Priority 1 – Dragonfire - Execute

Isolated Warehouse Complex – Outside Northeast Side Supply Building

Debris was still settling as Jules coughed. There was no sound as she blinked her eyes open. Her first thought was it was 'wow it's snowing' as tons of small particles floated down in front of her eyes.

She was on flat on her back and she hurt. Sound rushed back in. Through the incessant ringing she heard rumbling and crashing sounds.

Her second thought was 'not snow, ash, debris, the building blew'.

Jules slowly turned her head towards the buildings, it hurt to move. It took her a few moments for the reality of what she was seeing to sink in.

They no longer existed. Only a pile of rubble lay where once stood buildings.

Her team? Her family? Her Sam? No oh god no.

Jules screamed. She had to find them. She tried to sit up and pain engulfed her as blackness took her again.

Isolated Warehouse Complex – Outside North of Command Building

Russ was pulling himself up to his knees. He and Apollo were almost to the trees when the explosion occurred. He had been thrown forward by the shockwave. Everything hurt. His head was pounding. He reached to the back where it hurt the most. Wet. He brought his hand to forward, blood.

His first clear thoughts were Apollo? Daphne? Cameo? He slowly turned toward the buildings.

He fell to his ass. Nothing. Just nothing. How the hell? He scanned for Apollo, Daphne and Cameo. Apollo was near him. The others were about ten feet away from him both on the ground.

Russ crawled to Apollo and checked his pulse, alive. He dragged himself to his feet. The pounding in his head and ringing in his ears was constant and throwing off his balance.

He staggered his way tilting to the left then to the right to Cameo first. He dropped to his knees. Thank god alive. Russ didn't try to stand again it took to much energy. He crawled the short distance to Daphne. Alive too.

Russ sat and pulled out his phone and dialed. When it answered he said haltingly "Corporal Russell A. Kostopoulos N98-04-2835. Dragonfire."

["Roger. Standby."]

["Verified. Status?"]

Russ only said "Priority 1 sit-rep."

["Standby."]

Russ was getting very dizzy. He lay down knowing he had to stay conscious. He had given the distress code given for this mission. Russ had informed all the unit members of the code when they reached the location.

Per Blondie's orders Russ had briefed Colonel Sutton on the details they knew while they were enroute to the location. Blondie would have normally done so as mission commander but he was engaged with Ed and Mason on developing tactics.

Blondie had told Russ to tell Sutton that it was Priority 1 mission. But he didn't know why. The reason was above his security level and had to have something to do with what Blondie read in the top secret file.

Sutton had given him the code name Blightcrest to specifically relate status of Mousa. He was also instructed to only give the sit-rep directly to him, which Russ also conveyed to the others. So Russ knew he needed to stay conscious long enough to report critical details. He hoped Sutton answered soon. His wish was granted.

["Kostopoulos, Colonel Sutton. Details."]

Russ reported "Sir. four of seven unit down. Three unknown. One of two package down, One unknown. Six of six SRU unknown. One of one cousin unknown. All targets presumed dead. Blightcrest confirmed dead, own eyes. All unknown friendly presumed down. Med Air-Evac. Containment."

["Help is on the way" Sutton responded.]

Russ then said "Sir. The building's gone, there's nothing left." His voice cracked slightly as he said "I'm not sure if seven even made it out of the building." His words came slow and a bit slurred as he said "Sir. Several need immediate medical care. I'm going black."

["Hold tight. Stay with me. Corporal respond" Sutton ordered urgently.]

But Russ didn't hear the Colonel as he slipped unconscious.

Special Forces Base – Colonel Sutton's Office

When Russ did not respond he immediately dialed another number "Sutton."

["Yes Sir" the Master Sergeant replied.]

"Priority 1, Dragonfire, Execute" Sutton ordered.

["Willco. Details Sir?"]

Sutton heard running footsteps as the Warrant Officer, also known colloquially as Master Sergeant, ran. Then he heard blades of several helicopters rev to full speed. "Five of sixteen confirmed down, Eleven of sixteen presumed down. Seven may need extraction from collapsed building. All targets presumed dead but watch your six."

