Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Rico: Do you mean they're creating art for it, or they're writing their own Terran Alliance stories?
MR11: I have to finish this story and The Dark Soldier, plus two more EU stories I have planned, before I write the sequel trilogy story. So that story won't be up until next year sometime.
Chapter 19- Operation Syndulla
(October 7, 1998)
In one of the armories at Fort Bliss, Adams goes over all of his equipment one more time. He field strips his M4 carbine and re-assembles it. He then checks both of his pistols, one normal and one blaster. Finally, he checks again that his lightsaber is in its place on his belt.
All around him, Adams sees other men prepping their equipment and doing double checks to ensure that they have everything. At last, the raid is about to be launched.
The CIA, NSA, and Air Force had worked overtime to figure out the exact location of Altmark's hideout and any other details they could as to its size and layout. Thankfully, they had been able to identify the precise location and a few other details about it. After they had gathered enough information, the raid to finally bring Altmark down had finally been ordered, with the strike force assembling at the nearby Fort Bliss.
General Delves had managed to put together a very sound plan given the very short time frame he had. He had drawn the men to take part in the raid from the Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, the ASAT team, Clone Force 5, the Zulu Force, the Jedi, and even a squadron from the SAS currently in America on training exercises with the Delta Force.
The plan for the raid was already in motion. Starting the previous night, small groups of tanks and Humvees from the 1st Cavalry Division that deployed to Fort Bliss from Fort Hood a few days earlier had slipped out of Fort Bliss at night and moved into the Guadalupe Mountains, sealing off every possible road that the TLM could use to escape the mountains and trying block other off-road routes out of the mountains. The tanks and Humvees had managed to get to their stations without being spotted, and so far they had seen nothing.
General Delves also wanted to make sure there was no way the TLM could escape by air or some secret overland route. After putting in a request to Air Combat Command, he had received help in the form of 12 F-15E Strike Eagles from the 366th Wing's 391st Fighter Squadron that had deployed down to Holloman Air Force Base. The Strike Eagles, armed with Maverick missiles, laser guided bombs, and air to air missiles, were patrolling the area where the hideout was located.
Now, the actual strike team was prepping to launch from Fort Bliss. The strike team that would enter the hideout included Adams and three other members of the team, eight Zulus, Clone Force 5, 16 Deltas, 16 SEALs, and two Jedi, Kit Fisto and Mace Windu. Also accompanying the strike team were two troops, each of 16 men, from the SAS. The SAS were assigned to secure the perimeter around the hideout and chase down anyone trying to escape from the hideout.
The team had orders to kill anyone who resisted, with the exception of Altmark and two other individuals believed be in his inner circle who were believed to be there, who were to be taken alive if possible. They also had orders to gather every ounce of intelligence they could from the place to aid in dismantling the TLM. However, they knew this wasn't going to be easy. Given the location and layout of the hideout, it was impossible for the strike team to sneak up on them. Therefore, they'd be going in without the element of surprise.
Adams looks down at his watch and sees that it's time for the strike team to depart. They're to be carried to the hideout's location aboard several LAATs and Chinooks.
"Let's go. It's time," Adams says. Everyone in the armory quickly gathers up their weapons and other gear before they begin to follow Adams out of the armory.
Outside the armory, the rest of the strike team is assembling as the LAATs and Chinooks are warming up their engines. Adams does a quick headcount to ensure that everyone who is supposed to come on the mission is present, then calls out, "Alright. Let's head out!"
Everyone slowly boards the gunships and helicopters one by one as the rotors on the Chinooks start spinning. Once everyone is aboard their transports, the doors close. Finally, the first LAAT lifts off the ground. The second gunship follows a second later, followed soon after by the two Chinooks. The gunships are carrying the ASAT team, the Jedi, the Zulus, and the Clones, while the SEALs, Deltas, and the SAS are aboard the Chinooks.
The flight towards the Guadalupes is relatively quiet. All of the individuals aboard the gunships and helicopters are starting to realize the importance of this mission. After a quasi-war with the TLM for years now, they are finally going after the leader of this group. They are on a mission to capture or kill the most wanted man on the planet. At long last.
