Chapter 15: High Value Target

Richard sat down in Victor's office, unsure of what was coming. Was the conversation between Travis and Victor simply talk? How far back did the two men go? Was he about to get a stern talking to or a dishonorable discharge? The questions mounted in Richard's head until he shoved them all aside - he knew he did the right thing, the consequences be damned.

"So then..." Victor began, pushing a folder to the side, "There was an issue out there... You disobeyed a direct order."

"And I'd do it again in a heartbeat" Richard declared with an intense glare, "we don't leave people behind."

Victor returned the glare, the intimidation factor between the two could get a lion to back down, but neither man gave an inch. "I hope you don't plan on making a habit out of that" Victor said.

"So long as our people don't make a habit of getting themselves into situations like that."

Victor nodded, "I read your report and it left one question that's been nagging me... How exactly did you plan to get out of there with no backup, no support, no vehicle, and carrying two people?" Richard shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking down and swallowing. "You didn't think that far ahead did you?"

Richard shook his head.

Victor nodded again, then slid the folder he had pushed aside earlier towards Richard. "That's a debriefing of what happened and the investigation's findings... The short version of the story is the Apache got hit by an RPG."

Richard quirked an eyebrow, "you mean to tell me those choppers can't stand up to a twenty dollar RPG held together by duct tape?"

"Oh they can..." Victor began, "if they get hit on their body, this one hit just above the armor plating and right below the main rotors, the bastard couldn't have got a better hit had he tried... The autopsy of the gunner suggests she suffered that head wound from the explosion... Happened right behind her."

"That was a bit more than a head wound..."

"I saw the body Rich... That hole was big enough for her brain to fall out... I know."

Richard shook his head, the feeling of helplessness was unpleasant to say the least. "So what now?"

"The whole incident... Not just your running off... Got up to the President's desk, it took some arm twisting and I had to call in a favor but I managed to get the heat off you."

Richard wasn't satisfied with the answer. "How is it that there was any heat on me to begin with? I was trying to help our people."

"You said it yourself, we don't leave people behind, some higher ups saw it as you putting the whole team at risk" Victor explained.

Richard sighed, he hadn't thought of it that way, though he still didn't agree with it. "Am I still on active duty?"

"You are... Which is good, because we have another mission."

The whole team was present for the briefing, the usual routine commenced, but with an unusual opener.

"Gentlemen the past seventy-two hours have substantial... ISIS has been pushed back all the way to Falluja and is surrounded on all sides, we're closing the net on them as we speak" Victor began. Richard nodded, feeling a sense of pride, the feeling of victory washed over him as he listened. "The war is for all intents and purposes over, we're essentially on mop-up duty at this point... But it's a messy job." A video of various gunfights in the street began playing on the screen. "It's street to street fighting in Falluja, you'll find Marines fighting in one spot and a block down the road the Army will be engaging with someone else, which is going to provide the perfect cover for our mission..." A picture of Slade Wilson appeared on screen. "We're going after the crown jewel... Slade Wilson is in his main base of operations with no way out, you'll be inserting via Blackhawk onto the roof... Take down everybody in that building and when you find Wilson, make sure he meets his seventy-two virgins." Richard couldn't help but smile, this was the moment he had been waiting for, the mission he had been waiting for, the whole reason he had enlisted in the first place. "Exfil is going to be the best part of the whole thing, you get to shoot your way out, once Wilson is eliminated you'll be advised of the best direction to head in, questions?" Nobody had any.

While suiting up Richard had a look of determination on his face, he was in the zone, more so than usual, Roy noticed and approached him. "You okay?"

Richard appeared startled as he quickly turned to face Roy, "yeah, I'm fine... Why?"

Roy shrugged, "I don't know... You just seem a little different this time."

Richard shook his head, confused. "Don't feel any different."

Roy paused, then spoke, "you sure you're not making this too personal?"

Richard slid a rifle magazine into its pouch on his stomach. "I feel like we've had this conversation before... Hatred, killing... Getting revenge."

"And that's fine if it gets you here... But on the battlefield you know you can't make it personal, remember your training."

Richard sighed and leaned against the table in front of him, "not personal until I have my front sight on his chest."

The helicopter ride was routine and boring for the longest time, loud and cramped with six men crammed inside, until they began their approach of Falluja. They were at about five thousand feet but it was clear as day that the battle below was far beyond intense, tracers, explosions, aircraft of nearly all types, it left mixed feelings among the SEALs. The Blackhawk began to rapidly lose altitude in a controlled descent, "thirty seconds" Victor said over the radio. He was in the first helo with Richard, Roy and three others. "Any last minute advice Chief?" He asked Richard.

Richard slowly looked up, his gaze as intense as the ground war below them, "take them all down."

