Chapter 7

 SEVEN

Morgan stared through the binoculars from their position, jotting details into a notebook, it was a rough estimate of a range card for the aging rifle, but it was the best the two could come up with on short notice.

“What are we looking at for range” Adams asked, tinkering with the scope.

“if my Trig is right, two hundred ninety-one yards.”

“two ninety-one, Damn we’re close”

“Deal with it.” Morgan replied flatly, continuing to observe the school’s playground.

 

The two were perched on an office building down the block from the school, from the roof they could see the entire playground and field of the brick building.
Morgan was pleasantly surprised how easy it had been to infiltrate the area, the two having snuck in the previous night disguised as maintenance workers.

 

Morgan took note of the flood of children coming out of the schoolhouse, he kept a keen eye on all the adults that were with them.

“Target spotted” he advised, giving Adams a moment to brace the rifle

Morgan watched as their target walked along with the children, before going her separate way over to the location of the other adults observing the children.

“White blouse, Sector H, 150 feet from the main exit” Morgan said coolly, a second later Adams responded

“I have 2 mils crotch to head” Adams

Morgan took a look at the range card
“1 mil up” Morgan replied

“Rah, 1 mil up”

“Wind is 4 miles left to right, just a hair left” Morgan advised

“Wind 4 miles, holding left” Adams replied

“Send it”

 BANG

Morgan waited the half second, but to his disappointment, the bullet landed short, he saw a large puff of dirt explode in front of the adults

He could hear Adams cycling the bolt, Morgan took another second before reporting

“Negative impact, looks to have landed a few feet short”

Morgan studied the adult’s reaction, Little to his surprise it appeared the Target was quick to realize the situation and started yelling something.

“Target moving, towards the door, Sector A” Morgan reported

Before Adams could reply, he heard the radio key up

“Rider One-Three, Assassin One-One, be advised, Target is still active, and the school is going into lockdown” Zhao reported

“Magus, Assassin One-One, Do I need to take the shot?” Zhao then asked

“Shit, theres too many kids getting in the fucking way” Adams hissed

A moment later, the radio keyed alive again.

“Rider One-Three, Assassin One-One, Magus One-Four, disengage” The Lieutenant ordered.

“Rider One-Three, Assassin One-one, Magus, Egress now, Report back to baseplate” Fick barked before the radio went silent.

 

The two operators quickly started dismantling their nest, as Morgan prepared their escape route, he could hear the crackling hiss of thermite as Adams destroyed the rifle and evidence.

“So long you piece of shit” Morgan could hear Adams say as he walked away from the runaway reaction, joining Morgan in the service elevator.

By the time the two reached the ground floor of the building, they could see the police presence around the school.

“Glad we don’t have to stick around for that clean-up” Adams said flatly

 

***

“What happened?” Fick asked.

The team was crowded around the kitchen table in the safehouse, Dennings sat with his head resting on his folded arms on the table, staring blankly at the large map of the school’s neighborhood in the center. Zhao had a field stripped his Makarov and was absent mindedly applying oil to the slide.

Morgan noticed Adams had been dejected since they had returned to the safehouse.

“Basically Sir, we were told to work with what we had, and that was unproven equipment” Morgan replied leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head.

“Rounds and rifle were not up to par, so even an experienced sniper can’t expect that behavior” He continued, defending the young Sergeant.

Fick listened intently.

“Well now what do we do?” Zhao asked

“More than likely we deal with the messier option, We may need to take the direct approach on this one” Fick said grimly.

It was not something they were unused to, but the ‘direct’ approach meant not only a raid, but also being in direct contact with the target which tended to bring unaccounted for variables into the mix.

“Cops know she has a target on her head. Its going to make getting to her that much harder.” Zhao reported

“Yeah not everyday the teacher of the year almost gets her head ripped off with a thirty caliber” Adams said sulking.

“Wow dude, you have some fuckin issues” Dennings responded.

“Standard Procedure from here, Zhao has comms. Dennings your in-charge of Transport. Adams and Morgan will be the assault element. No mistakes this time” Fick replied

“Do we even know where she lives?” Morgan asked.

Fick exited the room briefly, before returning with a handful of print outs, Blueprints of a house layout.

“I had OIA send these over. We have everything we need. The house backs up to a park, you will infil here-“ Fick explained, pointing out a spot on the map a block away from the park “Making your way through the park to the back of the house. From there it’s a standards house clearing. Once the targets eliminated, you make your way to exfil at the location, dump the gear and we can get the hell out of here”

It was a simple plan, as Fick elaborated on the finer details Morgan could see the outline of the plan. It was ugly, but quick and violent enough that the local authorities would probably be too caught off guard to make any connections before they had already returned to Osea.

