Chapter 15

The team walked into the base and headed straight to TOC before they dropped their gear. As they all piled in, Davis reached for their gear, knowing they would not go anywhere soon, at least not until they got some answers. And these answers they were seeking were something no one had in TOC. She silently braced for the anger about to come.

"Tell me something." Jason stormed in.

"Yeah, is Delta on their way back yet?" Sonny questioned. "You said it is the same length op, and we got a little sidetracked from Bam Bam here deciding to run off and play."

Blackburn looked at the team filing in and braced himself for what he was about to say. Thankfully, Davis took their gear and headed out by now, so she did not have to listen to this or get accusations thrown at her as she was already not handling the Delta mission very well and her best friend out without the team looking after her six.

"Delta is not back yet; they have hit a problem and are hulled up in an empty house right now waiting for their QRF to arrive; they are still five hrs out as they are coming from another base, not by helo. We have lost coms with them but do have spotty ISR footage. And before any of you say anything, Jason, we can not go in after them." Blackburn blurted out, thinking it would be easier for them to hear if it were quick and fast, like ripping off a bandage. "After taking out their target, they were ambushed by an unexpected troop of fighting-age males and sought cover in an abandoned house up the road."

"How many?" Jason asked with a tone Blackburn knew too well. Anger and defeat. "HOW MANY?" no one responded, and Jason knew that had to mean bad news.

"At least twenty men and one tactile." Was all Mandy could get out as she took on the glare of Jason and Ray.

"So, you are telling me Delta is pinned down against a troop of twenty men, and a tactile and probably RPGs as well and who knows how many more coming while waiting for their QRF that is hours out if they don't get caught up by another group of men?" Ray asked calmly. The team knew too well that this was the fuse leading up to the explosion for him. Long-winded rushed sentences trying to wrap his head around the information.

"Yes, and even if we could go out after them, we have no access to a helo with their location and SAMs were reported in that area. Dropping us off outside range, we would be just as far out as the QRF; they will probably beat us," Mandy spoke, knowing Blackburn had a hard time relaying this information as he was not in the suitable headspace knowing one of his men were not home safe. He was already itching to try and get himself and Bravo out.

Everyone in TOC braced themselves, listening to the string of curses the team let out while pacing or hitting the table with their fists.

"I know you guys don't want to hear this, but there is nothing we can do right now; go clean up, and I will get Davis to work on getting back the ISR feed and bring you some food. The best we can do is wait." Blackburn said as calmly as he could, balling his fists and holding back his explosion.

As the team filed out, Blackburn grabbed his phone and got Davis to bring back some food; although he knew it was a long shot they would settle enough to eat, he hoped Davis stepped in, suggesting it may have some pull. She seemed to be able to tame the chaos and childish tantrums in them all and help them think and act rationally.

Just as she settled in after gathering some sandwiches and coffee from the mess tent, Davis managed to get some old recoded ISR footage for the team to watch and was working on setting up another drone to be sent out for an update and to try and establish comms. The whole team came barging in along with Cerb and his bone and created a whirlwind around the screens noticing some ISR footage of Delta.

"Is this current?" Trent asked, looking back at Davis and Backburn as they started handing out coffee.

"No, this is from a few hours ago before coms went down; we got some recorded. I am working on sending out a new drone, but it won't be able to stay out for very long." Davis responded as she sat back down and got to work on her laptop.

As she set up the recording, the team settled into their seats along the table, coffee in hand, but no one took a sip. No one was at ease enough to think of meeting their needs until they knew Delta was safe. Liz was safe. As they watched the screens, they saw a team of five soldiers run down an alley, dodging fire and taking out the five men on their tail before they ducked into a house. They could see all five figures standing in the middle of the room after they cleared the house—five figures all standing, no one on the ground or hovering over each other, rendering aid. Delta was a five-member team without Metal and Liz, so where are the missing members? Everyone in the building seemed to be ok. Alive and well, for the most part, they could see about fifteen men along the streets converge on their location. Plotting. Soon two more bodies rushed down a different road, storming towards the house. Judging by the size, one being massive and tall and the other seemingly short and petite, they all assumed it was their missing team member. As they rushed towards the door, they took out two more soldiers, and a wall of bullets flew toward them. They managed to make it into the house, bending over at the table with the other five members. The team held their breath, mumbling for them not to keel over; as they watched, the figures slowly straightened up and stood there facing each other, and the taller figure put a hand towards the other figure, prodding at the body. It seemed to be checking them over and pulled their hand away after a moment, seeming satisfied.

"Pebbles is ok; that must be there in the middle of the group." No questions asked; she is ok; she needs to be. Was all Sonny could muster as they watched the footage cut out. He said it more to convince himself as a statement.

The team leaned back in their chairs, let out a breath they all did not know they were holding, and took a sip of their coffee, knowing they would be in for a few hours.

….

Delta – 5 hours ago

"Delta 6 and 7, get a move on, meet up at our secondary point. Rest of you, MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Delta 1 yelled at Full Metal and Liz, who were still up on overwatch as Liz was propped up along the roof trying to clear a path for the rest of Delta to head out from their HVTs room. Liz guided them through the halls and windows as their party of 5 bodyguards turned into an entire twenty-man troop. She managed to take out 3 of them in the house as Delta ran through the halls blind as they cut the power trying to trap the team inside with unfamiliar surroundings.

