Chapter 7
Ghost, this is Shadow-1, orbiting the compound now. Standing by for visual.
Ghost peered ahead throw the windshield as Alejandro pulled up to outlying buildings of the compound. "Shadow-1, Bravo 0-7. We'll mark our position with IR laser, over."
Roger that, 0-7.
The team spilled out of the truck. Nicolette paused to reach into the back and grab a small bag filled with ammo. She had found it during the drive and checked it. It had ammo that would fit their guns in addition to the clips she had. She was about to sling it over her shoulder when it was grabbed by Ghost. She turned and looked at him with a raised brow as the man silently added it to his gear. She said in a low voice, "Don't treat me like I'm fragile."
"You're already carrying more than enough," Ghost replied looking at her. He knew she would have stuffed mags and grenades into every available space she had on her gear. Not only that, but she also policed for rounds even in the middle of a firefight. "Might need you to be sneaky," he added.
Nicolette narrowed her eyes at the man but nodded in agreement. "Alright." She turned her attention to the situation at hand.
"So, how do we find Hassan?"
Nicolette shifted and moved to follow Alejandro's lead. She looked around, taking in the area. It was a ranchero. Locals were probably hired on to work the fields, possibly also assist in making narco. Another way to have the people on their side. Getting a paying job despite it being poison for the people in this economy. They wouldn't question.
"He'll have an armed guard. Cartel protection."
Nicolette took position with Soap behind a crate. "Lot of places to hide, hermano."
"Graves covers with close air. We clear the buildings," Ghost supplied.
"Copy that, Lt."
"Copy," Nicolette added. She took a breath and scoped out the land.
Ghost glanced at her before shooting a look at Soap, "Mark us."
Soap nodded and pulled out the IR laser to mark them just as Ghost relayed their position to Graves. He heard Nicolette sigh. It wasn't like normal, and he asked loud enough for her to hear, "Something wrong, love?"
"Not a fan of anything like an AC-130," Nicolette admitted. "And I feel naked without Addy as eyes in the sky."
Soap blinked at that. It was rare she expressed what made her nervous or afraid. He knew she had a thing about having control of certain things. He replied, "IR will mark us as friendlies."
"I know. Doesn't mean I like it." She made a slight face and then added in a low voice, "Not a good experience with fire cover. I… might tell you later."
It was bad timing on her end, but Soap knew she would bottle it up and focus. She just needed a moment to get her mind to it. He replied, "It's fine. Right now, I need ya to be ready to rush in and save our arses."
Nicolette's lip twitched at that. She looked at him and said, "You might one day be good as me. Thanks Soap." She adjusted her weapon, ready to go.
"Anytime, love."
0-7, copy your mark.
Ghost had shifted and noticed Nicolette looking nervous. After a few words, Soap had her ready to go. He filed it away to try and talk to her later about it. He focused and relayed to Graves, "Shadow-1 be advised, Hassan is moving with an armed guard. You cover external, we'll clear the buildings. How copy?"
0-7, good copy. Armed guard. We'll secure the area so you can move in. Stand by.
"Roger that."
Nicolette peered from behind her cover. She eyed it through the scope. She radioed Graves, "Shadow-1, there is truck leaving the stables moving west."
Copy that. Nice to see you again S64.
Nicolette rolled her eyes, "Likewise." She made a raspberry sound at the whole interaction.
"He's not bad, Nico," Soap's voice was heard in her ear.
"Maybe. Let's just say that I am not a fan of PMCs from the U.S.," Nicolette said.
"Anything you are a fan of?"
"A Scottish bastard, a British asshole, and a Mexican cabron," Nicolette replied with a smirk. She stifled a laugh at the look Alejandro shot her. She almost laughed when Ghost shook his head like he was exasperated with her.
Angelita, must you be so cruel?
"Te adoro, mi hermano," she replied. She adjusted her scope to look at the stables. She couldn't see anything. She thought she saw something at the greenhouse. She relayed to Ghost, "I think I see something at the greenhouse. Confirm, 0-7."
Ghost shifted to look at what Nicolette spotted. He peered through his scope. She had a good eye. "Shadow-1, we've got targets at the greenhouse to our northwest. Roping now."
0-7, no visual on the target. What's the call?
"That army convoy's gaining ground," Alejandro said.
That put them in a hard spot. Nicolette peered at the scene. She would follow Ghost's lead on this one. Her way might be a little reckless and she wasn't in the mood to listen to Ghost yelling at her. Unfortunately, Soap suggested her thoughts, "We go in guns blazing, hope he squirts, lock him up from there."
