AN1 I can't think of much to say, so *tips fedora*, and away we go!
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Forty-One: Lockdown: Part Twenty: Dogs of War: Part Four
Manchester
Monday, 19 November 2007
07:30 hours
"Good morning," Chuck whispered, softly kissing into the back of Sarah's hair while reaffirming a tight grip with his hand placed on his lover's bare chest. "It's time to get up and go to work."
Sarah groaned out in complaint, keeping her eyes closed. "Don't want to," she groggily moaned.
"Sarah, I've somehow managed to start sharing a bed with by far the most beautiful living thing in the whole universe, so I don't want to get up either," he said, kissing her perfect mop of blonde hair again. "But we have to."
"We don't," she moaned back instantly, backing her hips to rest her naked body against his.
She then moved her hand to rest against his, which held a tight grip against her chest. "I want to stay like this. Just you, me, and this bed. Nothing else."
"That sounds so great," he admitted, kissing the back of her luscious hair for a long moment again as his morning wood problem pressed up against the back of her. "But we're in the SAS, and duty—as much as I wish it didn't exist right now—sadly… calls…."
Sarah audibly groaned for a long moment in despondence. "Chuck… right now... I want to be selling frozen yoghurt and calling in to take the day off instead."
Chuck suppressed laughter. "And why do you want to take the day off?" he asked, although he already knew the answer. Nevertheless, he would never tire of hearing a woman as beautiful and as amazing as Sarah telling him that she wanted to spend the day in bed with him.
"Why do you think, Chuck?" she moaned back sleepily, the briefest hint of frustration in her tone. "So we can go back to sleep while naked spooning for a few more hours, wake up, then have passionate sex all over the room, and maybe the bathroom too, that's why."
"Ooh, the bathroom, huh?" he asked, muting laughter before he took a tighter grip of her and kissed her hair. "Baby, I'd love that too," he said but he instantly grimaced because 'baby' might have been too intimate for their present casual sex relationship.
However, if Sarah had reacted negatively to Chuck's Freudian slip, she hadn't shown it.
Her reaction was quite the contrary to being a negative one because she moved herself to snuggle tighter into him.
"What would you be instead right now if it was just us, in civvy street?" she asked.
"Sarah," he said, moving to snuggle tighter into her. "I would be anything you wanted me to be."
Sarah arched herself behind her to gaze at him.
And as soon as she turned, Chuck smiled at her stunning face.
Sarah's hair was tousled, and her face was one-hundred percent natural, but her beauty was intoxicating.
They shared their first gaze of the day for a few seconds until Sarah said with reluctance, "Another few minutes of feeling you against me, just being ourselves, and then we'll put on our facade." she then turned back to rest her head on the pillow once more, drawing out a sigh as she did so because she wanted nothing other than Chuck, herself, and this room today.
Chuck reaffirmed a firm hold of her bare breast, planting a several-second long kiss into her hair as he did so.
"Chuck?" she breathed out lamely into the pillow their heads shared.
"Yeah?" he asked back, kissing her hair again.
Moving to take hold of his hand which held her chest again, she pleaded, "Please don't stop doing that."
He suppressed laughter and soon discharged another several-second long kiss into her hair. "I have no intentions to stop. I will gladly kiss you non-stop until I die of dehydration."
Sarah quickly backed her hips suggestively into him as an immediate burning desire fired up within her for him over his comment.
Of all the intimate partners Sarah had been involved with before Chuck, he trumped all of them combined—and then some!
Each time Sarah had sex with Chuck, she became more attached to him.
She'd known him for nearly two months, but those two months felt like at least a year.
And that was just their activities in the bedroom.
Outside of it, Chuck went out of his way to help her and make her smile. They may have agreed only to have casual, no-strings fun, but to Sarah, it was becoming increasingly clear to her that the both of them were developing intimate feelings beyond no-strings fun.
Before Chuck, she'd had multiple casual relationships, so she knew that the intensity of her growing feelings for him was quickly passing the barriers of them remaining casual. Instead, she was acutely aware that they were starting to cross into the territory of a serious relationship as each day passed.
And while Sarah was not ready for a serious, open, and exclusive relationship just yet—because she'd never had one before, so she was unsure about what she could offer and bring to the table in one—she had to admit, her feelings for Chuck, and his for her just felt right.