The helicopter pitched up rapidly, doubling the G-forces inside, it came to a halt twenty feet above the roof and the doors slid open, Victor grabbed the rope and slid down followed closely by Richard. The other Blackhawk got into position and the men inside it made their way down, moving towards the edges of the roof, thirty seconds later the helicopters departed.

Richard made his way over to the only door and grabbed the knob, another man positioned himself on the other side with his weapon at the ready. Richard opened the door and the man entered followed closely by two others. The stairwell was dark with no lights or windows, but still light enough to see. The first man rounded a corner at the bottom of the stairs and fired his rifle twice, as he and the second man disappeared around the corner more gunshots rang out as the SEALs in front engaged with terrorists. Richard came around the corner just as the shots stopped, he saw the bodies of three enemy soldiers laying on the floor, blood splattered across the white walls. As the men stacked up on a door on the left Richard took point, heading to the next door which was on the right, he stepped to the left side as Victor opened the door, the room was empty. The men moved to the next stairwell, Roy being on point, he fired three shots down the stairs before he even reached the second step.

The bottom of the stairs was a T configuration, Roy took the right side while Richard took the left. There was only a single room to the right so Roy "sliced the pie" to clear it, when he looked down into the final section he spotted a teenage boy with something in his hands. He fired three shots and the boy dropped, it was only then that Roy noticed the object he was holding was a hammer. "Dammit" He muttered, "clear on the right!"

Richard was moving down the hallway that followed the outside wall of the building all the way to the corner. He did a quick peek and saw a man at the far end of the hallway, he leaned around the corner and fired three shots, the man went down. Richard stepped to the right side of the first door as Roy got into position, before he could take hold of the doorknob however, the door opened and the person on the other side grabbed Roy's arm and pulled him in. The enemy threw Roy to the ground and got on top of him. Richard dropped his rifle, letting the sling hold it across his front and he placed his right knee at the rear base of the mans neck, he grabbed the mans head and pulled as hard as he could. A cracking sound could be heard and Richard felt the mans neck break, he went limp. Roy turned around as Richard extended a hand to help him up. "Too close" he said. Shots rang out from the hallway, causing the men to jump.

As the pair returned to the hallway they could see that the second door, which was also the only other door in the hallway, was open. Given the position of the two bodies other than the one Richard was responsible for it was a good guess they came from inside the next room. The men stepped over the bodies, making their way to the next room, which the hallway ended into. "Flashbang" Richard said.

Roy stopped and pulled a grenade out of its pouch, he pulled the pin and let the lever fly off, after waiting two seconds he tossed it into the room, bouncing it off the wall. Even through their covered ears the explosion was painfully loud, they entered the room to find two stunned enemies, Roy was on point and took down one while another SEAL took down the other. They kept moving to the next hall, Richard took point once again as Roy and another man stacked up on the first door, just before he got into position on the next door, Richard saw a man at the end of the hallway, he looked at him and immediately recognized the two tone mask "Hindenburg spotted!" Richard yelled as he fired several shots at the man, who ran down the next hall. Richard darted to the end of the hall and turned left, he fired more shots at the fleeing man but he still disappeared around the next corner. "Fuck!" He yelled in frustration as his rifle's bolt locked back, indicating the magazine was empty.

"GO!" Victor yelled, "go after him! Get him!"

Richard ran down the hallway as he loaded a new magazine into his weapon, his teammates right behind him. He made it to the end of the hallway and looked around the corner, it was only a stairway to the ground floor. He went down it and saw Wilson laying on the floor, clutching his right ankle. He pulled a small pistol out of his pocket but before he could get it all the way out Richard fired five shot at him, three hitting just below his neck, one hitting Wilson in the center of his jaw and the last hitting just to the left of his neck. Richard saw him stop moving and approached cautiously, he kicked Wilson's legs apart and gave him a swift toe kick to the groin, getting no reaction, he put a single round into Wilson's third eye just to be sure.

He knelt down and pulled off Wilson's mask, the dead man had no facial features that would set him apart from anybody else, definitely a face that would not stand out in a crowd. "Hindenburg down" Richard said calmly over the radio as the last few of his teammates who were covering the rear caught up.

"Command we are ready for exfil, which way 'we going?" Victor asked over the radio.

It took a few seconds, but a male voice came back. "You're going to want to go northwest, got Army closing in, and you're going to want to move, heavy armor moving in."

"Copy that" Victor replied, "time to move!"

The men moved outside and instantly picked up on the two approaching enemy tanks. "GET DOWN!" Richard yelled as the first tank fired off a round, striking the building right next to one they had just raided. The second tank fired a shot quickly after hitting the target structure. The SEALs scrambled as the two buildings began to crumble and collapse, the first tank fired another shot, causing both structures to collapse. The target building only partially came down while the other structure toppled like a tree, right on top of the SEALs position.