Some things never change(CLOSED)

[Hurtful Thoughts]

Alexi had to stifle herself from balking at the field-promotion, but quickly nodded and acknowledged her new position as the new CO pretty much made the same call she'd have made; albeit easier for her since she hardly knew these people -for missions like this, she preffered to keep it that way.

She handed the Captain's LMG to Alex, along with the hefty ammunition-load she was carrying. This brought her back to her three rifles and nearly two thousand rounds of ammunition she scavenged from the firefight.

He disappeared the notes away as he continued his map reconnaissance – only so good when one was attempting to use a 1:25 000 map in a rainforest. However, the topography of the area meant that there were some small folds in the ground, and stream banks, that provided a degree of cover. He circled a small, steep valleyside that lay roughly 700 metres from the enemy position, and 1200 metres from their current position. He circled the location, marking a route, before taking a compass bearing – they would not be taking the paths any more, they were too dangerous. Alexi had returned by now, sorted.
“Machetes out – we move in three minutes, and we're going cross-country. Here are the grids and the bearings.” He passed a page torn from his notepad with the details.
“Any questions or concerns before we move, Alexi?”

He rolled the cigarette butts under his feet, concerned now about the urgency to move – by his count, the enemy forces should be arriving no earlier than five minutes from now to the smoke, that had now slowly spread to them. Taking a compass bearing, he noted the direction of movement, before signalling for the men to move the Captain onto the stretcher.
"We're moving now Captain - it's going to be long, but you're a Mokan man - you've got fight in you. Keep fighting, and you'll pull through."

"The captain is not armed." She replied, pointing-out the obvious as she picked-up the smoldering cigarette-butt from the ground and pocketing it. "The Minimi is too heavy for him to use and his mental faculties are no longer depenndable for laying-down a base of fire anyways. I have issued it to Alex for suppression during the main assault after exhausing his .50 cal supply. I'll carry an M4 for Mr Vasquez just in case I become incapacitated."

He then glanced at the captain before returning her gaze to the Lietenant.

"And I would also strongly recommend advancing our timetable as much as possable. Do we really need three minutes?"

[Mokastana]

Somewhere out in the jungle a sniper fell out of the tree he hid in, hit either by Alex or Alexi, maybe both. What had originally been a hunting trip for his comrades back at base turned south quick when, by pure luck he noticed the movement of the Captain's arm to his radio. The shot was quick, and only after he fired did he think that others might be in the jungle. Before the sniper had a chance to scan, two shots close to each other ended his life, as well as his body's ability to hold organs together, as the .50 caliber and the 6.5mm rounds each had their turn at him. Of course there were others out there... Either going to investigate the smoke or running back to base as quick as possible. One such patrol had been running through the jungle after the radio barked the return orders, only to hear closer gunshots and see smoke rise out from the jungle. Unlike the last group, this one halted, hiding in the jungle listening for additional shots and finally began moving up closer towards the smoke. Wondering who exactly had been caught out here...


******

Tsu Li, still covered in mud from the ditch he fell into, watched as the beautiful sniper fled into the jungle. He was unarmed, the sniper dead, gunfire coming from his home base and not much else to do. He thought quickly, unsure about what just happened, but he needed a gun. He heard the sniper battle and figured if he had a hope of getting a gun, it would be with the poor man who just lost the sniper duel. Waiting a few minutes he got up and bolted towards the area he heard the first shot, hoping that he might find something...


*****

The Captain was in pain, and as the shock would wear off it would only get worse. He managed to hear the trade off between Zak and Alexi, hoping he wasn't too screwed. They would but heads, but they just might pull it off. At least, had their not been a casualty to carry all the way through the damn jungle. Despite what Alexi said, he still had his pistol, not that it would help had a real firefight broke out, but it sure as hell would be used to prevent capture or to take out who ever might get the drop on them.

"...I am in pain.... but I am still a Captain Vasquez.... give me the damn M4, that way....I can ..... at least keep watch..."

He tried rubbing his hands to get the feeling back into them, at least the doc had patched him up well enough. For now. But damn if he was going to become a liability on this operation. Too many things were already wrong. He wasn't quite sure what the doctor had done to him, or how much he would be allowed to move, but it was his job to see the operation completed. Which he handed over to the LT because he was out of the fight. His thoughts spun a little more so he gently shook his head to get focus. He may have a 7.62mm round in his torso, but it wasn't the first time. He looked at Alexi expecting the gun.


*****

At the target, gunfire began to slow as the minutes dragged on, what had been an intense firefight for a few minutes had become a half hour of two opposing forces taking shots at each other, as the attacking forces slowly cleared the complex one building at a time. Eventually they cracked down the door of a central building, the gunfire had been quick, three bodies hit the floor, and cowering in the corner was a man named Niko.

The three men in black fatigues who stormed the building aimed their FN P90s at him, quickly reporting into their radios that they "found him." Two finished clearing the building while one cuffed Mr. Worton to a chair. He was searched and beaten when he resisted. They found cash they pocketed, a small revolver, also pocketed and various notes, which were left out on the table. Within a few minutes more fighters entered the small building, this time they had one particular individual with them.

"Niko Worton, it is a pleasure to see you again. Don't you remember me?" The man speaking wore black much like his associates, only in his hand was a Jaguar D .45 Caliber pistol still smoking from shots fired not to long ago. He walked over to the table, looking at the notes and then focused back on his prey.

