The last guard remaining had watched his comrades fall one by one and had realized he was no match against Edge in melee combat. Roomier due to the lack of men standing with him, a gun was now his best bet. The solder went for one of the AK-47’s on the ground. Edge noticed the movement and rolled towards the same gun, performing a spin ground kick to hit the last guard in the head, knocking him out cold before he could grab the gun.
Still in his lowered position, Edge surveyed the alley; no one was moving. He got up and ran after Dust, radioing to Pitch for a report on his position.
“We’re at Echo, and we have Dust,” Pitch reported.
Trident chimed in over the radio. “Get your ass moving Edge; we’re being followed.”
Edge started running and saw the car twenty yards ahead with the side rear door open. Reaching the car, he dives in through the back door as Trident floored the gas, causing the car’s tires to squeal. Their pursuers continued the chase and with every passing foot, they closed the distance.
“AHHHH! My leg!” screamed Dust as Edge landed on him. Edge realized that while Dust had broken his fall; his was face first in someone else’s crotch. He looked up and saw it was Doom, who just winked at him.
“Sorry sailor, I’m taken,” Edge said with a smile.
“Don’t worry, my old lady would kill me anyway,” Doom replied.
“Would you girls stop flirting a second,” Pitch yelled into the back of the SUV, “I’m trying to make a call here.” Then he said into his radio, “Quake, this is Pitch; we are en route, and we have some unwanted guests. What is your position?”
“Hawk and I are at EZ awaiting you guys. We’ll provide cover fire, just instruct where to shoot,” Quake responded.
The sound of gunfire erupted from the car following behind them. Edge had rolled off Dust, flipped onto his back and grabbed the target’s head to pull it down for protection. Wafeeq was not too pleased with being yanked around like a rag doll, but it beat being dead. Dust groaned as the movement applied more pressure to his wound.
To their surprise, the bullets were not hitting the car but tore into the ground next them.
“They’re trying to shoot the tires!” exclaimed Trident.
Next to him Pitch scanned the map and found a shortcut, “Turn right here!”
Trident slammed the brakes, spinning their car towards the alley. The tires screeched as the car jerked to the right. Curses of all languages were heard in the SUV as its occupants bounced around like ping pong balls.
The SUV barely fit down the narrow street, and sparks spat along the sides as the car came into contact with walls. Sparks were the least of their worries, so Trident kept his foot full on the gas. They were halfway down the alley when Trident saw their pursuers just turning into the alley.
“Quake! Keep your eyes open; we will be coming out of the alley any second,” Trident reported.
“Yeah, don’t worry, we kinda hear ya coming,” Quake said as he double checked his gun.
Their car shot out of the alley, heading straight for the EZ. Seconds later, the pursuing car charged out only to be met with a barrage of bullets by both Quake and Hawk. The car quickly became a metal casket for those in it as the rounds punched holes everywhere, blowing out windows and the front tires. The front of the car dropped to its rims, which created a bow wave of sparks before the car lost control and spun like a top into a stone well. The well had been there many years and proved to be extremely solid, whereas the car crumpled like a candy wrapper, glass, and bits of metal flying everywhere.
“Charlie One, Charlie One, this is Delta Team Echo. We have the package and are at the EZ ready for pick up. What’s your ETA? Over,” Pitch radioed.
“Echo Team, this is Charlie One. ETA to EZ, six minutes. Over.” responded the pilot.
“Charlie One, we are not exactly in friendly territory. Hostile forces are pursuing us. Can you reach EZ any sooner? Over.”
“Patience is a virtue. The gunship is ahead of us. ETA five minutes. Over.”
Pitch sighed, “Roger, Charlie One. Over and out.” Looking at Edge, he asked, “Why can’t our ride ever be waiting at EZ?”
With the SUV parked, everyone jumped out, dragging Wafeeq with them. They found the marked extraction zone to be a circular, open-air market, its two main roads intersecting at a turn-about, which housed a large fountain statue of a stone horse in the center. Although the market was large, there was only one area big enough for a single helicopter to land and that was on the opposite side of the zone, away from where the enemy would be approaching.