 

“What do we do if local Law Enforcement arrives?” Morgan asked.

“Do what you need to do, but I prefer the body count to stick to one on this one”

“What about the family?” Adams asked

“What about them? Like I said, preferably don’t kill them but don’t let them jeopardize the mission either” Fick said pragmatically.

***

Two figures moved through the park silently. As they anticipated, their target was a small two-story house, unassuming and cookie cutter like all the rest in the surrounding neighborhood.

As the two figures closed in on the house a radio crackled to life.

“Magus to Rider’s, Green light”

It was nearing midnight. The occupants of the home had long gone to bed. No one would heard the rear door lock click open.

***
Antoinette didn’t know why she woke up. Restless nights were a problem plaguing her as long as her time in the academy. She looked over to her husband, snoring away, his ability to sleep through almost anything was both an endearing and bothersome trait to her.

She thought often about coming clean to her family about who she really was. She wasn’t sure how any of them would take it. Her Son was still too young to know of any conflicts outside of their Country, and even then, he was still too young to remember the occupation. Her husband was an upstanding citizen with an almost unfaltering belief in the law, she couldn’t face him if he knew about how stained her hands were.

Antoinette slipped out of bed and put on a bathrobe, walking down the hall she paused and looked into her son’s room. He was almost ten now, Antoinette hated herself that she hoped that her bringing him into this world may through some karmic way offset the atrocities she committed.

CLICK

Though nearly inaudible, the sound of the door’s lock opening rang through Antoinette’s ears like a gunshot.

She stopped in her tracks and listened closely for a moment, The subtle sounds she heard were not that of a burglar, whoever had entered her home was trained, and despite her Husbands law enforcement training, Antoinette knew this was a fight he was unprepared for.

She crept her way down the staircase, pausing at the landing.
There, she was greeted face to face with two heavily armed men.

“Who are you!?” She shrieked

The lead man paused and looked at Antoinette

“Sei vous colonnello Bradley?” he said in a low gravelly voice. Are you Colonel Bradley?

Antoinette froze, He spoke in Erusean, the accent was off, but the words were impeccable.

“Et si je le suis?” And if I am? She choked out, it had been years since she had openly spoke her mother tongue, to her ears they sounded painful an awkward.

“Alors tu sais ce que nous devons faire” the man responded emotionlessly. So you know what we have to do

“Et ma famille?” she responded, tears welling up in her eyes at the thought. What about my family?

“seulement s’ils s’impliquent” he responded only if they get involved

She nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek.

“Etes-vous les hommes qui m’ont tire dessus plus tot?” she asked Were you the men who shot at me earlier?

“Oui”

Antoinette weighed her options. These men were brazen enough to attempt their mission in broad daylight, and skillful enough to evade authorities after the fact. She had so many questions and she didn’t nearly have the time to receive all the answers.

“Ainsi soit-il” she responded sadly. So be it

Antoinette’s world went black within the span of the muzzle flash.

***
Antoinette looked at the orders before her.

It was a priority one hunting mission, the first her squadron of Mi-24 Hind gunships had received since its activation months prior.

She was one of the youngest field grade officers in the Erusean military, a protégé her professors had hailed her. It was no surprise since she had pinned on the rank of Major at twenty-one and was recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel the week of her twenty second birthday.

 

The plan Strategic Headquarters handed down was brutally simple. The 28^th Helicopter Squadron was to depart their aerodrome, Cross the front lines between San Salvacion towards the city of San Marco, and eliminate any local forces amassing in the area. Precautions were to be taken to limit civilian casualties and damage to local infrastructure so the Erusean Army could capture the city in the coming weeks.

 

She looked to her commanding officer, Colonel Andres

“Colonel Bradley do you think your squadron is up to the task?” he asked her again.

“Of course,” she replied.

“Good, carry out your orders Colonel” he responded saluting

 

Antoinette couldn’t help but smile as she made her way towards the squadrons briefing room.

 

Missions like this got them noticed, and led to better missions, better recognition and better positions in the military. If there was one thing Antoinette was starting to hate about the military, it had been all the blood shed she witnessed; A position at HQ would avoid the frontlines, and the resultant bloodshed.

 

The next few hours for Antoinette was a blur, the briefing went as simple enough. Pathfinder units had reported expected force sizes and weather information, Intel reported any potential enemy hazards such as jammers and AAA, and finally Antoinette gave the full mission briefing.  Four groups of five Hinds each would all make their way across the frontlines and towards San Marco, once regrouped they would make multiple passes, first identifying enemy targets and targets of opportunity, then eliminating them.

