Chapter 4- Operation Oasis
Ghost Recon is on a whole different level -Clay Spenser
LOCATION: Prince Faisal Airbase, Jordan, July 2022
After around 12 hours, the C-130 landed at Prince Faisal Airbase. During that time he got to get to know his new teammates better. Captain Brent better known as Ghost Lead was born in Vallejo, California. He was a former Special Forces Operator before becoming a Ghost. Specialist Jonathan Steele (Dallas) was born in Texas and was a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment before becoming a Ghost Recon Operator. Unsurprisingly he loves Country music. Finally Staff Sergeant Micheal Weber (Coyote) was born in Arizona along the border with Mexico. He was in high school when the Mexican Rebellion and Civil War occured in both 2013 and 2014. After graduating in 2015 he joined the United States Army before becoming a part of CAG in 2019. Later becoming a Ghost in 2021. He prefers any kind of Rock or Metal Music. Clay felt right at home with these operators.
Shortly after the plane landed the Ranger's left to go to their barracks for the "training exercise" with the Jordanian Military. In truth they were the QRF if things get dicey during the operation in Syria. We immediately got off the plane with both Major Dennison and Lieutenant Kirk Graham and were met by Colonel Khaalid al-Sharifi of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ) Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Brigade. A Jordanian Special Operations Unit.
"Marhaba (Hello), welcome to Jordan. Please follow me to the tactical operations center in Hanger 1-B".
Clay responded saying "Salamo Alaykom (Peace upon you). We are glad to be here".
The Colonel said "We are always ready to support our Western Partners when it comes to counter-terrorism."
Ghost Lead (Brent) responded "Remember we are here in an unofficial capacity meaning that we were never here".
They finally made it to hanger 1-B where they found satellite images of the compound from Fourth Echelon. Major Alice Dennison looked at the photos and other information and stated "The Zarza Compound is near the border town of Al-Shajara in Syria. Al-Shajara used to be an ISIS stronghold but is now under the jurisdiction of the Syrian Armed Forces though it looks like it has been abandoned by both sides. The Compound is large and has two stories. Covered by thick tall walls. There are two entrances to the compound, the main gate at the front is located on the North Side and the other entrance is located on the East Side".
"This'll be a piece of cake!'' Coyote (Weber) stated.
Captain Brent looked at Weber and said "This may be a piece of cake, but we still need to be on the lookout for any trouble".
Dallas on the other hand just nodded his head in Ghost Lead's direction.
Clay on the other hand thought about all the times when Bravo Team would go on relatively simple missions that went incredibly wrong. An example would be Bravo Team's operation in Mumbai when their acting team leader Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Adam Siever was killed. Shaking himself out of these thoughts. He listens to Ghost Lead explain the plan. The plan was simple: Ghost Lead and Clay would assault through the main gate while Coyote and Dallas would assault through the other gate, kill the HVTs, and perform SSE (collecting intel) in the compound. Sounded simple enough. After planning the operation, the MH-60M Black Hawk from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment or what the special operations community know them as, Night Stalkers had arrived shortly after they finished planning.
The operators got into the helicopter codenamed Mamba and it was armed with two M134 miniguns on either side. Clay was curious to see how the sensor grenades work in an actual combat situation. Holt and Midas had told him about the prototypes they had on an Operation in Venezuela in 2019. They only worked half the time in the jungle. Good thing these aren't prototypes but the real deal. He only had two sensors and two flash grenades, and two frag grenades. So he had to make them count should trouble come their way.
Syria
The helicopter landed at LZ Alpha 50 miles northwest of the compound near a small hill. They got out of the helicopter and started moving toward the makeshift observation post they needed to create. As they were rucking toward the OP, they saw the scars of years of warfare in the land. Craters, knocked out vehicles littered the area.
Ghost Lead looked at the makeshift OP they made overlooking the Compound. The OP was located in a cave that was perfect for observation. He thought that the CIA may have used it at some point in the past. They began moving toward the compound and spotted two hostiles in a makeshift fighting position. With his M4A1 in his hands he fired four shots at the hostiles. They both slumped down dead. Due to the advanced helmet he was wearing all he heard was a quiet puff. While not completely silent, the suppressor did its job. Ghost Lead used his Cross-Com's magnetic vision (1) to look around and saw no movement from the compound except for the patrols. It seems that none of the guards heard the commotion. He then spoke to the other members of his team "Clay you're with me as team one, team two will be Coyote and Dallas".
All three members of the team responded with an affirmative. They got into their respective teams and made their way to the compound. Clay stood next to Captain Brent with his HK-417 rifle at the ready. Not the best weapon for this type of situation but it's something familiar and it packs a punch. At that moment he heard Ghost Lead start talking in their headsets.
