Chapter 1
Captain Lachlan Chambers of the Australian Special Air Service regiment was one of the ASAS's best men. He was smart, coolheaded in a crisis and most of all; he was skilled at whatever he was set. At age 24, Lachlan was the youngest member of the ASAS to be made Captain. Chambers got the call at 1545 hours from the Pentagon about a matter of global security. The caller sounded extremely scared, as if the world was about to end. Chambers however was in the middle of a mission when he got the call using the Emergency Broadcast System. Crikey Chambers thought. This was serious, because only the President and some very high ranking generals from the Joint Chiefs of Staff could access the Emergency Broadcast System. Chambers had told the caller he would be there as soon as possible.
Chambers at the moment was in a US made Apache chopper along with the other 11 members of his team. Accompanying the Apache were two Super Stallions on either of its flanks. One of the Super Stallions was carrying an eight-wheeled All Terrain Vehicle or ATV for short. The other Super Stallion was riding shotgun for its two counterparts. At its disposal were half a dozen fearsome looking Hellfire Missiles hanging from its "wings". In addition, a Gatling minigun was situated directly below its nose. This was some serious firepower all up. The reason for the 3 lone choppers making their way across the thick jungles of Indonesia was that there had been some rebel activity occurring in Indonesia. Some obviously thought the Indonesian government were being too oppressive. Australia, like a good neighbour had sent in one of their best reconnaissance units from one of the best Special Forces units in the world. So here Chambers was sitting in a skinny black Apache along with eleven other elite soldiers. Sergeant Whitney came to the front of the chopper to speak with Chambers. He looked uneasy. Chambers consoled him with some words of encouragement. This was Whitney's first assignment. Up till now, he had just been elevated through the ranks for his excellence at teaching abilities. Whitney had majored in teaching parachuting and sniping. So his valuable teaching skills had earned him the third ranked soldier in Chamber's unit.
Chambers smiled to himself as the green sergeant sat back down and strapped himself into the chair. Chambers looked around at his unit, while doing background checks in his head as well. There was Sergeant Whitney, call sign Bond; Lieutenant Carlyle, call sign Arnie; Gunnery Sergeant Willis, call sign Predator; Corporal Knight, call sign Shark; heavy arms expert Private Connors, call sign Beckham; demolitions expert Private Newman, call sign Caveman; support gunner Private Callis, call sign Cobra; Private Rodriguez, call sign Conquistador; Private Warwick, call sign Ox; Private O'Connell, call sign Dingo, Private Jones, call sign Psycho; and last but definitely not least, himself, Captain Chambers, call sign Hunter. He had seen every one of them do the ASAS barrier test himself before he let them join his unit. Chambers would only take the most elite of the elite and that's what he got.
"Ok fellas, we are approaching destination now. Please keep yourselves strapped in and thank you for flying ASAS Airways." the pilot over the intercom said. Everyone groaned. The ASAS pilots always without fail would make some crummy joke just as they were landing. The Apache chopper found a large clearing and landed along with its two Super Stallion escorts. The Stallion carrying the ATV released it and with a dull thud, it landed on the floor. The two Stallions veered away and left. Chambers' unit jumped off the Apache, jungle combat fatigues and M16 rifles, bowie knives and M9 pistols. They ran bent over through the thick foliage of the Indonesian jungles.
"Hey Captain" said Arnie. Arnie's call sign was due to his love of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Yes Lieutenant?" replied Chambers.
"Where are we heading exactly?"
"We need to head North West"
"What do we do once we get there?"
"First of all, we take out a rebel patrol doing rounds in the vicinity. Then we head west a bit more, where there will be the main rebel base. We infiltrate the compound and we break out some captives in the jail. Then we set up C4 explosives on every building and all around the perimeter, run like hell and detonate it. This will be a quick get in and get out mission; we will not be staying long. Once the prisoners are secured, we call for transport and we return to home base. Got it?"
"Sir!"
"Good. Now debrief the others. I need to get ready"
Arnie saluted, pivoted on his heel and left to tell the others. He checked his weapons and hauled a big Samsonite case in front of him. Inside the Samsonite case was about 10 C4 packs, some ammunition and a portable Stinger missile launcher along with 5 Stinger missiles. Chambers soon heard Arnie debriefing the rest of the unit. Chambers was worried, as this mission wouldn't be a recon mission, but an assault and extraction mission. His unit was a recon unit, but he had full confidence in his unit's potential. He pushed his anxiousness aside and hauled the Samsonite case to the rest of his unit to stock up on ammunition and equipment. As the rest of the unit was grabbing ammo and explosives, Chambers beckoned to Whitney.
"Whitney" said Chambers.
"Captain?" replied Whitney.
"I want you to scout ahead and look for that rebel patrol unit"
"Yessir!"
Whitney took off his Beretta sniper rifle, grabbed some rounds from the Samsonite case and loaded his weapon. He then camouflaged himself with a jungle coloured gillie suit, a suit covered in synthetic plant fibre designed for covert movement. Chambers watched him creep off into the jungle and then turned around to his men.
"I hope you guys are locked and loaded?"
"Sir, yes sir!" chorused his unit.
"Good. In that case, Psycho and Dingo: put the case in the ATV and warm her up. The rest of you: set up defensive positions for now while we get the ATV warmed up. We need to wait for Bond to come back. Now move!"
Psycho and Dingo headed off with the Samsonite case and lifted it into the ATV. They then got into the front seats and Dingo started revving the engine in an effort to warm the engine up quicker. The rest of the unit dug foxholes in the ground and lay flat under foliage as cover. They were all facing the direction of where Whitney had departed. Chambers and his unit waited for another half hour before they heard a rustle. If one was standing nearby, one could hear the ominous clicks of a dozen or so safety switches being flicked off. Suddenly Whitney burst out of the dense vegetation gasping. Chambers was concerned.
"Bond, report!" barked Chambers.
"Sir!" gasped Whitney, "I found that rebel patrol unit we're looking for, but-"
"But what?" Chambers replied, cutting Whitney off.
"Well, I was up on a hill and I was surveying the area, when I saw the patrol"
"And?"
"Um, it isn't a patrol"
"If it isn't the patrol we are looking for then we don't bother with it. We need to take out the patrol and their main base, nothing else"
"But it's the rebels!"
"What? If it isn't a patrol then what is it?"
"That's the thing sir! It's an army!"
"Are you sure of this?"
"Positive sir"
"How large?"
"I counted 10 across 5 deep"
"Damn it! We don't have the man power to take on a force of that size"
"Well, it isn't that size anymore"
"What do you mean?"
"They spotted me sir"
"Oh damn…"
"Yeah, so they started firing at me, and I returned fire"
"How many did you take out?"
"I sent about 15 of them to hell"
"Good job soldier. We still have a chance then"
"Thank you sir"
"Dismissed"
"Sir!"
When this exchange was over, Chambers walked to the ATV. The ATV was warmed up and ready to go. Chambers called for the rest of his unit to get into the ATV. Once everyone was inside, he called for Whitney to give Dingo directions to where he last saw the rebel army. When they at last arrived at the point where Whitney had seen the rebels last, he found there was nothing there except the bodies of the men he had slain and the tracks of 50 man tramping through the jungle. Chambers was apprehensive and told his team to get out of the ATV, hide it and set up foxholes. Once this was done, Chambers and his team sat and waited.
They waited for hours and finally, night fell, and an eerie mist descended on the ground, making it the site of a perfect ambush. Well, perfect for anyone overlooking the scene that is. Chambers and his team didn't have to wait long before the ambush was sprung.