Edge quickly scanned the area; it was only a matter of time before the remnants of Wafeeq’s army would arrive. “Doom, take Dust back to the rear. Pitch take our guest back with them and report back.”
Doom helped the wounded Dust to the rear of the market while Pitch dragged Wafeeq like an unwanted child. He situated the two of them in a place where they would be out of the line of fire. Pitch dropped Wafeeq and quickly ran back to Edge and Trident.
“Hostiles approaching, northwest, and northeast,” Doom said spotting two sets of headlights rushing towards them from the two main streets. Surveying the battlefield from his position he took note of Quake and Hawk on his left, and Trident, Edge, and Pitch his right. Dust remained in the rear; his primary responsibility was to protect the package, but he was positioned to provide additional cover fire if necessary.
“Doom, you and Dust are going to have to be the guardian angels on this one,” Edge stated.
“Not a problem,” Doom replied as he readied the sniper rifle.
“You know, Edge,” Quake chimed in, “I never considered Dust the angelic type. First off, he’s not pretty enough.”
“I heard that,” Dust replied dryly. Edge allowed himself a quick smile before the battle ensued.
With a major portion of their transportation destroyed, it limited the number of troops the enemy could bring to the battle. Their inconvenience was a good sign to Edge; as it provided the Deltas with a more manageable opposition for the inevitable fight ahead. The team used the abandoned SUV for cover as vehicles sped to their location.
The vehicles braked hard, skidding to a stop. Leaping from their cars like mad men, the soldiers opened fire. Their onslaught was near deafening, viciously ripping apart cars and stone structures.
Not hesitating to return the favor, Quake and Hawk used what remained of their SAW ammo. The high caliber rounds tore into a portion of the enemy, lifeless bodies flopping to the ground. Edge, Trident, and Pitch unleashed their continuous volley on the rest of the group.
“I believe we can hold’em until fire support arrives,” Quake said, “It appears that they don’t have anything strong enough to break through our line!” However, he spoke too soon.
“RPGs!!!” Doom hollered as three rocket-propelled grenades appeared seemingly from nowhere, leaving gray trails of smoke hanging in the air. The team scrambled back as two of the rockets directly hit the barricade, flipping fiery masses of steel end over end and nearly crushing Edge beneath one of them, and the third hit the road, blasting chunks of concrete and dirt into the air. Quake and Hawk quickly retreated behind the small stone wall surrounding the large fountain while Edge, Pitch, and Trident were forced to take refuge further back behind another row of vehicles.
“Great, another cheaply built foreign car to hide behind,” Trident said aloud, glancing at the car that had nearly killed Edge.
The cars here were more loosely spaced, with large openings between them which reduced their team’s mobility. Doom, peeking from his cover and spotting a soldier reloading his RPG, popped up long enough to take the man out. His move was swift, accurate and most important, deadly But his satisfaction was short-lived as he peeked around again and saw another soldier immediately grab the launcher and continue reloading.
Wiping sweat, dirt and grit from his face, Edge yelled, “Tangos at ten o’clock with fifty cals,” as two additional trucks packed with enemy soldiers pulled up.
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“HOLD ON! HOLD ON!” Pitch screamed, “They weren’t at the compound. Where the fuck did they come from?”
“It doesn’t matter where they came from; they’re here now. Let’s show them the error of their ways,” Edge ordered as he jammed a fresh clip home.
As the enemy soldiers dismounted the truck, the .50 caliber machine guns opened fire, Quake and Hawk being their first targets. The small wall behind which the two were hiding crumbled rapidly under the impact of the powerful rounds.
Quake rolled further behind the wall just as his SAW was shredded into a pile of scrap metal.
“Normally, I wouldn’t say we’re fucked,” Quake began, “but those goddam fifties are making me reconsider that.” He grabbed his assault rifle. “We have to fall back, or we’ll be ripped to shreds by that thing!”
“You go first,” Hawk said. “I still got my toy,” as he tapped his SAW.
