[IC] Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC

[FourtyTwo]

(Sorry I haven't posted in ages- I haven't been exactly able to think straight lately, what with me getting a new job and doing some revision and all. This one is a biggie- so I wanted to really make it worth it. If it went a tad too quick, my bad- I know you like RPing fluidly, so Nolan's end can still be played really well in this part.)

"Well...for now at least. But when the mines go up, we'll be able to really light the fuckers up. I'll head down then." Andrew said, moving across the rooftop, as he made his way towards a ventilation shaft, and quickly withdrew his bag. He checked his harness, and quickly rigged up the rappel line, throwing it down before quickly putting it through his belay. He'd make a forward decent- it was quicker for now, and he was fully aware that while it wasn't exactly as controlled, it got the job done. Checking it, he stepped off the edge, heading down the side of the factory, as he was down in almost seconds, quickly in a position on the floor in the miserable and desolate industrial area. Running across towards the road, he pulled the two smallish mines out off his plate carrier, throwing them into a puddle where they'd be out of sight, but would still be fully functional, activating them. They could easily pierce through 40mm of solid metal- the little mines had a serious punch, and would annialate whatever was coming. The second mine was further down the road, and intended for another vehicle in the convoy- Andrew planned to detonate the first to disable the lead vehicle, stopping the convoy dead in it's tracks and giving Nolan the opportunity to shoot the target. If not, the second mine was a failsafe- if there was a third vehicle and it was in the right place, that was going to go up, but if the target car was on top of it, he'd hold off. Konstantin was a worthy shot- getting him would perhaps get some more intel, and Andrew knew that it had to be the case.

Running back, Andrew knew he'd have to go up loosely, using a method of using the rope as a support. Reverse absailing, but it was a little tricker- he had to physically use the rope to climb. It seemed easy when you have no weight, but when there was a whole set of gear on you, and the rope was at best, not that thick, getting up was a pain. None the less, Andrew winced upwards, using his gloved hands and legs to progressively get up, feeling out of breath as he reached the top of the rope, clambering over and quickly shifting behind a ventilation shaft.
"Mines are down. Now we wait. If you have a thermos up there, I envy the fuck out of you. You know the drill."

---

Three Hours Later
0600 Hours

The waiting was about to end. Andrew sat up, looking at the Mk18 in his hands, and the belay device from his harness, aware that he'd have to be lightening down there. The chaos and confusion was something he'd profit on, and he knew that Nolan would join him in that.
"Fuck, I already hear them. How's it looking from your crow's nest?" Andrew asked, aware that they'd be just coming over the hill, and into the industrial park. Andrew got up, barely able to peek an eye on the convoy, keeping himself close to the vent, aware that it at least blocked the sightline. He saw the car in the middle, the Chevy that looked a little non-standard. It sat lower, it was probably armored up a little. But it was no MBT, it was just an SUV that had been reinforced against some small arms fire. The car at the front was just another SUV, though it rode a lot higher- it wasn't by any means armored, it was loose. Checking the detonator, the first click would get the first mine, the front, and the second the one at the back. Another vehicle, a lorry of some sorts, followed behind, and Andrew knew that if it had any munitions or weapons inside, that it could easily get very messy- though Andrew guessed that it wouldn't compromise or change the parameters.
"Target is about 800m now. Fire on driver of second vehicle- I have solid confirmation that our fuckers are in this convoy. Ahmed is right behind the driver, could collateral it here." Andrew simply said, checking his weapon, and the detonator. The first vehicle was approaching the mine, and Nolan would shoot at any second...Andrew knew it was now or nothing. He couldn't tell if Nolan had shot the weapon, despite how loud and how obvious it was, but he could tell that the vehicle at the front was going to get some pain when he pulled the clacker. The mine ruptured entirely, the underside of the first vehicle almost completely torn apart as the vehicle was sent almost 10ft into the air, completely destroyed and onto it's roof, flattened like a pancake. Looking on, he saw the second vehicle, dead in it's movement, and knew that if Nolan hadn't of shot, this was it.

Looking on, the seconds feeling like hours, Andrew watched the truck at the rear stop. And somehow, he didn't know what to feel, as it pulled literally on top of the second mine. Pulling it again, Andrew hoped this one wouldn't be too loud. The convoy was only 50m from him, and that put into scale how large this factory complex was in areas, if Nolan was 600m out on his perch. But when Andrew made that action, all hell unraveled. The rear of the truck made a huge bang, the entire container ripping apart as it almost choked the gap between the factory and another warehouse with flame and fire, Andrew coughing as he knew he had to move. It had been laden with explosives- he had no idea if the target had even survived that, or if anything was left. The area was full of dirt and dust, Andrew spitting as he ran to his Rappel rope, quickly threading the rope through as he dived down, kicking against a window and partially cracking it as he stopped halfway still on the side of the building, seeing a man sweep the area below him. Reading his Mk18, he shot a three round burst into the man, quickly taking him down, as he himself continued down the side of the factory, coming down hard but safe.
"Nolan, don't ask, but if it moves and doesn't look like me, ventilate it. If Konstantin's alive, I'll get his sorry ass back to the RV where our vehicle is, and if not, then you get running brother." Andrew said, moving with a fast pace, as he moved to cover by the flaming first vehicle, sliding on the tarmac behind it, feeling the heat really kick against his bare eyes. Moving around the side, he shot another man that got out from the rear of the SUV, a bodyguard probably. Getting up, Andrew moved up, moving slowly and surely, yelling loudly.
"Get on the fucking floor! Get the fuck out of the car, now!"