This felt right.
"Do you want to make love again tonight?" Sarah soon asked, breaking the silence, her breath holding in bated anticipation of his reply, as a sickening dread began to build in case she was behaving too clingy and that he didn't want her as much as she was starting to desire him.
However, to settle her dread, he instantly replied, "Just try and stop me!" pulling her tighter into him once he'd finished.
She suppressed approving laughter as joy lit up her face. "But what if the lads try and stop us?" she soon asked.
"Then I'll shoot all of them without a second thought, and then we'll flee the country together for South America so we can spend all day, every day, in bed together having copious amounts of passionate sex," he said, grinning into her hair.
Sarah giggled saucily. "Ooh, like rabbits, huh? I like your thoughts, gorgeous."
"And I like yours, beautiful," he said back, reaffirming a firm hold of her chest as he kissed into her divine mop of blonde hair again.
She suddenly backed her hips intimately into him. "Does that mean you're addicted to me then?"
"Sarah," he said but paused as he lowered his hand to take a gentle, protective hold of her stomach. "The moment I first entered inside you, I became addicted to you. We agreed to casual sex for now, at least. But I can tell you right now that I don't want us ever to end. I will fight to make us work. Because you're so perfect that only the most half-witted fool would not become instantly addicted to you."
Sarah quickly moved to tightly squeeze hold of his hand, which held her stomach protectively, and a smile of great gratification encompassed her features, as she began to play with her toes in shyness.
"So, did that answer your question?" he soon whispered to her.
"Yeah," she said, still basking in the afterglow of how special he always made her feel. "But I want you to know something now also…" she paused briefly to build up suspense, and to gain the courage to admit the intimacy of what she was about to say. "I became just as addicted to you when you first entered me too…."
x-x-x-x-x-x
Sarah was the last member of Red Team to arrive at the hotel restaurant for breakfast before the unit departed to begin their simulated counter-terror exercises.
She moved to sit next to Chuck as the lovers shared an intense glance filled with many unspoken intimate words.
"I ordered for you," Chuck said, nodding at some food in front of Sarah.
She turned to look at the food plate. "Thanks," she soon said, drawing out a sigh.
Sarah Lisa Walker was not a morning person by all intents and purposes. But that alone was not the reason for her lethargic mood this morning. In the two months she had been in the Regiment now, her unit had been sent on constant mission after mission, with each one insanely high in ferocity. Red Team had had very little reprieve to unwind and refocus themselves on the job again. Factor in that she was new and experiencing the extreme intensity of being a special forces soldier for the first time; it was entirely understandable why she was without much energy today. Her head which was now moping and her shoulders sagging only served as a testament to that.
A few minutes passed with most of the team in their usual morning silence as Sarah gingerly picked away at her food until the silence was disturbed by Big Dan.
Looking at Sarah seated opposite him, he said, "Fucking hell, Sarah. You're looking out of it there. You'd think a five-star room would energise you, not suck it out of you."
Bryce and John Murray found Big Dan's comments to be amusing. However, they were the only two members of the unit who did.
Sarah, meanwhile, blew out a huge sigh, becoming very irritated by Big Dan poking at her. It was far too early in the morning for this kind of shit!
Soon looking up at Dan, she shook her head in disgust and sharply said, "Oh, will you just piss off, Dan?!" continuing to shake her head at him as she finished.
"Ooh, someone's touchy this morning," Big Dan laughed back.
Sarah instantly raised her right hand to cover the right side of her face while she slammed her left hand into the table, closing her eyes to try to stem her rising frustrations from Big Dan tormenting her, and she'd not even finished her sodding, bloody breakfast yet!
"Give it a rest, Dan!" Chris quickly ordered his team member with a sharp glare, sensing that Sarah wasn't in the mood to be tormented by anyone this morning.
Sarah's desire to be left alone was completely understandable, too, because what living person would like to be provoked within just minutes of first waking up?
"Yeah, it's far too early in the morning for you to be behaving like a grade-A knob!" Chuck said, shaking his head at Dan, feeling pissed off with him too over his provoking of a woman he was falling for. "And I'd be touchy too if I had to be roomed next to someone who snores like a fucking banshee!" he said, raising his closed fists in the air to emphasise his point.