It isn't until the pilot of Adams' gunship calls out, "Three minutes out," that Adams finally speaks up.
"Listen up, boys. This is it. We've been looking for this snake for years now. And this is the best and only real chance we've had in those years at finding him. We can't afford to blow this mission. We can end this campaign of terror now if we bring in this guy and his lieutenants. Just follow your training and your orders, and let's bring this guy to justice," Adams says. Everyone in the gunship just nods in response, gripping their weapons tightly. In the center of the gunship, Crossfire, a German Shepherd military dog and one of two military dogs accompanying the strike team, whines a little bit, eager to get to work.
The gunship continues on towards the target before it begins to descend towards the landing site. "Standby!" Adams shouts, and everyone readies their weapons and gear.
As the gunships descend towards the hideout, the pilots can make out the target. The hideout is a compound that is half built into the mountains, with part of the compound extending about a hundred feet from the cliff face. The pilots can see defensive positions outside the compound around its perimeter, which include machine guns.
"Alright, let's hit those gun nests and then land the boys!" the pilot of the lead gunship calls out.
The gunships swoop in. Lookouts are shocked to see LAATs descending towards the compound and quickly sound alarms that blare through the compound. Everyone in the compound is shocked to hear these alarms, as they never expected to, before they start racing for their weapons.
As the gunships swoop down, the pilots begin firing their anti-personnel laser turrets in the chin of the gunship as the men manning the heavier laser turrets in the bubbles on either side of the gunship fire their weapons. The lasers rain hell down on the defensive positions outside the compound, destroying the machine guns and the men manning the positions.
Without hesitation, the pilots move in and set down. The doors on either side of the gunships open up, and the advance team leap out of the gunships. As soon as they're out, the gunships lift back off to provide cover.
The strike team spreads out to examine the destroyed defensive positions and confirm that everything is clear. Adams then gets on the radio and says, "Chinooks are cleared to move in."
Within seconds, the Chinooks appear over the landing site, accompanied by two Apaches. The Apaches fire their 30mm cannons onto the roof of the compound, killing two men who just appeared on the roof with RPGs.
The Chinooks set down and lower their back ramps, allowing the troops to disembark. The Deltas and SEALs, along with the second dog on this mission, Skipper, move towards Adams and the advance group, while the SAS begin spreading out to take up their positions. As the new arrivals close the distance, Adams says, "Alright. Move in."
With near silence, the strike team moves towards the entrance to the compound. Kit and Mace draw their lightsabers and ignite them, ready for action.
As they reach the main entrance into the compound, Mace steps forward. He stabs his saber into the bottom left corner of the door, and in a matter of seconds, cuts the entire door free. He then uses the Force to send the door flying into the compound.
Immediately, four Zulus rush through the door, weapons raised and aimed outwards, ready for any threat. One of the Zulus spots a man rushing towards the door armed with an AR-15 and he immediately kills him with a few shots from his
The first Zulu into the building, the now-Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Allen, scans the halls ahead of him before he says in a low voice, "Clear." Mace hears this and motions the rest of the team forward.
The rest of the team streams into the compound, weapons all raised and ready to fight. Adams says in a soft voice, "Separate into specified fireteams and move in." Everyone nods and separate into previously agreed upon fireteams of four men each. Clone Force 5 separates into the Bad Batch and a second team of Fives, Echo, Jesse, and Hardcase. Finally, the four ASATs and two Jedi separate into two teams of three. Adams and Hall go with Mace, while Wilson and Mofaz go with Kit. Half of the teams, one of which has Skipper, quickly head to the nearby stairs heading up to the second floor of the compound while the rest of the teams press on into the first floor.
On the ground floor, Allen leads his team of four Zulus down a hallway that is completely darkened. However, with their helmets' advanced systems, they can easily see everything in the hallway.
