Hey I'm back again. FIVE MONTHS. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO DAYS.
Fuck me sideways I'm late on this one. There's no excuse for my infinite laziness. Anyway, I've FINISHED the story and it should be all posted now.
ENJOY
Chapter 14:
Lee peered over the top of the downed chopper. He could see several figures emerging from the treeline, rifles levelled as they approached the crash site. He could hear their backs and forths as the enemies drew nearer.
"Daeletsky, Ivanoff; Sweep right." A Russian voice ordered. "Everyone else take left. We'll jump these fuckers."
Dropping back down, Lee turned to Charlie and Tommy. "They're coming. We need to move now." He said, picking up his MK.12. Pulling Tommy to his feet, the three made a dash for the treeline and disappeared into the foliage.
Passing through the bushes, Tommy took the M4 back off of his sister and racked the bolt as he ran. Lee disappeared somewhere behind the two and Tommy spun, "Lee! Where the fuck are you going!" He spat in a hushed tone. "Keep going! I'll catch up." Lee replied, going prone in the dirt as he set up his bipod. Grimacing, Tommy turned again and continued running.
Taking aim through the scope, Lee noticed the lens had been damaged as an icy white crack ran between the black lines of the crosshairs. In his view was the downed helicopter where the squad of Russians had arrived, looking around for the missing SEALs. He saw them standing around the main body of the craft, weapons aimed in multiple directions. Moving the crosshairs upwards, Lee hovered the T-shape over a large bulbous part of the downed helicopter; one of the reserve fuel tanks.
"Burn in Hell." He muttered quietly, squeezing the trigger.
There was a metallic ping as the round struck the fuel tank, followed by a deep, deafening boom as the chopper went up in flames a second time, the fireball engulfing the small squad. Pulling himself away from the scope, Lee looked on at the carnage as a handful of the remaining soldiers staggered about, bright orange flames covering them head to toe as they cried out in agony. Taking his rifle, Lee launched to his feet and started running to keep up with the others.
"Nice fireworks." Tommy grinned when he saw the sniper jogging up to him and his sister. "I was saving them for the 4th o' July." Lee joked, smiling.
….
There was another knock at the door.
"Come in." General Garret said sitting up. The you8ng Lieutenant came into the room again, holding a telephone. "A call for you, General." He said as the older man stood to take the phone.
"This is Major-General Dennis Garret. To whom am I speaking?" He asked as he raised the phone to his ear.
"Good evening, General." Replied the voice of a posh-sounding Englishman. "My name is Edwin Hope, British Foreign Secretary." He said, introducing himself. "I have gotten wind of your operation in Kyrgyzstan from MI-6 and we also happen to have an SAS Team conducting reconnaissance in the local area. If needed, they are on standby to assist your Navy SEALs."
Garrets' heart leaped. "Mr Hope that would be greatly appreciated." He replied. "How long would the team require to prepare and enter the mission area?"
"Depending on exactly where your team is, General," Hope answered, "They can be linking up with them within the hour."
….
Scanning….
Bravo Team Located….
Tracking Cpl. Daniels, L.
Schoolboy checked the magazine of his MP5 again, making sure he had a full mag. He felt the patting of someone's hand on the back of his shoulder.
"Oi, Schoolboy. We're moving out." Sergeant John 'Soap' MacTavish said as the young Corporal stood. "Command just cleared a new objective. We're going to help out the yanks." Nodding, Schoolboy followed Soap out into the clearing again where other members of the team were going through their kit, standing and kneeling in a semicircle as they worked. Walking over, Schoolboy took a knee and planted the butt of his submachinegun into the dirt, waiting for the new mission briefing.
The faint glow of the end of a cigar could be seen in the edge of the clearing nearby as Captain Price emerged from the foliage, slinging his M4.
"Alright, the parameters of our mission have changed." He explained, "We have been reassigned to provide assistance to a US Navy SEAL Team not far up the mountain to our north." Price looked round at the small unit of men, "They are under heavy fire from Ultranationalist forces so expect a firefight. After linking up with the SEALs, we will escort them to our own LZ for exfil. Any questions?"
"Any reinforcements?" One of the operators asked.
"We are the reinforcements." Price answered.
….
"Contact!" Tommy hissed as he hunkered down. "Do not engage!" The other two stopped and imitated the action as they looked downhill to a small stream running through the forest. Around the stream was a handful of Russian soldiers, readying their weapons and defences.
"Looks like they're setting up an ambush for us." Lee said, squinting.
"Then what do we do?" Charlie asked, her teammate shook his head, unsure.
