NOTE: Here it is, the chapter you've been waiting for. And the action will continue for several chapters beyond this one. But all action has its triumphs and tragedies. Enjoy!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: ENGAGE
No one would ever have assumed that Snake-Eyes wasn't cautious. Even if one foolishly had, there was no arguing that the ninja was fully on guard and ready for anything to be thrown his way. It was just about infiltration time… and as a result – battle time.
Steeler, one of his oldest teammates, knew that too.
Wolken Prison – the target of infiltration – was located less than two miles ahead of Tango and Echo teams, just on the outskirts of town. The unit advanced forward cautiously with weapons ready and prepared for anything. Steeler instructed Snake-Eyes to further his distance from the group by pushing forward. "Snake, looks like we're two miles from the prison. Press forward another hundred feet and keep the pathway clear and quiet. You know what to do."
Steeler was fully aware that if he had given this order to anyone else, it could have easily been a death sentence. But as it stood, both Steeler and Snake-Eyes knew this was a solid tactical move. If anyone could get the drop on the enemy and keep things silent… or even something as essential as detecting a hidden enemy defensive system such as hidden cameras or silent trip alarms, it would be Snake-Eyes.
Most of the unit didn't know much about Snake-Eyes background or his experience in the military before he joined the team, but Steeler recalled one of the stories about Snake during his younger days while serving in Iraq. Snake-Eyes had been on patrol and spotted an IED… from over seventy-five feet away. A buried IED. Something about how the dust pattern didn't match up with the rest of the road.
Now that was someone Steeler could use at point.
Low-Light followed the silent warrior carefully, keeping low to the ground and holding his rifle close… approximately halfway between Snake-Eyes and the tank. Barbecue and Blowtorch pressed forward just ahead of the tank; Barbecue took the left flank while Blowtorch took the right.
Recondo took the rear position, making sure no one would sneak up on them; he spent half of his time looking behind the group for signs of ambush as often as he focused up ahead. As-is, Flash's state-of-the-art defensive electronic system could detect heat signatures emitting almost a half-mile around the tank as well as detecting movement early enough to give them warning of an ambush or attack… but Recondo wanted to make sure. One couldn't always trust electronics.
The caravan of one continued like this for what felt like several hours, as they all realized combat was very likely to break out – and soon. Inside the Flagg, Flash relayed to Steeler, "We're getting a hit. Looks like a small gathering up ahead, just ahead of Snake-Eyes. Based on our grid coordinates, they are most likely militia, or affiliated with Wolken Prison."
"Roger," Steeler said. "Pass it on to the team – make sure Snake knows about it."
"You got it." While the team was on radio silence, they had an intercom system that allowed them to communicate with each other as long as they remained within a one mile radius; the hardware on the tank… as well designed as it was, ensured that the transmission was secure and couldn't be intercepted.
"Echo Team, be advised, we have three unidentified one-hundred meters Northeast of Snake's position, and several more about three-hundred meters beyond them. Most likely enemy forces. If armed, take them out. Quietly and quickly."
Snake-Eyes acknowledged with a double-click of the transmitter, while the others replied vocally... "Barbecue copies", "Blowtorch copies", "Low-Light copies", "Recondo copies".
Snake had the lead on this one. Low-Light had Snake-Eyes barely in sight but adjusted his NVG's to pinpoint the warrior. Even then, Snake-Eyes knew how to manipulate the terrain to his advantage and was still difficult for Low-Light to see. Low-Light crossed the road… laying low to the surface and falling in line behind the dark ninja.
Even without his night vision goggles – Snake-Eyes preferred to not use them whenever possible since his eyes were already trained to penetrate the darkness and the NVG's were just bulky enough to slightly throw off his balance – he could see the faint outline of all three enemy soldiers that Flash pointed out. The closer he approached the slower and more deliberate he moved his body. Carefully, still low to the ground and with extreme patience, Snake quietly grasped the hilt of his sword. The silent ninja didn't even make a sound with his leather glove as he slowly bent his fingers around the hilt, nor was there any noise from his carbon-steel sword as he drew it out of its sheath. With his free hand, he reached upwards to unstrap his combat knife out of its sheath… drawing it out smoothly in one slow motion.
As an experienced warrior of the night, Snake-Eyes already knew exactly where to step to remain within the black shadows of the trees and trenches. Even Low-Light had a hard time seeing his position. Turning around to check his own position, Low-Light spotted Barbecue approaching slowly for back-up assistance.