["Roger."]

"ETA?"

["Forward staged unit and med evacs, ready as ordered Sir. ETA ten minutes tops" the Master Sergeant replied.

He had found the orders odd when the Colonel first conveyed them but then he said it was Priority 1. Something big was up. It had to be big to order SF recruits to the field.

This group was good and almost ready to graduate but still. Jeff Braddock looked at the eight men in the helicopter and thought nothing like on the job training. But the number of downed worried him,

Just what the hell were they flying into? Especially in-country. Jeff knew it was terrorist related otherwise they would not be involved but exactly what was up he was not sure.]

"Good. Sit-rep when location is secured." Braddock acknowledged the Colonel then Sutton hung up and dialed another number.

It would be early morning there now. When it was answered he quickly said "Priority 1 Dragonfire executing."

["When? Status?" was the immediate reply from General Braddock.]

Sutton relayed all the details as he knew them. Then he said "Will, I'm sorry I don't have specifics yet on who is or is not down or how bad. I will update you with names and details as soon as I know." He knew full well that the General wanted to know about his son but would hesitate to ask outright.

["Thanks Tom. You confirmed that Blightcrest is dead."]

"Yes Sir. Kostopoulos clearly stated that he confirmed with his own eyes before he passed out."

At least that is what he hoped happened. Sutton did not want it to be worse. He would not think on that. To many had died as a result of that bastard Mousa.

["My flight leaves in an hour. Keep me informed via sat line from here on out. Will contact you upon arrival" General Braddock ordered.]

Sutton responded "Wilco."

[As the General hung up he bowed his head and silently pleaded, let all them all be alive and okay. Please let Samuel be okay. He sat for one moment more then he rose and strode from his office ordering his staff to prepare to leave.]

Isolated Warehouse Complex – Outside Near Treeline

When the debris finally stopped falling so heavily Leah pulled herself off of Winds. When Spike had called out sixty seconds she had dropped to cover Winds. She brushed the debris from her hair and looked toward the buildings.

They were flattened like pancakes. She started calling for status but got no response. She checked Winds, still alive but he really needed help soon.

She had seen Jules running toward the supply building. Leah headed that way first. As she cleared the trees she saw Russ and three others. She quickly checked their pulse. All alive but unconscious; she sprinted the direction Jules had taken.

Isolated Warehouse Complex – Outside West Perimeter

Greg groaned and pulled himself to a seated position his back against a tree. He blinked several times trying to clear his vision. What the hell just happened? He felt like he had been hit by a truck, make that a freight train. Vision returning he saw the devastation in front of him.

Lightning fast pain ripped through his heart as he realized his team was in there. Pain so intense it closed his throat and threatened to choke him. Oh god not again. Not so soon after Lou. Ed, Wordy, Spike, Sam. He may or may not have screamed. If he did he could not hear. His world was silent.

Greg closed his eyes unable to look at what may very well be the tomb of most of his team.

It was hard to stay awake. He tried but his eyes were closing as their own volition. He heard something that caused him to open them again. Was someone calling for status? He concentrated on the sound, yes, it was female. Jules? No. He said softly "Leah?"

Leah responded quickly "Greg, found Jules. She's unconscious. I don't know if she is hurt. Your status?"

Even in his current state he bristled, would she ever learn to call him Boss or Sarge like the team did. He replied weakly "Okay. You?"

Leah replied "I'm fine." She meant it too; it was the team's definition of fine. How could she not be fine? "Going to see if I can find the guys."

The sound of her voice boomed in his ear and made his head throb "Copy. I'm contacting Winnie."

Greg pulled out his phone and slowly got his fingers to cooperate and dialed Winnie. When she answered he tried to infuse strength and calm into his voice but failed it came out low and unsteady "Winnie I need …"

He was cut off. Winnie heard his voice. It tore her up inside. She could tell he was hurt and she wanted him to save his strength so started in "Sarge, we are aware of the situation. EMS is enroute. Colonel Sutton informed us that Army has med-air-evac and rescue teams on the way. ETA five minutes at most now." Winnie's voice shook and cracked emotionally as she asked "What's the status of the team?"

