AUTHOR'S NOTE: Who Dares Wins updates could slow for a while. I've been putting a lot of resources and attention into my Sarah vs Redemption and a Navy War Hero universe in recent days. If Who Dares Wins review count remains substantial, however, then I will ensure to keep active updates regardless.
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Lockdown: Part Eight: Deserters: Part One
Three days later
Friday, 9 November, 2007
Big Dan, Jamie, John Murray and Chris entered their barracks. Red Team was taking a few hours to themselves after having completed morning exercises in the Killing House a few hours ago.
Mobility troop was now back on immediate notice to respond to any threat to the United Kingdom once more. This meant that, as usual, every member of Red and Blue Teams had their pagers on hand, and they were confined to the area of Hereford—not that they could head anywhere right now anyway, due to the potential active threat looming against them.
"I hope we get a mission soon," Jamie Hughes complained, "I'm bored out of my mind."
"You and me both, fella," Big Dan said as the four teammates walked along the corridor.
"I would even take training at this point, fella," John Murray said.
Big Dan, Jamie and Chris nodded.
The teammates stopped as Sarah exited her accommodation.
"Alright?" Chris asked, glancing at her.
Sarah shook her head. "I'm bored shitless," she declared, puffing out a sigh.
Big Dan, Jamie, Chris and John Murray laughed.
"I'd sooner be in Afghanistan and exchanging fire with the Taliban than locked up in here right now, Sarah," Big Dan admitted.
Sarah nodded. "Me too."
"Maybe we can trade places and rotate early with D Squadron?" John Murray suggested suddenly.
The group turned to look at John Murray as they mused over his suggestion briefly.
"Chris, see to it, mate," Jamie furthered the non-serious exchange, though they would make it serious if they could...
Chris nodded because he also would rather be anywhere else than confined to base.
"Where will our overseas deployment be after this?" Sarah asked, glancing around the team.
"Training for a few months," Chris informed her.
Big Dan, Jamie, and John nodded. "Yeah, probably in Africa," Jamie said.
"After that, we'll get Iraq," Chris said, "It's rare for a Squadron to get Iraq or Afghanistan back to back, and we already had Afghan just before this deployment."
"That Afghan deployment we had was tasty, and Sangin was rockin'," Big Dan declared, smirking.
Jamie, Chris and John chuckled.
"You're telling me," John Murray said back, "That was some of the most fierce and exciting fighting I've had in the Army so far."
Big Dan, Jamie, and Chris chuckled in approval.
"Right on, mate. But to be fair, this deployment hasn't half been bad either. We've had three contacts already, and now a red alert," Jamie said.
Everyone nodded.
"So, where's the rest of us then?" Sarah inquired.
"I saw Cole and Chuck heading to the canteen a little earlier while I was working on the car," Jamie said.
Sarah nodded.
"Speedy Gonzales, I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since the Killing House," Big Dan said.
The group chuckled.
"Let's find him and see what he's up to?" Jamie suggested.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not good, fella," Big Dan joked.
The soft laughter intensified as the five teammates walked towards Bryce's room.
Arriving outside, they paused. Bryce's door was closed shut.
Jamie took hold of the door handle to the room of his teammate, and he gently began to pull it down, and he tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked," Jamie declared, glancing over his shoulder at the team.
"Aye aye, what's he up to in there?" Big Dan queried, frowning.
People in the Regiment seldom locked the doors to their accommodation on base unless they were up to something and attempting to hide it. Such an action would always capture the interest of anyone who encountered it on the military installation, and Red Team were no different now.
"I'm not sure, mate, but we have a duty to find out," Jamie laughed back.
Sarah, Big Dan, John Murray and Chris snorted to hold in their laughter in approval.
"Who's our best lockpicker in the unit that can do it silently?" Jamie asked.
"Aside from Speedy Gonzales himself?" Big Dan asked.
Jamie nodded.
The team mused over the question briefly.
"Probably Chuck," Chris soon stated.
The team nodded with the assessment.
"Ok, let's find him and then return to find out what this little devil is up to inside!" Jamie quietly chuckled with excitement.
Big Dan, Chris, and John Murray laughed in approval, while Sarah said, "You don't need to. He's already here."
The team instantly turned to look where Sarah was pointing, and their glance connected towards Chuck and Cole entering the barracks.