“Nothing like having a brush with death to keep the heart going,” Quake replied as he took off.
Though Hawk’s SAW could not compete with the enemy’s .50 cal regarding destructive power, all he needed to do was maintain enough fire to keep the enemy’s heads down. Hawk ran the gun dry and moved out. Unfortunately, his movements caught the eye of the .50 cal’s gunner, who promptly gave chase with a spray of bullets. Hawk’s feet thumped the ground and with each step he could hear the large rounds ripping apart everything behind him; one wrong step would mean the end of him.
“Faster, Hawk! MUST MOVE FASTER!” Quake screamed as he watched the ground behind Hawk heave as though a creature was burrowing beneath it, giving chase to his every step.
Hawk did move faster than he ever had before, moving as though his life depended on it - because it did. At that moment, Hawk swore he could outrun Dust. He moved fast, but the gunfire behind him moved faster, and it was gaining quickly. Only paces ahead of him was a sedan, and there was no time to run around it. Without a second to spare he leaped over its hood, tucking himself into a roll as he landed.
Hawk’s form as he flew over the car was a pure superhero; all he needed was a cape. Quake watched in amazement. Mere tenths of a second after Hawk landed, the snake of bullet fire tore through the front of the car. The front half of the vehicle collapsed in on itself under the hail of large rounds.
Quake rolled away to put his back to the flying debris. “Hawk? You there?” Not hearing a response he rolled back towards Hawk and saw an arm slowly rise from behind the wreckage of the car with a thumbs up.
“That…..was…..nuts,” Hawk replied, gasping as he spoke.
“Well let’s not do that again, okay?”
Doom saw Quake and Hawk taking fire from the .50 cal. He took aim and placed a round through the gunner’s skull, giving Hawk and Quake a chance to retreat to better cover. As with the RPG, another soldier immediately moved in and took over the .50 cal. Geez, these fucks must come off an assembly line or something, he thought to himself.
“Edge, you guys, need to move back,” Doom said as another dropped another soldier with an RPG.
“Well, get that .50 cal off our ass and we’ll be happy to,” Edge replied before he turned to Pitch and Trident. “We gotta fall back. Trident, start peeling.”
Responding with a nod, Trident waited until enemy fire let up for a moment. He tapped Pitch as he passed way back letting him know he was next to fall back. The trio kept rotating: two would shoot while the third fell back. Over the next few minutes which felt like hours, Trident made it to the statue. The barrage of the heavy fire destroyed the statue within seconds, and the fountain’s rim followed.
“Crap, Trident is in trouble.” Pitch said.
“That’s it - pop grenades!” Edge ordered. He and Pitch grabbed the grenades from their vests, pulled the pins and hurled them like baseballs as close to the enemy as possible. Seconds later two explosions sent bodies catapulting through the air, accompanied by screams of agony. .
“Trident get your ass out of there now!” Edge ordered.
Trident rolled like a log behind cover. “I’m good right now, but this is getting bad quick.”
“I know, but keep fighting. We have no other option at the moment, and you know we’ve been in worse,” Edge said. He turned to Pitch to issue a command, but Pitch was already on the radio asking the pilot, “Black Falcon 1, when do you plan on arriving?” In response, two rockets flew over their heads.
“Hells, yeah!” Pitch yelled as the rockets engulfed the two trucks with the .50 cals in clouds of flame. The gunship roared in close behind, its M61 20 mm rotary cannon sending over a hundred rounds per second into the enemy forces.
Seeing the gunship’s rockets destroy their heavy firepower and almost instantly slaughter scores of their fellow soldiers, most of the survivors went running. Displaying poor decision-making skills, a lone soldier in the back of a troop truck stood up to return fire on the hovering death machine with an RPG. A third rocket removed the truck, and him, as objects of interest.
A minute behind the gunship, as promised, the Black Hawk helicopter landed behind Doom’s position. Edge gave orders for Wafeeq and Dust to board first, followed by the rest of the team. As always, Edge made sure to board last.