"Its been a while, has it not? Oh my my, the Cartel has been looking for you for ages. Very few men get the chance to betray the Cartel and live to tell the tale of it, then again, you had friends to help you out, a nice cushy job set up for you far away from all that trouble. Do you realize what it took to get out Anspach? How many of our men and allies died? While you and the Blades ran off with our guns, drugs and money. It took us a while to hunt you down, but as you know, we have friends in high places. Your little crime spree last night, killing a hooker, tsk tsk..."

"You and I both know that was a set up." Niko spoke for the first time since the gunfire began, spitting out blood and what looked like a tooth from his quick beating. In the backround AM-07s continued sparratic fire against the silenced P90s, but it was only a matter of time until the untested guerrillas fell to the assault squads of the Cartel.

"Doesn't matter, someone found you and put on the wire for everyone to see. So we came for you, and don't worry about friendlies showing up, we are hitting every major Blade base on this island. They won't know what hit them, so for now, its just you and me. Let's have some fun, eh Vance?"

*****

Back at the National Police Base, word was only getting in that massive shootouts were occurring all over the island, at least four if not five major gun battles. Two in the port city, the others at various suspected drug hideouts. Someone was making a move, and someone had just received a checkmateHinds were loading up with Police to fly out to the cities, bring military grade back up to the local badges. Even the Montana Contractor base was called to send troops to secure order in both cities on the island.The bases in the jungle would a secondary priority for now, except for one. Two Hinds waited on the tarmac for orders to go and assault a drug base and rescue some contractors out there. These helicopters would not moved, even from orders from the Island Commander of the National Police, for they had been commandeered by a powerful force much higher than he. The Bureau of Secret Affairs, and sitting inside one was a older man, dressed in full Dauntless and carrying an LY20 HILAR, and his name was Alberto Cruz, Special Situations Director. Surrounding him were men equally supplied and perhaps even more dangerous, his security staff.

[Fayt2]

alex swore ''mother fucker i said the prisoner was a liabilty'' he said to zak ''sir off the record she did the right thing it what i would have done'' ''thanks alexi i am not trained as a machine gunner but i can shoot 'em i favour sniping to l.m.gs''

[Alfegos]

"If we can get the Captain onto the stretcher in under three minutes, then yes, we don't need three minutes." He got up on one knee, drawing his combat weapon as the group moved to carry the downed man. The stretcher itself was a lightweight one - aerofibre from the airship industry, incredibly light and yet strong enough to carry 300 kilogrammes without the handles ripping. Flattened across the ground, he quickly inserted the two folding poles that came with the stretcher - he more often used them for his basha and hammock setup - before moving over to the Captain, standing at his head.
"Thanks for your opinion Alex." He knew the man needed more than just basic - he needed to go right back to the start, to initial entry training.

"Captain, we'll put your assault rifle on the stretcher with you, to make it easier to carry you." He looked over at Alexi, waiting for her, before signalling one of the men over. Gripping his legs and shoulders, they lifted the Captain over onto the stretcher, keeping him in position - on his side, chest seal down, but not blocked. He was concerned at the blood that still occasionally trickled from the valve - the man would need a chest drain if they had time, though he had no idea how he would improvise one in the field. Letting the man's body armour rest over him, he pulled the straps on the stretcher sides loose, the small plastic bands snapping to allow them out. They were more designed for a man on his back, though in this case they could still be used to secure the Captain's legs, feet and torso.
"Captain, use this when you need to - but only if the pain becomes completely unbearable." He removed the Captain's morphine autoinjectors, placing the pen in the hand of the man. His hands were pale, and cold - the first signs of blood loss causing body cooling. He needed to keep an eye on the man - they would have to put saline into him if the cold got much worse.

He signalled - time to move, and quickly. Letting the scout take the lead, the man took the bearing and confirmed the direction of travel, before starting their trek - slashing through undergrowth, Xha'ki following up to tidy the route with swings of his issue battle tool.

All moved with urgency, pushing through at a rate. Occasionally, they would swap onto the stretcher, taking the heavy load of the Captain for brief stretches, Xha'ki swapping on to check on the casualty and ensure the man was still lucid.
"Keep drinking Captain - just sips, but frequently. That should restore the fluid in your circulation."

[Temnorus]

Pavel looked without feeling upon the Captain confused by the amount of care given to him when it would obviously be more efficient to simply liquidate him. With a weary eye on the jungles around them, Pavel followed the stretcher team as they beat what amounted to a dignified but hasty retreat. With their officer down and little hope for reinforcement in the jungles it was obvious that in order for objectives to be met the unit would have to divide itself into yet smaller teams. Being a mere Liquidation Detachment Asset Pavel had never been granted the authorization to use and understand “fire support” so in his mind he and two other Comrades would need to infiltrate and liquidate an entire enemy encampment.

It was not his place to question orders and so like a good Novaya Bolshevist he followed the stretcher, kept up his coverage, and waited for direction.

[Mokastana]

Some how, either through the grace of God or pure luck, the patrol investigating the explosions and sniper fire never caught wind of the commandos fleeing the scene. Instead they found a younger soldier who told them his squad had been attacked by snipers and the survivors scattered through the jungle. The bullet wound in his shoulder giving credibility to the story. The patrol leader listened, gave him a weapon and told him to forget his patrol, base was under attack and they needed to get their for the counter attack. His wounds could be treated there. Rally points were being set up and hopefully someone would be able to organize the rest of the Blade's troops in the area. The young soldier offered to lead them away from the snipers (and surprisingly away from the commandos). In the young soldier's mind it was only though the grace of the Holy Marsh did he survive, and he would return the honor.
*****

Elsewhere in the Jungle, for the Captain the initial shock was wearing off and the wound began to hurt, a lot. He did his best to keep quiet but it was becoming more obvious that the Captain was in pain. Still he held onto the Morphine injector, holding off on the dose as long as he could. It was still his duty to get his people back alive, and just maybe, holding on to that duty was what was keeping him alive as well. It seemed his team had become smaller, what started out as six was now just his Lieutenant, two snipers and a psycho. He didn't know where the scout had gone, and he wasn't sure he liked that it was the more experienced soldiers being useless in combat.

