Chapter 35
Kabul
Previously on "28 Seconds: Strength & Honor"-
"What are you doing here?" Karine asked in her broken English.
"I've only got one life to live, and I intend on spending it with you" he said as he gave her another passionate kiss "Come on" he said as he pulled her along. They quickly made their way up the stairs and her mere feet from the door when they found themselves surrounded by armed men.
"Going somewhere, Staff Sergeant DiNozzo?" asked Major Hollis Mann as she stepped in front of him. "Take her" Hollis ordered. The men rushed both Three and Karine. Three released Karine's hand and quickly threw a haymaker that knocked one of the men down. He quickly took a swing at the next one, knocking him back. Three drew his sidearm and drew a bead on Major Mann. His M9 in his right hand, Three used his left to grab Karine's hand.
"We are leaving, NOW! Or the Major dies" Three said as he aimed for the Major. Before anything else could be said, one of the guards snuck up behind Three and cracked him over the head with a knife stick, sending him crashing to the floor.
"Trois!" Karine yelled as she dropped to her knees to check on her boyfriend. 2 of Hollis' men quickly grabbed Karine and began to drag her away. "NO!" Karine screamed as she kicked and clawed at him.
"Karine!" Three yelled as he held out his arm. After a nod from Hollis, 3 guards began beating Three, crashing their knife sticks down on Three's spine. "Karine!" Three yelled again as gunshots rang out.
3 minutes earlier-
With Meg driving her husband's pickup truck, she, Billy, and Bridget pulled up to Army CID Headquarters. With Meg dressed in a business suit and a full-length beige raincoat over it, the group of 3 made their way inside. Both Bridget and Billy were dressed in civvies. Billy armed with his Glock 17, and with Bridget her 45, but it was Meg, who was most dangerous, armed with her court order that would set both Izzy and Karine free. Billy nearly ripped the front door of its hinges as the group of 3 approached the main lobby. That's when they saw it, 3 large men, all armed with knife sticks, being on a man who was on the ground. Three Bridget realized. She quickly drew her 45, pulled back the slide, and cocked the hammer. She drew a bead and fired off a round, which struck the 1st of the 3 guards in the square of the back. The guard's hands flew up and back, and he collapsed to the ground. Bridget took aim again at another guard. She squeezed off 2 more rounds, both of which struck the 2nd guard in the chest as he turned to see where the shots had originated. The 2nd guard fell to the ground as Bridget fired another round, which struck the final in the head, killing him instantly. Bridget and Billy rushed forward, Weapons drawn, as Meg stepped in between them.
"The document in my hands, is a court order, ordering the release of US Army Staff Sergeant Izabella Freya Howsham-Gibbs, Serial number 685-4329, and French GIGN Sergeant Karine Christelle DuBois" Meg said as she pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from inside her coat. She stepped forward and slammed the paper into Major Mann's chest, shoving her back in the process.
Hollis unfolded the paper and read it. As she read, Three, beaten, but not broken, pushed himself off the ground and quickly grabbed his M9 off the ground. She scowled and crumped up the paper, before turning to her men, who were still holding Karine. She nodded her head and her men released Karine, who quickly ran to Three's arms. Three quickly stepped in front of Karine, pushing her behind him. "Good" Meg said as she gave a nod to Three and Karine. "Now, where is Staff Sergeant Howsham-Gibbs?" Meg demanded.
"Release her" Mann ordered. A few minutes later, Izzy appeared and ran straight for Billy.
"Thank God you're ok" Billy said as he gave her a quick kiss and a tight hug. Billy released her from the hug and handed her his spare sidearm, a Ruger SR9 handgun. "And as for you, Major" Billy said as he stepped forward. "When you bring your posse, leave the married men at home, bring plenty of ammunition" Billy told her. As he turned to walk away, he felt the butt of a handgun crash down against his skull, knocking him to the floor. Hollis' men quickly drew their sidearms, Glock-17s, and aimed them.
"Did you really think we we're after your women" Mann said as she placed her boot on the small of Billy's back. "Yes, you were able to gain a court order for the release of Staff Sergeant Gibbs and Sergeant Dubois, but only because they were not our target. They were merely bait" Hollis said as she one of her men handed her a piece of paper. "This" she said as she held it up "Is a warrant, for the arrest of Captain William George Hazard, serial number 945-8473" she said. "take him away" Hollis ordered.
