Turning Point
May 7th, 2020 - 21:09:07
Sgt. Carter 'Sabre' Diaz
Shadow Company
Las Almas, Mexico
A Lockheed C-130 Hercules soared through the night skies high above Las Almas. The Shadow Company logo could be seen on the side of it. The aircraft was transporting a small strike team that was preparing for a free fall.
The strike team consisted of multiple Shadow Company operators, including Commander and CEO, Phillip Graves. Along with Graves were Sgt. Carter 'Sabre' Diaz, Ssg. Marcus 'Lerch' Ortega, Sgt. Rozlin 'Roze' Helms, Pfc. William Dipalo, Cpl. Richard Erickson, and Spc. Victor Vance.
"Alright people, we're nearly above the drop zone, so let's get ourselves readied up here. The Cartel isn't expecting any visitors tonight so let's make sure that they keep that same mindset." Began Graves, as he walked down the center of the aircraft's cargo hold. The crew then began preparing themselves for their descent.
"You think we'll be dealing with heavy resistance once we're down there sir?" Asked Sabre.
"With La Araña cartel, anything is possible Sabre. But the amount of success these assoles have had in the last few weeks has caused El Cazador to let his guard down quite a bit. The bastard has let his ego get the better of him, allowing himself think that he's untouchable. So he's decided to lower his protection in man power significantly. Quite foolish for a cartel enforcer.
Now since Uncle Sam has no jurisdiction in Mexico, he has graciously requested that us Shadows take advantage of the opportunity that El Cazador has been so kind to present us with. So as long as we stick to the plan, there should be little to no heat to deal with once we've got boots on the ground." Answered Graves.
"Yeah, so quit being such a worrisome pussy there face mask." Commented Lerch, who was mocking Sabre for wearing a lower half face mask on the majority of operations that he was a part of.
Sabre and Lerch had been at odds with each other since the day they first met. During his time spent with Shadow Company, Sabre had been a part of a handful of operations with Lerch. And on each one of them, Lerch tended to do something incredibly reckless, or just flat out unnecessary. Each time he did so, he'd claim that it was to ensure that there were no loose ends, that he didn't want to take any chances. Yet he only seemed to make things worse by doing so.
Sabre felt that Lerch was just taking advantage of the fact that Shadow Company didn't directly answer to anyone. While they were able to cut through a lot of red tape in order to get things done, Sabre still believed that there were certain lines that should never be crossed, even for mercenaries. But those lines didn't seem to exist to Lerch as far as Sabre was concerned.
He could only tolerate him so much. But Sabre was afraid that sooner or later, Lerch would push things too far, and that the rest of Shadow Company would have to pay for it. But if he did, at least Sabre would have a good excuse to kill the motherfucker.
"The only thing I'm truly worried about is you once again pulling your trademark bullshit to fuck this whole thing up." Retorted Sabre, who was visibly annoyed with Lerch.
"Oh simmer down there face mask, I'm only fuckin' with ya. We're gonna be just fine down there. So hows about you pull your panties back up, huh?"
Sabres tolerance of Lerch was beginning to decline at that point. "Keep talking shit and I'll lodge my field knife into your fucking eye socket."
Lerch took offense to that and stood up from his seat. "You wanna threaten a superior officer you little shit?!"
"Hey! Fucking can it! Both of you!" Shouted Graves, who had just about enough of Sabre and Lerch going at each other's throats. "The last thing I need is to worry about you two trying to kill each other. We've got a goddamn job to do. So both of you get your fucking heads back in the game! Am I clear?"
"Yes sir." Said Sabre and Lerch in unison.
"Good, now prep your gear, all of you."
Graves then made his way to the front of the plane, leaving his team to their prep work. Roze had been seated beside Sabre, and she had witnessed the argument between him and Lerch. This of course was just one of many arguments that the two have had before. But Roze was always there to help Sabre clear his head whenever it happened, and this time would be no different. She cared about him, even after they decided that they were better off as friends after their little one night stand.
"Hey, you good?" She asked him as he was prepping his gear.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just the typical bullshit that comes with dealing with Lerch. I swear, that asshole is gonna be the end of us all." He responded calmly.
"Well I guess I wouldn't be too surprised if that's how it all ended. Just keep your head straight alright?"
Sabre always appreciated Roze for looking out for him. He'd met some good people within Shadow Company, but she stood out from the rest of them. From the first time they met, they were in sync with each other. Practically being able to read each other's minds, making them that much more efficient on the battlefield. When they were together on a mission, she always had his back. Sure plenty of others did as well, but not the way she did. She was very much a ride or die. It was part of the reason why he grew attracted to her. It also helped that she wasn't exactly bad looking.
The two grew pretty close overtime, which eventually lead to a one night stand when they decided to take a temporary leave with some fellow Shadows. Despite their fondness for each other, they both came to the conclusion that they would be better off as friends. A relationship would most definitely cause issues, and they didn't want to be responsible for a major fuck up in the middle of an op. They would remain close, but not that close.
"I'll certainly make an attempt, but thanks Roze."
"Anytime." Roze then looked over to the trio consisting of Erickson, Vance and Dipalo, who were all talking amongst themselves while getting prepped for the jump ahead.
"It's nice to have these three with us on this one." Commented Roze.
Sabre looked to see who she was referencing, seeing the trio in question.
"The holy fucking trinity. I'm glad that Graves decided to bring them along on this. They've proven themselves to be an amazing well oiled machine as a group. They're definitely going places."
"No doubt." So, you think we're gonna be in for a fight once we touchdown?"
"Well anything is certainty possible, but I don't think that anything too crazy is gonna go down. Just a simple grab and bag operation. We move quick and quiet, and maybe we'll be lucky enough to make it back in time for breakfast."
"Ha! Now that's wishful fucking thinking."
The two exchanged in a laugh together, all while across from them, Lerch was glaring at the two, mostly Sabre. In his eyes, Sabre was nothing more than a damn Boy Scout, believing in morals and a bunch of other bullshit that always got in the way of getting shit done. While Lerch acknowledged Sabres talents, he felt that he held himself back due to his morals, which he did not like in the slightest. It also didn't help that Roze had grown close to Sabre, which to Lerch, allowed him to poison her mind with his bullshit views. Roze and Lerch were often a part of the same unit at one point, and Lerch liked having her with him. She was ruthless, keeping the same mindset that he had. To him, it made her more efficient. But due to a bit of a fallout that the two had not too long ago, Roze chose to distance herself from him, to which he took offense to. Especially when she started spending time with Sabre.