"We need to get this job done ASAP." he muttered out loud between breaths. It may not have been intended to be out loud, but he said it anyways.

The rest of the trip would be uneventful, despite the fact every enemy patrol was heading in the same direction they were, they had rally points to get to and thankfully the jungle's thickness and squad's leadership kept them from being noticed again. Over the next hour, the gunfire had ceased, occasionally every 20 to 30 minutes it would seem some rifle fire would escalate, but cease after a few minutes. Always coming from around the drug base, the sounds scattered across the jungle, wildlife that knew better had fled the area a long time ago.

Once they made it to the target and began recon, they would notice that the enemy watch towers were already blown up or burning, and instead of the crummy fighters in fatigues with old rifles, these men wore black, held positions behind relatively solid objects and carried P90 machine guns, silencers still attacked. A few on the buildings' rooftops also had binoculars and sniper rifles, some Dragonovs, most mostly Barrett .50 caliber rifles.

In total three sniper teams and around 10-15 possible enemy foot soldier in the base fortified.

*****

"Boss, Enemy forces keep coming at from the jungle, we are holding but the wounded is piling up."

A mercenary with officer bars on his collar had walked into the small shack wear Ricardo was practicing various punches on his knew heavy bag, formerly known as Niko. Who was tied to a wall with his hands over his head, bleeding from various parts of his face. On the table next to him was a set of rusty looking knives, tools Ricardo used more to scare than for their intended purposes. Eventually the team would move out, taking Niko/Vance with them, but at the moment his boys were setting up explosives and loading up what drugs they could onto the escape vehicles. This entire base was going to be blown to hell and hopefully burn for days on end.

After one more swing to the gut, Ricardo turned around and looked at his officer.

"How are the explosives coming along? Once those are set we can get the hell out of here. Or do you suggest letting the enemy take a building or two and then blow them to hell?"

"No sir, I was planning on setting up timers and let them believe we fled, once they start trying to reclaim the base it should blow."

"Good thinking, OK, so how much longer can we hold out?"

"Maybe a few more waves, seems like they take out one or two of my boys every attack. The trucks are already filled with wounded, we have maybe 20 good men still holding them off."

"Very well, you and you." He said looking to his two personal guards, "go help the Captain keep the perimeter, How much longer on the sappers?"

"Five minutes."

"Good, let's get ready to go then."

Elsewhere in the jungle, someone else had amassed maybe 20-30 soldiers of the Blades and was beginning to scout the base to launch their own counter attack.

[Fayt2]

fennix groused ''this op has gone charlie foxtrot ever since alexi took that prisoner'' ''sir with all due respect can we get any fucking air support? i would kill for a pair of appache helicopter gunships providing close air support ''

[Hurtful Thoughts]

(Sorry that I dropped-out for a second there)

Alexi had helped with carrying their wounded captain like everyone else. The additional heft of the AM-07 and ammunition could already be felt, however as they were soon entering the assault-phase, this would be a self-solving problem.

The lack of contacts despite the constant radio-chatter of disorganized brevity-lietenants trying desprately to... retake their base... was unnerving. Currently she knew they were throwing their forces piecemeal at the enemy, and being mass-slaughtered in the process...

She did not wish to pass this information down to the rest of the team, fearing it would further demoralize them by knowing an entire platoon of Blades were never more than a half-klick away.

As her shift as stretcher-bearer ended, the Captain -delerious from pain- reminded everyone to get the mission over with ASAP. She placed her hand on his forhead, checking for fever: "You just leave that to us, old-timer."

She then slipped into the tail-end charlie position and tried to work the radio: <"Five minutes. Nobody dies. I want suppressive-fire on their big-guns, stay at a distance. Let us take care of the rest.">

At the perimiter of the base, she saw firsthand the destruction wrought, the towers and turrets were already out of commission, with hardly enough men to properly operate an effective missile-system. Looking to Xha: "Shall I radio for a helicopter evac?"

[Alfegos]

The target had been hammered - whilst the rest of the group sat hidden in the FUP, the Lieutenant and (at the last moment) Alexi had moved to have a look. The recon took maybe 45 minutes, and sure enough it revealed an enemy on the back foot. Snipers, yes, and a small garrison, but otherwise the area was chaotic. There were a few vehicles, trucks visible in the compound and just outside on the small dirt track, noted alongside other parts of the position.

Soon enough, the wo came back, and compiled their recon patrol report quickly. A small A5 laminate card soon held all the details it needed, before the Lieutenant started his planning process.
"Alexi, wait out on calling anything in. However, alert the helicopter evacuation team to move to maximum readiness, anticipating being here no earlier than one and a half hour's time. H hour is in one hour." His notes were quickly compiled as he sorted his plan, quickly moving down the deductions and estimations to his sketch map, soon overlaid with arcs of fire and control lines. Soon enough, he was translating it into orders, whilst he left Alexi to stag on the radio and get ready for the attack.