"This is Ghost Lead, Dallas are you in position"? Asked Ghost Lead
"This is Dallas, we are in position at the other gate. Awaiting your order to breach".
Brent planted the breaching charge and prepared the breach.
"Alright, breach in three, two, one, go"!
= BOOM=
Clay and Brent entered the compound. Weapons at the ready. They passed the two mangled corpses of the guards that were near the gate and proceeded to enter the first building. As they moved toward the building they heard gunfire from the opposite side of the compound.
"Ghost Lead this Dallas, taking heavy fire!"
"This Ghost Lead, do you need support? Over".
"Negative Ghost Lead, Coyote and I have it covered."
"Roger that Dallas, proceeding to the first building."
"Clay throw that sensor, I'll be able to see the positions of the hostiles with my Cross-Com".
"Roger that."
Clay threw the sensor and Brent's Cross-Com lit up with the positions of the hostiles near the sensor.
"Alright Clay, we'll take each room together".
Other Side of the Compound
Dallas and Coyote both heard the order to breach and blew up the other gate. They proceeded to move into the compound. As they moved further into the area. They began taking heavy fire from the enemy guards. They took immediate cover and began to return fire. After talking to Ghost Lead, Dallas decided to contact Hammer.
"Hammer, this is Dallas! We need ISR on our side of the compound! We need to see what we're up against".
"Hammer here, ISR is on the way. Sit tight".
"Roger that Hammer! It's lovely to hear your voice"!
"Keep dreaming Dallas".
"I've always been a dreamer".
"Hammer here, ISR is in position with a drone. Switching to thermals. You have five hostiles converging on your position. Take them out before you proceed to your area of the compound"
"Roger that Hammer".
Dallas faced Coyote and said "You get all that. Take cover by that wall"!
"Roger that Dallas. Time to take them out".
The five hostiles headed toward the two Ghosts armed with modernized AK-74's.
"Alright, Fire now"
Coyote took aim with his MK 18 Assault Rifle and started firing his weapon. He hit two of the hostiles and he forced the others to take cover.
Dallas eliminated the other hostiles with his MCX Assault Rifle. It's one of the newest rifles in the Ghosts arsenal.
"Dallas! Flank the last enemy so we can enter the building! I have the fucker pinned down"!
"On it Coyote! Keep up the pressure"!
Dallas reloaded his weapon with a fresh magazine and moved past the wall into an alley. He moved to the corner and saw the last remaining hostile. He took aim with his Sig Sauer MCX chambered in .300 BLK and took down the last enemy. The guard jerked back and was dead before he fell to the ground.
"Coyote! Move up to my position. Let's get to the second building. Ghost Lead, this is Dallas moving to the other building now".
With Brent and Clay
"Roger that Dallas! Proceed as planned. We just cleared our building, no sign of Zarza. We'll regroup at the final building. The one with the tower".
After clearing the building and making sure the hostiles stayed down they moved to the next building. They began taking fire from the second floor and the roof.
"Fuck! Take cover! Machine gun on the second floor! Clay! You got a shot on him"?
The enemy in question had a Russian-made PK machine gun. A deadly weapon that Brent faced when fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan when he was a Green Beret.
"Negative. Suppress his position while I get a good sight line on him".
"Roger that!"
While Ghost Lead suppressed the machine gunner. Clay started to move to a better position. He ran back into the building and out a side door and crouched near a set of barrels. Clay positioned his HK 417 on top of them and aimed. He finally got sight of the enemy and in one swift motion he fired his suppressed rifle. The machine gun fire ceased to a halt and the guard slumped over dead. The gunfire died down from the first floor for the time being. Clay spotted an enemy aim at Ghost Lead and fired two shots in rapid succession and the hostile fell to the ground.
"Ghost Lead. This is Dallas. The other building is cleared. Going to search for Intel. We'll join you and assault the main building after we finish"
"Roger that team two. Good luck finding any Intel." Ghost Lead said.
"Ghost Lead this is Dallas. We found a list of buyers and shipping manifests. Taking photographs now"
"Roger that Dallas. Good job with that find. Link up with us so we can finish the mission".
"Affirmative Ghost Lead"
The squad finally linked up at the main entrance of the final building.
"Zarza and Rumlow should be in this building. Kill or capture. Zarza sold a WMD of some sort to a potential terrorist group. Fourth Echelon believes it's a dirty bomb and they need us to confirm what it is and who they sold it too". Captain Brent said with conviction.
Clay had done raids multiple times during his time as a member of Bravo Team. This wasn't any different.