Delta 1-5 was just leaving the doors and ran into two more enemy troops waiting for them. A little startled but fast on their feet, the team hid behind the car in the alley and managed to return fire, taking out the two hostiles before they got back up. Liz and Metal watched Delta disappear into the alley, knowing they would have ISRs cover as they packed up their gear and headed out to meet at the abandoned house a couple of blocks over that Delta chose for a secondary rally point. Liz had to bite her tongue about the choice of the rally point being too obvious and way too close to the HVTs house; it was too high of a risk. Every time she tried to open her mouth about mission details, Delta 2 shut her down; he did not like anyone on Bravo as he thought they were entitled and not as good as the hype around them, and so if he was going to be stuck with them on his mission, he was going to make them run through hoops to get his approval. Delta 1 was in full support of Liz, but his team could tell he was still a little uncertain about leading a team and was steamrolled frequently by Delta 2 and looked to Full Metal for guidance through the briefing. He was ecstatic to have one of the famous Bravo snipers on his team, even if for one mission, but he was not going to settle for one mission if he could convince his second to cool his jets and accept that she was an asset regardless of her gender or team.

"Alright, Lil lady, are you ready to head out and get back to your group of smother hens? I can't imagine how they are taking all this and probably driving Blackburn crazy, trying to smother hen you all the way over here and clucking away. And I don't need them on my ass." Metal laughed as he did one last review of their surroundings and lowered a hand to hoist Liz onto her feet, heading to the stairs.

"Ha, that I say is something I am glad I'm not there to witness. I do not have a team of brothers; I have a team of overly protective fathers and uncles." Liz laughed while rolling her eyes as they headed down the stairs, rifles out at the ready.

Metal grinned and took the opportunity to tease Liz as she opened that door herself, "And one family friend, cuz that would just be a weird relationship if he was your father or a creepy uncle." He winked at her when he saw her cheeks turn pink as her gaze went to her feet.

"Yeah, Cerb would be weird to be related." Liz tried to counter, knowing she was beaten.

"Oh no, Cerb is the most protective father on the team over his two accident-prone pups." Metal laughed, knowing he got her, and she was trying to change the subject about the particular person in question.

The two rounded the corner out of the building as they headed towards the rally point, going in another direction than Delta to avoid enemy trails. As dawn crept on them, the team made it to the house and cleared it before the group broke into an all-out rage fest, waiting for their last two remaining members.

"Delta 1, this is HAVOC. We have ISR footage of fifteen to twenty troops heading your way in all directions and will surround the house in about five mikes. Do you copy? You need to get out now." Davis came in over coms.

"Good copy; we can't leave without Delta 6 and 7; they should be here right away." Delta 1 returned to HAVOC as he noticed a new static coming through his earpiece.

"We see them…. corner…... Enemy is surrounding… get out….. QFR is…hours out…. Copy?" Davis came across as the static became stronger, and her voice was choppy and fading in and out. "No ISR…..loosing….. contact…..out."

"HAVOC, say again your last?" Delta 1 panicked as he was met with nothing but silence. "Delta 6 and 7 sitrep?"

Nothing.

"We can't wait for them; we have to get out while we can, and they can hold up somewhere until QRF can make it here and get them out." Delta 2 ordered his team lead as he motioned the team to pack up and get ready to head out.

"No, we are not leaving them; they will be here any moment, and we will have a few minutes to all get out." Delta 1 told his team, holding his ground.

"No, we have to go. I'm not risking my life for them being too slow." Delta 2 said just as the door swung open with a spray of bullets and two bodies dived in, rolling on the floor.

"Man, they are hot and bothered out there, not happy at all." Metal joked as he got up and went to lean over Liz making sure she was ok; as he noticed blood smeared on her pant leg, motioning for Delta's medic to get over to her.

"I'm fine; it's just a graze." Liz waved off his help to get her sitting up as she continued to try and get to her feet. Metal ignored her as usual, knowing he could never take the boo-boo buddies at their word for how 'fine' they are with any injury or illness.

"Sit your ass down and let him take a look, and if you are fine and only need a quick stitch, then you can get up and join the fun. Until he clears you, though, I better see your ass stay on that floor." Metal joked with Liz but kept a serious tone to his voice to let her know he was serious.

Delta lined up along the windows on the main floor of the house, returning fire.

As Deltas medic cut open her pant leg just below her hip on her outer thigh, he nodded towards Metal and his team leader, "Just a graze but will need stitches. I'll freeze her up, and she should be good to go."

After a few long gruelling moments of being stitched up as Liz would not stay still, trying to hurry up the medic to get up there and help the team out, she was finally stitched up and pulled on her feet and given a few Advil for the pain as she refused anything stronger. Trent would have never accepted her actions of being a wiggly toddler while he was trying to treat her; Delta's medic was a bit more patient and almost scared to ask her to stay still. Liz and the medic popped into the fight like nothing had happened, taking out one man as the rest seemed to retreat for only a moment. But that moment was long enough for the enemy to send a car straight towards the house door with what looked like a bomb strapped to the hood.

"Everyone move now! To the back of the house." Metal yelled.

"Get out now!" Delta 1 screamed as he pulled Liz and his medic away from the window by their vests.

Just as the car made it to the door, an explosion went off and shook their world as the wooden and stone structure of the house came crumbling down in a pile of dust and engulfed in flames.