"We ambush the ambush." Tommy said, readying his gun. "Attack them from the sides and hit em with everything we've got." He looked across to Charlie, ordering his sister to take the left flank. "Lee, you take the right." He then said, "I'll go centre."
….
The Russians looked well-equipped. Light machineguns and grenade launchers appeared frequently in the hands of passing footsoldiers, ideal for flushing Lee and the others out into a killbox. Ironic. He thought. They're setting up a killbox and they don't even know they're in one themselves.
Crouched, Lee crept behind a tree near the stream, slinging his rifle as he unsheathed a combat knife. Inching his way out from cover, he slowly approached the Russian group, most of which had their backs to him.
Eight men, varying in appearance. Whilst most of them were in the standard brown-green forest camouflage pattern of the Russian Army, a few seemed a lot less official in their outfits. Drab webgear, jeans and T-shirts, they looked more like volunteers and militia than actual soldiers. The closest man to him sat up on a small sandbag wall facing away from him, talking to someone else as he smoked a cigarette. Drawing near to the enemy soldier, Lee readied his knife as he prepared to tackle him.
His limbs a blur of motion, Lee grabbed the back of the Russian's collar, pulling him backwards over the sandbags and sinking the blade up to the hilt into his chest. The resultant yelp of terror caused the others to wheel around in shock, shouting to one another as their teammate suddenly died. Suppressed gunfire cracked as Tommy lay down fire on the remaining men.
Charging the next man, Lee planted his fist into his face followed by a jab between the ribs before pushing him down. Charlie had emerged nearby, wrestling an AK from the hands of a stunned Russian soldier.
Quickly raising his MK.12, Lee fired off a couple of shots into the soldier Charlie was fighting, downing the man for her as she grabbed his weapon. Racking the bolt of the AK, Charlie held down the trigger on the weapon and it kicked back with each round as several more Russians hit the floor.
In a matter of seconds, it was all over and silence quickly descended around the stream as the three SEALs swapped glances.
"What now?" Charlie asked, checking the magazine on her Kalashnikov.
"Same as before." Tommy replied, "Check your ammo and let's get ready to move."
"Good." Lee replied, walking over to them, "If we're really going to cross the border, the Chinese won't welcome us with open arms but at least-"
Pain suddenly ripped through Lee's abdomen as he heard the zip of a bullet going subsonic. Dropping to his knees as he clutched the wound, sound slowly faded out to an eerie ringing in his ear. Watching as the others levelled their guns and fired over his shoulder, he dropped over against the rock, dazed and stunned as the pain still burned through his stomach.
Rolling his head, he watched the last Russian soldier go down. He must have been the one who shot him. How the hell did they miss him? Was he playing dead? Lee didn't know.
"Lee? Is that you?" A woman's voice called out. He looked up to see a figure approaching him, a warm smile growing on her face. It was Sophie again. Lee didn't care if she was real or not, he reached out to her as the woman drew nearer. "You need to get up." She said firmly. "Your friends need you. I need you." Sophie extended an arm and gently stroked the side of Lee's bearded face. "You're a fighter, you don't quit." Her eyes met his, staring deep into the man's soul. "Please just get up."
Lee jolted awake again to Charlie grimacing at the bleeding hole in his stomach. He tried to sit up when a surge of fire ran up his gut.
"It's bad." Charlie said, "The bullet looks as if it went through a kidney. You're losing a lot of blood." She explained grimly.
Tommy was off to one side listening intently to a captured Russian radio. Foreign dialects chattered back and forth as the Lieutenant shook his head, standing up off of the rock he was sat on "There's no time." He said urgently, "Reinforcements are en route. A whole platoon'll be on us any minute now." He looked at the other two. "We can't outrun them."
"I'll stay." Lee spoke up, breaking the silence. "I'll hold them off as long as I can for you two to get away."
Charlie shook her head angrily. "No way!" She shouted. "We're not leaving you! We don't leave people behind!" Her brother nodded in agreement. "We do everything together, Lee. We all run or we all stay."
The SEAL tried forcing himself up, clenching his teeth to supress the pain as he managed a half-stand as Tommy knelt down next to him, checking over his rifle.
Lee gave him a stare as if to say "You know I have to do this."
"Let me stay." He said. "I'll keep them busy."
He grabbed the back of his squadmate's head, bringing their dirt-and-blood-stained foreheads together. Closing his eyes, Lee knew what he had to do. Tommy knew he couldn't stop him.
Pushing away, Tommy stood handing him the remaining spare magazine of his M4, saluting the man as Charlie did the same.
"It's been an honor." He said solemnly.
"Honor's all mine. Don't stop. Just keep going." Lee replied, picking up his MK.12.
"See you in Hell, brother." Tommy said before turning to leave with Charlie.