Low-Life felt a slight smile creeping up on his face, knowing full well that Snake-Eyes probably didn't even need the back-up. Still, combat was combat and nothing was predictable. Better safe and prepared. He slowly and quietly pulled his assault rifle out in case he needed to give Snake cover.
They're armed, Snake-Eyes noticed. Enemy combatants verified. That was all he needed to take action. Snake-Eyes put the knife in his teeth.
He was on them before they realized what happened. Slowly rising up behind the first soldier, Snake-Eyes covered his mouth with one hand and with lightning speed cut his throat with the other. The soldier dropped to the ground without making a sound, never realizing what happened. Snake-Eyes leaped forward… before the first body ever hit the ground, Snake sliced diagonally through the air, cutting through the second foe. Simultaneously he dropped his knife into his free hand. The third soldier had noticed something out of the corner of his eye and began to turn towards him… but before he could even react – let alone raise a weapon – Snake-Eyes lurched forward in a lunge, stabbing his knife in the chest of the last enemy.
Still in his low-positioned lunge, scanning the horizon for the next threat, Snake-Eyes quietly slid his knife and sword back in their sheaths. Even without looking backwards, Snake signed a thumbs-up to Low-Light, letting him know it was all clear.
I like his style, Low-Light thought, unable to resist giving a smile.
"Nice work Snake," Flash relayed through the intercom system. "There are more up ahead though. Quite a few more; you might need some help for this one. Low-Light, back him up. Barbecue, give them cover."
"Got it, boss," Low-Light replied in a deep but quiet voice, quickly slinging his rifle over his shoulder and instead drawing his silencer.
Snake-Eyes and Low-Light immediately noticed the tension in the voice of Flash as he spoke over the intercom: "Echo Team, standby. Something's up with our equipment. We're being spiked… shit, we've been made!" This SHOULDN'T be possible! Inside the tank, Flash told the commander, "Steeler, tons of heat signatures are popping up. Someone jammed our radar so we couldn't pick them up until now."
A hail of gunfire erupted from behind the group. "We're under fire!" Recondo could be heard on the radio, along with his return-fire. "Aahh..!" he screamed over the radio. It wasn't a scream like a battle cry, but a scream of pain. All on the radios knew that he had been hit.
Blowtorch and Barbecue ran back behind the tank to assist – weapons drawn and spreading out cover fire – trying to get the position of the attacking enemies so they could accurately return fire and cover Recondo at the same time.
"Guess its action time," Grand Slam told the others inside the tank, immediately taking up the pre-loaded turret. Steeler went for the M2 machine gun while Clutch manned the mounted M240 on the right side of the tank.
"You see anyone with a weapon that's not ours, your cleared to fire," Steeler told his crew, simultaneously swinging his mounted weapon towards the rear. Clutch did the same, locating one… no, two hostiles hiding behind the trees. They both opened fire.
"Flash, you said we couldn't be detected in this thing!" Cover Girl shouted, awaiting orders to move the tank, currently keeping its position.
"They shouldn't have seen us coming! They must have some serious technology to jam our equipment. The kind of technology that Borovia SHOULD NOT have," he said, frustrated by the developments.
Blowtorch moved forward to grab Recondo. The jungleman appeared to be seriously wounded and laying on his side, but with his weapon still in his hands he fired into the tree line where the enemies had ambushed them. Gritting through his teeth, Recondo shouted to the others, "I saw at least four of them… but know there's more… I dropped one already but couldn't take cover in time…"
Blowtorch, standing next to the tank and waiting for cover fire to allow him to rush forward and grab Recondo, shouted, "Don't worry, we got your back." Turning to Barbecue, he yelled, "They're out of torching range, cover me!" Barbecue opened fire on the enemy… he could see at least three of them, but saw tracers in the night coming from other directions, making at least six hostiles.
Barbecue was finally able to see a few targets pop up. One enemy stepped out from behind a tree to fire, but Barbecue was quicker; he put more than a few rounds in his chest. Another combatant tried to run across the path from treeline to treeline – clearly a novice enemy – making it easy for Barbecue to drop him.
"Cover Girl, put it in reverse and a forty-five degree angle. Give them some cover with the tank so they can grab Recondo," Steeler ordered, still blazing away.
Grand Slam turned the turret around, more for intimidation purposes than practicality. Since he couldn't see a target larger than a human, there wasn't a need to waste the heavy artillery – the best he could do was make a few trees explode and scare the hostiles. But he was clearly anxious to open up his artillery… "Come on, show me something," he whispered to himself. "Come get some Slam." He was restless, wanting to cause some damage… but he had to be patient. That was the hardest part about being a soldier, sometimes.
