CH73

Cooper was about to give his latest acquisition a serious test. He had managed to get his hands on a new material called Quantum Stealth. It was manufactured by Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. out of Canada. It was a new camo technology that works without the aid of cameras, batteries, lights or mirrors and is lightweight.

The only problem he had with the material was that the manufacturer had not yet made any sewing thread to be used with it to make clothing. A single sheet of this material may make a person behind it virtually invisible, however all the sewing necessary to make the suit he was wearing was not. So he did kind of look a little funny.

However Cooper was hoping the huge poppy field these people were working and/or guarding would help offset this one little setback. Well, he was hoping it was little anyway.

Cooper quietly stepped up behind his first guy and with one hand put it over his mouth and with the other slid his Utility Knife that he had gotten out of his boot across the guys throat. After letting him drop to the ground he moved on to the next one.

Cooper was doing fine and making good time. He had gotten 4 more down using that same method. Problem was there were three walking side by side and headed his general direction. He slowly pulled out two of his throwing knives, one for each hand and waited for them to get a little closer.

At a range that he liked he stood up and threw the one in his right hand at the guy on that end and with his left hand threw it at the guy on the other end. Each throw caught the guy in the throat about 1" below his Adams apple. Cooper then quickly pulled out his HK USP 45 and put a bullet in the center of the thirds forehead. None of the three made a sound.

Cooper hated using ammunition taking out these guys. If he got into a fire fight with any of the guards he was going to want every round he brought with him. Cooper moved forward and withdrew his blades out of their throats and wiped the blood off using their clothes then put them back were they belonged. He still had a number of people to go thru and couldn't afford to leave his tools behind.

Cooper had come up on another guy but he was walking away from him he would need to run if he wanted to catch him. However doing something rash like that was what could lead to trouble. Yes the sun was going down and he needed to hurry. But he wasn't going to get stupid just because of that.

So he followed slowly. This guy walked up to three more that were just standing there. Just as Cooper was considering putting a burst into these four from his HK MP7 he spotted rustling of someone else from the edge of the field walking in towards these four.

This new guy looked to be one of the guards. He was carrying an HK, with probably a 9mm on his belt and was wearing a flak vest and a simple bush hat.

Change of plans. He pulled out 3 of his throwing stars and his HK USP 45 in the other. And Cooper waited. The guard finally turned his head just far enough and Cooper put a round into the side of his head just behind his left ear. Dropping him like a stone. He was dead before he ever hit the ground. Next he threw his stars striking two in the throat who promptly started gurgling up blood. The third star missed its target.

Cooper didn't have time to curse. The other two looked to be in shock. Cooper pulled out two of his throwing knives and threw one striking him in the side of the throat and almost cut the front of his neck open causing his head to fall forward with nothing to help support it on that side.

Throwing the other knife it lodged more center of this guy's throat. He lived long enough to bring his hand up to his throat and tried to scream. But the only thing that came out was blood.

Cooper quickly moved forward and retrieved all of his weapons, cleaned them up and stored them back in their place. Then he went over to the guard. He relieved him of his HK and side arm, since he didn't need them anymore. He pulled his bush hat off to get a better look at him. This is when he got a surprise.

He was wearing a wireless head set. He may have been talking to someone when Cooper had shot him. Or he would be or was supposed to be talking to someone soon. Cursing silently he moved on.

Eight workers and one guard down. At minimum Cooper had 5 more guards and at least another eight workers. Since the workers had all been unarmed and the guards obviously were not. And if they had not yet missed the first guard he had killed yet. They may soon, so he changed tactics and decided to go after the guards now.

He didn't like the idea but had decided that since he was carrying an extra clip for the pistol he would use it until that extra clip was used up.

He had found three more of the guards and had put single round in each of their heads and had removed them of their weapons. Problem was now he had all these HK MP5's that we was lugging around. And it was weight he just didn't need. He had spotted a place that was semi-defensible just a little ways back the way he had come. So he back tracked and dropped them there. It was going to be dark soon so it was time for a change of tactics. The last two guards were going to figure out something was wrong soon and be on the hunt for him. And all the other workers were going to be going inside soon.

So he moved to a position that afforded him a view of the building and waited. Just as the sun was about to set the last of the workers came around the side of the building and headed for the front door.

Just as the first guy was about to open the door, Cooper emptied the clip in his HK MP7 into all of them. He quickly ejected his spent clip and slapped in a new one, leaving him just one spare clip to go.

Stepping up he pulled out his Utility knife and slit every man's throat. He was not going to leave anyone around to cause him grief later.

That just left the two guards that he knew of. Who were probably hunting for him by now.

And he knew just the spot to set up shop and wait for them.

The sun had gone down half an hour ago. Cooper was where he wanted to be. Anyone trying to get in his six, if they even knew where he was, would be difficult to accomplish. This is where his new suit had better work as advertised. It was supposed to make it hard for anyone even with night vision hard to detect.

His own night vision goggles had yet to pick up any movement yet, so these two were being careful.

It was too late now, but it occurred to him if he should have taken one of their wireless head units? Maybe it would allow him to listen in on what they were saying. Maybe. However if they were any good each set would have a code number you had to click to first before using. It would be simple. Just a quick flick of a finger and they could be talking.