Nicolette gave him an elbow and said, "There is a time for shock and awe and a time for playing it smart." She looked at Ghost for what he wanted to do.
Ghost surveyed the situation. He suspected she was thinking shock and awe as well. Yet, she was deferring to him. He radioed, "Graves, you're cleared hot to engage external. We'll clear the buildings when secure."
0-7, copy that. Keep your heads down.
It didn't take long before armed personnel started appearing. Nicolette spotted one and pointed it out to Alejandro, "Hermano."
Sí, cartel. Good eye, hermanita.
"Bit rusty," Nicolette replied and readied herself.
It wasn't long to wait since Shadow spotted it and fired upon armed personnel. The reaction was typical. More spilled out and open fired at them. Nicolette was ready and fired when Shadow was occupied with other hostiles. The initial shooting had driven the workers away. At least they were smart enough to get the hell out of dodge.
0-7, all visible targets are down. Over.
Ghost had signaled them to move up to a better position to move in on the stables and clear it. "Shadow-1, copy that. We'll be clearing the stables first. Roping now."
0-7, copy your mark. You're clear to proceed.
"Shadow-1, we're moving now. If the target squirts, let us know."
Shadow-1 copies.
Ghost turned to give assignments. "Soap, freeze down the right side. Ryan, overwatch command."
"Copy that," Nicolette replied, knowing what he meant. It was odd to others, but it was born out of a situation they had been in before. She took up position, ready to breach.
"Breaching," Ghost relayed after confirming people were in place.
Alejandro was quick to demand the occupants freeze in Spanish. Nicolette followed Ghost in and moved to her position. She rolled her eyes at the declaration that the compound was Las Almas territory. No fucking, shit. It's why we're here. She was quick to spot one aiming at Ghost in the hayloft. She pulled her weapon up and fired two suppressed shots. At the same time, Ghost and Alejandro swept ground level since the narcos pulled their guns to fire.
Moving forward, Nicolette spotted a woman and child. She shouted at them in Spanish to get out. She didn't waste time on the woman screaming at her since another narco was coming up. She popped a few rounds at them, taking them out. It forced the woman to bolt out through the right side. A couple of narcos took advantage to bolt. They were cut off by Soap.
Those that exited out the left were met with fire from the sky from Shadow. Nicolette gritted her teeth when she heard the sounds. It was different when it came to targeted missiles. Bullets fired from the sky were different and the end result… She had been in a couple of missions where there was support from the air. She just had a small fear that whoever was on the trigger might make a mistake and hit her and her team instead. She turned her focus on the inside and swept top and bottom. She sought out Ghost, "Clear. No sign of target."
Ghost nodded, "Graves, negative on Hassan. It's a dry hole."
Ghost, copy that. I need you out of the building. Move north right now.
"Copy, moving." Ghost looked around and spotted Nicolette, "Ryan, move your ass now."
Nicolette rolled her eyes. Like she wanted to be in the building when Shadow fired. Hell no. "I heard, asshole. Moving now."
Ghost shook his head at her before heading out. They rallied outside and Ghost called it, "Graves, we're clear. Drop that fucking building now!"
0-7, copy. Danger close.
Nicolette made a face. Ghost didn't have a problem with danger close when it came to ordinance dropping from the sky. Being with him, helped with her fear of it. It was like she convinced herself that as long as Ghost was around, she didn't have to worry about ordinance hitting them. It made her feel better at the whole thing as she watched Graves take out the stables. She muttered, "You always like it danger close, asshole."
Ghost had been next to her and heard it. "So do you."
"If only you knew."
The grunt sounded loud over the gunfire. Nicolette turned to see Ghost land hard on his back. She scrambled over and shouted, "Ghost is hit!"
Soap turned to look and saw Ghost on the ground. He couldn't do anything about it since they were taking heavy fire and he needed to provide cover with Alejandro. He relayed, "Ghost is hit."
We got a man down.
Nicolette ignored it and pulled Ghost by his gear strap to get him to better cover. She ignored the grunts as she moved the ends of his shawl to look for where he might have been hit. She looked over at Alejandro and Soap as they tried to provide cover. She peeked around to get a visual and relayed to Graves, "Shadow-1 cover fire by the truck. Danger being overrun."
Copy that, S64. We'll cover you.