Greg had to breath deep to control his own emotions as he responded sluggishly "Leah no harm, Jules is down but unknown injuries, the rest unknown."

Winnie struggled to maintain professionalism as all of Team Five was gathered around her desk listening to the status. "And you Sarge?"

Greg tried to think and take stock. Everything hurt and he wasn't really sure but he wanted to allay Winnie's fears so said "Bruised a bit, likely concussion."

His eyes were getting heavy again. He shifted to a prone position to try and stay with them. It wouldn't do to bash his head again on the ground if he blacked out.

Isolated Warehouse Complex – Outside South of Supply Building

Leah made it to the south side of the building. The sight that she saw both frightened her and relieved her. Spread-out on the ground were Wordy, Ed, Spike, Sam, Mason, and Pawn. She did not see Ben. They made it out, but were they alive?

The first one she came to was Pawn. He was stirring. He was on his back. He opened his eyes as she knelt and said "Be still. Help is on the way. Don't move."

Pawn looked up and tried to focus. He finally saw Leah. Her words registered. He had no intention of moving it hurt too much he said barely "Roger."

Leah gently patted his shoulder and left.

She saw Spike next and he was on his stomach. There was a cut on his head and his calf was bleeding. He was unconscious but alive. His pulse was good. The blood was a slow trickle so she didn't stop to put a pressure bandage on it. She dared not turn him over to see if he was injured on the front. So she moved to the next one.

It was Ed. He was also on his stomach but she blanched at his back. She almost hurled. It was soaked with blood. She quickly checked his pulse. It was strong and steady. Leah then checked for injuries without moving him. But she could find nothing to account for all the blood on his back.

His neck was bruised and what looked like finger prints wrapped around it. Just what the heck happened to him? Wait Sam attacked him, he had sorry. By the bruising Sam must have been choking him. What the heck?

As she was checking Ed she noticed the bear of a man stirring. He had gotten to his knees before she squatted next to him. Again she said "Be still. Greg called Winnie, help is on the way. Don't move."

Mason looked at her then said "I'm alright. Head hurts bad but okay otherwise." He looked about. He saw the building behind him. He saw all the men down. He sat.

Leah didn't believe him, there was some blood on his shoulder and down his chest and back. These damned macho men. She said "How can you be okay? You're covered in blood."

Mason looked down and at his shoulder and said simply "Not mine."

Leah blinked at the nonchalant way he said it "Whose then?" She thought of Ed's back. Who was bleeding so much and why were they covered in it?

Mason's head was a bit rattled. He heard what he thought were distant sirens, but it could just be the ringing in his ears. It took him a moment to register her question and again simply said "Blondie's I think."

They needed help here, a lot of help and fast. Mason pulled out his phone.

Leah was again taken aback by his causal manner and watched as he dialed. What was he doing?

When the call was answered Mason said all business, no hint of injury or emotion "Sergeant Murchadh-Ailpein Srònaich'O'Naoimhín N68-12-0438. Dragonfire." Mason thought, damn my name is a mouthful to say when my head pounds so badly.

["Roger. Standby."]

["Verified. Connecting."]

Mason was initially surprised to be told connecting. But then realized one of the others must have already called it in.

["Sròn, Srònai, Ah hell Mason, it's Sutton. Sorry, could never say your last name. Kostopoulos called in already. Help dispatched ETA imminent." Sutton the told Mason all that Russ had reported. He finished saying "Sit-rep from your position."]

As Mason had listened he smiled despite the situation. Few people could say his last name, hell they even struggled with his first. His father had insisted on keeping the tradition of using their Gaelic names because he was so enamored with his Scottish Highland ancestry. Hell his dad could recite it verbatim eight generations back. His name had caused a lot of problems until he started using the moniker derived from the first letter of each of his names, MASON.