Cole Barker, Chris MacDonald, Bryce Larkin, John Murray and Jamie Hughes erupted in loud hysterics for a very long moment, having found Chuck's comment—which he hadn't intended as a joke—to be immensely amusing, as did Big Dan, who started snorting.
However, Chuck didn't join his teammates in laughter, nor did Sarah, but she did turn to look at Chuck to query his comments. She soon involuntarily raised her shoulder over her lover's defence of her, which she appreciated a lot! Sarah also appreciated him having ordered for her; because she would have missed out on breakfast this morning if he hadn't. And what sucked most of all was that she couldn't tell or thank him in ways she wanted to. Instead, she had to hide how she felt about a man who completed, cherished, and looked out for her in ways nobody had before because if she didn't, then she'd be mocked and teased endlessly over her feelings towards him by her teammates, and everyone else on the base...
Sarah's conundrum was actually a big part of why she felt so discouraged this morning. Last night with Chuck had been perfect, but now they were forced into having to act and pretend like it hadn't happened, which was significantly impacting her mood.
Once the laughter calmed, Jamie said, "I disagree with winding people up at eight in the morning as Dan did. It's out of order. But they're both more edgy than usual today, aren't they?"
"It's probably because they're regretting not coming for the nightcap," Cole suggested, grinning.
Chris, Bryce, John, Jamie and Big Dan promptly agreed with their teammate.
However, Chuck and Sarah didn't reply, each feeling in their own little world, as they held a compromised glance at each other.
A few minutes later
Chuck and the rest of Red Team were back on their hotel floor, collecting their gear before departing to begin their training.
Once Chuck had all his gear, he hastily departed his room, wanting a quick word with Sarah before they exited.
He knew that she needed perking up a little today, which was understandable, he felt, because she was new to the unit, and they had had minimal downtime since her first day and an enforced lockdown to contend with on top of it.
Arriving at her door, he knocked.
"Just a minute!" she called out.
Sarah soon arrived to open the door, and once she did, Chuck stepped inside the room, closing the door after him.
Turning to look at her, the lovers shared a glance.
Chuck soon smiled at her.
She attempted to smile back, but it wasn't one of her better ones.
Wanting to help a woman he was growing to care a great deal about, he took hold of her hand. "Sarah, I can tell it's not going to be one of your best days. So don't rise to any of them, focus on the job, and look forward to tonight 'cos I'm taking you out on a date and trust me, I intend to pull out all the stops to make it a passionate one because, beautiful, you deserve it!" he said, grinning.
Sarah's mood instantly perked, swiftly emitting him a loving gaze.
"I thought that would make you happy," he said, still grinning. "You're gonna need your best dress because I intend to sweep you off your feet!"
Playing with her lover's hand holding hers, she said, "I don't have it with me."
"Then, beautiful," he said, stepping into her proximity, taking hold of her free hand as their bodies moved to touch. "You should buy a new one while we're here and I'm gonna offer to pay for it because you're worth it."
Sarah's cheeks flushed in shyness at his compliment and she broke her glance from him briefly in embarrassment. "You're worth it too," she said, reforming her stare into her lover's eyes. "So I'll buy my own dress, but you can take me out on a date, and then after it, we're going to make love on that bed all night," she said, nodding at the bed in her room.
Chuck suppressed laughter as his face erupted in joy.
She returned his happiness to him, feeling much more perked up and happy with herself already.
And it was all because of him.
They held their lover's gaze for a long moment until Chuck started to turn to exit.
However, Sarah instantly pulled him back into her.
With their bodies crashing together again, she reached up on her tiptoes to connect her lips against his own.
They closed their eyes as they expressed their intimacy with each other again, which became more powerful by the day.
Their kissing was soft, without any urgency, for Sarah had already explicitly stated: that would come later.
The lovers continued to kiss as their lips detached and reattached multiple times—the softness of their actions conveying their growing fondness towards each other—until they had finally had enough.
For now.
Stopping all action of kissing, Sarah whimpered into his mouth, overcome with emotion over the intensity of the feelings she felt for him, and she didn't know how to have the faintest of clues of how to deal with them: because she'd never felt this way before.
