by Tom Jones
The NSS member who was in charge spoke up once Hans and Fritz moved in, “Alright, so listen up! We landed very close to the city of Abu Kamal. There is a small airstrip within the city that is under the control of CDI. Our superiors want us to capture the city, kill any CDI or Daesh resistance. We also need to take any anthros alive. We’ll be moving in about fifteen minutes, so get ready!” Once he dismissed the other NSS members, Hans asked Fritz, “Say, who are the people in charge anyways?” Fritz replied after a pause, “Uhh.. I don’t really know, actually. I’ve never even seen the people in charge. I’ve been caught up in killing.” Hans decided to ask, “How did you find out about the NSS anyways?” Fritz replied, “Internet. I’m pretty sure the entire NSS was organized there. You know?” Hans shook his head, “I dunno how the NSS was able to get that many people on board for that organized attack that we put on. You’d think someone would be suspicious.” Fritz shrugged, “Eh. I dunno. If you’re really good at covering your tracks, you can basically do anything you want.” Hans said in response, “I suppose so. Here, we still have to unload the rest of the munitions before we go to the town.”
The remaining Daesh vehicles finally pulled into the town. Abu Hajaar raised up his MG3, and he began to fire at buildings where he assumed there would be CDI operatives seeking cover within. However, there were no CDI operatives within the outlying buildings. Abu Abdullah picked up Abu Hajaar’s M16A2, and he also began firing into the town. Abu Ridhwan decided that he should take a few potshots as well. Khattab continued driving into the town, and his ears rang as Walid began blindly firing out of the cabin’s firing port. The other Daesh vehicles were beginning to spread out, and they split up to attempt to capture the city. Khattab began steering to the right in order to flank an alleged CDI position, so the vehicle split off from the other five vehicles. One vehicle burst into flames, but nobody knew what took it down. Abu Ridhwan quickly reloaded his AKM before trying to figure out how one of the vehicles exploded. He then looked to the sky, and he could see the CDI Mi-24 in the distance. There was a smoke trail from the rocket fired at the vehicle. Abu Ridhwan called out, “They’ve got a helicopter loaded with rockets! Get behind a building!” Khattab accelerated, and he was able to get out of the Hind’s line of fire.
“This is Pit Viper, one vehicle eliminated. Over.” The pilot of the Hind announced over the radio after disabling one of the six vehicles. A CDI operative on the ground soon requested a status update, “Pit Viper, this is Golf 1-3. Requesting an update on the position of the Daesh technicals. Over.” The gunner of the Hind answered the radio, “Copy, Golf 1-3. Be advised, there are five remaining technicals. They are attempting to flank on the left and right. Over.” The CDI operative acknowledged the gunner, “Roger, Pit Viper. Standby for engagement.” After the operative finished talking, he checked his modified AK-74M and listened for the direction of the gunfire. He knew that Daesh was fast approaching his location. There were three other people in his fireteam. He called out to a man holding an AK-12, “Johnny, you see any of them?” Johnny replied, “I don’t see ‘em, but I hear ‘em firing down there!” The leader of the Golf fireteam then said, “Alright, Golf team. We need to get down to the ground level. Daesh is going to be coming in any moment now. We need to link up with the other fireteam.” Golf 1 stood up, and he motioned for the rest of the units to follow him to the door. Johnny spoke up, “We got a friendly heli out there, don’t we?” Golf 1 nodded, “Yeah, but Daesh could take them down with their RPGs. The heli is flying about one klick out. The RPGs that Daesh have don’t usually hit things that far. Let’s go.”
The fireteam began traversing down a stairwell, and they all had their laser sights fixated on the door. The gunfire was now sounding closer than it did before. As the fireteam exited the building, Johnny turned his rifle to the left. He spotted a Daesh militiaman fifty meters out, and he began firing. “Contact nine-o’clock!” the former Fox Security operative shouted as he squeezed the trigger of the AK-12. Though the weapon was set to fully-automatic, he tried to shoot bursts of two rounds in order to maximize his accuracy. After all, the 7.62x39mm rounds of the AK-12 caused the rifle to recoil more than the 5.56x45mm weapons he previously was used to operating with. The remaining CDI operatives in the Golf fireteam began assisting Johnny in fighting the rest of the Daesh militiamen. Golf 1 stood up from the prone position that he had assumed when the contact was first initiated, and he called out to the rest of the team to move across the street. He didn’t know if Daesh had the means to lay down mortar fire on their location, so he didn’t want to take his chances. The other CDI soldiers stood up to follow their fireteam leader, and Johnny stood up as well. Johnny ran to the other side of the road, and he could hear rounds fired by Daesh ricocheting off of the war-torn road.