Everyone just thought Mason was either his first or last name unless they knew him. The only ones that could pronounce his full name right was Blondie and the General. They both had an aptitude for languages.

When Sutton finished Mason ignored the apology, none was required and he jumped right to the detail he could provide. "Sir. We got out of the building but just barely. I see Pawn conscious not moving. Blondie down not sure how bad; carried him unconscious from the building. He jumped on a grenade to save the boy. General's gonna be pissed about that one. But Blondie had no choice, it was him or Matt's boy. You know the choice Blondie would make."

[Sutton interrupted "I don't want to be in the same room as the General when he finds out about that one. Continue, the others, the boy?"]

Mason snorted lightly "I totally agree Sir. Three SRU are down that I can see all are unconscious, unsure of injuries. The boy was alive in the building but I don't see him here now. One of the SRU carried the boy out. I have one SRU officer here and conscious. I believe she was far enough away from the blast radius. Hold a moment."

He turned to Leah and asked "Your status and do you know the status of any of the others?"

Leah offered "No harm for me. I saw and checked Russ, Apollo, Cameo, Daphne, Winds, and Jules all alive but unconscious. I'm unsure of most of their injuries, although Russ had an injury to the back of his head. It also looked like a bullet wound in Cameo's leg. Greg was talking but hasn't spoken in a while, he's not responding. As you said Pawn is conscious injuries unknown. Ed and Spike are unconscious but they have a strong pulse. On my way to check on Wordy and Sam. I haven't seen the boy either."

Mason relayed the information as Leah moved to check on Wordy.

She noted that Wordy had made it furthest away from the building. He must have been first out and running very fast Leah thought. He was on his side, curled up tightly in a protective position with his back to the building. She smiled, smart man, protecting himself.

But as she got closer she saw Ben was cradled protectively in Wordy's arms. Ben was completely shielded by Wordy's position. Her heart warmed. Of course he's a dad with little girls, he would do all he could to protect the boy. She knelt and checked Wordy's pulse, strong and steady. She reached out to check Ben's pulse when the little boy's eyes fluttered open.

Leah smiled at Ben and said warmly and calmly "Well hello little one. I need you to stay very still. Can't you do that for me?"

Ben looked at the lady. He remembered her. She has the same uniform as Unca Sam. Ben said barely above a whisper "Yes."

Leah heard sirens in the distance; it wouldn't be long before they arrived now. "That's good, very good. People will be here soon to take care of you. Until then I need you to stay where you are and not move at all. Do you hurt anywhere?" Leah asked gently.

Ben said "un huh."

"Where do you hurt?" She asked.

Ben just started to cry.

Leah wished she could hug him but she knew not to move him. "Ssshhh it will be okay. Help is coming little one." She reached out and gently stroked his arm a few times.

He quieted a bit and the said "I want my mommy."

Leah wasn't quite sure what to say. She wanted to reassure but not make promises. Leah decided on "Your mommy will be with you when she can. People need to take care of you first. Okay?"

Ben nodded as tears puddled in his eyes.

Leah did not want to leave Ben but she needed to check Sam "I'll be right back, I just need to check on…"

She caught herself before she said Sam. This boy had latched onto him. If Sam was not alright she let her thoughts trail off and finished saying out loud to the boy "Remember don't move okay."

Ben nodded slightly. She brushed his arm once more then stood up.

Leah called out to Mason with Wordy's and Ben's details as she approached Sam. He lay on his right side. She came up to him at his back. She saw lots of blood in his hair and on his neck. She walked to the front of him to kneel down but didn't. She gasped and her stomach roiled. She bent overs holding her stomach taking short gasps of air trying not to upchuck. It didn't help. She was on her knees emptying her stomach contents.

She sat back on her heels and thought oh my god. She had seen her fair share of horrific accident scenes with blood saturated bodies in the worst possible states. She never lost it then, she was able to remain detached and professional. But it was something altogether different when it was someone you knew, someone you liked. Sam was drenched in so much blood. He was so pale.