As Cover Girl moved the Flagg slightly backwards and to a slight diagonal position, the tank gave Blowtorch enough cover to rush forward and grab Recondo. Bullet after bullet bounced off of the Flagg; Cover Girl had moved it in position just in time, saving both Recondo and Blowtorch.
Blowtorch let go of his weapon which dangled by the strap across shoulders, freeing up his hands to grab Recondo with both hands and drag him back in an attempt to get him to safety. He realized that Recondo had taken a few bullets – one in the left leg, and one in the upper left shoulder, but they didn't appear life-threatening. He'll pull through, he thought, even though Recondo was in great pain, screaming and gritting his teeth. Recondo was desperately trying to help the team by firing back as Blowtorch dragged him, but the pain was so intense that he aiming his weapon was a serious challenge.
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Meanwhile, Snake-Eyes and Low-Light dropped down and tucked low next to some bushes realizing that the force ahead of them had been alerted to the firefight between the Flagg and the ground soldiers – the enemy force had turned around to check it out. Turned around… right in the direction of Snake-Eyes and Low-Light.
As the enemy soldiers rushed forward, Snake-Eyes and Low-Light remained still in an attempt to blend in to their surroundings – but fully ready to take on the hoard head-on… even if it meant suicide. Fortunately, most of the hostiles ran right by the two. Whispering as quietly as he could, Low-Light made a transmission in order to warn the Flagg: "Steeler, this is Low-Light. You have more coming from the front. Me and Snake will take out as many as we can, but we're pinned down for now".
"Copy that, Low-Light."
Still looking forward, Snake-Eyes and Low-Light both saw only a few left that hadn't moved forward – about five hostiles. It looked like they were heading back to get reinforcements.
We have to stop them, Snake-Eyes thought to himself, running after them as swiftly as he could.
Standing up and taking aim, Low-Light fired away, silently taking out two men with two bullets – the first one was easy… a close-range shot right in the head; the second one took a round in the back, right through the heart. By the time they had dropped, he couldn't get a bead on the remaining three due to cover from the trees and the sloping terrain.
Snake-Eyes gave chase, throwing a pair of razor-sharp ninja stars just as quickly as he drew them out. Both connected, dropping two of them to the ground.
Like Low-Light, however, he didn't have an angle on the last guy, and regrettably couldn't keep chasing him all night since the team needed him – still in the firefight. Splitting up the team in this way would be detrimental, and that was the last thing they needed… especially with their position compromised much, much earlier than expected.
Clearly upset that one escaped, Snake-Eyes faced the fact that all he could do was grind his jaw and turn around to help out the others before reinforcements for the Borovians arrived.
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"One got away, Steeler," Low-Light told him, passing on the bad news, as he and Snake-Eyes headed back towards the tank as fast as they could. Both Snake-Eyes and Low-Light were at least able to fire on the enemy troops that had run right by them earlier; in this way, they were able to protect the Flagg and cause further confusion among the enemy forces – confusion in the fog of war. One after another dropped; Snake-Eyes and Low-Light gunned down at least ten each before their opponents even realized that they were being fired upon from both sides. The enemy soldiers split up in random directions to avoid getting mowed down like motionless cattle. Their casualties were catastrophic.
The other battlefront – the one behind the Flagg – was still at a stalemate. The enemies were holed up enough to stand their ground, even against expert American soldiers… given their advantage of surprise and their sheer force of numbers.
"Grenades!" Barbecue shouted, seeing two grenades hurling towards them from the enemies holed up at the tree line. Clutch swung his weapon around and took out the first grenadier who was close enough to throw them, but not fast enough to prevent them from sailing in the air in slow motion. Barbecue ran forward, grabbing one of them and hurling it back, eyes wide open. Don't explode don't explode don't explode...! Successful, the grenade detonated in mid-air before it had a chance to hit the ground – another half a second, and Barbecue would have been blown up.
The second grenade landed just out of his reach – close enough to kill him, but far enough away that he couldn't grab and hurl that one back, too. Flinching and expecting the worst, his life flashed before his eyes.
"Recondo!" Blowtorch shouted, oblivious of the grenades, witnessing the injured warrior break free from his grasp, drop his weapon, and run forward as fast as he could despite his leg and shoulder wounds. Too weak to grab the grenade and throw it back, he fell flat on it… flat on the grenade. On his stomach.
The grenade exploded.