Khattab was moving further into the city, and he was mainly listening to the rest of the militiamen riding in the M1114 firing off at targets that he did not see. Abu Abdullah looked up, and he saw that Pit Viper had a clear line of sight on their vehicle. Abu Abdullah yelled, “THAT HELICOPTER SEES US! GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Khattab could barely hear Abu Abdullah over the gunfire and the engine sound, but he yanked the steering wheel to the left. The three men in the bed of the M1114 braced themselves, and they held onto the sides of the vehicle. Abu Hajaar took a knee to support himself, but he let the barrel of the MG3 point upwards. He accidentally squeezed the trigger, and several rounds flew up and out of the barrel. Khattab accelerated as fast as he could, and the Humvee began to slightly drift as it was losing traction. The vehicle finally began to obtain forward velocity again, Khattab made a beeline to an alley that looked wide enough for their vehicle to fit inside of.
“Rocket away,” the gunner of Pit Viper spoke as he pulled the trigger to launch the rocket. The rocket flew forwards for almost ten seconds before detonating in the road; However, the custom M1114 had already moved clear of the blast radius. The gunner looked through a viewfinder before saying, “Negative results. Vehicle is still operational.” The pilot of Pit Viper began shifting the helicopter to the right while trying to stay level. They were still trying to track down Abu Ridhwan and his vehicle crew. However, they spotted another modified M1114 pull out of a different road. The pilot spoke, “Directly ahead of us. Twelve-o’clock. Another technical.” The gunner zoomed in and spotted the vehicle. He led the target, and he fired another rocket, “Rocket away.” He watched as the rocket travelled through the air for another good ten seconds before hitting the vehicle. The rocket impacted directly on the cab of the vehicle above the armor, and the vehicle burst into flames. The gunner informed the pilot of the results, “Technical confirmed destroyed. Four left.” The pilot contacted Golf 1 over the radio, “Golf 1, this is Pit Viper. Another technical has been destroyed. There are four left. Over.”
“Roger Pit Viper. This is Golf 1, we are making our way to the airport, but we are under attack by an unknown number of Daesh hostiles. Requesting assistance. Over.” The pilot promptly replied, “Acknowledged, Golf 1. We are heading to the airport to assist you. We will contact you again when we are in position. Standby.” Johnny stood while waiting in a window, and he was scanning the road for hostile forces. Johnny turned around to ask his fireteam leader a question, “Hey, Tom. Do our guys still have control over the airport?” Golf 1 replied, “Yeah, but not for long. We need to give them support. Pit Viper is coming around right now to give us support for us to get over there. They’re going to tell us when they’re in position.” As the group waited for the helicopter, they defended the small building that they were in. They continued to hear gunfire coming from practically all directions, but they now did not know if they were the last CDI operatives left outside of the airport. Tom finally heard the message from the support helicopter, “Golf 1, this is Pit Viper. We are in position.” Tom announced, “They’re ready! Let’s go!” The fireteam ran out of the building, and they ran towards the direction of the airport. They knew they were going to have to fight their way through Daesh to
get there.
Arcades leaned up against a wall, and he counted all of his magazines that he had used the previous days. He was glad to see that he did not lose any of his PMAGs. After all, they were not cheap. He was neither wearing his hat nor his M2 Frames, and his gloves were stuffed away in his dump pouch. His shirt’s sleeves were rolled up as far as they could go before they reached the integrated elbow pads. Since he was not wearing a plate carrier, he did not have too much load that he was bearing. He noticed that his weapon’s EOTech holographic sight was still enabled. Not wanting to use up the batteries, he pressed the two brightness buttons simultaneously in order to disable the weapon’s optic. He then unbuckled his sling, and he propped the rifle up against the wall. Arcades visually examined his HK433 propped up against the wall before leaning back up against the wall himself.