Opening her eyes to look at him, she whispered, "Thank you, Chuck," into his mouth. "I needed this..."
x-x-x-x-x-x
This is BBC Radio One with the news at nine. One week on from the armed incident close to Sizewell nuclear station, we still do not know much about what happened. Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence, and the Home Office have remained tight-lipped on events which led to the deaths of the four deserting soldiers, several police officers, and multiple civilians. In other news, Britain is bracing itself for the period of extreme winter weather set to arrive in a matter of days, which will plummet temperatures to minus fifteen degrees centigrade across most of the country. Forecasters are warning that the sharp decline in the already low temperature across the nations means this will be the coldest November ever in the United Kingdom…
"Fucking hell, lad!" Big Dan complained suddenly, glancing between Chuck, Sarah and Bryce in their mobile service vehicle, which Chuck was driving. "I'll need me willy warmers on for that!"
Chuck, Sarah and Bryce snorted at his comments.
"Did you catch that forecast just then?" Jamie asked, appearing on the team's comms.
"Yeah, we did," Chuck said back as Red Team drove in convoy through the streets of Manchester in wait for their counter-terror exercises to commence. The instructions they'd received concerning the training was that command had wind of an active Islamist terror cell planning to attack a shopping centre in Manchester. The authorities had wind of the city, the date, which was today, Monday, 19 November 2007, but no other information had been provided, which was typical for exercises related to counter-terror. Per the perceived threat, the SAS had been pre-deployed and placed on high alert.
"I hope I'll be back in my own bed, all snuggled up with Sophie by the time it arrives," Cole said.
"You and me both, Cole," Chuck replied into the radio, wanting to be back in his own bed too. And preferably, maybe, absolutely with Sarah from time to time, if she wanted to.
Laughter filled the communication channel as Jamie came on air, "I always knew he had a thing with Sophie, and now with that comment, he's only gone and proved it 'cause he just admitted he wants to be in bed with her!"
"He better not have!" Cole quickly said back.
The laughter significantly extended as Chuck said, "Now, Cole, how could you even consider the possibility that I'd do that to you, you bastard! You're lucky we're not in the same car."
"If this thing with Chuck and Sophie pans out to be true, Cole could always switch partners and get with Sarah," John Murray joked, chuckling.
The sudden decibels of laughter intensified over the Scot's comments as Cole said, "Now there's a thought!"
However, Sarah was unamused in the front seat of the second vehicle, and Chuck, likewise, was feeling the same.
"Watch what happens to you, John, just as soon as I set eyes on you! I might even risk ramming the vehicle Chris is in right now just to have you!" Chuck said back.
Snorting away, Big Dan came on air, "I'd believe him if I was you, fella, 'cause he has a look like thunder in here and actually, you should be more concerned about Sarah because while she's staying silent, I can assure you that she intends to strangle you at her earliest convenience!"
Sarah instantly shot Big Dan a glare as everyone except her and Chuck continued to laugh intensely.
Looking at Sarah next to him, Chuck said, "Well, it looks like it's us against all of them."
Sarah nodded. "Mh-hmm. And we'll win 'cause we're the best anyway."
Chuck pointed at Sarah in immense agreement, "I like your thinking!"
Sarah smiled at him as the lovers did their best to ignore and cancel out the teasing from the team, which Sarah could very much do without today.
A few minutes later
"Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo, this is Control," Captain Wallace, who had arrived in Manchester this morning, came on comms.
"Go ahead, Control," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.
"An incident has been declared at The Trafford Centre retail complex. An explosion has been reported within the shopping centre. Police, fire, and ambulance crews have been dispatched. I'm also dispatching Red Team to the scene in case the incident is related to our intelligence warning," Captain Wallace said.
"Affirmative," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied.
Looking around at his three teammates in the vehicle, Chuck said, "Here we go."
Jamie instantly performed a U-turn driving the lead vehicle, and Chuck repeated the action in tandem as Red Team sped towards The Trafford Centre.
One minute later
"Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo, during an evacuation, the security at The Trafford Centre has reported that multiple individuals have been seen brandishing knives, and a firearm has been seen in possession of another. Armed Police are responding," Captain Wallace said.
"Affirmative," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied.
A few minutes later
Red Team was almost at the retail complex when Captain Wallace came on air again, "Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo, a second incident has been declared at the Manchester Arndale shopping centre. Gunfire is occurring at the location. Armed Police are responding."
