by the drone team to his whereabouts. They found their leader kneeling by the fallen body of the bad guy, with both his palms pressed against a bleeding wound on the bad guy's chest.
Adam contacted the medics for the field stretcher to be brought in to transport the man while Danny took time to fuss over Steve, to make sure the SEAL wasn't about to keel over from an undisclosed wound as well.
….
Calls were made and the choppers were brought in. They had space to land at the enemy base which was now firmly under the SEAL's control. All three wounded targets were transported to Bagram along with the medics and one more SEAL to keep an eye on them.
The rest of the team dispersed around the base to secure everything. The hard part might have been over; but they still had to go over everything to take inventories, to make sure they didn't miss any data they could retrieve and to sweep the area for any stragglers hiding away.
After two hours of thorough search throughout the base, Steve was satisfied. He called his team to the chopper that was patiently waiting to take them back. They all got in and once the bird climbed high enough in the sky, Steve called Higgins to deliver the coup de grace.
The Petty Officer gleefully pressed the buttons in his remote detonator. Explosions rocked the enemy base in answer, taking in all the illegal weapons, ammo, buildings and bodies and turning them into dust and rubble.
Lt. Steve McGarrett congratulated his team on a job well done; boisterous hooyah's were shouted in reply.
The Lions of the Valley was no more.