He continued to glare at the two before eventually returning to his preparation for the free fall.
Graves then returned to the rear of the plane and began to speak up.
"Alright, we're approaching the drop zone. Let's grab our gear and make our way to the back."
The crew then readied themselves up, their gear and parachutes ready for the jump ahead.
The planes cargo door then began to open, revealing the night sky. The crew approached the rear of the plane, prepared for the jump.
"Alright Shadows! Let's go bag this son of a bitch, yeah?!" Shouted Graves amongst the sound of loud winds entering the planes cargo hold.
"Yup Yup!" Responded the crew in unison.
"On me!"
Then one by one, each crew member proceeded to jump out of the plane after Graves. The plummeted through the night sky at rapid speeds.
Within the interest of time. The crew all touched down one by one at their designated landing point, which was several meters away from their target's location, both of which were incredibly secluded.
Graves then proceeded to check comms.
"Radio check."
"Solid copy."
"Loud and clear."
The remainder of the squad reported clear comms as well.
"Good, move to a secure channel and prep your weapons and nods. Let's keep this quiet Shadows. On me." Instructed Graves.
Meanwhile, several meters from their position, a lone cartel grunt had just completed his nightly patrol around the outer perimeter of a mid sized home that was being used by El Cazador as a safe house for the cartel. The last few nights had been quiet for them, so they all expected much of the same on this night as well.
The lone grunt made his way to an open shed that was nearby the safe house. There was a chair set up by the sheds entrance. The grunt took a seat and set his rifle down against the wall beside him. Knowing that another grunt would soon be taking over patrol duties, he decided to catch some shuteye, as he leaned his head back on the chair and closed his eyes.
Thwomp! Thwomp!
The grunt had fallen over from his chair as two suppressed rounds whizzed through the air and made impact with his upper chest, killing him immediately.
Nearby, another cartel grunt had heard the impact that was caused by the body of his fellow grunt hitting the floor. He went over to investigate, not being too concerned, as he simply suspected that something had been knocked over in the shed due to the clumsiness of his fellow grunt.
But before he could get too close to the shed, another suppressed round made contact with the side of the grunts head, killing him instantly as his body went limp and fell to the ground.
The Shadows had crossed into the safe house property after successfully dropping the two cartel grunts without being detected. The protection around the safe house was incredibly light, just as Graves's intel suggested, due to the ego that El Cazador had gained in the last few weeks.
Overconfidence makes you careless. Graves thought to himself.
"Alright, let's hit 'em from both sides here Shadows. Lerch, take Erickson, Vance and Dipalo and enter through the back door, and have one of these boys cut the power to the house. Sabre and Roze, you two enter through the front with me." Ordered Graves.
"Yup, yup."
The two teams then split up and stacked up by their assigned entrances of the safe house, with rifles and night vision goggles at the ready. Graves's party were getting ready to make entry.
"Alright you two, once the power is out, we'll make entry, and remember we want this asshole alive, he's no good to us dead. Sabre, take point."
"Yup, yup."
Sabre then took point at the front of the trio, rifle at the ready. Mere seconds later, the power to the safe house was cut off. All lights went out, engulfing the interior in darkness, giving the Shadows their edge.
"All Shadows, you are clear to make entry." Instructed Graves via comms.
Sabre then quietly opened the front door, scanned the entrance, and then moved into the safe house's interior, moving swiftly but quietly, with Graves moving beside him, and Roze covering the rear.
The trio began moving through the kitchen, scanning the environment. Stockpiles of guns and ammunition were scattered throughout the kitchen, along with a bunch of cocaine. As they were getting ready to leave the kitchen and advance into the living room, a cartel grunt came into the door from the living room, but was unable to see the Shadows due to the darkness.
Not giving him anytime to react, Sabre pulled the trigger and dumped two rounds into his chest, dropping him instantly. The bullet casings coming from Sabre's MK18 assault rifle could be heard hitting the floor after firing.
"Hostile down." Informed Sabre.
The trio then advanced into the living room, where they found a pair of more cartel grunts that were fast asleep on some sofas. They wouldn't be waking up ever again. Sabre and Graves fired one round each from their rifles into the heads of both grunts.
"Sleep tight." Joked Graves.
Roze then moved into the living room to cover the area, while Sabre and Graves moved to check the bedrooms down the hall.
"Shadow 2, making entry into the main house." Informed Lerch via comms.
"Copy Shadow 2, we've cleared the living room and are moving to secure the bedrooms, watch your fire." Replied Graves.
Sabre and Graves then got eyes on Lerch and company as they made their way inside the safe house.
"We downed two tangos in the patio outback, no sign of El Cazador yet." Informed Lerch.
"Alright then he's gotta be in one of these bedrooms then. Let's get ready to breach. Erickson, help Roze with securing the living room. The rest of you, with me." Instructed Graves.
The five of Graves, Sabre, Lerch, Vance, and Dipalo then moved into the hallway to breach the bedrooms. There were three in total, and two of them already had the doors opened. Graves ordered Vance to check one, while Dipalo checked the other.
"Clear here."
"Clear, no sign of El Cazador sir."
"Copy, let's stack up at the final bedroom." Ordered Graves.
The five all stacked up to the last bedroom. Voices could be heard on the other side of the door. The rest of the house had been cleared, so if the target wasn't in this room, there would be a major problem on there hands.
"Lerch, take point, Sabre, cover him." Ordered Graves.
"Roger." Replied Sabre and Lerch unanimously.
The two moved up to the front closest to the door. Lerch was on one side, while Sabre was on the other. Without a word, Lerch motioned to the door with his head to Sabre. He gave him a nod in response, already knowing what to do. Sabre then turned towards the door, and gave it a hard kick before moving back behind the wall.
"Merde!" One of the cartel grunts yelled out.
Lerch then quickly moved in with his rifle up, spotting a hostile to his immediate right. He squeezed the trigger and dumped two rounds into him, killing him instantly.
Sabre then quickly moved in behind him almost simultaneously to cover the left side. Upon entry, he got eyes on their target, El Cazador. Sabre immediately moved in to restrain him.