Suddenly, a door bursts open and a man leans out to fire an AR-15 at them. However, Allen immediately fires his assault blaster, hitting the guy in the face and killing him. Without slowing down, the Zulus walks up to the door the man just leaned out of. The team hesitates for a brief moment before they move into the room quickly, weapons raised. However, they quickly see that it's empty. The team moves back out of the room into the hallway.
Elsewhere on the first floor, the team of Deltas accompanied by Crossfire are slowly moving down a hallway. They've already killed two TLM members who tried to ambush them. Now, they are moving from room to room, clearing each one.
Suddenly, Crossfire starts to growl a bit and sniff even harder. The Delta holding his leash says softly, "Got something. What is it, Crossfire?"
Crossfire continues sniffing for a few more moments before he starts straining against the leash towards a door. The four Deltas move carefully to the door. The leader holds up a device created using Republic technology to scan the room. The device reveals no trip wires or lasers inside the door.
Secure with that knowledge, the leader of the team kicks the door in and the team storms in. The Deltas see two men in the room and instantly take them out with single shots. At the same time, the Deltas see a pile of C4 in the center of the room.
The leader quickly gets on his radio. "This is Lieutenant Walker. My team and I found a pile of C4 big enough to take out at least half of this compound, if not more. We're gonna try and defuse it," he says. One of the Deltas who is trained in explosives ordnance disposal gets to work trying to defuse the pile of C4.
Elsewhere, the Bad Batch have discovered a set of stairs leading down to a lower floor and carefully descend to the lower floor, a team of SEALs following them.
The Bad Batch moves quickly but quietly down a hallway leading away from the staircase. The Batch check several rooms along the hallway, but all are empty save one, which has a single man in it who surrenders as soon as he sees the clones. Hunter cuffs the man and leaves him in the room to be collected later.
Moving a short distance down the hallway, they discover a pair of large metal double doors that are secured with a thick bolt. Hunter instantly gets on the radio and says softly, "This is Sergeant Hunter. Possibly located Altmark. Prepping to breach."
Hunter looks at Wrecker and nods. Wrecker grins under his helmet as he cracks his knuckles. Wrecker then charges at the door and smashes into it, knocking the door off of its hinges and knocking it down.
The other three Batchers move into the room after Wrecker, seeing Wrecker send a man flying across the room with a punch. They see immediately that there are four more individuals in the room. One of them they recognize from briefings as a man believed to be in Altmark's inner circle.
Hunter and Crosshair each dispatch one of the guards, while the third drops his weapon and gets down on his knees. The lieutenant tries to aim his weapon, but Wrecker charges him, grabbing him and pinning him against the wall.
"You're under military arrest," Hunter informs the man as he struggles, trying to escape from Wrecker's grasp. Hunter then aims one of his blaster pistols at the man and fires a stun ray, knocking him out immediately. Wrecker releases his grip on the man, allowing Tech to cuff him.
As the Batch cuff their new captive, further up in the compound, one of the SEAL fireteams has captured another one of Altmark's lieutenants. So far, the strike force has already killed or captured over 40 individuals.
On the upper floor, Adams' team and one of the teams of Deltas are advancing down a hallway in the portion of the compound built into the mountain. As Adams, Hall, and Mace move into a room to clear it, they see there's a handful of files on the desk.
"Let's gather 'em up," Adams says, and the three of them head for the desk to gather up the files.
Suddenly, from out in the hallway, there are several gunshots, and one of the Deltas calls out, "Contact!"
Adams, Hall, and Mace race back out into the hallway. They see that the four Deltas have taken cover behind crates in the hallway. One of them looks like he's nursing a minor wound in his arm, while the other three have their weapons aimed down the hallway.
"ID?" Adams asks.
"Sir, it's Altmark. He just came out of that door on the left hand side about 50 feet down. He fired a few shots at us and we returned fire before he ducked back into the room," one of the Deltas says.
"Copy. Everyone, move in and engage the target," Adams says.
The seven of them move carefully down the hallway to the door where they spotted Altmark. The two teams assemble on either side of the door, ready to breach. Adams looks right at Mace and makes several hand signals. Mace, who has learned how to read military hand signals since coming to Earth, nods in understanding. The other six shuffle their positions slightly, ready to breach, as Mace moves to the other side of the hallway and faces the door.