"Leave the fuck alone, Ryan," Ghost was grousing.
Nicolette turned her infamous glare at him. "Shut the fuck up, Ghost and let me look." She peered at his vest. She found the hole and stuck a finger in. She hit metal and removed it and reached under to check. It was quick and to the point. "Hit the plate. Looks like you walk away from this one, asshole."
"Fuck off," Ghost grunted as he attempted to sit up.
"I didn't know you felt that way about me," she teased as she helped him to a sitting position. "Take a breather. Graves and Soap and Alejandro got us covered."
"You fucking annoy me," Ghost grunted. He would have just gotten straight back up, but he learned the hard way not to piss her off and she knew what she was doing since he made her take a field medic course. The round hit the plate but it still fucking hurt.
"And you exasperate me," Nicolette countered. She looked around. The gunfire was starting to lighten. She looked back at the man. "It's gonna leave a mark. As the unofficial field medic, I order you to have it looked at when this shit is over. Copy?"
Ghost looked at her. His eyes narrowed at her, but he couldn't argue. "Solid copy, Ryan," he groused.
Nicolette stood up and offered a hand to him. She looked at him with a look that said he better listen or else. Once he was standing, she patted his shoulder.
Ghost, no movement detected. What's your status?
Nicolette looked at Ghost before reaching for her comm, "He'll be alright. Round hit the plate."
Ghost kept looking at her. It was not the time to be having a stare off, but neither could help it. He reached for his comm, "Affirm. Proper air support mate."
Roger that, 0-7.
Nicolette stared at him for a few more seconds before turning to lay cover fire and be ready to move. She looked at him and then back out. "Admit it. You're glad you had me play with the medics."
"Training, Ryan."
"Same thing."
Be advised you're clear up to the compound, but the gate is blocked at this time.
Ghost shook his head. The truth was that he was glad she had taken the course. His reasoning to Price had been more of a fluff job, but reality was that he was trying to help her protect herself better. She had fighting skills. He just added to them, and he lived with the thought that one day she would be solo on a job and would need those skills to stay out of trouble. The downside was that he was subject to her bossy nature when anyone was hurt. He reached for his comm to respond, "Copy. Give us a way in, yeah?"
We'll open the door for you. Stand by.
Nicolette glanced at Soap and Alejandro as they took position to wait for the door to open. She looked at Ghost and asked, "Still command overwatch?"
"What you do best," Ghost replied. He waited a moment and then added, "Good job, Ryan."
"Was nothing. I would have freaked if there was blood everywhere." Nicolette looked at him and gave a wry grin.
"Now that is a fucking lie."
"You'll never know."
At that moment, Shadow cleared the door with a couple of 40mm rounds at the gate. The wall and the gate crumbled like it was nothing. Shadow also took out a few cartel that were still moving in the first courtyard.
Ghost, door's open. You're clear to proceed.
"Copy that. Moving now." Ghost signaled for the team to move up.
Soap took point followed by Alejandro. Ghost and Nicolette followed, checking for any signs of hostiles that might be alive. Nicolette stayed with Ghost in a medic capacity to make sure that he was okay but wasn't hovering. There was no need to get into a shouting match and embarrass the team in front of Shadow company. Most people thought she and Ghost were insane already given their propensity to insult each other with every other breath. She didn't want to give any more reason for that. Ghost was grateful for her discretion. She knew when to work and when to play.
Ghost, no movement detected.
Ghost signaled the team to stack up on the door. "Copy. We're pushing to the entrance now."
Roger, we see you. Be advised the convoy is three clicks out. You need to haul ass.
"Solid copy." Ghost signaled Soap to rig the door to breach.
Soap did what he was told. "Alejandro, where's that exfil?"
"Five minutes out."
Nicolette made a face. That was cutting it close, and she didn't want to engage the Mexican army again. She didn't have a bag of tricks this time out and they weren't in an ideal position to hold and dig in. She glanced at Ghost and took his signal to ready for the breach.
"It's going to be close," Soap commented as he took cover.
"Let's do this then," Ghost said. He signaled for Nicolette to take position.
"Breaching," Soap called it. It was followed by the small explosion that blew the door open.
Nicolette was last to enter, but she managed to bypass the resistance from the cartel. This was what Ghost wanted her to do. She scoped the area and listened to the cartel shouting in Spanish and followed their directions. It was then she spotted him and called it in, "Shadow-1. I have positive ID on Hassan. Repeat, positive ID on Hassan. He's moving upstairs." She took out a cartel member that had come around the corner with a shotgun.