"Down on the ground! Now!" Sabre shouted at El Cazador.
He of course did not cooperate, and made an attempt to pull out a sidearm. Sabre however saw this, and quickly moved in and pushed him onto the ground, stripping him of his pistol in the process. He then pulled out a zip tie and restrained him. He was noticeably angry, shouting, swearing, and making death threats towards Sabre, nothing that he of course hadn't heard a million times over from a bunch of other assholes that he had successful captured.
Graves and company then moved in, seeing that the area was successfully secured by Lerch and Sabre, and also after seeing that they found who they were looking for. Sabre then brought El Cazador to his feet so that he could face Graves.
"Well if it ain't La Araña's favorite enforcer. Good evening to ya El Cazador. Hope you don't mind us inviting ourselves in. You and your friends have been on ol' Uncle Sam's radar for quite some time now." Said Graves.
"Fucking American pigs! I'll have all of your heads chopped clean off of your bodies and sent to your families!" Yelled El Cazador.
"Oh I'm sure my ex wife would get a fucking kick outta that shit. Now as much as I'd love to continue this very friendly and civil conversation between us, I'm afraid that time is of the essence here. So you'll be taking a well deserved nap for the remainder of the trip. But don't worry, we'll wake ya when we get there."
Sabre then kicked El Cazador to get him on his knees.
"You motherfuckers have no idea how deep in the shit you all a-"
POW!
Sabre bashed the butt of his rifle into the side of El Cazador's head, rendering him unconscious. He then placed a bag over his head. Lerch moved in to help Sabre drag the target outside, with Graves, Vance and Dipalo following behind.
"Roze, Erickson, we've got the package, we're moving out," Ordered Graves on the way out of the safe house.
"Yup, yup." Replied Roze and Erickson, as they both joined the rest of the team on the way out.
The team made it outside, where Graves then began to instruct them all on their next move.
"Alright, we need to haul ass to Las Almas Mountain Range for extraction, which means that we've gotta cut through the city to get there. The cartel will be patrolling everywhere, and if they catch a glimpse of what we're doing, then this whole operation will be FUBAR. Thankfully the ones we just dropped were kind enough to leave us with some of their patrol trucks over in the driveway, so we'll use those for transport to the mountain range. They should help us blend in long enough to reach the extraction point, assuming that none of the cartel gets a good enough look inside the trucks. Hopefully they have good window tint." Said Graves.
He then pointed out the two trucks in the driveway that he mentioned before continuing. "Sabre, Lerch, Roze, you'll be riding with me and our guest of honor here in the suv. Erickson, Vance, Dipalo, you three take the pickup truck and follow us." He ordered.
"Yup, yup." They all responded.
The team then once again split up to enter their assigned vehicles. Erickson, Vance and Dipalo moved to enter their pickup truck, while the remaining four moved to the suv with El Cazador.
"Sabre, load up our guest in the cargo space, then you and Roze hop in the back. Lerch, you take the wheel, I'll be riding shotgun." Ordered Graves.
"Yup, yup." They responded.
The team did as instructed, Sabre opened up the cargo door of the suv and tossed the still unconscious El Cazador inside, while Roze took a seat in the backseat, where she was shortly joined by Sabre. Lerch entered and got behind the wheel, while Graves sat in the front passenger seat.
"Shadow Two, we're moving out, stay close behind." Said Graves via comms.
"Copy all Shadow One."
Graves then motioned to Lerch to start driving. Lerch gave him a nod in response and got the vehicle moving, with Erickson, Vance and Dipalo close behind them in their pick up truck.
"Shadow One to Gold Eagle Actual, how copy?" Said Graves.
"Loud and clear Shadow One, send traffic." Responded General Shepard.
"General, we've secured the package, I say again, we've got the package. We've acquired enemy transport and are moving to the extraction point. We'll have to cut through town to get there, so it's possible that things might get bumpy on the way there."
"Copy all Graves, extraction team is standing by. Keep me posted in the meantime, Gold Eagle out."
In the interest of time...
The team had been driving for about twenty minutes before finally entering the city of Las Almas. They hadn't dealt with any trouble thus far, and El Cazador was still out cold, so they were hoping that things would continue to go smoothly.
"Shadow Two, we're entering the main city streets now, keep your heads on a swivel." Said Graves via comms.
"Copy Shadow One."
Graves then switched radio channels to get in touch with command.
"Gold Eagle Actual, this is Shadow One, we've made entry into the city, we'll keep you posted on any hiccups along the way."
"Copy all Shadow One, good luck out there."
While it was incredibly late in the night, there were still some civilians out and about in the town, possibly just having a late night out, or perhaps even doing some graveyard shift work of some sort. Regardless, the cartel would most definitely be nearby.
"Alright people, stay sharp, this is the Wild West out here. Keep those guns ready." Instructed Graves to his fellow Shadows in the suv with him.
"Yup, yup."
Lerch drove through the city streets swiftly yet discreetly, not wanting to draw attention, and not wanting to remain still for too long and give any nearby cartel goons enough time to get a good look at them.
Sabre was in the backseat with Roze, he had been scanning the environment as the moved along, with Roze doing the same. He had his rifle at the ready in case shit went south, but he was hoping that things wouldn't come to that. A shootout in the middle of a city against the fucking cartel would be an utter shit show.
As the team continued driving through the city, Graves spotted a cartel checkpoint ahead of them. Two vehicles were on both sides of the check point, with a few cartel goons standing around. While the team were in cartel vehicles, they certainly weren't wearing cartel attire.
"Hey, cartel checkpoint ahead, go around it." Instructed Graves.
"There's nowhere to turn from here, it's either straight ahead, or we make a U turn." Informed Lerch.
As their vehicles were getting close to the checkpoint, one of the cartel goons that was standing beside it spotted them, and motioned for them to approach the checkpoint. It seemed that he was suspicious of them, perhaps they weren't expecting fellow cartel to come through anytime soon.
"Shit." Said Graves to himself.
"What's the play boss?" Asked Lerch.
"Comply with them, pull up beside him. Sabre, Roze, get those guns up."
"Yup, yup."
"Shadow Two, we may have a problem here, be ready to engage if necessary." Said Graves via comms.
"Copy Shadow One."