Mace takes a deep breath as he raises a hand, but curling it slightly, gathering up as much Force energy as he can before he releases it all in a powerful Force wave. The wave of Force energy is strong enough to knock the door free of its hinges and send it tumbling into the room.
Adams storms into the room, Hall following close behind, with the Deltas coming right after them. As they enter the room, Adams shouts, "Everyone, down on your knees! Hands behind your back! Throw down your weapons!"
As they enter the room, they see eight guards, all armed with AR-15s or shotguns. Only one complies and drops his weapons to get down on his knees. The others start to aim their weapons. Adams kills one with a shot from his blaster before swinging his lightsaber and cutting another man's shotgun in half before kicking him to the ground. Adams pounces on the guy and pins him to the ground to cuff him. Hall kills another guard. The other Deltas kill all but one of the remaining guards. The last guard fires his AR-15, but only grazes the arm of one of the Deltas before Mace, who has entered the room by now, uses the Force to pull the AR-15 from his grasp. The Delta that the guard shot then kills him with a three round burst from his carbine.
Adams regains his feet after cuffing the guard he disarmed and whips around to see Altmark backed into a corner, finally getting a good look at their enemy. Altmark looks a lot like the pictures they have of him, but with the addition of a scar on his face, some slightly graying hairs, and his beard being a lot more unkempt. The man had picked up a shotgun, but right as he tries to aim it, Mace again uses the Force to pull the weapon from his grasp.
Hall and the Deltas aim their weapons at Altmark as they surround him. Mace joins the perimeter, leveling his lightsaber at Altmark's chest.
Adams steps up to the rest of the guys, holding his lightsaber at his side, the blade humming. "Carl Altmark, for a list of crimes to long to list, you're under military arrest. Get down on your knees and come peacefully, or we can make things very painful for you."
"I'll never surrender to someone who supports alien invaders," Altmark growls. He then draws a hidden knife from his belt and lunges at one of the Deltas.
"Swarm!" Adams shouts. Immediately, Hall and all four Deltas gang-tackle Altmark, pinning him under a pile of bodies. Altmark screams in rage and thrashes, fighting as best he can, but with five commandos on top of him, he cannot do much. Two Deltas manage to pull his arms behind his back while Hall keeps his legs pinned and a Delta keeps his head pinned, allowing the last Delta to snap cuffs around his wrists.
As soon as Adams sees the cuffs get snapped shut around Altmark's wrists, he turns on his radio. "This is Rear Admiral Adams. All strike units, Scorpion is in custody. I repeat, Scorpion is in custody," he says, using Altmark's assigned codename.
Throughout the compound, the strike teams feel a wave of relief, knowing that Altmark is finally in custody. However, they do not stop to celebrate, but continue with their mission to clear the rest of the compound.
It takes the strike force about two more hours to fully clear the compound, including killing or capturing the remaining inhabitants and gathering any intel they can from the compound. Finally, after the entire compound has been cleared, Adams gives the order to retreat.
The strike force heads out of the compound as the LAATs and Chinooks return to the compound. Once their doors are open, the strike force load their captives and captured intelligence onto the Chinooks before everyone boards their assigned gunships or helicopters.
As Adams gets onto his gunship, he calls over the radio back to Fort Bliss, where General Delves is waiting and monitoring the operation. "This is Adams to General Delves. Primary targets in custody, plus five more captives. We are about to start return journey to Fort Bliss."
"Copy that. Good work," Delves responds over the radio.
Adams grabs hold of the straps hanging from the ceiling as the doors close and the LAAT lifts off. As the gunship starts flying back towards Fort Bliss, he looks down at Altmark, who is still cuffed and now chained to the floor of the gunship. He feels a sense of satisfaction rush through him. At long last, after years of fighting, the leadership of the TLM is in custody.
Now, hopefully, this long conflict can come to an end.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
I hoped you liked this one. There will be two more chapters to wrap this story up. Next one will be up within the next week. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!