Leah pulled it back together and remembered he had a wound to the arm. She saw the compression bandage around his right arm. That would not account for all this blood. Blood saturated the ground near his right side.

He had jumped on a concussion grenade. Would that cause this? She didn't know. She had never seen the effects of something like that. Internal injuries were very likely, bruising of organs at the very least. But all this blood?

She didn't see perceptible breathing and was afraid to take his pulse but she did. It was weak and thready, but it was there. Thank god it was there.

Leah called out his status to Mason in an unsteady voice. Then she sat back wishing she could do something but knew again she should not move him. She had no medical supplies to work with if the movement caused more bleeding.

Something in her head clicked. The sounds of that god awful howl and fight entered her head again. She gently probed his head, left arm, neck and knees without moving him the slightest bit.

No injuries. Leah finally concluded that most of this blood was not his. This was the blood of whoever he fought. That must have been terrible to be that close when you killed someone that you were drenched in their blood.

Isolated Warehouse Complex – CH-146 Griffon Helicopter Above Scene

Jeff took stock of the scene below. Shit it looked like a war zone with all the bodies on the ground and the flattened building. He saw two groups of people and two individuals.

He gave the commands that initiated his men, medics and other personal to rappel. The pilots had located a place to land close by. They would coordinate with the local EMS and transport as appropriate.

Jeff locked in and rappelled into the area with the most injured. His men would secure the area. The medics would do their job. His job was to locate Mason. Sutton said he was conscious.

Isolated Warehouse Complex – Outside South of Supply Building

Leah had been so lost in thought that she had not heard the approaching 'thub, thub, thub' sound until it was directly above her. She looked up surprised to find four Army CH-146 Griffon Helicopters above with lots of men rappelling from them.

After hanging up with Sutton, Mason had laid down to rest his head until help arrived. He had heard them as they approached several miles out. He waited until they were rappelling to sit back up. He saw Jeff and called out "Braddock."

Jeff raced over to Mason "Holy hell man, what the hell is going on?"

Mason waved him off "No time, Blondie is the worst off from what I can tell." He pointed to Sam.

Turn in that direction Jeff's face dropped as he saw Sam lying on the ground. He raced to him as he called for a medic.

Leah was startled when a man that looked a somewhat like Sam raced toward her. She barely scrambled out of the way as he barreled to his knees in from of Sam.

Jeff saw all the blood on his chest and images of Patch covered in Sam's blood and the aftermath of the last time he was shot sprinted through his mind. He battled to keep his composure and lost the war "Sam, oh god Sam, not again. God dammit not again."

He reached out and brushed Sam's cheek while he waited for the medic to arrive. "You cannot do this to us again. We thought we lost you before. Sam dammit. What am I gonna tell the family?"

Jeff finally registered that Sam was in full Army uniform. His concern flared into anger. There was one reason and one reason only Sam would be in uniform. He had sworn NEVER to wear it again. "What the hell did the General do or say to make you reactivate? You swore hell would have to freeze over before you did that. Dammit Sam why? Why?"

Leah was spellbound watching the man. She knew it was not her place to say anything. But as the medic moved him aside to work on Sam she said "Sam voluntarily reactivated to save a little boy. His friend Matt's little boy Ben."

Jeff stared at the woman. He registered she was SRU. "He did what for who?" Jeff said disbelievingly.

Leah explained. Jeff listened as he watched speechless as the medic assess and stabilized Sam for transport. Matt had a son? When? How?

Once they were moving Sam he came out of his self-imposed vacuum and directed the scene getting everyone the help they needed. The medics and EMS were fast and efficient.

Jeff was standing near where Sam had been laying when the last of the EMS transports left. He needed to leave instructions with a Sergeant Grey, regular Army on the clean-up. He was scanning looking for him. But he closed his eyes a moment trying to recompose. Horrific as this was it could have been so much worse.