Lerch was slowly approaching the cartel goon that instructed him to pull up. Apparently the goon wasn't able to make out exactly who was in the truck from his current distance, which was lucky for them, as they'd have the element of surprise.
"Once this asshole, gets close enough to the window, light his ass up Sabre." Instructed Graves.
"Roger that." Replied Sabre.
The truck then made a stop in front of the checkpoint, with Shadow Two stopping behind them. The cartel goon then began to make his way to the truck, still not having been able to tell that it wasn't cartel that were inside. Sabre began to bring his window down, but made sure to stay out of sight of the goon.
Just as he finally reached the front driver door, Sabre quickly stuck himself out of the window with his rifle in hand and put two rounds into the cartel goon, dropping him immediately. As soon as he did that, Lerch slammed the gas pedal with his foot and drove off as fast as he could. Shadow Two quickly followed behind them.
The other cartel goons by the checkpoint quickly reacted to what had just happened and began to open fire on the vehicles as they just sped past the checkpoint. One of the rounds from the cartel managed to hit the rear tire of the suv that Lerch was driving, causing him to lose control.
"Shit! They got one of our tires!" He shouted, desperately trying to regain control of their vehicle.
Lerch did everything in his power to try and avoid crashing, but he could not regain control. The suv ended up crashing into a telephone pole, totaling the vehicle.
"Fuckin' shit!" Shouted Graves as the suv made contact with the telephone pole.
The impact was strong, but nothing serious, as the occupants inside were not injured from the crash. Shadow Two pulled up behind them to use their vehicle to cover them. Erickson, Vance and Dipalo got out of the truck before they were torn apart by the incoming gunfire. They returned fire at the cartel, managing to drop them before they could get too close.
"The truck is fucked, there's no way we're getting anywhere in this." Said Lerch.
"Well change of plans then, everyone out of the truck." Ordered Graves.
The four exited the vehicle, where they regrouped with Shadow 2.
"Alright, new plan, we're gonna move on foot from here. I'll get in touch with command so they can get us the fuck outta dodge. Dipalo, grab our guest from the back of the truck here. Erickson, Vance, provide cover for Dipalo, he ain't gonna be doing alotta shooting. Sabre, Lerch, Roze, you three are gonna lead the pack with me." Ordered Graves.
"Yup, yup."
Graves then switched radios channels to update command.
"Gold Eagle Actual, this is Shadow One. We're compromised. I say again, we are compromised. Our transport has been totaled and we are proceeding on foot. Requesting immediate ground support from the extraction team."
"Negative Shadow One, we're already playing with fire just by being out here. You'll have to make do with whatever you've got down there." Responded Shepard.
"Sir we're sitting fucking ducks out here, the cartel is gonna tear us apart if we don't get some help."
"I'll try to get in contact with Mexican Special Forces and see if they can lend a hand. But you'll have to hold out until they can reach you."
"Copy that Gold Eagle, we'll keep you posted. Shadow One out." Graves then switched off his comms before readdressing his team.
"Alright, let's get a fucking move on! Move and shoot Shadows! Move and shoot!"
"Yup, yup!"
The team then began to proceed forward to make their way out of the city. Graves, Sabre, Lerch, and Roze were leading the pack, while Dipalo carried the still unconscious El Cazador, with Erickson and Vance provided cover for him.
As the team moved up a considerable distance from their wrecked vehicles, more cartel had converged on their position at an intersection.
"Contact! Twelve O Clock!" Shouted Sabre as he spotted the cartel coming from across the street.
"Engage! Engage!" Ordered Graves.
The team used nearby parked cars for cover, as the cartel did the same. Dipalo had taken cover behind the car furthest away from the gunfire, as to avoid the possibility of El Cazador getting shot. Erickson and Vance made sure to stick close to ensure they were covered. Graves, Sabre, Lerch, and Roze were at the frontline, taking the cartel head on.
The cartel were unleashing a barrage of automatic gunfire onto the Shadows, with bullets spraying all over the place. The Shadows were quick to return fire however, proving that they were the better shots. The cartel gunmen went down one by one, as pure precision accuracy was demonstrated by the Shadows. Within time, the wave of cartel gunmen that had been sent after them were neutralized.
"Clear!" Shouted Roze.
"Alright, let's keep moving. There'll be a helluva lot more where they came from!" Ordered Graves.
The team then resumed moving on foot. But before they could get far, the sound of approaching vehicles could be heard coming towards them. The team all turned their attention towards the sound, and they could see what was coming before it even arrived.
"Technical!" Shouted Lerch.
"Move to the alley on the left! Go!" Ordered Graves.
The team hauled ass to said alley, but rounds from the technical were already being fired in their direction, hitting the surface around them. The team made an incredibly narrow escape from the incoming gunfire, nearly being grazed in the process.
There were three other vehicles that approached with the technical as well. No doubt that it was filled with more cartel. While the technical wouldn't be able to enter the alley due to its size, the foot soldiers exiting the other vehicles would have no trouble at all.
The alley didn't provide much cover for the Shadows, so they would have to remain mobile while shooting in order to avoid being overrun. Not to mention that they would have to get out of the alley before the technical made it to the other side to intercept them.
"We need to keep moving before we get overrun! Erickson, Vance, take point! Dipalo, stay behind them! Sabre, Lerch, Roze, cover the rear with me!" Ordered Graves.
"Yup, yup!"
The team continued to move in the order that Graves had instructed them to. The cartel then began to converge on the alley. The Shadows were prepared however and began dumping rounds into the incoming cartel goons. A large amount of them were pouring in, if they didn't make it out of the alley soon, then either the foot soldiers would take them out, or the technical would.
"We can't stay here people! We need to haul the fuck out there! Double time!" Shouted Graves.
As the team finally approached the end of the alley, they made a dash across the street to get better cover before the technical made it back to them.
"Alright, that technical is gonna be coming back any second now! Hold your ground Shadows!" Shouted Graves.
Within a few seconds of him saying that, more cartel goons began to pour out of the alley that they just made it out of. The team began to engage, firing semiautomatic rounds at the enemy before they could get too close. The cartel quickly returned fire, and shortly after the did, the technical from earlier made its way back to the action.
"That fucking technical is back!" Shouted Sabre.
"Use your frags people! This fucker needs to go down now!" Ordered Graves.