Barbecue and Blowtorch could hardly believe what had just transpired – it was so surreal, like a horrible nightmare that one couldn't wake up from. Recondo was blown to pieces – he dove on the grenade willingly… all to save their lives. No final heroic words – he just… he just did it. That quick, and without hesitation. Shrapnel from the grenade had blown apart his stomach and exited out of his back... there was no saving Recondo, not this time.
Neither Barbecue nor Blowtorch could speak. Although after a long one-second period that felt like hours and hours, they were able to gather themselves out of pure instinct. They sustained their fire down range, attempting to refocus the dramatic event that just unfolded before their very eyes to returning back to combat.
"Steeler, Recondo's gone! He's GONE! He took the grenade!" Barbecue shouted into the microphone as he fired his weapon.
Steeler had missed Recondo's heroic action; he had long since turned the turret forward by this time, facing the direction of Snake-Eyes and Low-Light and returning fire at the new intruders. He sighed before responding. "Copy that. Continue mission objective, we'll deal with it later. Just keep your mind's sharp and clear."
Losing a team member was never easy, Steeler knew. As a veteran with many more years on the team than Blowtorch or Barbecue, all he could do was hope that they would be able to maintain their battle edge after having just lost their friend right before their very eyes.
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Snake had also heard over the radio what had happened to Recondo. His heart weighed heavy for the man… the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach started to churn, but he also knew that war didn't slow for anyone. It was times like these that one had to work even harder to focus on the battle, or else there would be more dead bodies. It was as simple as that. There would be time to grieve later… there always was; but now was not the time. In fact, Snake reasoned, it was times like this that the morale of the enemy increased, making them bolder, deadlier, and willing to fight back even harder. Which meant that their team had to stop them like an iron wall and counter-attack with everything they had… not holding back a single thing in their arsenal.
Flash snapped everyone back to reality. "Grand Slam! We have company from the front fast approaching. Looks like four enemy tanks are moving forward. They came from nowhere… get ready to blast'em. Just like the enemies on the ground, we should have picked them up miles ago... This is gonna get interesting."
Steeler, Snake-Eyes, and Low-Light had mowed down most of the enemies in front of the tank while the few surviving ones had scattered, and most of the combat had died down from behind the group, thanks to Clutch and Barbecue.
"Cover girl, start moving forward until we get within firing range of those tanks. We have better range then they do. After that, we'll head to the prison and get our guys. Snake, Low-Light, you two are primary extraction. If you can get by those tanks undetected, go get Whiskey Team out of there. The rest of us will catch up as soon as we can. We wait any longer, and they'll kill Whisky Team… they obviously know we're coming at this point so you two need to rely on the advantage of surprise." Steeler knew this was going to be a tough fight, and could have used those two, but nonetheless two men were no match going solo against a tank. Even men such as Snake-Eyes and Low-Light. Their best shot was to use their increased range to take them out.
Flash added, "Steeler, they have some ground troops with them, but the tanks are clearly the biggest threat. But be careful… I know our equipment isn't malfunctioning, but somehow something is jamming it just enough so we can't detect enemy movement until the last minute. There is no way Borovians are behind this… even if they had the technology to pull this of, it would be so advanced they wouldn't know how to use it."
"That makes sense. Just keep us alive, Flash," Steeler replied.
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Blowtorch, still visibly shaken, had grabbed what was left of Recondo's dog tags. "S..sorry, buddy. W.. we can't take you with us, except… for your tags. I'd do more if I could..but…"
He couldn't shake the image of Recondos body exploding . The sacrifice that he made – the one that Blowtorch felt like he should have made. If only I'd seen that grenade, you'd still be alive, Recondo… it should have been me instead…
Mustering all the will power that he could, Blowtorch turned away from Recondo, leaving him… or what was left of him. With a great reluctance.
Blowtorch moved forward right behind Barbecue… both of them split away from the tank and took cover by the leafless trees knowing full well that the big guns would certainly be coming for the Flagg; no place for a foot soldier to be.
Besides, Blowtorch's sorrow was quickly changing in the face of battle. Changing from sorrow to anger. From anger to rage. Rage to hate. It was time to set the world on fire… starting with whatever Borovian sack of shit dared to step in front of him.
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"Hey Cover girl," Grand Slam asked. "How much do you wanna bet that our first shot's a direct hit?" He was honestly trying to put the group at ease by making jokes, taking their mind off of Recondo.
He sat right next to Recondo at the chow hall the other day, and recalled how they were talking about the Monday Night Football game the night before… how the Bears beat the Packers because Green Bay choked by racking up penalties all night, and all at the wrong time. Outside of the mission, it was the last time he would see him alive.