Chuckling away, but in a quiet tone, because they didn't want Bryce to hear them, the team motioned Chuck and Cole over to them.
Arriving in the proximity of each other, Chuck asked, "What's going on?" while glancing around in search of an answer.
"He's up to something inside, fella," Big Dan whispered, nodding at Bryce's locked room.
Chuck and Cole suppressed laughter.
"We'll have to find out what he's up to then, won't we?" Chuck said, grinning.
"You took the words out of my mouth, mate," Jamie said back, grinning from ear to ear.
The team suppressed further laughter in excitement.
"Get to work then, fella," Big Dan said to Chuck, nodding at the door.
"Why me?" Chuck asked, grinning.
"Because aside from Speedy Gonzales, you're the best at it amongst us," John Murray said.
Chuck nodded in concession. "I'll need something to open it. All I have on my person are my car keys, and as much as I want to find out what he's up to, I'm not buggering up my key in the process."
"I've got a Swiss Army knife in my room," Cole suggested.
Chuck's eyes lit up, and he grinned. "That'll do it."
As Cole briefly walked away from the team to enter his housing, growing excitement continued to build amongst the unit. Departing his room after a few moments, Cole returned to the team, and he handed Chuck the penknife.
"Right, let's find out what he's up to then," Chuck declared as he opened up the utility, and he crouched to his knee in front of the lock on Bryce's door.
The whole team suppressed laughter in excitement as Chuck carefully and silently got to work on picking the lock to Bryce's accommodation.
Taking his time and ensuring to work in silence, Chuck completed the task after a short while.
Turning to glance at his teammates, he looked up at them and whispered with excitement, "In we go then!"
All of Red Team rubbed their hands together excitedly, and they suppressed laughter as Chuck stood up.
Taking hold of the door handle, he glanced at his teammates, and he whispered, "Three, two, one," and after his countdown concluded, he opened the door to Bryce's accommodation, and he stormed inside, closely followed by the whole team racing in after him.
The seven teammates instantly connected their gazes onto Bryce, who was sitting on his bed with a hand in his pants, and he had hold of a pornographic magazine with his other hand.
Intense, roaring laughter erupted amongst Chuck, Sarah, Cole, Big Dan, Jamie, John, and Chris for almost a minute.
"You dirty, dirty, individual!" Big Dan declared, pointing at him, and he tried to stop laughing.
Bryce was embarrassed, and he didn't know where to look at being caught masturbating to the pornographic magazines in his possession.
"He needs a good scrub down and cleaning to cleanse him of his sins," Cole declared, glancing around the team.
Red Team nodded.
"I couldn't agree more, mate," Jamie said, grinning.
Laughter erupted among the team once more as Big Dan, Jamie, Cole, and Chuck moved to pick Bryce up, and they carried him out of his room despite his resistance.
"Fellas put me down!" Bryce protested their actions, as he continued his attempts to escape his teammates' carry.
"You need a good cleaning, you dirty boy!" John Murray said as he followed on closely behind.
The laughter continued as Chuck, Jamie, Cole and Big Dan carried Bryce against his will towards the showering facilities.
Entering inside, Big Dan said, "Right, turn it on, John, fella! Let's get him cleaned!"
"With pleasure!" John Murray said, who moved to turn on the showers, and he kept them cold.
With the water now running, Chuck, Cole, Jamie and Big Dan carried Bryce over to two showerheads, and they extended him out as the cascading cold water saturated him all over.
"It's freezing, you bastards!" Bryce complained.
The laughter continued among the team as the foursome kept him under the cold water for a few more seconds until they finally put him down.
Bryce quickly stepped away from the water, with his civilian clothing now soaked right through.
Once the laughter stopped, Chris said, "Right, lads, Sarah, let's change into our fitness wear and head for a run."
Red Team nodded.
The full complement of Red Team were halfway through their physical activity. Usually, they would carry out such endurance training off base to add different terrain and elevation into the mix. But because of the lockdown, they were forced to carry out their activities on the base, which had killed the fun of the exercise for all of them as they were each yearning for their independence.
The team paused briefly to take in water. Once they completed their intakes of water, they were about to continue with their running activity, but they stopped when their pagers began to go off one by one in sync with each other.
"Finally!" Cole said with excitement.
"Someone's looking down on us," Chuck declared, grinning as he glanced around his teammates.
"I hope it's exciting," Sarah said, smiling.