Sabre, Lerch and Roze all began to toss frag grenades in the direction of the technical, while the rest of the team provided cover fire. The grenades all went off one by one. The first blast knocked the gunner off of the turner of the technical, effectively killing him. The second blast flipped the truck over on its side, and the third blast blew the truck up entirely.
"Good fucking shit Shadows!" Shouted Graves.
The team would then resume to focus their attention on the foot soldiers. But before they could do any considerable damage, another vehicle could be heard approaching their position. This one however was NOT a technical.
Roze was the first one to take notice, as she turned her attention to her left to the approaching sound and got eyes on the vehicle in question. Her eyes went wide almost immediately.
"NARCO TANK!!" She shouted.
The rest of the team turned to get eyes on the vehicle in question, and it was safe to say that they were just as concerned as she was.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" Shouted Graves.
The team immediately fell back to get better cover from the incoming narco tank, but not before the gunner of the tank managed to get eyes on them. The gunner then fired a projectile at the Shadows that detonated on impact. The blast came close enough to nearly knock them on their ass.
"Fucking Christ!" Shouted Sabre.
They managed to get cover behind a stone wall that was just short enough for them to vault over, but high enough for them to have decent cover behind it, at least for a little while.
"They've got a fucking grenade launcher mounted on that thing!" Exclaimed Erickson.
While the narco tank was preparing to fire again, more cartel troops were converging on the team's position, unleashing gunfire upon the stone wall that they were using for cover. At the same time, more cartel troops had made their way up to the third floor of a nearby building that was overlooking their position. One of them had an rpg, and he had that point very clear when they fired a rocket towards their current position. The blast was close enough to knock them on their ass, but they were luckily uninjured, for the most part.
"Fucking rpg's too??!! This is some serious fucking bullshit!" Shouted Lerch.
Graves Managed to get a peak from cover and get eyes on where the rpg had just fired at them from. The smoke trail from the rocket was still fresh, so that made it that much easier for him.
"That asshole with the rpg is up on the third floor of that apartment building to our right! Two O clock! Sabre, Lerch, I need you two to get to that building and take the fucker out! When you do, use that rpg and take out that fucking tank! I'll pop smoke to give you boys some cover!" Ordered Graves.
"Yup, yup!" Responded Sabre and Lerch.
Graves then pulled out a smoke canister and tossed it out in front of the cartel. Sabre and Lerch waited until the smoke covered as much of the area as possible before they made their dash to the apartment building.
"Gold Eagle Actual to Shadow One, how copy, over?"
"Solid copy Gold Eagle, send traffic!" Responded Graves.
"Graves, I've managed to get in contact with Mexican Special Forces, they're moving to your location now, ETA, five minutes."
"Copy all General, we're holding our ground here! Just tell em' to haul as, yeah!?" Responded Graves.
Meanwhile, Sabre and Lerch had reached the building. They bashed their way through the door, their weapons were up as soon as they made entry. As they moved up the stairs to the third floor, they spotted a pair of cartel goons that were covering a door that lead to an apartment. This was clearly where the asshole with the rpg was firing from. Sabre and Lerch quickly dropped the pair and moved in to breach the apartment. They stacked up on bith sides of the door the lead into the apartment. Giving each other a nod, Lerch began by kicking the door open, as soon as he did Sabre moved in with his rifle up, Lerch moved in behind him. They moved through the apartment in search of the targets. They got eyes on them in one of the bedrooms that had a window that was overlooking the street that the rest of the team was pinned down at. Sabre and Lerch managed to catch the cartel grunts inside by surprise and drop them before they could react in time.
"Clear!" Said Sabre.
"There's the assholes rpg, grab it and take out that damn tank Face mask! I'll cover you!" Said Lerch.
Sabre ignored the use of Lerch's nickname that he had given him and went to grab the rpg.
"This fucking tank ain't letting up Sabre, take it out already!" Said Graves over the radio.
Sabre had gotten his hands on the rpg, he loaded up a rocket, and then made his way to the window, aiming the rpg down range towards the tank.
"Danger close!" Responded Sabre.
He then fired the rpg in the direction of the narco tank. The rocket made contact with the side of the tank and flipped it over as the blast went off. The impact of the explosion no doubt killed the gunner. If it somehow didn't, then him being crushed by the weight of the tank as it lied on its roof surly did.
"Hell yeah!" Shouted Roze from down below.
The rest of the Shadows then took out the few remaining cartel goons shortly after the narco tank was dealt with. Finally, the shooting stopped, and things went quiet.
"Looks like we're clear! Damn fine work Shadows. Let's regroup at the intersection." Ordered Graves over the radio.
Hearing that, Sabre leaned his head back and took a deep breath, being relieved that this was finally over.
"Nice job there Face mask, glad to see that your inner pussy didn't fuck things up." Said Lerch.
Sabre could only turn to him with a look of annoyance.
"Oh fuck off already, let's just get back to the team." He replied.
The two then began to make their leave, heading down the stairs and out of the door below. As they were approaching the exit to the apartment building however, a civilian had run past them. Lerch immediately didn't like the look of this, and went after them outside.
"Hey! Stop right there!" He shouted at the civilian.
Sabre then immediately went after Lerch, not liking the idea of what he might be trying to do. Lerch had the civilian at gunpoint once he stopped running. It was a young man, and he looked utterly terrified.
"Please! I'm just trying to get somewhere safe!" Said the young man.
"Lerch! The fuck are you doing?!" Said Sabre as he ran up next to him.
"This guy was in there along with the cartel. As far as I'm concerned, he's working with them." Answered Lerch.
"He's not even armed you dipshit! Let him go!"
"So that he can run back to the cartel and let them know where we are?! Fuck that! No loose ends while I'm around!"
BANG!
Lerch squeezed the trigger of his rifle, firing a single round. Sabre had moved in to knock Lerch's rifle in another direction in order to avoid hitting the man. But unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough.
The round fired by Lerch had went into the man's upper chest, going directly into his heart, killing him instantly.
Sabre had shoved past Lerch and ran over to the down civilian, hoping that he could still be saved. He went to get a feel for a pulse, but got nothing.
The rest of the team approached Lerch and Sabre after they heard Lerch's gun go off.
"What the hell happened here?!" Questioned Graves.