"Shit!" Most of Red Team exclaimed off comms, knowing that their team was the only SAS team involved in the exercise and that their full strength could only be in one possible location at one time.
"Is there further information about the nature of the explosion at The Trafford Centre or the knives and firearms?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.
"Negative," Captain Wallace replied. "The unarmed security at the shopping centre are waiting for Armed Police responders, per the police Gold Commander's explicit instructions."
"Affirmative," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied, becoming lost in thought as he assessed his response.
"Nothing is ever uncomplicated, is it?" Bryce asked, looking at Chuck, Sarah and Big Dan.
"It keeps us on our toes, fella," Big Dan replied.
"What are we doing, Chris?" Chuck asked for instructions. "Do we divide our forces and respond to both incidents? Or do we prioritise one? If so, which one? 'cause we're almost at The Trafford Centre."
"This is a no-win situation. It's a gamble," the team leader said.
Everyone nodded.
"At the Arndale, there is confirmed gunfire, which means active X-rays on location. But there has also been an unknown explosion at The Trafford Centre, with knives and firearms seen being brandished. Without immediate further information, I see no option but to split our forces. We don't have time to wait it out. We need to make a decision and make it now," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.
Everyone promptly verbally agreed with the team leader's assessment.
"Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo to Control," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.
"Go ahead," Captain Wallace replied.
"We're splitting into two teams to attend and be able to provide an immediate response at both locations," SSgt MacDonald said.
"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.
"Chuck, you take the Arndale. We'll take The Trafford Centre," the team leader instructed.
"On it," Chuck replied, making an instant U-turn, and speeding back where they'd just come from.
A few minutes later
"Sitrep?" Captain Wallace requested.
"Red One, Two, Five and Six on scene at The Trafford Centre. We arrived at the same time as Armed Police. Linking up to apprehend suspects brandishing knives and firearms now and will acquire an immediate status on the explosion at the complex. Out," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.
"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.
It was now Chuck's turn to give his status, and he said, "Red Three, Four, Seven and Eight estimated time of arrival at Arndale: seven minutes. Out."
"Affirmative."
Two minutes later
"Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo, a suicide bombing attack has been reported at Arndale! Armed Police units are now in attendance and coming under serious small arms fire by multiple X-rays," Captain Wallace apprised the team.
"Shit!" everyone in Chuck's vehicle exclaimed.
"Sitrep, Chris?" Sarah asked.
"Explosion turned out to be a faulty gas appliance. Moving in to apprehend armed suspects now," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied.
"Affirmative," Sarah replied, sighing. "This is definitely keeping us on our toes," she said off comms to Chuck, Bryce and Dan.
"I'm thinking that The Trafford Centre will turn out to be a decoy hoax by the planners and that Arndale is gonna be all guns blazing and too much for just the four of us to handle," Chuck said.
"Agreed," Sarah concurred.
Bryce nodded while Big Dan said, "Then we collectively made a decision that would have cost lives if this was real, fella. And that's why we need dynamic training like this to make better decisions during the real thing."
Chuck, Sarah and Bryce all nodded as the small squad sighed in sync.
Two minutes later
"This is Red One," Staff Sergeant MacDonald came on comms. "Four suspects armed with three knives and one pistol detained. They were gang members searching for a rival gang they thought to be at the location. We are leaving the situation in the hands of plod and becoming mobile to join up at Arndale."
"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied. "Armed Police at Arndale are engaged in a gun battle with at least eight confirmed X-rays. The Gold Commander is calling in multiple additional forces to the situation. Because your team is split, I am ordering Red Three's group to wait out at the location to link up with Red One's team just as soon as they arrive."
"Affirmative," Chuck replied…
Three minutes later
Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Big Dan arrived on the scene at the simulated terrorist attack at the shopping centre.
Driving the vehicle to the main entrance of the shopping mall, where scores of emergency vehicles were already in attendance, Chuck pulled the vehicle to a stop.
The shopping centre had many entrances, but it was evident that the exercise's planners intended the training to take place at this one.
Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Big Dan instantly departed the vehicle and entered the scenario where the sound of gunfire raged all around the location as the Armed Police responders, in addition to the terrorists, exchanged fire.