His resources were scarce - when he noticed the Scout had gone, he had been instantly wary that he had defected. For now, he had crossed the man off his notepad - a deserter. Soon enough, he had finished, and signalled to the group of four that were remaining.
"Listen in for a set of orders for a raid."
He quickly covered the ground brief, ensuring all knew their location on the map, and the locations of other key points, pointed out both on the sketch map passed around of the position, and in the surrounding terrain, before moving on to prelims and basic taskings. All of course covered before.
"Situation enemy forces. Approximately 2 to 4 sniper teams alongside 10 to 20 men occupying the compound at present. Enemy are dressed irregularly, and armed with an assortion of weapons systems. Enemy missile systems appear compromised - however, be prepared to engage and destroy. Enemy fortifications, be prepared to engage and destroy. Enemy obstacles are in the form of perimeter fence - this has been breeched at multiple points, and existing breechs will be used. Low risk of IEDs or mines - however, be prepared for an IED or mine contact. Enemy has access to vehicles - these are to be engaged and sabotaged if possible to prevent enemy escape.

There are no friendly forces in our area. We have helicopter evacuation on standby, no air assets. Artillery, we have HE and Smoke on standby. Fire support callsign is "
He quickly summarised their mission.
"Your mission is to raid the compound, capture the VIP, and extract. Be prepared to engage enemy AAA and vehicles, in order to facilitate this."
He repeated the statement, before moving on to the execution.
"You will be divided into two teams. Alex and Alexi, you are the fire support. You will be firing upon the position in order to destroy snipers, fix escaping units, and suppress hostiles in the compound. You will be taking the Captain with you to your fire support base, and leaving him in cover near to your positions."
He looked back.
"Pavel, you will be assaulting alongside myself. You are to kill enemy hostiles engaging, and help secure the VIP alive."

"This operation will be divided into four phases. Phase 1 - prelim moves. We will first move to our respective positions - Alexi and Alex, you will move to a suitable fire location to provide us covering fire, and Pavel and myself will move to our FUP near to the position. Phase 2 - Fire support. At H hour, you are to open fire, engaging targets in priority order of snipers, followed by machinegunners. HE will be coming in alongside smoke from two minutes before the attack, initially in the compound before moving to the roadway in order to Block re-enforcements and Fix existing forces. Phase 3 - Assault. Pavel and myself will assault the compound, quickly moving into to capture the VIP, before extracting back to this current location.
Phase 4 - Extraction. We will then move to secure an HLS in the scrub outside the compound, making it a fast evac. Any questions?"

He looked over the group.
"Alexi, make sure ammunition is redistributed as necessary - I do not want you to conserve ammunition on this attack. I want maximum fire volume on us going in, and maximum fire volume on us extracting. I do not want any of them shooting back at us." He quickly ensured watches were synchronised, before looking back.
"H Hour is now in fourty minutes. In 20 minutes, I want us moving out to our respective positions, and preparing for the attack."

[Mokastana]

Inside the compound...

"VAMANOS!"

Time to leave was now, the radios chatter from the enemy had not just been intercepted by Alexi, for a few surviving radios had fallen into Cartel hands as well. They were listening just as intently, often using the Intel to prep a defense against an incoming attack. They knew out there someone was rallying forces and recent broadcasts had been more active than previous ones. Someone was moving their pieces into place. Luckily, and unknown the cartel forces, Montana's Mercenary team was on the north, while the previous owners of the base were gathering on the south. Also known as the one road out of base. To anyone watching, sniper teams began to climb down from their rooftops and move to buildings closer to the south entrance. Perhaps more worrying, is that they carried Stinger Missiles with them.

When the snipers moved, the black clad soldiers began moving south as well, always leap frogging from a covered position to another, they moved like professional soldiers. Unlike the snipers, they even moved out of the base on foot to disappear into the jungle. The foliage was thick around here, which was how they prevented National Police from storming the compound. So far the cost of taking the dirt road and fighting Blade Mercs had been too high, the position was too easily defended, which is what Ricardo planned on taking advantage of. His men were launching a counter attack to try and disperse the attack before it started. Of course with everyone leaving base, that left just the sniper teams and a few drivers with Ricardo at base. It wasn't long until a bleeding Niko/Vance appeared out of the one the buildings, also dressed in the black suits of the attackers. He was clearly wounded, being carried by two men which threw him into the back of a truck. Much like traditional Mokan Armies, everyone wore the same outfit, no distinguishing marks on anyone's uniform. Unlike Mokan armies though, one man appeared to be giving orders, another even saluted him. The few others left were moving crates and bags of what were very obviously drugs into the trucks as well. After a few crates the men packed up the truck and took up defensive positions.

In a few minutes, gunfire would erupt from the south.


National Police Base

"Director, it is unwise to launch an attack on the position! Intel suggests they have AA." The Lieutenant spoke over the roar of the Hind about to take off.

"This is a matter of National Security. Move away from the helicopter!"

"Director..." The lieutenant was in a precarious position, on one hand, he knew flying in might be suicide, on the other, he was arguing with a Special Situations Director. Not the kind of man you want to be on the bad side off. Especially in this part of Mokastana."

"Take off, clear the area Lieutenant!" He did as he was told, and soon two Hinds were up in the air, loaded for bear and both half full with soldiers, some MBSA agents, some National Police Shock troops. The Director's next move was to place a call to a very particular satellite phone. One the Captain had been carrying and was now in either Alexi's or Zak's possession. While the phone did nothing special, in the Captain's earpiece, a short beep began to repeat every second or so.

"Someone may want to pick up the Sat phone. Someone is calling us." His voice was low, harsh, but he thought it loud enough to get attention without making too much noise.

