May 4, 2011 - 20:03:24
Northern Iraq, near the Turkish Border
Angel and Gaz were essentially in the middle of nowhere. They had been dropped off about half a kilometer from where they were to meet with an American Delta Team. The only information they were given was that they were to meet near a large set of rocks along a dirt road.
"You're late." A grumpy American voice sounded out.
"Good to see you too, mate," Gaz replied.
As they approached, a team of four Americans came out of the shadows. The one in the lead didn't look particularly impressed that only two people arrived. This must be the Sandman person that Price mentioned.
"What's the target? Price was vague" Gaz asked.
"One of Al-Asad's Lieutenants. He's close." Sandman answered.
"Sounds good mate, let's bag 'em," Gaz replied as the team moved out.
Angel followed behind Gaz while watching around for any of Al-Asad's forces and checking her gear. The Americans were all using their standard M4A1 Carbine while the Brits were using the G36C rifle. So far the area was clear, but that could change at any moment as enemies could appear and disappear seemingly out of thin air. They continued down what could be considered a road for about 400 meters before the team stopped.
"Two-man patrol, 12 o'clock." One of the other Americans reported.
The patrol was on the edge of a small town. This must be where the lieutenant was operating from. Al-Asad may have taken over the Middle East seemingly overnight, but now that the Americans had invaded it had turned into insurgent warfare. Every building could potentially be a hotspot of enemy activity.
"Let's stir up the hornet's nest," Sandman commented as he and the other shot the patrol. Stirring up a hornet's nest was an understatement. As soon as the gunshots went off, the Arabic yelling started followed shortly by gunfire in their general direction. Thankfully the sun was starting to go down and visibility was reducing rapidly. "Let's get a move on!" Sandman yelled.
The team moved into the town returning fire as they moved. It seemed Iraqis were firing at them from every door and every other window or rooftop. Angel was keeping fire on one of the shooters on the roofs when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.
"RPG incoming! Left side!" She yelled as she dove to the ground. The others did the same and the projectile sailed over their heads to hit a building behind them. Dirt and debris rained down on everyone for a few seconds.
After everything settled a little, Angel checked for any injuries. She couldn't find any on herself and it seemed everyone else was fine, perhaps a little shaken.
"That was too bloody close mate," Gaz exclaimed as he picked himself up.
"Agreed. Grinch take the girl and flank these guys. We'll hold their attention." Sandman ordered while pointing to the alley to Angel's right.
"Got it, boss." The one called Grinch replied before heading down the alley. Angel followed behind him. "Try and keep up, missy." He said snarkily.
Angel set a determined look on her face and ignored him. Stupid Yanks she thought. They proceeded down the alley while the gunfire from the main street continued along with the occasional explosion. They soon took a left and continued parallel to the main street. At the end of the alley, there was a three-story building that could give a great view of the firefight on the main road.
"Can get a good view from in there, cover my six," Grinch said as they advanced into the building.
The two carefully entered the building and found the first floor eerily empty. They moved up the stairs in the corner to the second floor when they started to hear voices. The second floor was a hallway with two doors on each side and a stairway on the far end. There was sporadic gunfire coming from the left side of the hall. As they crept down the hallway, the first door on the left opened and a man came out to check the hallway. Angel reacted quickly and shot the man through the head. Immediately after, two more came running from the same room. Angel and Grinch were quick to dispatch these as well.
"Check left, I'll hold here." He told her as he took up a nice position to watch the hallway.
Angel entered the room to the left to find it empty except for bullet casings, empty magazines, and a small furniture set. The left side of the building was just one large room.
"Angel, gimme an update!" Gaz hollered through the radio. The Brits and the Americans were on different frequencies and were not able to switch beforehand.
"Clearing the second floor of the three-story building to the Southwest." She replied calmly.
"Well make it snappy!" He ordered back, irritated.
Angel didn't reply and instead moved back into the hallway. With the gunfire from the left side of the building silenced, she could now hear the subtle cries coming from the other side. She went to check one of the doors and noticed it was locked.