"Red Three, Four, Seven and Eight on scene! Heavy, sustained gunfire occurring from multiple positions inside the centre!" Chuck said into comms.
"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.
"Red One, Two, Five and Six on-route. ETA: eight minutes," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.
"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.
Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Big Dan promptly made their way to a significant Armed Police presence.
Arriving at their location, Chuck said, "22 Regiment! What do we have?"
"At least nine confirmed hostiles! Assault rifles, and we have sighted explosive belts on multiple terrorists! Two have been neutralised!" a police officer said.
"So at least seven are still active, yeah?" Big Dan asked.
Some police officers nodded.
Chuck got straight back on comms, "This is Red Three. At least seven X-rays are still active. Assault rifles and suicide vests confirmed."
"Affirmative…"
x-x-x-x-x-x
The second SAS vehicle carrying Chris, Jamie, John and Cole finally arrived at the entrance to the shopping centre, where Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Dan were already waiting for their teammates' arrival.
"Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo in position at Arndale," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said, exiting the vehicle.
"Affirmative. You now have command of the situation. Armed Police will lead off your judgement," Captain Wallace replied.
Chris, Jamie, John and Cole quickly moved to link up with Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Dan.
"What's the situation?" Chris asked Chuck once they linked up.
"Three further X-rays, KIA. The four remaining X-rays have retreated deeper into the shopping centre. Armed Police have pushed up to the entrance, as you can see, and they are preparing for entry," Chuck apprised his team leader, Cole, John and Jamie.
"Not without us, they're not!" Staff Sergeant MacDonald quickly said. "Right, let's get shields from the wagons and then lead the assault. We've already pissed away too much time by splitting our force, which in hindsight, was a bad call, but we'll deal with that later."
Everyone nodded.
The team moved to collect ballistic shields and hastily headed to the entrance of the shopping centre.
On arrival, Chris walked up to the police commander on-scene, him being the commander evident because he was giving orders to the Armed Police unit, which was preparing to assault.
"Right, we'll take it from here," Chris said assertively. "We'll push up the main hallway and take out any X-rays until we arrive at the main courtyard. Follow our advance, clear all of the shops along the row, and call up the medics slowly behind to deal with these mass casualties all around us," he said, nodding at all of the staged actors who were laid out all around the shopping centre.
The police commander nodded.
An exercise like this was more about response times, deployment decisions in the heat of the moment, and multiple service integration and liaisons rather than simulated gun battles and assault strategies.
There simply wasn't enough time for Red Team to study maps of the centre before storming it because, in a real scenario that required immediate action, each second wasted was additional lives lost.
However, the assault about to take place was a textbook assault that required little coordination from both Red Team and the Armed Police unit in attendance at the simulated training.
With Red Team now in position, Staff Sergeant MacDonald apprised his OC of the situation, "Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo, four X-rays outstanding. Effecting entry and storming the main entrance now. Out."
"Affirmative."
Jamie and Bryce, each carrying ballistic shields, moved to the front of the group.
"Execute on three," Staff Sergeant MacDonald commanded.
At the conclusion of the countdown, Chuck and Sarah threw in flashbangs, and Red Team stormed the shopping centre on Jamie and Bryce's lead.
The crack unit advanced for a few seconds and they fired at the already neutralised terrorists on the ground until a living armed X-ray appeared in view.
Jamie and Bryce instantly halted their advance as Chuck and Sarah, the two members positioned immediately behind the shield holders, engaged the X-ray in sync with their blank rounds.
The actor playing the terrorist slumped to the floor.
"X-ray down!" Sarah called into comms.
"Affirmative. Three X-rays outstanding," Captain Wallace said.
Red Team continued their advance behind the shields as scores of Armed Police units flooded in behind to clear the vast quantities of shops on either side of where Red Team passed.
Arriving at the position of the neutralised X-ray, Chris and Cole fired blank rounds at the actor playing dead as the team of eight continued advancing for a few more seconds when suddenly, another two armed X-rays appeared in view.
The unit instantly halted their advance as Chuck and Sarah prepared and discharged two additional flashbangs at the staged terrorist locations.
As soon as the stun grenades exploded, the six teammates behind the shields engaged the blinded X-rays, who dropped to the floor, playing dead like the previous ones.