[Hurtful Thoughts]

He looked over the group.
"Alexi, make sure ammunition is redistributed as necessary - I do not want you to conserve ammunition on this attack. I want maximum fire volume on us going in, and maximum fire volume on us extracting. I do not want any of them shooting back at us." He quickly ensured watches were synchronised, before looking back.
"H Hour is now in fourty minutes. In 20 minutes, I want us moving out to our respective positions, and preparing for the attack."

"Correction, ten minutes and I start shooting things. Better make every second count..." Alexi was in a habit of escalating the timetables, as it was often a good way to keep an off-balance enemy reeling from old-wounds.

"Alex, you'll drag the Captain's stretcher; set him down where I tell you. Captain Vasquez, would you do the honor of being my tail-end charlie?"

As they walked to a NW enfilade of the compound, Alexi felt it necesary to coach her pupil on fire-superiority:

"Okay, I know you're not a machine-gunner, but we don't have much belted ammunition -most of it is on stripper clips- so I'm going to be allowing you to use two of my rifle-mags plus your three in the Minimi before going to belts. I should be able to have those reloaded by the time you're out..." She passed a large-ish tree, and pointed at it while her hand motioned in a circle "But don't get trigger-happy yet. Gotta wait for the others to move their asses into position, in the meantime, check your six o'clock, and scope-out your field of fire and start calling-out landmarks so we can point threats out to each other while we reload."

She checked to see if any of this was registering in her assistant-sniper's head, then patted her head before going to a kneeling position and proceeding to duck-walk into a suitable shooting-postion: this one entailed sitting with her legs straddled around a large tree, with her rifle and body braced firmly against the tree-trunk.

Then Romeo's phone rang, she didn't hear it in her pocket, but the captain politely informed them that somebody was calling.

Scope-down, she withdrew the sat-phone and picked-up the reception.

"Hello, but Mr Vasquez cannot come to the phone right now. He's on a super-duper important secret mission. You may however, leave a messege for his unit if it happens to elaborate where all these rebels got ahold of some P90s. Oh, and once again, my condolences for the incident that occured in Sur. I pomise none of these men will ninja-rope your pretty little hinds this time."

[Fayt2]

''yeah ok'' alex groused he slung his hell hammer over his shoulder and hefted the l.m.g ''time to earn my pay'' he drawled he draged the captains strecher

[Mokastana]

"Hello, but Mr Vasquez cannot come to the phone right now. He's on a super-duper important secret mission. You may however, leave a message for his unit if it happens to elaborate where all these rebels got ahold of some P90s. Oh, and once again, my condolences for the incident that occured in Sur. I pomise none of these men will ninja-rope your pretty little hinds this time."

"Good afternoon Alexandria, saw your dossier on this mission and wondered when Hurtful Outcomes became a subcontractor to Montana. Then again, maybe they didn't and that would mean you are on your own again. Perhaps we talk after this en devour. First, if the Captain is unavailable who is the closest commanding officer? Inform them Evac is on route, clear us an LZ and make sure Niko is alive when we get there. We will take care of the P90 wielding troops."

[Hurtful Thoughts]

"Rifle-fire first. Aim one magazine of ball-ammo for the fuel-tanks of those cargo-trucks. Don't shoot the drivers until they start moving. Once accomplished, move your position and deploy machinegun-fire." Alexi whispered. Having Alex change position and then start ripping with the machine-gun was in hopes of suppressing and drawing fire away from the wounded Captain.

Back on the phone-line a familiar voice tried goading her with old memories:

"Hello, but Mr Vasquez cannot come to the phone right now. He's on a super-duper important secret mission. You may however, leave a message for his unit if it happens to elaborate where all these rebels got ahold of some P90s. Oh, and once again, my condolences for the incident that occured in Sur. I pomise none of these men will ninja-rope your pretty little hinds this time."

"Good afternoon Alexandria, saw your dossier on this mission and wondered when Hurtful Outcomes became a subcontractor to Montana. Then again, maybe they didn't and that would mean you are on your own again. Perhaps we talk after this en devour. First, if the Captain is unavailable who is the closest commanding officer? Inform them Evac is on route, clear us an LZ and make sure Niko is alive when we get there. We will take care of the P90 wielding troops."

"Just be glad I'm not here because you had your ass kicked by another one of our dead guys, again. In the meantime, I'm personally overseeing that all anti-air assets are being eliminated. Your lads are in safe hands and you know it ^_^."

How Alexi managed to pronounce an emoticon was anybody's guess, but that probably had something to do with regulations she had to live-with stateside.

Back to breathing, and picking targets. Ironically, the heavy sharpshooters were in the open, and also happened to be lugging their unit's MAXI-MANPADS. Well, that made life a whole lot simpler for a few well-placed and suppressed 6.5mm armor-piercing rounds to solve. Now all she needed to do was wait and pray to god that Xha could keep up with her advanced timetable.

As a busted-up looking unarmed fellow in black fatigues was forcefully escorted out of a building, she nudged Alex. "There's our man."

[Fayt2]

''yeah i see him'' permission to close in and disable the target he targeted the escorts with his hell hammer and shot them in their heads with 50 cal h.e.a.p rounds ''the escorts of our target are down'' ''green light to move in?''

[Mokastana]

The first few shots were relatively silenced, taking out a sniper and his spotter, when the second sniper fell his spotter had managed to take shelter behind some obstructions on the roof top, reporting the attack. That left one sniper team to combat the threat in the jungle. Within seconds, Ricardo motioned for for his men to find cover, diving into a building before the sound of .50 caliber rounds began filling the air. Over his shoulder he saw one of the men holding Vance fly back. Blood flying everywhere behind him. The fellow next to him met a fate similar short after. The damn attack was a diversion, they were coming in to rescue the man they called Niko. The bastards...