"Doors locked, Sounds like a room of women and children anyway." She told Grinch and motioned to the stairs.
The American nodded and moved past her to the stairs. They crept up the stairs to the third floor. The third floor was a large room with open or broken-out windows going the entire length of the room. There were 5 Iraqis on this floor, two manning a machine gun, two with AK47s, and one with an RPG. Their enemies were so distracted trying to kill those on the ground that they did not notice the unexpected duo coming up behind them.
Angel tapped Grinch on the shoulder to let him know she was ready. With this signal, he shot the one on the machine gun first, spraying blood over the wall and floor. Angel followed by putting two shots in the chest of the one with the RPG. At this point, the other three noticed their friends dying and turned only to each receive a few pieces of lead themselves.
"Sandman, we're secure, call targets," Grinch said into his radio as he switched it to speaker so she could hear as well.
"Copy. Got targets on the rooftops, left side of the street." Sandman called out.
Angel carefully stepped over and around the dead bodies before taking a position at the window overlooking the main street. Across the road and down around one story four Iraqis were firing at the team. Angel aimed and fired a couple of shots at them. One received two shots to his upper torso and went down while another took a round to the arm before noticing they were being shot from above. Before they could truly react, Grinch had come over to assist her and they took out the remaining hostiles on the roof.
"Sandman, roof's clear. We'll keep you covered from up here." Grinch told his boss.
"Copy that, moving up," Sandman replied as the four-man team moved down the road.
All six of them were engaging the Iraqis as they appeared out of doorways and windows. The team on the ground had made it roughly to the base of the building Angel and Grinch were in when all of a sudden everything went quiet except for a steadily increasing engine sound. Out from behind a building, came a formerly Soviet T-62 tank.
"Tank in the middle of the street! Take cover!" Sandman yelled through the radio. "Command, this Metal 0-1, we have enemy armor bearing down on our position. Requesting immediate air support."
"Copy that, Metal 0-1. Standby," Someone replied calmly. "Metal 0-1, Jester 2-1 is in the area SCUD busting. We are rerouting them to your position now, out."
"Metal 0-1, this is Jester 2-1. Heard to have a tank problem down there." The American pilot joked over the radio a few seconds later.
"Jester 2-1, affirm. We will provide lase on target." Sandman replied.
"Metal 0-1, copy that, time on target is 90 seconds." The pilot replied.
"Truck, get a lase on that tank," Sandman ordered.
"On it," The other American replied while setting up a laser designator.
Angel and Grinch were still in their position at the window watching over the team on the ground. After the tank arrived, around a dozen more enemy soldiers appeared on different rooftops and at ground level. At the far end of the village, on a two-story building's balcony stood a man with his arms crossed contently watching. Angel noticed the man and got Grinch to notice him as well.
"Sandman, I got eyes on our guy. Far end of the street, second-floor balcony." Grinch told his boss over the radio.
Angel turned her eyes from the target toward the enemies below them. Watching as the infantry start yelling at each other and pointing while they march down the street towards them. As they slowly approached the team on the ground, Angel made a quick decision and began to fire upon the enemies below. They were surprised and quickly found whatever cover they could while trying to find where they were being shot from. Grinch had also noticed the proximity of the enemy infantry and had come to aid Angel in her endeavor to keep them pinned down. What they didn't notice immediately was that the enemy T-62 had taken notice of them and was beginning to rotate its turret in their direction.
"Grinch! Get down now!" Sandman yelled through the radio.
Grinch noticed the tank as his boss said something. Thinking quickly, he pushed Angel away from the windows toward the center of the room. She turned to glare at him only to watch as a tank shell exploded at the windows. The explosive shockwave knocked Angel to the ground and Grinch was sent flying across the room toward another set of windows. Before she completely lost focus, she heard another explosion.
…
Angel shook her head to clear the fog in her head. Quickly gathering her bearings, she heard Gaz yelling through her radio though it was indecipherable. She also noticed the now gaping hole in the wall where she had been standing not much earlier. She then remembered how she ended up in the middle of the room. Turning her head, she saw Grinch's hand holding onto a window edge. Finally, her hearing fully cleared and she could make out her radio.