Red Team turned to look at Sarah.
"She's becoming like Speedy Gonzales and wanting explosive action all of the time herself," Big Dan joked.
Red Team laughed together.
"To be fair, mate, I hope it's exciting myself," Jamie said.
Red Team all nodded. Anything was better than being caked up on base for a minute longer than they had been already.
"Fair point," Chuck agreed.
"I bagsy any undercover mission," Bryce said suddenly.
Red Team turned to glare at Bryce for his comments.
"You sneaky devil!" Cole complained, pointing at him in contempt.
"We don't do bagsy here, Bryce, but I will rock paper scissors you for it," Chuck joked.
Bryce laughed, nodding.
"I suppose Sarah plus one will get every single undercover mission moving forward anyway. The Regiment will undoubtedly make full use of a boy-girl cover on all future ops," Jamie declared.
Red Team nodded in agreement.
"In that case, fella, then I'm next in line on the NHS for a sex change 'cause I want to be on all of them myself," Big Dan joked.
Red Team snorted multiple times to hold in their laughter, but they were unsuccessful, and the team continued in laughter as they made their way to the briefing room for a briefing concerning why their command had paged them.
A short while later
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Colonel Philip Wood started a briefing to Red Team. Red Team's OC, Captain Wallace, Morgan Grimes, the MI5 representative, and a representative from the Home Office were also in attendance.
"Boss," Chris said, leading the greeting from his team towards the military and civilian officials.
"A few days ago, these four gentlemen, who will soon be appearing on screen, went AWOL from their duties at Aldershot Garrison," Colonel Wood said.
Four pictures soon appeared on a projector screen inside the briefing room, and Red Team studied the pictures closely.
"Shit!" Chuck exclaimed suddenly. His glance was razor-sharp onto the pictures showing on the screen.
Everyone present inside the briefing room turned to look at Chuck to query his outburst.
"I know them, Boss. I served with them in the Grenadier Guards," Chuck declared as his gut sank.
All of Chuck's teammates gasped, and they continued their glance towards him as Chuck put his hands up to his cheeks while the officers nodded because they already knew that information anyway.
"Unfortunately, as Corporal Bartowski so elegantly put, we have a bit of a problem on our hands," Colonel Wood stated.
"I've not heard of the Regiment hunting out deserters before, boss," Chris said.
"Armed deserters, Staff Sergeant," Captain Wallace informed the team.
Red Team's eyes immediately widened while Chuck puffed out a long sigh, and his gaze lowered at the desk he was seated around. Chuck was no longer looking forward to this mission as he was just a short while ago.
"As the Captain said, not only are the gentlemen missing from their duties, their kit and rifles have gone missing with them," Colonel Wood stated.
"So, what's our objective?" Sarah asked.
"Find them, and with hope, bring them in quietly without a fight," Colonel Wood said.
"Are there any leads?" Cole asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Colonel Wood replied, and he nodded at Morgan.
With Morgan's queue to take over the briefing, Morgan said, "There is a fifth gentleman, who we have in custody."
Morgan then clicked a button on the remote he was holding, and a fifth picture appeared on the screen.
Chuck shook his head once more, and he puffed out a prolonged sigh. "He was in the regiment with them as well. He left just before I joined the SAS. I heard he joined the armed police, specifically nuclear ones," Chuck declared.
The four people heading up the briefing nodded, while Red Team turned to glance at Chuck.
"Sergeant Lewis is or was, a member of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. He's in a police station as of this moment for illegally accessing transportation routes. He will be discharged from the service. MI5 has also uncovered Sergeant Lewis to have been making multiple right-wing threats online specifically towards the British Muslim community in the immediate aftermath of what happened in London, Manchester, and Birmingham recently," Morgan informed the team.
"Sergeant Lewis has also been in recent contact with two of the deserters on multiple occasions," the Home Office representative added in.
"So the threat is nuclear?" Jamie asked with concern.
"It appears that way," Colonel Wood replied.
Red Team turned excessively anxious, and they became somewhat uncomfortable in their seats at the revelations.
"Just what kind of routes was he caught accessing?" Big Dan asked.
"Plutonium transport routes from plant to plant," Morgan replied.
The team mulled over the information briefly.
"When is the next specific transport convoy scheduled for, if we may know that information?" Sarah inquired.