Jason walked out of an adjacent room and noticed the fox, “Kurt? You’re still here, mate?” The fox stood in silence for a moment before replying, “Yeah. I was just… thinking about yesterday still.” Jason raised an eyebrow, “Kurt, you saved all of the anthros in that train. What’s your trouble?” Arcades closed his eyes, and he was reluctant to say what was troubling him. The wolf watched Arcades for a few moments before continuing, “All sixteen of them are going to make it.” Arcades kept his eyes closed, but he replied, “You didn’t see how I found them.” Jason looked confused, “What?” The fox was still reluctant to speak. Jason tried to help things move along, “What did it look like when you first walked in there?” Arcades finally opened his eyes, and he provided context before continuing, “Remember those metal posts that were in the train car?” The wolf nodded, and Arcades continued, “All sixteen of them had been forced onto a kneeling position with their backs up against the posts. A collar on their neck kept them in that posture while their arms and legs were restrained behind them. Their arms were suspended by chains connected to the floor and ceiling. The foxes that I freed had it even worse. Their thumbs and toes were restrained with restraints that required a different key.” Jason was in disbelief, but he quickly remembered that he saw the aftermath, “Damn. Why does it bother you so much, Kurt?”
Arcades closed his eyes again and he softly said, “I don’t think the NSS is here to exterminate the anthros.” Jason did not understand, “What are you saying, mate?” The fox remained silent. Jason was not satisfied with what Arcades was telling him. The wolf decided to say, “Does this have to do with what you told me the night before that raid?” Arcades did not know what Jason was talking about, “Hmm?” Jason then said, “After you freed us, you basically said that if I wanted to put you in handcuffs later, I could.” The fox’s eyes immediately shot open, and his breathing began to speed up. Jason instantly noticed, “What the fu--? Shit.. Damn.. Hey, I’m sorry man if I offended you.” Arcades remained silent as he looked away, and he slammed his hand against the wall. He stayed up against the wall, and he looked downwards as he clenched his eyes shut. Jason could hear Arcades sniffle, but he did not say anything else. The wolf did not understand what had just happened.
“I think we’re safe in here,” Johnny said as he peeked out of one of the windows. They were very close to the airport, but they did not want to take their chances. The push was very slow, and the sun had just set. Pit Viper was on its way back from reloading and refueling. This would be the helicopter’s fifth sortie and its third crew change. No more CDI operatives were on their way to Abu Kamal to support the team on the ground, so the operatives in the city had to make do with what they currently had. Johnny turned to face the rest of his fireteam, and he sat his AK-12 down by propping it against the wall. He removed the magazines that he had spent from his dump pouch, and he looked to Tom, “Hey, do you have more 7.62x39mm ammo? I need to fill three magazines?” Tom laid his backpack on the ground and unzipped it. He pulled out an olive drab ammo box, and he opened it. Johnny began loading his magazines.
“Abu Abdullah, be careful!” Abu Ridhwan said with annoyance in his voice after Abu Abdullah fired one of the pipe bombs from his AKM. The bomb exploded far from the intended target. Abu Abdullah was disgruntled as well, “You’re the one who made these bombs. You should give me some grenades that work for once.” Abu Ridhwan grabbed the AKM out of Abu Abdullah’s hands, and they fought over the rifle. Abu Hajaar turned around and spoke up, “Stop that! Does God want us to fight each other or those infidels?” The brawling militiamen stopped fighting, but Abu Abdullah released his grip from the rifle. Abu Hajaar shook his head in disapproval and returned to checking his surroundings with the help of his MG3.
Ever since the sun set, the gunfire had been less frequent than it had been earlier that day. Abu Hajaar and the rest of the militiamen were now standing stationary in their vehicle. They had dodged rockets and incoming fire all day. Khattab had turned off the vehicle’s headlights, but Walid was still looking out through the firing port with the MK18. Abu Hajaar asked his squad, “How long has the helicopter been gone? Are they coming back tonight?” Abu Ridhwan looked to the sky, but he did not see the helicopter. He then said, “Yeah, they’ve gotta come back here. They’re not just going to let CDI fight us on their own. We’ll take the airport tomorrow.” After a pause, he continued, “Abu Abdullah, radio in to see where everyone else is.” Abu Abdullah opened one of his velcro pouches to pull out a cheap Kenwood radio clone. He switched it on, and he listened for incoming chatter on the frequency before transmitting, “This is the 3rd brigade. What is the situation for you guys?”