"Son of bitch, we've been setup" Three whispered.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me Hollis!" Bridget yelled. "We're trying to fight a war, and you're benching our best guys because of some petty grudge. This is nothing but a bunch of bullshit!" she yelled.
"There is nothing petty about my grudge" Hollis retorted angrily.
"Papillion" Bridget said. "Get Meg and Karine out of here" Bridget ordered as Hollis' men dragged Billy away. Bridget raised up her 45, and Three did the same with his M9. "This ain't over Major, not by a longshot" Bridget said as she and Three backpedaled out the door.
0600 hours, 10 October 2001, The Arg- Afghan Presidential Palace, Kabul, Afghanistan.
"90 Seconds" yelled the Blackhawk Pilot as the helicopter approached the insertion point.
"Copy that" Tony yelled back over the roar of the rotors. "All call signs, this Movie Buff, we are 90 seconds from insertion, all call signs, sound off" he ordered.
"This Dragnet, I'm locked n' loaded"
"This is Freedom, same here"
"This is Ironman, when's fuck shit up"
"This is Captain Quartermaine, Rangers are ready"
"Movie Buff, this is Howitzer, Bravo Team is ready" replied Lieutenant Galtier, who was part of Lieutenant Manning's ground convoy.
"Copy that, Howitzer" Tony replied. "Scarface, what is your ETA to target?" Tony asked.
"Movie Buff, convoy is 8 klicks out, approximately 10 mikes" Todd replied.
"Copy that" Tony said. "Here we go!" Tony yelled as the Blackhawk approached the roof of the palace. "Rangers lead the way!" he yelled as he jumped off the Helo onto the roof. He turned to check his six and saw that Chester, Tali and Deeks where behind him. "Let's move" Tony yelled, waving his arm forward as Blackhawk flew away. Tony quickly made a beeline for the only door. He quickly kicked it in and proceeded down the stairwell, his team members right behind him. Tony brought the butt of his M-4 to his shoulder as he turned around the first corner. What he encountered were 2 uniformed men, both armed with AK-47s. Tony quickly fired 2 bursts, dropping both men. It was scary how similar it all was to Somalia.
"Let's move" yelled Tony as he approached the 1st door with Malachi. With a nod, Tony kicked it in and fired 3 rounds, killing 2 men at the base of the stairs. Malachi grabbed a flash bang from his web gear, pulled the pin and tossed it down the stairs. Then, both he and Tony turned away as it went off. They rushed down the stairs and quickly eliminated several militiamen. The target building had 2 stories. There was a balcony that ran along the inside of the top floor, and an enclosed courtyard below. Tony looked across to the other balcony and saw Kearns, Terry and John proceeding to the do of the conference room. There were 2 doors, one at each end. Kearns and Tony each kicked in a door and tossed in flash bangs. After they went off, they rushed inside. Both Tony and Malachi started yelling "get down" in Arabic. With Kearns, Tony and Malachi keeping them covered. Terry and John started using zip-ties to tie up the prisoners.
"Hold up" Tony said as he held up a fist and dropped to his knees. Behind him, Deeks and Tali, both armed with M-4s as well, and Chester, who had an M-16 with an M-203 under-barrel grenade launcher. Every dropped to her knees, as ordered. "Freedom, on me" Tony whispered. Tali, who has crouched down, slowly crept forward.
"What's up Top?" she whispered.
"The uniforms on these guys, they look familiar?" Tony asked.
"Yeah" Tali replied giving him a nod.
"Pakistani ISI" Tony said. Tali nodded in confirmation.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" Deeks whispered loudly.
"The Pakistani government has supported the Taliban for years" Tali whispered back.
"I know, but didn't they re-neg on it after 9/11?" Deeks asked.
"Yeah, and Hitler loved Jews" Tony replied sarcastically. "All call signs this is Movie Buff, we positive I.D of Pakistani ISI presence. I want these bastards alive, but do not hesitate to defend yourselves" he ordered into his radio. He then turned to his team. "Ok, Freedom, you ad Dragnet search the upper floors for the target Mike-Oscar" Tony ordered. "Ironman, you're with me, we're gonna hit the ground floor and link up with Captain Quartermaine" Tony said.