"Angel! Angel! Are you there? Come in!" Gaz was yelling rapidly.
"I'm here." She said as she got to her feet.
Ignoring whatever else the man had to say, she ran to where the American was hanging from. Reaching him, she grabbed onto his wrist and upper arm and began to start pulling him up. After around a minute of pulling, his waist to the window edge, she was able to pull him through it.
"You're a heavy bloke," She spoke breathlessly as they both lay on the ground.
Grinch could only nod in reply as he caught his breath. Finally catching his breath, the American stood up and offered her a hand up. She took it and allowed him to help pull her to her feet.
"Thanks for the assist," He commented once she was on her feet.
"You too," She replied while looking around for her gun.
She spotted it near the center of the room, where she had been earlier. As she went to retrieve it, she heard Grinch on the radio assuring Sandman that they were alright.
"Glad to hear, armor is neutralized and we're moving on the target now. Regroup at the end of the street." She heard Sandman say as she walked back over to the American.
"Copy that, meet you there." He spoke on the radio before turning to her. "Time to move."
She nodded, "Let's go."
The two headed down the stairs to the first floor where they exited through the door facing the street. Once on the street, they noticed the burning tank wreckage and the assortment of dead Iraqis. Walking past all of that, they moved quickly but carefully down the street where the rest of the team was waiting.
Regrouping with the others, they heard most of Sandman's plan. "… breach the front, while you watch the back to make sure our guy doesn't try and bolt." He finished while pointing to Gaz and herself.
"Works for me, mate" Gaz commented before moving behind the building.
Angel followed him as they took up a position behind the building near the rear exit. They heard the sound of gunshots followed by indistinguishable yelling and screaming. After a moment, the back door burst open and two men ran out. Angel and Gaz aimed at them, however, someone from inside shot out through the door and hit one in the leg while the other kept running. Gaz did not let that last long as he shot the man three times in the back. The two Brits slowly approached the man on the ground and Gaz hauled him upright.
"Slippery bastard," The Lieutenant commented as they walked back to the building with the Americans inside.
Seven Hours Later - 03:49:31
"You set?" Gaz asked from beside her.
"Yeah," She replied with an exhale.
"Good," He told her before speaking into his radio. "Sandman, we're in position."
"Copy that, we're good to go." The American replied.
They were set up on a large cliff overlooking a farm that was turned into a military camp. The Iraqi Lieutenant had kindly told them that Al-Asad had recently visited this camp and could return there. From their vantage point, The Brits had a great view of the sleeping camp. Angel took a deep breath and looked through the scope on her Heckler & Koch HK417 rifle. She looked around the different buildings, silently identifying them for herself. Barracks, maintenance, supply office, headquarters. She narrowed in on the last building. It did not have many windows but from what she could see, it had quite a few people in it for nearly four in the morning.
"Lively in the HQ," She commented.
"Promising," Gaz replied. "Any sign of Al-Asad?"
"Not yet," She replied as she continued to look around the building.
After a moment, she noticed a rapid movement inside. One of the officers who was sitting down quickly stood. She narrowed in on that particular window and waited. Finally, she caught sight of the man they were after, the infamous Khaled Al-Asad.
"Al-Asad is onsite," She said quietly.
Gaz was quick on the radio, "Sandman, positive ID on Al-Asad in the camp."
"Copy that, moving in," Sandman informed them.
Angel quickly flicked her sight to where she knew the Americans would be coming from to track their progress. Finding them in her scope, she watched as they moved in on the command building. Everyone was now using suppressed weapons as they did not want to wake up the entire camp. The camp also had a watchtower on each corner with anywhere from one to three hostiles inside them. Luckily the one nearest the Americans only had one enemy in it as it was the farthest from the main entrance.
"One in the tower above them," She commented as she lined up on the enemy.
"You're clear, drop 'em," Gaz informed her.