Walking out to the flight line her crew chief, Aviation Sergeant Tupolev saluted her

“Everything ok with her Sergeant?” Antoinette asked

“Nothing to report madame, if you asked them too, these Hinds would dance for you” The crew chief grinned, saluting her.

Antoinette quite liked Tupolev, he was one of the older Non-commissioned officers attached to the squadron and reminded her more of a grandfatherly figure rather than grizzled war veteran.

 

“San Marco, Six minutes out” Antoinette reported over the radio.

She looked around the cramped cockpits windows, one of the Helicopter groups hadn’t regrouped, and they were not responding to radio calls.

“Dancer Four-One, Dancer One-One, in the blind, do you copy?” She called out.

“Ahead, There!” She heard a pilot call out

Antoinette squinted towards the horizon before she saw it. Large pillars of black smoke belched from the horizon.

“Another unit take the city?” a pilot inquired.

“No, we were the only unit nearby” Antoinette said concerned.

Had the San Salvacion’s razed the city? She wondered to herself.

“There, Gunships 12 O’clock, ten miles!” her gunner reported

She could see the insectoid shapes crisscrossing the sky, periodically she could see muzzle flashes from the 12.7 mm gatling gun as it belched rounds into the City.

 

“Ma’am, its Dancer Four, Bastards started without us!” A pilot cried.

 

Antoinette maneuvered the gunship around the city, She was appalled at what she saw.

 

Instead of troops, machinery and weapons. Antoinette saw civilians, she couldn’t be sure from the helicopter’s altitude but the torn apart bodies were too irregular and colorful to be the expected military force.

 

“All Dancers, halt your performance” She choked out on the radio. Still she could see the four Hinds continuing their onslaught on the population below.

“God Dammit, I said Cease Fire!” She bellowed, tears now streaming down her face.

The Hinds continued.

 

She composed herself, choking down the tears.

“All Dancers, Hinds in region are to be considered hostile, Fire at will”.

“Ma’am are you sure?” Another pilot asked

“Do it!” She cried.

Silently she watched as her squadron targeted, and opened fire on the closest gunship. She prayed the whir of the gatling gun would mask the sounds of her pathetic whimpers as she watched the Helicopter before her explode crashing to the city below.

“Blue on Blue! Cease Fire Goddammit This is Dancer Four-Four, Cease Fire!” She heard a call on the radio.



She felt hollow, slumped in the chair across from Adres. She hadn’t even removed her flight gear when he grabbed her and led her to his office.

She sat as Andres Spoke into the telephone. The conversation seemed like hours for her, she wasn’t even sure of her ability to speak, let alone understand.

“I see, thank-you” Andres said, before hanging up the phone.

He stared at her and sighed leaning on the desk

“Seven hundred dead. That’s the current count from observers” he reported.

She sat emotionlessly.

“Looks like the Radio’s were improperly programmed, so they weren’t on the right frequency to regroup” He continued.

“Board probably wont be convened this early into the war, This shouldn’t reflect on you since it was an honest to god mistake, that’s out of your control. From where we sit right now, it was Lieutenant Gorobetz’s fault, not yours” He replied. Gorobetz had been an element leader in charge of Dancer Four.

“But I’m still the commander” She replied.

***
Officer Thomas loved his new patrol route. His time as a beat cop were over as far as he knew, now instead of the violent inner city of Gracemeria, he had a life of pure police luxury in the suburbs.

He was making his routine rounds through the neighborhoods when he saw the flash from a few houses ahead of him. It was followed almost immediately by the sound of a gunshot. He halted his cruiser, almost unsure of if his brain was playing tricks on him.

 

He grabbed the radio

“Unit 228, Possible 415G at the address of –“ He paused, looking at the map,

“- Going to need additional units, over”

Seconds later, dispatch responded “228, Roger, Units en-route, ETA five minutes”

You gotta be fucking kidding me, He thought to himself, “Fuck this” he muttered

“Unit 228, Investigating”

 

He turned on his lights and siren, and ran up to the door, He could see a man through the windows making his way towards the rear of the house, he wasn’t sure but they looked armed.

“Unit 228, armed Male suspect, Exiting the back of the house, I’m in pursuit” he said, making his way over the fence and towards the rear of the house.

 Before he could around the corner, Thomas felt a sharp pain in his back, lightning flashed behind his eyes as he felt every muscle tense up. Through the mental overload of every nerve in his body screaming in agony, Thomas recognized the shrill report of a stun-gun. A moment later the shock was gone, and he collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

He looked to the side and was greeted with two boots, He could feel his assailant paw around his belt, Thomas tried in vain to reach for his service weapon before feeling his hand get smacked out of the way.

“Detendexz-vous” Relax A voice said, Thomas craned his neck up to see another man. His Vision was blurry but he could tell that the man was armed with a rifle and looked to be in some sort of military uniform.