Looking back at the battlefield as the aircraft ascended, Edge wiped the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead. Wafeeq’s forces had taken heavy casualties during the op, especially from the gunship and those that survived were in full retreat, knowing they had lost the day. And in the distance, smoke from the assault on Wafeeq’s base could still be seen billowing upwards.
“Not our cleanest job,” Doom observed, resting his head back on the bulkhead.
“But not bad, considering most of it was ad-libbed,” Quake replied as a few burning cars exploded in the distance. “Maybe some of it was a bit much,” he conceded.
Doom just stared at him.
Resting his head back, Edge looked over his team. Each one of the team had proved their worth today. The Deltas had handled a mission that most could not. Many would have a look at this mission as a rare event. However for Edge and his team, it was becoming a regular occurrence. This mission was par for the course, but it was successful.
Pitch snapped Edge out of his thoughts. “Got HQ on the line.”
Taking the phone in hand, Edge spoke. “Command, this is Delta Squad leader. We have the package and are en route home.”
“Roger that,” Richard replied from the other end. “Good job. We will be there when you land,” Richard replied.
Back at headquarters Richard hung up with the Delta team and looked at Tucker. “Come on. Let’s meet them when they land.”
As Richard walked past him, Tucker allowed a small smile of satisfaction creeps across his lips. They had gone to Safwan.
Chapter 6
June 28, Present Day
A cool relaxing summer breeze blew across Tucker’s young face as he sat on the track with his new mountain bike. His childhood friend Paul rode behind him, and he looked just as he did nearly fifteen years ago. His curly black hair peeked from beneath his Orioles cap, their hometown team. He was wearing the same blue and white striped shirt, even the mole under his right eye still dotted his boyish face.
Tucker stopped his bike to look behind him only to find Paul waving at him, asking him to slow down, but strangely no words exited his mouth. It was as if he was reading Paul’s very thoughts. Young Tucker placed a foot back on his paddle and pretended to leave Paul behind as they traveled along the bumpy path. Their journey was peaceful, nothing was out of place, they were in a world without blame, they were happy as kids should be. Without warning Tucker’s world began to shake violently when a horrifying and beastly groan was heard from behind him.
Turning to face the horrendous noise, he found Paul locked in his space unable to move; his face garbled with fear. Tucker shouted with all he had, but the words remained absent of sound. The creature was now closer and ready to devour its intruders. From the expression that materialized on Paul�
��s face, he had come to realize that what was behind him meant them immediate harm. Tucker paddled as hard as he could to reach his young friend, but no matter how fast his feet moved, he remained in place. With sweat beading and rolling down his face, Tucker looked one last time into Paul’s eyes just before the beast overtook him.
۞۞۞۞
Tucker startled into wakefulness, breathing heavily his face and clothing damp from perspiration. Something was making annoying noises in the room, and he finally realized it was his watch’s alarm. He slapped off the alarm and looked blearily at the time: 6:30 am. Wow, four hours of sleep isn’t what it used to be. Wake up Tucker. Wake up. It’s going to be a long day. You’ve got people to save and no thanks to get.
The morning sun had already evaporated the overnight condensation on the windows, and a chill ran down his back as the air conditioning kicked on.
Tucker looked around his office as he waited for his mind to clear enough for him not to walk into the walls. I’ve got to consider a decorator he thought, examining the blank walls and the desk, empty except for the single picture.
He had come to accept the fact that home was not home; it was just that place that was not the office. Home to him was where he slept most of the time, and that place happened to be his office. The apartment in Prince George’s County was nice enough but, aside from a few possessions, there was not anybody or anything waiting there for him, just emptiness and boredom. It was much easier to fall asleep at the office after a long day, which was just about every day. Besides, he had done the forty-five-minute drive on the beltway enough that it was beyond boring and to make it at night meant he would only have to make the return trip in the morning. Tucker figured the most rational thing was to use that hour and a half for some much more productive purpose such as sleep, which seemed to be in increasingly short supply lately. Staying at the office allowed also gave him access to certain intel that was not available to him outside the building.
Rise of the Phoenix Page 11