"Vance you can't get away that easy!" Ricardo shouted firing a burst from his RCP-90 towards Niko's knees. Even though the man had fallen when his escorts had bitten the dust, Ricardo refused to give him the chance to get up. A few rounds into his legs would see to that.

"How do you like that Vance! Your snipers may protect you for now but we will get you in the end!"

On one of the other rooftops, a spotter reported Alex's .50 caliber round shots before a 6.5mm round ended his sentence. Unfortunately the microphones set up were giving the snipers the information the dead spotter would not. His laptop on the floor showed the location of Alex's rifle, giving the sniper an open window to return fire. With Alex distracted by hitting targets around Niko, he just might get the shot he needed to put down a sniper.

On another rooftop the surviving spotter grabbed the rifle from his downed comrade and continued to hide, he knew he had been spotted and had no information on where the other sniper was, to get to his computer would require revealing himself again. Instead he waited, reporting himself pinned down. With just a handful of people left defending the base any attacking force could get in and take it back.

Picking up his radio Ricardo blared to his team: "We're being hit Snipers on the north side. Flank them! I need back up now!"

[Alfegos]

"Why the fuck did he do that?" Even with Alexi's time change which he had agreed with, one of the snipers had opened up early - and from the distinctive sound, it had been Alex. If he got out alive, he would be putting a bullet through that idiot's head - the man was a danger to them all. He continued his sprinting around to their FUP, as sniper fire continued - fortunately, his knowledge of the ground was good, and in a small groove in the ground formed by the row of trees, his movement was invisible to the snipers. Counting in his head, he reached the number he was looking for, stopping and hitting the deck. Ahead was the compound, a breech in the fence the target he needed.

Reaching for his radio, he quickly dialled in the frequency he had memorised, watching out across the area. The enemy was moving, the idiotic move of the boy sniper not giving him time to call in the artillery. Well, it was their fault now, and they'd be paying the price for his actions to save their sorry arses.
"Hello Battery, Tooth Fairy One One Six, emergency fire mission, over."
He waited, before hearing the crackle of a reply - they'd better be listening.
"Tooth Fairy One One Six, Figures 15 HE, Immediate, Normal rate, UT1440, off target figures 210 metres at mils 5250, FIRE." That was his first priority. He had seen the flanking attack, and knew that the enemy were flanking from the west. In the time it took for them to move from the opposite of the compound, they would be in the open as ordinance came raining down. His next target would be the vehicles. He listened for the moment, waiting for the response. Back at base, the Mokans would be running around, likely sprinting from the cookhouse to their guns. Eventually, just in time, he heard the response.
"Splash, over." He counted, and after a few seconds the came the scream of a shell inbound. He had to give it to the Mokan gunners, it was perfect.
"Splash, no adjustments, out." And then came the volley - HE came roaring in on top of the enemy.
"Tooth Fair One One Six, Figures 20 HE, Delay 4 minutes, Normal rate, UT1440, off target figures 80 metres at mils 0200, FIRE." That gave them time to move, as the enemy was distracted by the HE going down.

He looked to Pavel, nodding - the man knew now they were going in for the assault. Xha'ki made three gestures the man recognised - fix a fresh magazine, fix bayonets, direction of enemy. He then braced himself to pounce, putting a finger to his lips - they would go in silently, and only open fire on seeing the enemy. If they could get across the open ground without being noticed, now the snipers and gunners were dying around them and distracted by the artillery, then they would have the advantage.
"Go!" He got up, sprinting over the brow of cover, knowing Pavel would follow. At speed, despite the weight of his armour and bags, he soon made it to the compound, sprinting through the fence. He slammed against the side of one of the huts, bending over to catch his breath, listening as the artillery came in. There were screams in amongst the sound of shells exploding - obviously, the enemy counter-attack had been caught up in a storm of shrapnel. He counted, checking his watch. Pavel looked across, in his cover behind the building, ready to move.

He gestured to Pavel - go in hot, no more silent motion. He raised a hand, counting it down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
"Battery, Splash over." The round came in, a blast shaking the entire compound. He didn't care if it was perfectly on target - it was close enough.
"XHE'FE!" He didn't care about english - he screamed the charge in Fegosian, running forwards before letting rip. With the volume of fire going down, and his deafening bellow, the enemy would likely think they were being charged by an entire platoon. Exactly what he wanted them to believe. Fear was one of the best levellers of men.

[Fayt2]

''son of a bitch''alex snarled ''those bastards have a damn good sniper''im pinned '' ''if this is to be my last op i will make it so they will fear the grim reaper'' he slammed a new clip into his .50 call ''ah the c.o finally called in arty'' he droped his hell hammer into his assault pack and switched to the minime and moved positions and opened up

[Mokastana]

The artillery was unexpected, but then again, the flanking was too. Luckily for Ricardo and Vance, the majority of the Artillery was hitting the south end of the base, where the trucks and bulk of Ricardo's forces were. So in effect he was not so lucky. Overhead he heard the one or two remaining snipers trying to trade shots with the enemy outside, but soon silence fell from the .50 cals and he hoped it was because they were repositioning. An artillery shell exploded far to close for comfort somewhere outside. It could have been right outside his door or a mile away for all he knew. It took a second to regain his bearing and found himself laying down, unharmed but shaken up.