"Two X-rays down!" Chuck called out.
"Advance!" Chris instructed.
Jamie and Bryce continued their advance with shields as Captain Wallace came on comms, "One X-ray outstanding."
Red Team continued their advance for a few more seconds until they arrived at the central courtyard inside the large shopping centre. It was an extensive area, with at least sixty different potential angles of fire that the unit could potentially come under fire from.
They cautiously advanced further for a brief moment when Cole barked, "Up! Ten o'clock!"
Jamie and Bryce instantly raised and angled their ballistic shields in the direction their teammate called while the rest of the team engaged the X-ray, who had exposed himself from the upper balcony.
The actor terrorist quickly slumped back out of sight.
"X-ray down," Big Dan said.
"Stronghold secure," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said instantly. "Romeo-One-Zero-Bravo to Control. Have plod secure and evacuate the shopping centre, and we will hunt out and search for any additional combatants."
"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied...
x-x-x-x-x-x
Thirty minutes later
"The shopping centre is now completely secured. For your unit, at least, that completes the exercise. Police, fire and ambulance services will continue the simulation from here. Good job, ladies and gentlemen," Captain Wallace said.
"It was shit," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied instantly. "I made a call that delayed our response by sixteen minutes. Many people inside here would now be dead if it were real."
"We all agreed with the call, Chris," Chuck said quickly. "And I saw no other solution at the time either."
Sarah, Cole, Bryce, Dan, Jamie and John all nodded.
"Corporal Bartowski is right, Staff Sergeant. There was the potential for no call made at that moment to have been the right one. It was a well-thought-out decoy by the planners, and that's why we train to better prepare for it. Your team is dismissed until tomorrow when we expect you back at Hereford by 16:00 hours. That's all," Captain Wallace replied.
"Boss," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said into comms.
With their training now at an end, Red Team shared glances from where they stood in a central part of the shopping centre.
"Right, immediate reactions to the decision leading to our split?" Chris asked, glancing around the team.
The unit considered the question until Sarah said, "Maybe a full concentration of firepower at one location? That way, if we got it right, we could have assaulted very quickly."
"Yeah, I agree," Chuck said as everyone else nodded. "Wallace is right. Those planners were extremely crafty little devils because if we had split as we did, we couldn't assault a large opposing force with just four of us."
"Exactly, mate, if we had gambled on Arndale or The Trafford Centre, and we arrived at the bogus location instead, it would have taken all of us sixteen minutes to get to the other one regardless anyway," Jamie said, taking over the discussion.
"I agree with everything you chaps and lasses said," Cole said, taking the lead in the tactical breakdown. "There was the potential for any decision made at that moment to have been the wrong one. No one-hundred percent certainty outcome was available to us in the situation they placed us in. Instead, we had to gamble fifty-fifty based on the information provided and hope to hell we picked the right location."
Heads nodded again while Big Dan chimed in and said, "At the end of the day, fellas, we're a reactive force, not a preventative one. We can only react to the information provided, not prevent it from kicking off in the first place. There was a potential suicide bomber or an IED explosion at The Trafford Centre and another active situation here at Arndale. Next time, real or not, we pick our poison and hope to fuck it's the right one."
"Aye," John Murray said in agreement while everyone else nodded. "This training scenario has taught us we should react to multiple active situations by concentrating our force and trust in our wee luck at the flip of a coin. Lesson learned: we'll apply it next time."
"Exactly, mate," Bryce said in agreement with the Scot as everyone nodded again. "It was a nightmare scenario and ingenious as well. Considering it came from The Old Bill, I didn't know they had it in them to teach us a lesson!" he said, laughing rowdily.
The unit quickly shared the laughter with Bryce for a long moment.
"22 Regiment 50, Plod 1, ey?" Cole said, chuckling.
The laughter strongly intensified within the team.
"Yeah, fair play to them," Chuck nodded as he shared the laughter with his teammates. "They got us good today, but we owed them one after how many times we've had them."
"Let's make sure they don't get a second from us anytime soon," Chris said.
Everyone nodded with conviction.
"At least our assault was good, though," Sarah said. "We stormed quickly, and it was the first time we trained with shields as a unit."
"Yeah, mate, plus, we did resolve the incident at Trafford Centre swiftly as well," Jamie added.