Tali and Deeks, both with their M-4s raised to their shoulders, proceeded to clear out every room on the 3rd floor, before proceeding down to the 2nd, encountering more Pakistani ISI forces on the way. "It almost seems like there are more Pakistanis then there are Taliban" Deeks whispered as they made their way down to the 2nd floor.
"Yeah" Tali said as she was about to turn the corner to the 2nd floor when Deeks grabbed her arm and pulled her back, a split second before a bullet cracked past her head. Using his left arm to pulled/push Tali behind him, Deeks used his right arm to fire his M-4. He sprayed his entire clip, gunning down 4 Taliban soldiers in the process. With the clip spent, Deeks ejected it, and while using his body to push Tali back into a room adjacent to the staircase, he inserted a fresh clip.
"Deeks!" Tali yelled as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back and down into the room just as an RGD-5 frag grenade exploded outside the door. Tali's strength combined with the force of the explosion, sent both of them crashing to the floor. With Deeks on his back on the floor, and Tali on her stomach on top of him.
"Tali!" Deeks yelled as he drew his sidearm, a S&W 5944 and quickly unloaded on the 2 Taliban in the doorway, while simultaneously throwing himself on top of Tali. With the 2 targets dead, Deeks was now face to face and on top of Tali. Both of them were breathing heavily, and adrenaline was flowing through their veins, as they could both feel each other's heartbeat, almost as if they were beating as one. It may have been only for a brief few seconds, but for those brief few seconds, it was as if, the rest of the world no longer existed, and it was just the 2 of them, with Tali safely encased in Deeks' arms. Even for Tali, who had spent the last 5 years with Delta, and the previous 6 before that with Mossad as Tali David, it was as if the war, the battle, the objective no longer mattered. Decided to ignore her brain and follow her heart, as she closed her eyes, clasped her arms around Deeks' neck, and pulled his lips to hers. For the brief minute or so that their tongues dueled for dominance, nothing else mattered. Finally, Deeks' brain regained control of his actions and he abruptly, but regrettably, ended the kiss. "We need to move" he said, almost out of breath.
"Yeah" Tali replied as Deeks rolled off of her and reached over to grab his rifle.
Meanwhile, Tony and Chester had made their way down to the ground floor, just as Captain Quartermaine's Ranger had finished establishing a perimeter around the main building and had begun fanning out to the surrounding buildings. "AJ!" Tony yelled, which brought AJ running over towards him. "Any problems?" he asked.
"Negative Sir" AJ replied.
"Ok, 2 of my people are clearing the upper 2 floors as we speak, I want you and your Rangers to fan out and search the ground floor room by room. If they encounter any ISI personnel, they are to take them alive, understood?" Tony asked.
"Understood Sir" AJ said. "Lieutenant Devlin!" AJ yelled as he went running off.
"What a nut" Chester commented.
"You ain't kidding bro" Tony said. Within minutes, every room inside the main building had been swept and declared secure, with the Rangers encountering minimal resistance. "Ok then" Tony said as he grabbed his radio. "Scarface, this is Movie Buff over" Tony said into his radio.
"Movie Buff, this is Scarface, solid copy, over" replied Lieutenant Colonel Manning.
"Todd, I needed an updated ETA, over" Tony stated.
"30 seconds" Todd answered. A minute later, the vehicles of Todd Manning's convoy were entering to the main compound.
"Took ya long enough" Tony jokingly complained as Todd exited his HUMVEE.
"Stopped for coffee" Todd joked as he and Tony shook hands.
"Any trouble getting here?" Tony asked.
"Nothing worth mentioning" Todd said.
"Good" Tony said as his sat phone rang. "Go for Movie Buff" he answered. "What the fuck do you mean he was arrested?" Tony yelled, drawing a look from Todd. "What the hell happened?" he yelled again. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me… ok, ok, I'm gonna send Bravo Team, and Freedom & Ironman back stateside. We need to end this, now. Understood Red Cap? Good" Tony yelled as he hung up.
"Problems?" Todd asked as he pulled a silver flask from his web gear and took a swig. "Wanna snort?" he offered to Tony.
"No" Tony said as went running back inside. "Delta, on Me" Tony yelled as he held up his rifle. Both Alpha and Bravo Team came running over.
"Bad news Top, Target Mike-Oscar has flown the coop" Tali reported.