His bomb expert had scanned the area and his initial report is that he believed that only two bombs did this. Well two very powerful bombs that also happened to set off all the C4 materials stored in both buildings. A full investigation would prove if his conclusions were correct.

Jeff opened his eyes and looked to where Sam had been. His vest had been discarded when the medic checked for injuries. He was so glad most of that blood had not been Sam's, only on the outside of the vest. His eyes landed on something small white and orange shoved into the small interior pocket. A place maps where often kept for easy access.

He tugged on it. Out popped a small well-worn Donald Duck. What the hell? Then the SRU woman's voice played in his head again 'Sam reactivated to save Matt's little boy Ben.' Jeff put the duck in his pocket. Sam or the little boy would want it back.

Looking around again, Jeff located Grey and strode over. The faster he got this done the faster he could get to the hospital and get word on Sam. He dreaded being the one to notify the family. Maybe he could call his dad and let him pass the word.

No one was gonna be happy with Sam. Jeff cringed slightly thinking about how many people were going to lay into him for re-upping. There would be a long line all the way out the door. It was a stupid decision that nearly cost him his life.

Jeff put his hand in his pocket and felt the duck. Well maybe not such a stupid decision given whose son it was. But Sam was going to pay a high price for it. The SF stop-loss committee was not going to let him go. Too many had been lost and injured lately.

They were churning out recruits as fast as they could to replace them. But it wasn't a simple or fast training program. Some standards had been relaxed to his displeasure.

Hell he would have kept one Corporal Stefano Xenos, aka Apollo, for a second cycle to disabuse him of his rash behaviors but he was ordered to pass him. The kid was good, almost broke Sam's records but he was too uncontrolled.

He saw Apollo here today. He hoped the kid was okay. Jeff was glad he was assigned to Mason, he should be able to squash that behavior before he got someone killed.

Jeff spoke with Grey then gathered his men. "Guys, we grab the weapons and SRU gear, backtrack to where the unit and SRU left the vehicles. We drop the SRU SUV's at their HQ then back to base. Any questions?"

A Corporal asked "Sir. If this was terrorist related why was SRU involved?"

Jeff wanted to know the same damned thing but only said "Need to know basis. Let's go."

Enroute to SRU HQ

As they drove to SRU HQ Jeff reported in "Sir. Scene handed off to Sergeant Grey. All SRU injured transported to St. Simons. All JFT2 were air-lifted to the base hospital. No injuries appear to be life threating. The most serious are Master Warrant Officer Simons, Winds, with heat stroke. Corporal Tristen Parsons, Cameo, with a bullet wound to the thigh. Master Corporal Sam Braddock with knife wounds to his arm and side. All others seem to be various smaller injuries, cuts, contusions, etc. from being thrown in the shockwave. Most were conscious before leaving the scene and likely have concussions."

["Daphne and the boy?" Sutton inquired.]

"Both conscious and coherent before leaving the scene" Jeff replied.

["Good. Need you to head to St. Simon instead of back to base. Need you to coordinate relocation of Captain Blain and his team to the base hospital. If Captain Blain is awake I need you to brief him on the situation."]

"Sir?" Jeff was thinking why me, why me? God dammit I don't want to be the one to tell Blaze, Sam re-upped. Bad enough I have to tell the cousins. Hell I don't even want to be in the same Province or same Continent when Blaze finds out.

["It is of a personal importance to him, you see Daphne is his sister" Sutton explained even though he did not have to.]

Jeff's eyes widened and mouth hung open, Leah said nothing about that when she related what she knew. The Corporal driving wondered just what the Colonel said to the Drill Sergeant "Willco. Can I just tell him she is safe and leave the rest for when he is at base?"

["Full report, if he is wake to hear it." Sutton knew he was passing the buck. Hell the General had just passed it to him. So if the General could do it, so could he.

He didn't want to be anywhere near Captain Blain when he found out. He wasn't called Blaze for no reason. If anyone could handle him it would be Drill Sergeant Braddock.]

"Willco" Jeff sighed and thought he might just need his own Dragonfire rescue when Blaze got done exploding.