"Recondo's GONE! He took the grenade!"… Grand Slam could still hear it echo his head. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that; there would be a time, and a place. But not here. Not now.
Cover Girl smiled, which he couldn't see due to his angle and her bulky helmet. "You're expected to, show off! That's your job! Seems how you have all the experience, I'd be disappointed if you didn't hit it first time around, slugger."
He chuckled. Love it when she calls me that, he thought.
"Hey, 'slugger'," Flash said, mocking him. "They're fast approaching range. Expect your shot in 15 seconds. Cover Girl, hold position."
She brought the tank to a halt.
It sounds less sexy when he says it, Grand Slam said, wincing. All well, let's focus. "Roger that, tell me when. Sights adjusted, ready to fire. Clutch, stand by to reload. The Slam's gonna need some rapid firing to take these guys out."
"Stop talking about yourself in the third person, freak," Clutch told him. Because Clutch, Steeler, and Grand Slam were part of 'The Original Three', as the others on the team called them, they were prone to ragging on each other. Not as much with Steeler anymore, though, since he was the tank commander, leaving Grand Slam and Clutch duking it out with each other.
"THE SLAM," he said, in an exaggerated voice, "Is going to get some. Watch this!"
Steeler shook his head. It was well known in the military that anyone saying "Watch this" (often followed by "hold my beer") would lead their team to disaster. It momentarily brought him back to the moment that he was at the bar with Countdown, several months back, swapping war stories about their time before they had joined the unit. One of the more memorable things that Steeler took away was when Countdown told him that there was more than one black box somewhere out there that had the final transmission of "Watch this".
"3..2..1..fire!" Flash directed. "Roger, Fire one," Grand Slam echoed, pulling the trigger.
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Snake-Eyes witnessed an incredible sight. He was positioned halfway between their tank and the four enemy tanks… and flanked far to the side; he watched as the Flagg fired off a 120mm round, blasting dead-center on the second tank in line. The enemy tank went up in a blazing fire; it's metal skin peeled off like snowflakes caught in a snowstorm. Nothing remained except for a smoking crater.
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"SLAM! TOLD YA!" Grand Slam shouted in a deep excited voice, but still maintaining his focus as Clutch reloaded the cannon. Not to be outdone, Clutch told him, "Looked more like a bunt to me. Maybe we should change your code name to "Bunt!" Grand Slam couldn't be sure through the noise inside the tank and the gunfire outside, but he could have sworn he heard Cover Girl giggle.
"Oh yea? At least I'm not named after a part of an automobile…Clutch!" Grand Slam countered, "Least of all the part that gets stepped on!"
Flash told Clutch, breaking up the competition of the two men, "Load fast, we only have seven seconds until the other three are within range of firing at us…"
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One of the three remaining tanks returned fire, but it fell short of the M155 Flagg. It looked like they were just out of range. Snake guessed that the enemy tank commander was a bit jumpy after seeing the tank next to him explode and commanded his gunner to fire too early.
Snake beckoned to Low-Light and kept moving towards the prison… still far away by foot, hoping to move inside the shadows as to not be seen by the enemy foot soldiers or, worse yet, the enemy tanks.
Another blast fired from the Flagg, penetrating the fourth tank on the far end – it struck true, and the enemy tank exploded in orange flames, lighting up the night sky. There was nothing left of it but pieces and maybe half of the tank tracks. So far, it seemed like the battle was shifting to the good guys.
The remaining two tanks were within range. Both fired at the Flagg.
The first tank missed, falling just wide of the tank, but close enough that it caused a massive explosion that jolted everyone inside.
The second tank fired a direct hit on the Flagg.
Witnessing the impact, Snake-Eyes looked at Low-Light and shook his head. Oh no, they're dead. That was a direct hit. No one could survive that. Our mission... A thick, black smoke engulfed the entire area of where the Flagg should have been.
But then…
The smoke cleared.
The U.S. M155 Flagg Tank was unfazed. Snake was amazed. Flash was right. The armor on our tank is incredible! It should have blown up our tank sky high. Nice work, Flash.
A third round fired out of the Flagg tank; it looked like Tango Team was heading for a sweep of the enemy opposition. Had the enemy tank failed to make a slight turn around a large tree stump at the last split-second as it fired against the Flagg, it would have been destroyed. As it was, the round hammered the side of the third tank, blasting off one of its tracks – it didn't destroy the tank, but certainly crippled it. Well, two and a half kills out of three shots isn't bad, Snake-Eyes thought.