Thomas heart skip a beat when he heard the click from his holster, feeling his attacker pull his service weapon out, he waited for the inevitable.

“Glock 17? Jesus fucking Christ.” Thomas heard his attacker mutter, before tossing the handgun into the bushes

“Who are you people?” Thomas slurred out, starting to feel his senses return. The Second man casually walked over and crouched next to the officer.

“Ne t'inquiète pas, ça ne te tuera pas, mais ça fera mal” The man sad in a low gravely tone. The last thing Thomas could see was a fist flying at his face.

***
“Did you really have to punch him in the face?” Adams asked.

“Beats him immediately calling for backup. Odds are we stuck around any longer that place was going to be crawling with cops. Besides he will wake up in a few minutes anyways… I think” Morgan explained.

 

The two men walked calmly through the park back towards the van, having dumped their rifles and equipment along the way.

 

“Only thing left to do is pack up and get back to Oured for debrief” Morgan added. A slight smile crept across his face as he could hear the increase in Sirens and the drone of helicopters fast approaching.

 

“Sounds like our cue to leave” Adams noted.

The two men found their van along with Dennings.

“Keep the meter running?” Adams asked, hopping into the back

“  ‘Fraid so, you guys better tip well” Dennings shot back, putting the van in drive.

 “Just drive” Morgan ordered, killing the conversation. Waiting a second he pulled out the secure hand held transmitter and turned it on.

“Magus, Rider, Grail is filled” He said, before killing the radio.

***

Special Agent Mitch Henderson sat at his desk staring at the computer monitor. Having been one of the most senior agents of the Emmerian General Directorate for External Security’s Gracemeria branch had some perks, but as he approached retirement, especially in the open cooperation of a post-war Emmeria, he found those perks few and far between.

 

Long gone had been the days of chasing Estovakian or Yuketobanian spies through the streets or busting large terrorist cells with goals of causing pandemonium across the country. Now most intelligence groups were more focused on attacking computer networks from continents away; It made men like Mitch a dying breed in the Law Enforcement community.

 

Scrolling through his email, he noticed one that caught his eye.

From Your Friends in the OADF

Mitch thought to himself for a moment. “Who do I know in the OADF?” He asked himself, While he had some experience with foreign intelligence communities, to the best of his knowledge he hadn’t worked with any from the Osean Air Force.

He opened the Email.

 

Mitch,

We haven’t met before, but you can view this as an anonymous tip.

The OADF Office of Special Investigations has been tracking a mole for the past few months, and we think he’s gone to ground in Emmeria, Particularly your back yard.

All the breadcrumbs lead to this house, I trust you can get the job done

Jeff

 

Henderson could see attached to the email was a simple text document, opening it up he recognized coordinates, along with names and aliases.

A second of searching later he saw it led to a small unassuming house on the outskirts of the city.

Henderson heart started racing, he frantically dialed the number in his phone

“This is Henderson, I need the Q.R.F right away”

***

Fick sat in a chair feeling satisfied. The mission was almost over. They had plane tickets ready and would be on the next flight out tomorrow.

“Hey boss, guess we bagged another one, right?” Zhao asked, walking into the room.

“Yep. Old man might even give us R&R if we’re lucky” Fick replied satisfied.

“Only if, Life can’t ever be that easy” Zhao said shaking his head.

Just then, a message alert pinged across the secure computer.

“Shit did I jinx it?” Zhao asked rhetorically

Fick got up and briskly walked over to the computer and read the message.

“Fuck” he said flatly

“What?” Zhao asked

“Get ready to slag everything. Someone just burned out asses and we have about six minutes before this place will be crawling with local cops” Fick said, running to the team’s radio.

Zhao nodded and started getting to work. It was a contingency they had prepared for. He grabbed two thermite grenades and the cardboard boxes where they kept their sensitive documents.

Fick turned on a beacon, the assault team would have a receiver that would get the message and force them to exfil to the secondary hideout, it was the best they could do in the situation.

Grabbing his jacket and the secure radio, Fick walked to the back of the house, even before exiting he could see the brilliant flashes of the thermite as they burned with impunity through the reams of paper documents.

“Computers are slagged too, do we care about the weapons?” Zhao reported

“Nope” Fick said flatly, trying not to look directly into the runaway thermal reaction

“Cool, lets get going” Zhao said.


the two men were down the block by the time they could see the police arriving to the scene.

***
The three Marines sat in silence in the van, listening to the warbled siren emanating from one of their radios.

“What the hell is that?” Adams finally spoke up

Dennings chuckled before turning off the radio.

“That my friend, means we’re probably not going home tomorrow” Dennings said only half amused at the revelation.