Ghost had listened to her give the call and checked for verification. "Graves, he's exiting the second floor. Northwest side."
Copy. Confirmed.
Nicolette had rounded a corner and had the barrel of her gun grabbed. She retaliated with a well-placed kick to the knee and punched the asshole across the face before pulling out her pistol and double tapping the chest. She radioed, "Ghost, I'm clear here. Moving to pursue target."
Copy that, Ryan. On you.
Nicolette picked up her rifle and moved to pursue. She was joined by the others as they pursued Hassan. She lowered her rifle and took to running for it. She took position and breached. She stayed low while Alejandro and Soap took care of the guards. She pulled her pistol and pointed it at Hassan. She yelled in Farsi, "Get down!"
"Who the fuck are you?"
Nicolette shot off a round danger close to Hassan. Her expression was hard and indicated she was not above actually shooting him. She repeated again in Farsi, "I said, get the fuck down."
She held Hassan at gunpoint until Soap could restrain the man. It was only then she said, "Mexican Special Forces." She didn't lower her weapon but kept it trained on Hassan.
Ghost had come in. He had heard the shouts and the sound of her Sig Sauer going off. He restrained from swearing since he knew she had it crystal clear that Hassan needed to be alive. It was confirmed when he saw the bullet hole in the floor close to where Hassan's feet would have been. He glanced at her with her weapon trained on their target. He relayed to Graves, "Shadow-1, Bravo 0-7. Jackpot. I say again jackpot. Target secure."
0-7, solid copy. What's the status of your exfil?
Alejandro adjusted his grip on his weapon. He cued his radio, "This is Victor 1-1, exfil is two minutes out." He looked at Nicolette who was staring hard and cold at Hassan and the man was staring back at her. Alejandro knew better that if the order was given, she would pull the trigger and not feel bad about it. He also knew that she would have "played" with her target before killing it. "Todo bien, Angelita?"
"Sí," Nicolette replied. She studied Hassan as the man looked at her. He was surprised that she was there waving a gun at him. Usually, it was the case that someone her body size would have the capability of taking down a full-grown man. "Solo asegurándome de que esta puta no se mueva."
Alejandro nodded, "Bien."
All stations, be advised- convoy is closing on the target now.
Ghost looked at Alejandro, not worried about Nicolette covering Hassan. Soap was also covering just in case. "Alejandro, what's the call?"
Alejandro responded, making sure that Graves was listening, "They are with the cartel- free to engage."
Ghost nodded and signaled to Nicolette to take cover fire while Soap covered the prisoner. "Shadow, how copy?"
Solid. All Shadows, Mex-Army is considered hostile at this time.
Nicolette positioned her rifle. "That puta Diaz," she muttered as Ghost took position beside her.
"What is it with you and Diaz?" Ghost had heard everything she muttered. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she really disliked this Diaz fellow. He noticed Alejandro didn't have a problem with it, but he wanted to understand.
Nicolette kept her eye out to look for the convoy as she replied, "Touched a sore spot for me. Like the Russian oligarch I told you about."
Ghost knew what she meant. Since they had spent so much time together on missions, they ended up sharing quite a bit with each other. "Alright."
Nicolette said nothing more about it. She saw the army, "Got movement. Contact."
It became a firefight as Graves and his Shadows covered from the air while they returned fire. It was intense as the 40mm and LTM took out the enemy vehicles. It was enough to keep the army back and allow Graves to take out the stragglers with the 25mm.
All stations, visible targets are down. You're clear to proceed.
Nicolette took a breath as Alejandro confirmed, "Shadow-1 copy that. Exfil is inbound now."
That was the cue to move Hassan downstairs and be ready to exfil at a moment's notice. Nicolette took the rear behind Soap as he pushed Hassan forward once Rodolfo pulled up with their exfil. Soap definitely echoed her thoughts when he told Hassan to shut up as he stuffed him into the vehicle. She walked around and popped the back door and hopped in where the cargo was.
"You will pay dearly for this."
Nicolette made a rude sound, "Nothing we haven't heard before." She tapped Ghost's shoulder to indicate they were good to go.
Rodolfo started driving, heading for Olmeda as Alejandro said while Ghost relayed, "Shadow-1, package secure. We're RTB."
A/N: So it seems that they are after Hassan and they have to go through cartel to get to him. Stay tuned for more...