"Monday at 09:00 hours," Colonel Wood replied.
"Can it not be postponed until the deserters show their faces somewhere?" Cole asked.
The team glanced to their front to receive an answer.
"No delays are possible. Nuclear material shipments are planned many weeks in advance, so to delay is not logistically possible, and the transport will go ahead come Monday morning," the Home Office representative said.
Red Team shook their heads at what they had heard.
"Am I the right person to go on this mission, with my history with all of them?" Chuck asked suddenly, feeling uneasy due to his connection with the four missing soldiers.
"That's a decision for the Staff Sergeant to make," Colonel Wood replied, glancing at Chris.
"If you do choose to step down from the mission, then Blue Team will step up instead," Captain Wallace declared.
Chuck and Chris shared a glance for an extended moment while most of Red Team shifted their gaze between them both.
"I trust him as much as anyone on this base," Chris started, "But I want to hear from his mouth, and his alone, concerning what he would do if we end up in an armed engagement with them."
The whole room glanced at Chuck in wait for his response.
Chuck sighed for a long moment to collect his thoughts. Glancing at his team leader, he said, "I will do whatever we are required to do if necessary, but I will do it with a heavy heart. But if those lads are deserters, then they're not the people I thought they were anyway, and if they do indeed intend to make a move on this transport, then I will engage them as the enemy."
"That's good enough for me," Chris said instantly.
The whole room, minus Chuck and Chris, nodded in sync.
"Ok, Red Team has it," Colonel Wood declared.
Excitement erupted amongst the unit, except for Chuck.
"Your mission will be to deploy to the nuclear power plant and provide extra firepower and an added escort for the convoy until it arrives at its destination. The Chief Constable of the force has already requested help because of Sergeant Lewis's connection to the deserters," Colonel Wood said.
"So you're saying there's possibly other armed police within the force who may also hold allegiances with these deserters who have gone missing from the Grenadier Guards, and Sergeant Lewis?" Cole asked.
"It's entirely possible," the Home Office representative replied, "Which is why your unit will have complete oversight over the convoy from the moment it departs until it reaches its destination."
Red Team processed the information.
"Aside from Paul Lewis's comments towards the Muslim community and his accessing of transportation routes, has there been any specific threats towards the convoy or plans for what they intend to do with the Plutonium if they make a move for it?" Chuck asked.
"Not as of yet. We have a lot of people searching for that information," Morgan declared.
"Both myself and the Captain will be deploying on this operation. I'll be posted with police command inside the nuclear facility, and Captain Wallace will deploy in the lead vehicle of the convoy," Colonel Wood informed the team...
Red Team entered their barracks to collect their gear. There was a lot of tension amongst the team over their impending mission because the prospect of fighting British Army soldiers—albeit deserters—was not sitting well with any of them.
"This is a mission from hell, lads," Jamie complained, shaking his head as the team walked along the corridor.
Red Team nodded.
"I guess we got what we deserved, with us all being eager for a mission," Sarah stated.
"This mission is leaving a rotten taste in my mouth, and I feel quite nauseous that we seriously might have to shoot comrades, even if they are deserters," Cole declared.
"Yeah. Fucking hell. I get they are deserters. But I didn't sign up for this shit," Bryce complained.
Red Team minus Chris nodded.
"Right lads, Sarah, let's get our heads in the game!" Chris started, glancing around his team, "We'll fight whoever we need to fight because be assured that if these deserters do try to attack this convoy, then that's exactly what we will need to do, and all of you will engage the enemy if ordered because otherwise, you'll all be on trial for mutiny."
Red Team processed their team leader's remarks, who was glancing at them with a stern impression.
"Chris is right," Chuck said, glancing around the team, "They stopped being soldiers the moment they turned their backs on their regiment. We did serve in the same army as them, fuck, I served in the same unit as them! But it's clear that they now serve themselves. I hope that it doesn't come to it, but if they show hostile intentions to our country, then I will engage them as the enemy."
Red Team nodded as Big Dan moved to put his arm around Chuck.
"It must be hard for you, fella," Big Dan said compassionately to his good friend.
Chuck nodded. "It is, but it could have been any of you instead of me, and as we have already said, a deserter is a deserter."
Red Team nodded, and they split up to gather their gear for the mission…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next chapter, the preparation for their high-stakes nuclear escort mission continues, and the deserters start to make threats...