But for him it would be trial and error. And he had other things to keep his mind occupied instead of wasting it on a headset.

An hour later and he had not spotted them yet. But he did hear a low rumbling sound that seemed to be coming his way. Cooper waited a few minutes and took a look in the direction. What he saw did not make him happy.

There were a pair of ¾ ton trucks headed this way. Each had a back end big enough to hold at least 8 men for each truck. DAMN IT! They had called in reinforcements. Those trucks had to go! Before they came to a stop.

This was a bad idea and he knew it. But someone was forcing his hand, so he would make the best of a bad situation. Maybe they thought he would have to shoot the trucks to pieces and the flash of his weapon would give away his position. But he had other plans.

Cooper pulled out two of his three Semtex packages and wrapped each around one of the remote detonators. Moving a little closer he waited for the first truck to just about pass him, he turned it on and threw one out onto the road where it started to bounce. It looked like his toss was going to be just a little too strong and it was going to roll out the other side. However he had the remote in his other hand and lifted the safety cover and pressed the button.

It instantly exploded and took out the big truck above it. It veered off course and was on fire. No one jumped out of the truck, which Cooper took to be a good omen of things to come. Had any of the troops that might be inside jumped out he would have had to give himself away as he fired his HK MP7 into them.

The truck behind it suddenly surged forward, the driver having put his foot on the gas. Cooper stepped out and looking at the back of the truck saw that the cover flap had been rolled up and stowed there. Thanking his good luck, he turned on the detonator and threw the next one into the back of the truck. Had the flap been down he was sure his charge would just bounce off and fall to the ground. Instead it went into the back of the truck.

With his finger over the remote, "Press the button, MAX." Cooper said to himself. It was an inside joke. He loved that movie with Professor FATE. And the second truck blew into a satisfactory number of pieces and what was left caught on fire, as it slowly rolled to a stop.

Not stopping to ponder his success on the two trucks he moved back out into the poppy fields. From here he slowly worked his way towards his little pile of HK MP5's he had stashed away. Keeping his own HK MP7 and HK USP 45 handy he hunkered down and waited. Cooper had decided to give these two, provided there were only two, one more chance to screw up and give away their position. With their reinforcements gone they would get more desperate and maybe start to take chances. And he would be there, ready to show them the error of their ways.

Cooper never saw anything all night long. Didn't hear anything either. Either they were smarter than the average bear or they had run with their tails between their legs.

Either way he couldn't chance it, so he stayed where he was for an additional hour after sunrise. He had taken that time to eat part of his MRE and drink only a little of his water.

He wasn't going to leave the weapons for someone to find so he broke them all down and took the same part from all of them. And then he slowly moved out. If they weren't going to show themselves coming to find him then he would go find them. It was what he was best at after all.

He was now three hours into his search and they must have dug a hole and crawled in. But he had a plan. Going back to one of the guards he had killed he took his head set off and moved far out onto the edge of the poppy field, in the direction of his bike.

Then staying down low he started playing with the code setting. For each number change he would groan softly into it, pretending to be one of their men only wounded and having been laying out here for hours in the hot sun. No food, no water.

He was on his third go thru starting at the beginning when he saw some poppies move. Thinking 'GOTCHA', he pulled out his last package of Semtex and wrapped it around the detonator. Neat trick about the detonators he used. It had two settings. One was remote activation and the other was a metal detector setting.

Cooper waited for another poppy to move and then he threw it off to one side about 50 yards. He knew it wouldn't make much sound, but if they were out looking for him, they should notice it.

Note to self; if they don't go that way, remember to never go that way again, ever.

Cooper waited and watched, however he never did see another poppy move. Either they weren't going to fall for it, or they were good enough not for him to notice.

Just as he was about to move a little further to one side so they did not get flank on him, he heard a large explosion and saw a body do a somersault up into the air.

One down, one to go.

This guy should be all alone now and unlike Cooper that probably has un-nerved him and Cooper can use that. Making his way back to one of the dead guards he lies down on his side next to it, then grabs hold and rolls over with the guard on top of him, and places his MP7 just between the dead guard's body and his limp arm.

Cooper than waits ten minutes and slowly stands with the guard in front of him. Sure enough the last guy stands about 30 yards away and begins to empty his clip into Cooper. It is all Cooper can do to hold onto the dead guard, stay on his feet and hold onto his MP7.

As soon as the last round is fired and his clip is empty, Cooper waits until he ejects his now empty clip before emptying his clip into him. The rounds cause him to jerk around like a puppet on a string. As Cooper's last round is spent he watches his guy fall. Dropping his now really dead guard and walks over while pulling out his UPS 45 and puts a single round in his head while he is lying on the ground.

Cooper however is no fool so he goes back to ground and waits out the day and throughout the entire next night before making his way back to his bike. Pulling out his satellite phone he calls Hero and gives him the good news.

One hour later he can hear a flight of 4 Harriers do a low fly over. This is followed about 15 minutes later by 4 Gazelles with 4 Apache's right behind them.

It was a really good day for Cooper. He was done with the job which meant he could go home! AND he got to meet Prince Harry, in person. AND NO ONE HAD A BLOODY CAMERA! His wife was going to kill him!

How ironic can you get?