"The dead asshole over there was with the cartel. He was trying to make it back to them and compromise us further, so I put him down. Face mask over didn't seem too keen on it though." Replied Lerch.
While Lerch was explaining his version of the situation, Roze looked over at Sabre with concern as he was desperately searching for any signs of life within the dead civilian.
Sabre tried to save the man, but to no avail. Then, his desperation turned into rage.
Sabre then got up and made his way over to Lerch, taking his helmet off in the process.
"Sabre?" Said Roze with concern.
Meanwhile, Lerch was still explaining the situation to Graves, he didn't seem too happy about what had just transpired.
"And did you have any way of knowing this guy was with the cartel?"
"With all due respect sir, I had to make a call. It was either tha-"
BAM!
Sabre had marched over to Lerch and hit him over the head with his helmet, causing Lerch to fall to the ground pain. This caught Graves and the rest of the team completely off guard. Sabre then pounced onto Lerch and began punching Lerch in the face repeatedly.
Graves then moved in and grabbed Sabre and pulled him off with the help of Roze.
"The fuck has gotten into you Diaz?!" Said Graves.
"Carter stop!" Added Roze.
They were able to pull Sabre off of Lerch, but had to continue to hold him back as he was still trying to get back to him for more. Lerch remained on the ground for a moment, taking in all the pain he was experiencing in that moment.
Sabre then began to speak up, with anger still very present within him.
"Fucking piece of shit! I swear to god I'll kill you right now!"
"Fucking control yourself Diaz!" Ordered Graves.
"This fucking cocksucker just gunner down an unarmed civilian! Giving me some bullshit that he was with the cartel! How the fuck would he be able to verify that?!"
"Carter please! We need you to relax!" Said Roze, still trying her best to calm him down.
"Roze, take Sabre over there to cool off. Erickson, go with her. Vance and Dipalo, keep the area secure." Ordered Graves.
The team all did as instructed, with the exception of Sabre who was still furious. Thankfully Roze was able to keep him calm enough to get him away from Lerch before he did anything else to him.
Meanwhile, Lerch slowly got up from the ground. He then made eye contact with Sabre was Roze was pushing him away. Lerch gave Sabre a toothy grin, with a chuckle escaping from his mouth. His face was covered in blood after having gotten the shit beaten out of him by Sabre.
Sabre meanwhile could only shoot daggers back at Lerch, as he chose to cooperate with Graves and Roze.
Graves then approached Lerch as he got up from his ass beating.
"We're gonna discuss this shit in full detail later. Best believe that." Said Graves sternly. Lerch didn't respond. Instead he gave him a simple nod.
As Graves was about to leave Lerch alone to lick his wounds and check on Sabre, a trio of vehicles had pulled up on them. However they did not pull up with aggression. Graves and the rest of the team however were not about to take any chances. They all got their guns up on the vehicles, ready to engage if necessary.
The vehicles came to a stop, then a group of armed solders stepped out, they didn't look like cartel.
"Identity yourselves!" Said Graves.
"Mexican Special Forces! We received a call from your superior, said that you could use some help." Said their leader.
Graves then lowered his weapon and signaled for the rest of the team to do the same. "Wish you folks had gotten here a bit earlier." Joked Graves. He then went up to approach the leader and exchange in a quick handshake. "Commander Philip Graves."
"Colonel Alejandro Vargas. Looks like you folks managed to hold your own here."
"Well we're still standing, so I suppose that counts."
As Alejandro was speaking with Graves, he caught a glimpse of the dead civilian.
"Merde'. Did the cartel get him?" Asked Alejandro.
"They did. The poor bastard got hit with a stray from them while trying to escape. Ain't that right Sabre?"
Sabre then turned to Graves with a look of disgust. He knew that they had to lie in order to avoid problems with Mexico, but that didn't make him feel any better.
"Yeah." Replied Sabre.
"We'll get in contact with local medical services to gather up the bodies. In the meantime, I understand that you all need a ride to your extraction point, along with your HVT. We can take you there now."
"Roger that, let's not waste anymore time then. All Shadows, we're moving out with the Mexican Special Forces, let's go."
"Yup, yup."
Roze and Sabre then began to make their way to the vehicles brought by the MSF. Sabre still had some anger lingering within him after what Lerch had done.
"I'm not getting in the same truck as that fucking cunt." He said to her.
"Don't worry about it, we'll ride together. Just please try and cool off, okay?" She replied.
He silently replied with a nod before him and Roze made their way over to one of the trucks and entered the backseat. The rest of the team along with the still unconscious El Cazador were riding in separate trucks.
As the trucks began to leave the area, Sabre went into deep thought. The last few months with Shadow Company have been questionable to say the least. It seemed that their morals were shifting drastically. It was one thing to cut some red tape in order to get things done, but there was always a line that should never be crossed, and during that very night, that line was never drawn.
Lerch had been a problem for some time. But now it looked like things had reached a breaking point. He went out of line, and rarely faced any noticeable consequences when he did. Sabre was worried that tonight's events would be no different.
He didn't know it yet, nor did his fellow Shadows, but this most recent shit show was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Sabre wouldn't be with them for much longer after this...
Present Day:
"After all of that went down, I'd had my fill of bullshit. Once we made it back stateside, I filed my resignation and never looked back." Finished Sabre.
"And this Lerch asshole never faced any consequences?" Asked Mara.
"No idea, I left long before I could find out. But if I had to guess, probably not. I'm pretty sure the only punishment he received was me beating the shit outta him. Which was nice, but not nearly enough to atone for what he did."
"Fuckin' hell."
"Yep, but that's all in the past now, and I can't change what happened. So I choose to strictly move forward, making sure that I don't make the same mistakes."
"Well, at least it wasn't all bad right?"
Sabre looked at Mara with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, they provided you with the training required to make you a tier one operator. That's good, right? I mean if they hadn't, you may have never been invited to the 141."
"I'll have you know that the training sucked ass." He joked.
Mara let out a giggle before responding. "Yeah I imagine your training wasn't very different to mine. But that's not all you got out of your time with the Shadows, is it?"
Sabre gave Mara a quizzical look, not being exactly sure what she was referring to.
"What are you..." He kept looking at Mara as she gave him a smirk in response.
"Oh for fucks sake..."
"Yup, I wanna know about you and that Roze girl."
"I'd rather talk about literally anything else."
"Too bad."