"Definitely the Police..." Finding the switch for his radio he spoke into the earpiece loud enough to be heard over the radio. "National Police are attacking! If you are in base find cover, otherwise escape is on your own. Escape route destroyed. Over."

The panicked responses from his soldiers were mostly swear words followed by acknowledgements. How the hell did they did get here so fast... unless...

Lifting himself off the dust and debris covered floor he sat up against an interior wall, looking out the windows. In the distance a machine began to rattle. Probably the police, again. A few rounds pierced the walls above his head, bringing more dust down but by that point it didn't even phase him. This operation had been a set up from the Manana. If he hadn't moved up the time table to today no doubt the police would have Vance and company in custody. Somewhere out there the poor sod was probably crawling away in pain...

The yell of a Fegosian Soldier perked his ears. No Fegos worked for La Policia Nacional... that meant either Fego Union PD, or Mercenaries... One was far nicer than the other.

"ANYONE STILL OUT THERE! FEGOS IN THE ATTACKING FORCE, GET ME AN ID ON THEM!"

With that he scooted up to a window to look out and see exactly what they were facing....Based on reponses, he had about three other men still alive and capable of fighting the base. A scream later dropped that number down to two. He only hoped his snipers had found some cover somewhere...

*****

"Just be glad I'm not here because you had your ass kicked by another one of our dead guys, again. In the meantime, I'm personally overseeing that all anti-air assets are being eliminated. Your lads are in safe hands and you know it ^_^."

Somehow the thought of Alexi being put in charge did not sit right with the Special Situations Director, especially the way her voiced smiled at the end. She almost sounded flirtatious for being in a combat zone... Then again, he had not the chance to see her in combat yet. However the fact she mentioned AA at all worried him far more.

"I want counter measures on the ready. We strike hard whatever looks like Anti-AIr. Better clean up bodies than Halo Wreckage."

Unlike the poor aging things the Soviets rode into Afghanistan, the Mokan Hinds had been upgraded over the years for modern warfare, or at least the kind of warfare a police attack helicopter might see. In addition to the traditional chaff and flares, Hinds had been upgraded with a sort of laser counter measure device as well. One that overwhelmed the heat tracker in most modern MANPADS and would cause it to explode prematurely. Useless against fly by wire, but gave it a sporting chance against a typical heat seeker.

With that he went back to the phone, listening but somehow the call must have gotten disconnected. No mind, they would see the helicopters and pop smoke when the all clear happened.

[Mokastana]

(OOC: BUMP)

Explosions continued to pound the south side of the base, a machine gun tore into buildings spreading fear all over the compound. Forcing the few defenders into hiding, wherever that may be. In short, it gave the assaulting forces the best cover they could hope for in this situation. To the south, infantry fell back from their attack, scattering the drug runners(artillery helped as well) into the jungle. The determined and fearless Blades had nearly all been killed, the few who tried to shoot cowards were in turn shot back by their own troops. Those that believed themselves to be true warriors were vastly outnumbered by those who merely acted tough. No matter what happened, the Blades would not be taking back this base.

With the enemy counter-attack dispersed, the more professional attack team moved up the West and East flank around the kill zone and attempt to assault the north side from both directions. The trouble was that it would take time, giving the Mercenaries at least a 10 to fifteen minute window to do their job, more than enough time. Ricardo knew this, and he knew him and the few survivors were on their own. With a fresh clip in his gun and broken furniture and glass around him, he watched Niko attempt to crawl towards a building. Probably attempting to find cover from the explosions.

"Sir, they are mercs, engaging."

With that the dull roar of silenced machine gun joined the orchestra of death filling the base. Ricardo could see the position the man had taken, but the true intruders were assaulting on the opposite side of what had once been a full drug warehouse.

"North side, coming around the structure!"

Another machine burst, from another direction. Two of his men had spotted and were engaging. He didn't see where the second was posted, but it didn't matter, either they would get the mercs, or the mercs would get them. Holding the rifle one handed, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the remote detonator. Better safe than sorry, and better to have an Ace up your sleeve.

A large explosion from the south confirmed one of the bombs had been hit by artillery. He only hoped the rest would remain undisturbed.

[Alfegos]

The gunfire was, it seemed, a trigger in the Lieutenant's mind - Xha'ki, surrounded by explosions, death and gunfire, was back in the world he was used to, the world he had trained to be in. As he moved up from cover, him and Pavlov edging ever closer to their quarry, he kept his eyes out, checking his flanks. Whilst machinegun fire came from their fire support point, it seemed that the enemy were running - a full scale rout, on foot, into the forest to the south. However, the thumps from the centre of the compound were still indicators of an enemy force left behind - the guards who were intent on keeping a hold of their quarry, or the poor sods left to delay his advance, whilst the others fled. That indicated to him they needed to move, and fast - otherwise their quarry would get away. Ducking back as Pavlov fired, he opened his radio channel.

"Alexi, Alex, switch fire to the left of the enemy position - switch fire left - assault going in."
A particularly loud explosion briefly caught his attention - probably ammunition for the AA system going up from an artillery round hit - before he turned back to the matter at hand. He signalled to Pavlov where the enemy position was, as whoever was there fired back - grenade going in.

Pushing back against the wall, he reached into the pouch on his armour, pulling out a single HE grenade. Checking it was what he wanted, he clenched the round projectile in his hand, flicking off the safety cover. He glanced around the corner, using the direction of the gunshots cracking in to determine the enemy position. He threw the device out, ducking down as he mentally counted, hoping the fuse was a good one. Four seconds later, he heard the blast, shrapnel whistling all around, before charging in towards the position, rifle raised. Whatever was left would be feeling the metal of his bayonet.