Pit Viper was now on its way back to the AO when the gunner noticed a strange formation traversing the desert. The gunner spoke up, “Spotted a sizable group of combatants. They’re not CDI.” The pilot looked around, but the terrain plus the lighting conditions made it difficult to see what the gunner was referring to. The pilot then asked, “You see them? Where?” The gunner looked through his infrared viewfinder and zoomed in to confirm his sightings, “Yeah, they’re heading to the city.” The pilot looked to where the gunner was looking, and he activated infrared scanning on his own viewfinder. He then spotted the group. There were approximately forty combatants on their way to the battlefield.
The pilot spoke, “Damn. Is that Daesh? Where did they come from?” The gunner zoomed in as far as he could before trying to make sense of what he was looking at, “Can’t be. They look too well equipped. None of them have vehicles though. They’re all wearing helmets, and they’re watching their spacing. Looks like they know what they’re doing.” The pilot noticed what the gunner was talking about, “Shit. We should alert the ground team.” The pilot spoke on the radio, “To all allied ground units, this is Pit Viper. We’ve spotted about forty foot mobiles on the way to the city. They are heavily armed, but lacking vehicles. They are not Daesh. Over.”
Tom listened to the transmission before raising an eyebrow. Since he was wearing an over-ear communications headset, his squad did not know what was said. After the transmission completed, Tom spoke, “Welp, damn. Forty new combatants on their way.” Johnny shook his head as he was tired of fighting Daesh, “How many fucking people is Daesh pulling in to capture the airfield?” Tom shook his head, “They ain’t Daesh. Pit Viper says they don’t know where they came from, but they confirmed that they are not with Daesh.” Tom then peeked outside to see if there were any hostiles nearby. After Tom was occupied with other things, Golf 2 nudged Johnny’s shoulder, “Hey Johnny, did you see the news this week? That small security company you used to work with took Berlin back.” Johnny remembered Arcades, “Shit. Those guys took Germany back?” Golf 2 nodded, “Uh-huh. They flew out there a couple days ago, I think. Within a couple days, they made it into Berlin and the NSS retreated.” Johnny became curious, “Where did they go?” Golf 2 replied, “That’s what we don’t know. Apparently, the German Army never found a base that they were operating out of.” Johnny asked another question, “Is Fox Security still there?” Golf 2 said, “Yeah, but I heard they’re going to be coming back to the US within a day or two. They completed the
ir mission.” Johnny shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that Arcades completed the mission; At the same time, he kind of regretted doing what he did to him back in Hong Kong, but Johnny was ready to completely write Arcades out of his life for good.
“No, zoom in further. Are you sure that’s the NSS?” The pilot was in denial. The gunner zoomed in again and nodded, “That’s the NSS emblem. I’m completely sure that it is them. They’re on their way to the city.” The pilot turned the helicopter to face the direction of the NSS soldiers, “There’s no way they made it out of Germany.” The gunner disregarded the comment, “Patching to your screen now. Standby.” The pilot looked down at the screen, and the image from the gunner’s viewfinder was displayed. The pilot now could see the infrared NSS emblems that the soldiers all carried. The pilot blinked a few times to make sure that he was seeing things correctly. Sure enough, the approaching soldiers were all wearing NSS badges. The pilot promptly spoke over the radio again, “To all available ground units, this is Pit Viper. We have an update on the situation: The incoming hostiles are NSS. Repeat, forty NSS members are approaching the city on foot. Over.”
Johnny was now finished loading his magazines with new rounds, and he placed the magazines back in the pouches on his plate carrier. He had also topped off on the magazine that was currently in his weapon. Tom walked back over to collect the ammo crate, but he received the transmission. After he heard what Pit Viper had said, he dropped the ammo crate. This grabbed the attention of the other three fireteam members. Tom announced, “Those forty-something guys are part of the NSS!” Johnny opened his eyes and looked at his fireteam leader, who spoke again, “They’re on their way here! We’re going to need to capture that airfield before Daesh or them can get to it.”