"Dallas put a breaching charge on that door. Alright, breach my mark! Three, two, one. Breach! yelled Captain Brent.
-Boom-
The door flew backwards and Clay threw a flashbang. He waited for it to go off and the operators filed into the building. Dallas and Coyote stacked up to a room on the left, they entered and cleared out the room. Clay and Ghost Lead did the same thing. They flashed and cleared the room. There were no hostiles in either room. As both teams started moving in the hallway again they took fire from a hostile with what appeared to be a AKM Assault Rifle. Everyone took cover and returned fire. They heard the enemy fall to the ground dead. Dallas and Coyote reached the second floor and started clearing the rooms. The second team that consisted also reached the second floor and cleared a large armory of weapons. It had loads of different AK variants and it even had a 50. caliber Barrett Anti-Material Rifle. Ghost Lead then turned to Clay and spoke saying "Once we clear this floor. Head up to the roof and provide security while we perform SSE".
"Roger that Ghost Lead"
"Ghost Lead this is Dallas. We found a large room with a large amount of communications equipment. I think we found a gold mine of information".
"We have one room left. My Cross-Com says that it's a bedroom with only two individuals. It has to be Zarza and Rumlow. We'll breach in 3, 2, 1! Go"!
Both enemy combatants were surprised and raised their weapons. They were both immediately shot by the Ghost Recon Operators. They immediately checked the bodies and took pictures to confirm their identities.
"Hammer, this is Ghost Lead. Zarza and Rumlow are KIA. I repeat KIA. Going to perform SSE. How copy. Over"?
"This is Hammer, to all Ghosts on site. Excellent work. Gather the Intel and proceed to the extraction point".
"Roger that Hammer. Ghost Lead out".
"Clay. Head to the roof to provide overwatch. We don't want any uninvited guests".
"Roger that".
Unidentified Mercenary Camp, Syria
Bardon Schaeffer looked at his platoon of Black Tusk Operatives and went to the communications tent at the makeshift FOB. He grabbed the radio and contacted Natalya Sokolova.
"Ma'am, the weapon has just been flown out of the AO and is headed to the research base in Siberia. Shall we proceed with the next part of the plan"?
"Excellent, Mr. Schaeffer. Our employers will be pleased with our progress. Yes. Execute the operation to eliminate Zarza and gather all the intel. The plan to destroy the United States is coming together nicely".
"It is indeed. This is the perfect opportunity to test whether the country can withstand the pressure of a national catastrophic event".
"You know the mission. Eliminate everyone on site".
"Yes Ma'am"!
He left the tent and addressed the squad leaders and told them the plan. They would enter the compound with a convoy of armored SUVs and Trucks provided by Lomax-Fairrow Industries.
Zarza Compound
As the team is gathering Intelligence from the compound, Clay is on the roof of the tallest building. Providing security for the rest of the team. He heard Captain Brent say "Shit! It's not a dirty bomb! They sold a biological weapon known as the Green Poison to an unknown entity.
"What kind of biological weapon is it?'' asked Major Alice Dennison, also known as Hammer.
"I'm not a scientist ma'am. But it'll be deadly in the wrong hands".
"Shit! Our intelligence unit, as well as DIA and Fourth Echelon will have a field day with all this intel. We have a Blackhawk headed to you for extraction. Over".
"Read you loud and clear Hammer! Ghost Lead out".
Clay couldn't believe what he was hearing. Off in the distance he saw a convoy of armored vehicles through the rifles magnified scope headed towards the compound and they appeared to be armed to the teeth with weaponry.
"Guys, we have a huge problem. We have an unknown convoy of vehicles heading toward the compound! Are you almost finished"?
"Shit"! Ghost Lead shouted and gave the order to hurry up with SSE.
"Hammer, this Ghost Lead. We need ISR ASAP! We have an unknown convoy of vehicles headed toward our direction. We need the Ranger QRF".
"Ghost Lead this is Mitchell. Hammer has informed me of the situation. We can't get you out just yet, so you'll have to hold your position until the Rangers come in to extract you. Try to capture one of them alive for Fourth Echelon. Griffin out".
"Well, you heard the man. Prepare for enemy contact in less than ten mikes. That should be enough time to prepare the compound for a siege. Stock up on weapons and gear from the armory."
Sorry for the late chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! Yes, Black Tusk will be the main antagonist of Act 1. Hope you enjoy it.
References
Magnetic Goggles is an optical device that uses X-ray vision to detect magnetic objects such as firearms. Has the ability to see through walls and other solid objects makes this device extremely useful in close-quarter situations. However, the Magnetic Goggles have an effective range of only 30 meters.
From the Ghost Recon Wiki page