"Wonderful, just fucking wonderful" Tony yelled. "Ok, listen up. Meg has managed to spring both Izzy and Karine from CID Lockup, but that was only the beginning. Major Mann never intended to press charges on either of them, they were merely bait… for Billy" Tony said. "Billy has been arrested, and is facing a grocery list of charges. That being said, we need to tighten up security on the Unit Compound, to that effect, you are all going stateside. I will remain here to help Todd and AJ coordinate the house to house sweep of Kabul" Tony said.
"Top, request permission to stay" Deeks spoke up.
"Me too" called out Staff Sergeant Cole. Tony gave them both serious consideration before he caved.
"Fine, Dragnet and Phantom will remain here with me. But the rest of y'all are headed home, no exceptions" Tony ordered.
"Yes Sir" they all echoed.
"Good, gather your gear. Dragnet, Phantom, with me" Tony ordered as the group of 3 stepped outside. "You're both sure you wanna stay?" Tony asked.
"It's what we signed on for Top" Cole said.
"Right" Tony said. "Alright, our 1st priority is securing the city. Once the CDS Main force arrives from the south, we shouldn't have to much trouble with that" he said as he lit another cigar. "Oh, I almost forgot" Tony said as he dug into his breast pocket and threw a velvet box at Deeks' chest. Deeks proceeded to open it.
"The Silver Star" Deeks said as he looked up at Tony.
"That's for Bagram" Tony said as he pulled something else out of his pocket. "These, are for the leadership skills you demonstrated while me and Tals were 'otherwise occupied'" Tony said with a smile as he handed some chevrons to Deeks. "Congratulations Sergeant 1st Class" Tony said. Deeks quickly snapped to attention and saluted. Tony smiled and returned the salute. Then Tony turned to Cole. "Don't look so don't Cole, you get em too" he said as he handed Cole his new chevrons. "Congratulations Sergeants 1st Class" he said. "You've got an hour to get your uniforms in order" Tony said.
2 hours later- 0845 hours- Kabul International Airport
"Delta load up!" Chester yelled, M-16 in hand, pointed skyward. "What the fuck? What the hell is that?" Chester said in shock and awe when he saw what their transportation was.
"That, Master Sergeant Martin" began a voice from behind the group, "Is the DH-1 Goliath" he voice finished. The group turned to see both Deeks and Cole, their new chevrons sewn on, watching towards them. "It's a modern version of Howard Hughes' 'Spruce Goose'" Cole added. "Isn't that right, Sergeant 1st Class Deeks?" Cole asked sarcastically.
"I believe it is Sergeant 1st Class Cole" Deeks replied as the 2 men stepped in between the group and the plane. "Now, I must remind all of you that this plane is a prototype, on loan to the Unit by Hazard Industries, and if anyone of you, and I mean any of you, do anything, and I mean anything" Deeks began.
"And you'll go 3 rounds with me or less" Tony said as he stepped up in front of Cole and Deeks. All 3 of them were dressed in tan camo ACUs and tan Ranger berets. "Now, please have a safe flight home" Tony said as he walked away, Cole following close behind. Deeks however, remained as he watched the rest of the Delta Force climb aboard the massive cargo plane. The last one to board was Tali who walked over to Deeks.
"So you're gonna stay?" Tali asked.
"It's my job" Deeks replied.
"It's mine too, but I'm out" Tali said.
"That's cause I'm better" Deeks said with a smile.
"Or dumber" Tali countered with a smile.
"Oh, and you act like you're not jealous that Top let me stay and not you" Deeks said.
"Shut up" Tali said as she punched him in the arm.
"Get Billy out of whatever trouble he's gotten himself out of alright" Deeks told her.
"Easier said then done" Tali joked. "We'll get em, don't worry" she said as she pulled him into a hug. "I'm gonna miss you" she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye" she said as she ended the embrace and turned to walk away.
"It's not goodbye, its see you later" Deeks said as he tipped his cap and walked away.
PLEASE REVIEW
Next time on "28 Seconds: Strength & Honor"-
With his team stateside, Tony and Tom are forced to search for other means to accomplish a new mission. Meanwhile, as Tali and Bridget try to find a way to help Billy, Meg announces Billy's Court Martial is unwinnable. Finally, when Tony's loses a dear friend, he finds himself with a new responsibility.