The unit nodded in concession once more.
"Right then, fellas and Sarah, is there anything we need to pick up while we're here and dressed in our balaclavas?" Big Dan joked, snorting, pointing around all of the shops in Red Team's immediate vicinity.
Intense laughter erupted within the unit as Jamie cried, "FUCKING HELL, MATE!"
It took all of Red Team a long moment to calm down from their outburst of laughter.
John Murray was the first to be able to speak. "Actually, now you mention it, Sarah might want to go to Victoria's Secret to pick up a few things for Chuck!" he said, pointing at the Victoria's Secret lingerie store inside the shopping mall.
Sarah and Chuck stopped laughing and shot John Murray immediate glares as thunderous laughter broke out from Jamie, Cole, Dan, Chris, and Bryce.
Big Dan said, howling, "Maybe it's Chuck who will go there, fella, and surprise her!"
The latest comments caused Jamie, Cole, Bryce, Chris and John to bend over.
While Chuck and Sarah remained unamused, glaring at Big Dan and John Murray before they puffed out sighs and turned to look at each other.
"I've had enough of them now!" Chuck said, shaking his head, entering a pissed-off state.
"Me too!" she said, sighing in frustration at her teammate's continued winding up of her and Chuck. For Sarah, it was one of the worst parts of being in the army, having to take a constant barrage of incessant grief...
Once the five teammates laughing brought their excessive laughter under control, Jamie said, "Nah, mate, Chuck will be busy in the pet shop from now on! It's Sarah who will be going for the lingerie!"
Jamie's comments set off the intense laughter within Chuck and Sarah's teammates again.
While Sarah suddenly groaned violently, quickly reaching her snapping point, and Chuck said, "Any more comments about Sarah and me today, and watch what happens to whoever makes the very next comment! I don't give a fuck who it is either 'cause I've had enough of it today! Neither Sarah nor I have made any untoward comments about any of you today, but suddenly, you've all decided to behave like proper horrible bastards towards us, and you're all bang on out of order!"
"He's right," Chris said as he stopped laughing.
Cole also stopped laughing, seeing his best friend's frustration quickly building up.
Jamie, likewise, stopped laughing after the annoyance from one of his best friends.
It took Bryce, John and Big Dan slightly longer to stop, but they eventually did too.
"Though Dan is right," Chris soon said, attempting to lighten the mood between Chuck, Sarah, and the rest of the team. "I might loot Toys R Us and get something for the kids!"
Laughter quickly erupted amongst Big Dan, Jamie, John, Bryce and Cole again, and Chuck and Sarah soon joined it, finally seeing something worth laughing about again.
"Sod it," Cole said, chiming into the joke. "I'll raid a dress store and pick up a free gift for Sophie!"
"And I'll hit JD Sports, mate!" Bryce said in excitement.
The laughter continued building within the team, now fully back in sync, Chuck and Sarah's issues with the team forgotten—well, unless another comment was made...
"Fuck it!" Big Dan said, snorting. "I'm gonna hit Hugo Boss!"
The intense laughter continued as Jamie cried out, "Let's just commandeer the whole fucking mall and take the lot back to Hereford!"
"And if anyone stops us, we'll shoot them!" Cole howled back.
"Because we're the Dogs of War!" Chuck said back, imitating a howling dog.
The laughter peaked at an all-time high as Red Team started to depart the shopping centre.
"Right then!" Chris shouted in excitement as they exited the retail centre. "Let's hit the town!"
The rest of Red Team instantly shared the excitement with their team leader as happy cheers erupted.
"Let's take our gear back to the hotel and then all fuck off to the nearest bar!" Jamie said in intense excitement as they paced towards their vehicles.
"Sounds good to me, mate!" Bryce shouted back, sharing the intense excitement with Jamie.
"And me!" the rest of Red Team said in unison as they quickly entered their service vehicles and hastily departed for their hotel in great spirits to begin their 24-hour vacation.
AN2 And now for the part where I ask you to leave a review today. There is unquestionably a lot within the chapter worthy of being commented on. Maybe specifically just how close Chuck and Sarah are becoming. What do you all think of that? Leave a comment and let me know :)
Next Chapter: Red Team heads to a bar, Chuck and Sarah shop for their date, and prepare for it.