A second later, she gently squeezed the trigger and watched as the bullet connected with the watchman. The man fell over onto the floor of the tower. From what she could see, no one else had eyes on the Americans. She watched as they approached the command building and were about to make entry.
"Moving interior," Sandman reported as they entered the building.
What followed was a tense few minutes for the two SAS. They could only wait and watch the few windows for any sign of progress. After a moment, the sound of a helicopter spooling up was heard. Angel took her eye away from the scope for a second to glance at Gaz. The man looked about ready to curse up a storm. Turning her attention back down to the base, she saw a door on the far side of the headquarters burst open with three figures running out, one was Al-Asad. Realizing their path was headed right for the helicopter, she aimed at them.
"Al-Asad is making a run for it," She told Gaz as she zeroed in on the paramilitary leader.
"Aim for the leg!" He replied quickly.
Angel did as ordered and aimed at the man's leg. It would be a difficult shot considering he was running but she would attempt it. After doing the math of the trajectory one last time in her head, she took a deep breath and fired. She released the breath she was holding and watched as the shot missed its intended target and hit one of the other people running with him in the pelvis.
"Shit," Angel cursed as she aimed at the target again.
Lining up again, she fired and watched as the shot hit the helicopter Al-Asad was climbing into this time. As she sighed in frustration, she noticed three of the Americans coming outside. They were quick to fire on the helicopter, but it was too late as it was already taking off and before long it was off in the distance.
"Damn," Gaz commented. "Nearly had the bastard."
Angel only nodded before the radio went off. "Command, Metal 0-1, negative precious cargo. Requesting exfil at LZ Trident." Sandman said. She could tell the man was frustrated.
"Copy 0-1, Anvil 3 is enroute. Command out," The American on the other side replied.
"Sandman, we'll keep you covered from here. See you at the extraction point."
"Got it, see you there." The Delta Operative replied.
Angel returned her focus to the camp below. There was more activity now with all of the sudden noise, however, a majority were unsure as to why. The Americans backtracked their path through the command center but took longer on the way back. Angel would occasionally spot one or two of them through the windows and could see they were trying to gather intel on their enemy's operations. Finally, she saw all four of them exiting from where they entered and quietly left the enemy camp.
The two SAS stayed watching the camp to see if anyone noticed the Americans after they left. After a few moments, they left their position and began the long trek to the LZ. Gaz and Angel were silent for a long time as they walked.
"Nice shootin' today," Gaz said out of the blue.
"I missed the target," Taylor replied in a near whisper.
"I doubt even Captain Price could've made that shot," Gaz replied with a small chuckle.
She cracked a small smile before teasing him. "And you Leftenant?"
"Eh, I was never any good with sniper rifles." He replied lightly.
Her smile grew slightly as she laughed softly before their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of a helicopter approaching them. "Looks like it's time to go," Gaz commented as he began to move faster. "C'mon."
Angel shook her head as she followed behind the man to where the helicopter was beginning to land. She was glad to be getting out of this desert, and sand did not agree with her hair. They jogged the last 200 meters to where the Americans were waiting. As she came up behind Gaz, she heard Sandman talking.
"We were about to leave without you." He joked.
"Yeah? Then you would never get that pint I owe you." Gaz replied.
Just then the Blackhawk helicopter landed and the door rolled open revealing a lone passenger inside. As they began to get inside, Angel recognized the other passenger. It was the mustached Captain of the SAS himself.
"Enjoy your trip to the desert?" Price asked Gaz while puffing on a cigar.
"Yes sir, the weather is lovely," Gaz replied sarcastically.
Price shook his head before turning it toward Sandman.
"Thanks for the assistance, Price. I owe you one." The American told the Captain.
Angel tuned out all other noise including the sound of the helicopter as she rested her head against the seat.
Two chapters within the same month? Something must be very wrong with me. Hope y'all enjoyed this one. Next time we'll check back in with the Scotsman and his cheeky partner in crime.
Let me know what y'all thought! Until next time!