"Ugh, Jesus Christ... Fine... We met a few days after I joined up with Shadow Company. Her and I worked well together. Eventually, we became friends, and later... well I guess we became a little more than that."
Mara continued to stare at Sabre with the smirk that she had on, wanting him to continue.
"Annnnd?"
Sabre let out a deep sigh before he continued.
"And we fucked, alright? We fucked. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"So that's why Price has been stern about you working with me."
"How the fuck do you know about that??"
"Laswell, she mentioned it before, but she never got into specifics."
"You have got to be fucking kidding me..."
"So, how long before you fuck me?"
"Veronica..."
"Oh, I love how you call me by my name."
"Bro..."
Mara then let out a laugh, clearly enjoying herself.
"You are a fucking headache."
"And you love it."
Sabre could only roll his eyes at her in response.
"Alright, I think I've fucked with you enough for one night. I need to shower. Just a reminder that here's enough room in there for two." She said with her typical seductive nature.
"Tempting, but no."
"As you wish." Mara then got up from the table to make her way to the shower, still only wearing her bra and panties. Something that Sabre could not keep his eyes off of. But before she went past him, she stopped in front of him and turned around to face him.
"Hey..." She said, as if she just discovered something.
Sabre then quickly turned his attention to her face instead of her ass.
"Hmm?" He responded.
"How about you and I head out into town tomorrow night? We've still some time before Rojas's shipment arrives, and I feel that you could definitely use the relief of some stress. You know, since you don't wanna fuck it seems."
"You really think that's a good idea?"
"Oh come on baby boy, it'll be fun. We won't be getting into any trouble, it'll just be you and me having a good time. We can hit up a club with a bar, have a few drinks, come on, how about it?"
Sabre contemplated on her offer for a moment, thinking of how this could go wrong in an instant, as there were countless ways that it could all go wrong.
However, he also thought about if it could actually be enjoyable. If he was being honest with himself, Mara had been growing on him, so the idea of spending some time with her that didn't involve work didn't seem so bad to him.
He looked up at her as she practically stood over him while he remained seated at the table, still very clearly in only her bra and panties. If he didn't have good restraint, he would pull her onto his lap and fuck the life out of her.
Maybe in another life...
"What exactly do you have in mind?"
The next day...
It was late into the evening in downtown Rio, yet the city was still filled with life, especially when it came to the nightclub scene. One nightclub in particular was no stranger to large numbers of visitors, and it just so happened that Sabre and Mara were in attendance.
The two had just arrived, they were outside of the nightclub in question having a look at the exterior.
"Maisonette 9 huh?" Began Sabre.
"One of the most exclusive nightclubs in Rio." Replied Mara.
"And yet Miguel was still able to get us VIP passes."
"I guess infiltrating the ranks of the local militia has its perks."
"That's one way of looking at it."
"Come on, let's get inside."
The two then began to make their way to the nightclub entrance.
Mara took a moment to comment on Sabres attire. He was wearing an opened light blue blazer, accompanied by a black dress shirt underneath, black dress pants, and black loafers. Along with the clothing he had on, he also had on a pair of diamond ear piercings, a silver Cuban link chain, and a silver wrist watch.
"I'm still surprised with how well you clean up. I didn't take you for the luxurious type."
"Yeah, I may or may not have a bit of a taste for the finer things in life. My time with Shadow Company came with some healthy paychecks after all, so I figured that it wouldn't hurt to splurge just a little bit."
"Well I'd say money well spent. It looks good on you."
Sabre then took a moment to return the favor and look over Mara's appearance. She had let her hair down and straightened it, wearing a pair of small golden hooped earrings, and a short gold necklace with a pendant, she also had a gold wrist bracelet as well. As for her clothing, she wore a black short sleeveless mini body-con dress that hugged the form of her body nicely. The sides of the dress had been cut out by design, leaving her sides partially exposed. She also wore a pair of black open toe high heels that had cross tied straps going along her lower leg.
"Well, I'll admit that you're looking pretty damn good yourself right about now."
Mara gave him a grin in response. "I'm glad that I have your approval."
"I mean it's not like you need it."
"Maybe not, but if you think that I look good, then I'm DEFINITELY getting free drinks tonight."
Sabre let out a laugh, in which Mara then joined him in. The pair then made it to the entrance of Maisonette 9, where a large line of people were waiting to get inside, but thankfully Mara had VIP passes that would allow her and Sabre to skip ahead of them all. As they approached the entrance, a large bouncer stopped them from going any further before he spoke up.
"I'm afraid you two will have to wait in line like everyone else ma'am." He stated.
Mara then showed the bouncer both her and Sabres VIP passes, after he had a close look at the passes, he nodded and allowed the pair to enter without hesitation.
"Enjoy your night folks." He said.
Mara and Sabre then made their way inside the nightclub. As they walked in, they were greeted by a luxury interior covered in neon lights. There was a large dance floor that was being occupied by dozens of people, with a stage in front of it that had a DJ booth present, several tables were on the outer perimeter of the clubs interior, a few designer pool tables that were placed a corner section of the club, and a large bar where drinks were being served around the clock. All of this could be seen by the pair while the remix of Skrillex and Alvin Risk's 'Imma Try It Out' single by Jack Wall and Trent Reznor was being played through the nightclub speakers.
"Nice place." Commented Sabre in a bit of a nonchalant fashion. Though he wasn't disappointed with what he was seeing, he just wasn't much of a nightclub person.
"Miguel definitely came in clutch with these VIP passes. Come on, let's grab a drink." Said Mara, as she grabbed Sabres arm and pulled him along with her to the bar. She eventually let go so that he could walk on his own beside her.
On their way to the bar, multiple men in attendance at the club began to eye Mara. Some of them tried to keep it discreet, especially the ones that already had a lady friend with them. Others however couldn't care less if Mara noticed. In fact, it was more likely that they wanted her to notice them.
This did not go unnoticed by Sabre, and although Mara and him were not romantically involved with each other, it still got under his skin a bit. He wouldn't hesitate to put any of these assholes in their place if they tried to make a move on her. But then again, he knew that none of them were in her league. Hell, he was surprised that he was apparently in her league.
The two then made it to the bar, where they both took seats beside each other. Noticing their arrival, the bartender that was present, who was an older man, approached them.