[Temnorus]

The shock of incoming rattled the teeth in Pavel's mouth but it made his limited consciousness sing. Amid the chaos of the opening stages of the assault he was again feeling the singleness of mind that had been lacking since he had left the typically lifelong embrace of the Commissariat of Contentment. Xha'ki charged, screaming in his foreign tongue while Pavel reverently slipped on his gas-mask. For the first time since his liberation, he was back in the world of wet sucking breaths and limited fields of vision in which he had been raised and trained. Mechanically he flipped off his safety lever and followed, firing in short bursts at anything that looked alive.

Taking cover alongside the Lt. , he rigidly drew the triangle bladed knife he kept on his belt and followed, spraying the remaining contents of his clip in support of the bayonet charge one handed. Bounding towards what surely was a very disorientated group of enemy combatants, Pavel let his rifle drop to brace the five inch long knife with two hands. Blind spurts of gunfire ripped forth from the shocked enemies, whizzing past Pavel's face with little more than an eye flutter. His shaky perception of self meant that fear of death was still numbed by the conditioning of the Soviet Federative Novaya Bolshevist Republic.

Following the Lt. in, Pavel grabbed hold of the first man within reach who was busy trying to draw a machete. To a soundtrack of deep breaths that rattled in the enclosed mask, the man's throat was slit, his arterial blood out briefly to splash against the lenses of Pavel's true face. With a training steadied hand the Asset reach up and cleared the chemically coated lenses with minimal smudging, allowing him to see his next target. Stunned by the violence of first the Lieutenant's and then Pavel's advance, this second man simply squeezed his trigger as opposed to drawing some kind of melee weapon. Barking wildly, the rifle managed to fire only four rounds before conveniently jamming, of which one clipped Pavel's side.

Staggered by the minor yet possibly fatal hit, Pavel lurched forward to stab the man in the chest before mechanically placing a hand on his side. His hand came away wet with blood and for a moment he considered the fact that his blood was the same color as that of the recently slain enemies. Were they men too? Pavel stood dazed both by his brush with death and the realization that he was killing being who were essentially the same as himself. In that instant he became cognizant of the fact that all of the dozens of people he had liquidated in the name of the Novaya Bolshevist Ideal were similar to himself, all of the men he had killed today and would kill were the same as himself, and it made no sense.

A quiet voice in his head considered this epiphany and replied, "No, you are not a man." This voice brought with it memories of training, of combat, that clamped down on the blooming sense of humanity with steel like mental grips. Shaken out of his momentary lapse of focus, Pavel said aloud,

"Counterrevolutionaries liquidated."

[Fayt2]

''yes sir'' alex said coldly alex shifted the l.m.g's arc of fire to the left he qouted his old gunny ''war is hell and i'm the devil''

[Mokastana]

The initial contact between the two groups of Mercenaries was as messy as it was short. A quick grenade followed by infantry allowed them to eliminate a few of the troops remaining in the compound. However they could not be so lucky that the remaining forces grouped together so nicely. Across the middle empty area, a solider watched his comrades be murdered by by a crazy Fegosian and his, perhaps more crazy ally in a gas mask. His hesitation had saved his life, allowing the enemy to eliminate the small group and ignore him. Giving him the perfect chance to avenge them. Though it was not for vengeance he lifted his P90 and opened fire, it was fear, training could only do so much, and watching the men with real combat experience fall so easily shook him to the core. These were not the lazy local gunmen that fell so easily, these were real fighters in front of him now.

And so his only option was to fire, left to right to left, spraying his clip hopefully into both of them.


Outside the compound, a squad of five or six black clad mercs had ran quickly around the artillery blasts to suppress the enemy machine gun position. Two men were left pinned down on rooftops, assuming the machine gun had not chewed them up, and it was up to them to find and eliminate the gun. It had taken precious minutes to run back up here from the south but by the time the artillery let down they were close enough to begin firing blindly towards the machine gun nest. Well, two men fired blindly towards it, moving between the trees while the others attempted to flank it from behind, grenades ready to give the machine gun one hell of a time. They knew enemy snipers were here as well, but they were a secondary priority. They had to get Ricardo and the target out. All else be damned.

[Hurtful Thoughts]

As the bombs sallied overhead, Alexi got a figure on the distance to one of the buildings by using the blown-out windows for scale, set the airburst delay-charge on one of her 23mm shells to that distance (for simplicity, the VT-fuzes are listed in distance) and let one sail over the roof to clear the top of any would-be AA-threat.

She was just about to cycle-back to the leftover spotter when movement caught her eye: "CONTACT LEFT!" She barked, mostly for the captain's benefit as she swung-out the AM-07 and started peppering some crouched figures until they lost their nerve amidst the shelling and spalled trees.

Alex appeared clearly busy dealing with their front and right flanks as the jr-Lt sprinted up to a closer position, relying now on the flying detritus and vegetable matter to disguise her movement before clinging to yet another semi-sturdy looking sapling and decided to pop a 23mm HE against the wall behind the spotter-sniper, as she didn't have time to try shooting him through the scope or other mythical nonsense.

Meanwhile, Niko was still kicking and screaming in pain on the pavement as shells, smoking-hot brass, and dead body-parts rained upon him in the acrid stench of burnt powder, sweat, vomit, and blood.

Nudging the radio with her chin as she flipped her AM-07's jungle-clip, she informed her squad: "Target in sight. Target is DOWN. Alert medical."