"Good evening folks, welcome to Maisonette 9. What can I get the two of you?" He began.
"Give us a shot of the strongest shit you've got here." Answered Mara.
"I'm afraid that's only available to VIP guests my dear." The bartender replied.
Mara then flashed her and Sabres VIP pass once again to the bartender. He took a look at them, and gave her a smirk before responding.
"Coming right up."
As the bartender went over to grab the requested drink, Sabre looked over to Mara. "The strongest shit huh?"
"What? You expect me to mix rum with coke? I'm here to get fucked up." She answered.
"Let's just try to stay sober enough to walk straight, yeah?"
"Well that's no fun."
"Neither is the hangover that comes after. We've still got a job to do Mara."
"Oh come on, it's just for tonight. We've still got at least another day before you know who shows his face, so let's just enjoy ourselves."
Sabre looked at Mara, pondering on her words.
One time for the one time l guess...
Just then, the bartender returned to them with a bottle and two shot glasses.
"Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany Vodka. One of the strongest drinks known to man, at least according to the last time I checked. I don't go on the internet as much as you kids do nowadays."
"How strong are we talking here exactly?" Asked Sabre.
"It's the strongest liquor legally available for purchase in the United States. Anything stronger than that here in South America will probably kill ya, so for liability reasons, I won't be serving you two any of that. Some say this stuff is like being punched in the solar plexus, whatever the hell that means anyway."
The bartender then proceeded to fill the shot glasses before sliding them over to Sabre and Mara.
"Now if you two can knock these down without collapsing, I'll throw in another bottle on the house. I'll even put up a picture of you two up on our wall of fame."
Mara looked over to Sabre with a smirk on her face before picking up her shot glass and raising it up towards him.
"To good health?" She said.
Sabre looked at her in amusement, before picking up his shot glass and raising it up towards her is response.
"To good health."
*Clink*
A few shots later...
"And, and, and after that, the, the guy says, 'fuck you hoe', so I kicked him in his shit." Replied a hammered Mara, who was stuttering and slurring her words.
An equally hammered Sabre then let out a laugh in response to the story that Mara had just finished telling him. "But, but, he was just trying to park his car."
"Yeah, well he, he should've kept his fucking mouth shut. May... Maybe then he'd still have his balls."
Sabre could only continue laughing as Mara continued to add to her story. Despite being under the influence, Sabre was genuinely enjoying himself with Mara.
As the two were hanging out with each other at the bar, a pair of men began to approach them, not seeming to be interested in the conversation that they were having, they were instead more interested in Mara. This was made relatively clear once one of them moved up beside her, while the other stood next to him.
Sabre took notice of them immediately, and was able to sober up a bit as a response, as he shot daggers at them while still being somewhat hunched over at the bar.
"Wassup girl? You looking for a good time?" Asked the man that walked up beside her.
Mara was also able to sober up a bit after the stranger had successfully annoyed her.
"That would imply that you could offer one." She replied with attitude.
"Aww, come on now girl, don't be like that. Lemme buy you a drink and what not, get to know me and my boy over here."
Mara then scooted her stool over closer to Sabre and put an arm around him before responding.
"Sorry boys, but I prefer a man in my life."
The man that was trying to hit on her then laughed out loud at her comment. "What? This guy? Come on now. What the fuck could you possibly see in him?"
"Well, I could see his dick in me if the night goes right. That's a helluva lot more than I can say about you or your friend here."
Sabre simply couldn't hold in his laughter at Mara's comment and let out a loud chuckle. This did not go over well with the stranger and his friend however, and that was made clear once the two of them began to walk up towards Sabre and try to size him up.
"Oh that's funny to you motherfucker?!" Said the man who hilariously failed at trying to get into Mara's pants.
Sabre then decided to respond by getting up from his stool at the bar and standing directly in front of the man.
"Listen bro, I'm a few shots in on some of the strongest shit that I've ever drank in my entire life, so I'm not exactly operating at one hundred percent efficiency at the moment. Now, with that being said, I'm still more than capable of shoving your arm so far up your ass that it'll turn you into a ventriloquist dummy if you don't fuck off within the next ten seconds."
"Oh I'm real fucking scared of you asshole. Go head, make your mo-"
BAM!
Before he could finish his sentence, a bottle was smashed into the back of his head by Mara. The man immediately fell to the floor, being knocked unconscious due to the impact of the bottle. The man's friend was about to attack Mara in response to what she just did, but was quickly stopped by Sabre who pushed him away before delivering a nasty right hook into his face, leaving him just as unconscious as his friend as he fell to the floor.
"BAR FIGHT!!!"
Suddenly the entire club erupted in chaos, with nearly every occupant engaging in physical combat with one another. Punches and kicks were being handed out like free food samples at a super market, bottles and chairs were being tossed around like frag grenades, and loud shouts and screams could be heard from every corner of the club as a result. Sabre then went and grabbed Mara's arm in the middle of all the chaos before speaking up.
"Let's get the hell outta here!" He shouted.
"You ain't gotta tell me twice baby boy!" She replied.
The two then ran out of the club before they could get caught up in anymore madness.
Later...
Sabre and Mara ended up being able to get a ride back to the safe house from a kind local in the area who was cool enough to not ask any questions. Once they arrived, the two walked inside the shack and dumped themselves into the only bed that they had. Mara laid up on Sabre, leaning her head on his shoulder, normally he would reject this, but he was too fucked up to care at the moment.
"Well... That was fun..." Said Mara with a hint of sarcasm.
"Ya know... Up until those assholes showed up and fucked everything up, yeah I'd say that was fun." Replied Sabre.
"Told you it'd be fun."
"Yeah, yeah... Just let me rest my eyes for a minute, okay?..."
"Yeah... I might just... do the same..."
Within seconds, the two had succumbed to sleep, desperately needing to sleep off the alcohol that they'd consumed.
Meanwhile...
A troop transport aircraft was in the process of being loaded up at Firebase Infinity. Captain Price was approaching said aircraft, where Ghost, Soap and Gaz were waiting for him.
"Alright lads, we'll be setting sail here in just a moment, get your gear prepped and be ready to move out. We won't be giving Makarov any more breathing room than he's already gotten."
Lotta references in this chapter. Wonder if you guys noticed them... Also... Black Ops 6 Hype baby!!! Let's Fucking Go!!!