He moved up, knowing that Nolan was watching this anarchy unfold. The second vehicle had several very, very large 12.7mm rounds in it, from a certain sniper, and the New Zealander on the ground wanted this fucker that was still in the back. Ahmed was long dead- and Andrew knew that the guards in the SUV, that had been sitting in the back, were trying to deal with the threat. Andrew opened the door slightly and shot into the legwell blindly, Konstantin yelling in agony as he shot at the window, then suddenly realizing in total futility that the windows were armored up, and Andrew had already shot him in the foot through the slightly opened hinge- which brought him to pass out. The flames were still kicking up from the truck behind, and Andrew knew that the smoke was fucking Nolan's shot, as he quickly double tapped Konstantin, with a rifle butt to the head to keep him out cold, before pulling the MP443 from his hands.
"Okay Nolan, I got our guy, unconscious but not exactly . Going to make the search for intel, start the clock on reinforcements. Get down from that place, get to the car and bring it to the warehouse. I'll carry this sorry ass over there." Andrew added, looking over at Ahmed, or Fletcher, aware he had been ventilated well and proper. Looking over at his body, Andrew almost was sick at the size of the wound, as he searched his coat for intel. Pulling a set of documents out, he headed around to the front, opening the driver's door and pulling the first man out. Checking the glovebox, he found a goldmine- about three dossiers, and from the surface, they looked important., Taking them, he stashed them in his assault pack, before quickly moving back to Konstantin.
"Haha, fucking goldmine here Nolan. Meet you there in three, I got to now haul this sonofabitch." He said, unstrapping his seatbelt before barely dragging him out of the car and onto his shoulder, doing a fireman's lift, as he carried him out, and towards where Andrew knew that Nolan would be waiting in the car. He kept his G17 handy in case anything went sour, as he kept moving, Konstantin a burden but something he could deal with, as he went through the abandoned factory to their Rendezvous.

(This was just about to be posted when the guild went down, but then the aformentioned happened. This scenario will be wrapped up very soonish, though you can make a lengthy post if you'd like on your end too.)

[BigPapaBelial]

Nolan watched his partner set the explosives down, sweeping the perimeter with his rifle scope, keeping his friend covered. The Armor-piercing rounds were not designed for firing at soft targets like infantry, but they'd still do the job. He checked shadows, high points, along the road, everywhere a patrol might be coming out of, or a sharpshooter stopping on his rounds. His breath began to get that even, slow pace of a true sniper getting into the zone. He'd likely breath that zone once the wait began but he knew he's ready.

As the last mine is put down he centered his crosshairs once again on his friend, watching his clamber up onto the roof again and get into hiding. Nolan slid the bolt back partially, and hit the safety catch on his rifle. He didn't want an accidental discharge during the intervening time. He snuggled down under his tarp and began the arduous task of waiting. He grunted, "I knew I forgot to bring something warm with me. Thanks for reminding me." He sighed and set to waiting, watching the horizon. And whispering a quiet prayer to all those people who died, and would soon begin to get their payback for how they died.

---

0555 Five minutes before the arrival of the HVT and the convoy.

Nolan jerked awake, he had nodded off, and felt like a proper idiot for it. His soft snores had probable echoed abit through the radio. He shook himself abit, causing a bird who had snuggled down on his head, thinking it'd make a nice nest to take flight in fright. He groaned, coughing a little. He then looked out at the horizon, to where he'd make the first shot...

0600 Game time...

Nolan pushed the bolt forward, and flicked off the safety latch. He put eye to scope, looking down at the 600 meter mark. As he did the first of the vehicles appeared. "Fuck I already hear them, how does it look from you crow's nest?" He heard from Andrew. He smiled, and the smile could be heard over the radio as he responded, "Target rich environment..." He waited, centering the first shot on the HVT SUVs engine block. A trained driver would hit the gas, trying to get their VIP out of there. But a round maybe two, into that engine block would stall them. He clicked his radio to let Andrew knew he saw it at 800 meters. He waited a little more. Then the first mine went off, and he fired, cycling the bolt as the first bullet left the muzzle of the rifle. The first and second bullets hit the engine block about a split second apart.

Nolan was already cycling the bolt again, and adjusting his aim. The third bullet spat out, followed about another second after ward by the fourth. Both rounds hit within an inch of each other on the driver side front windshield, barely slowed down at all by the up-armored polymer. The two shots were over kill, a single round punched through the driver, drove into his chest, and out his back, decimating his lungs and spine, and the round now tumbling abit, maimed Ahmed in the back seat. If it weren't for the second bullet, Ahmed actually would have been alive to see Konstantin taken. But the second round punched a second hole into the driver, but met less resistance, so when it hit Ahmed it blasted through him without any loss of speed or trajectory. It left a very large hole in the arms-dealers back when it punched through him and landed in the trunk of the SUV. Nolan cycled his last round into the chamber, and put the fifth and final round into the passenger side windshield. There a body guard had been trying to get his seat belt loose. The fifth round made a mess of his stomach. And missed Konstantin by a hairsbreadth as it came out through the man's ass.

Time hadn't quite slowed down for Nolan as it had seemed to move in fast forward. All that action seeming to have passed so fast that as he dropped the empty mgazine into his pack and grabbed a magazine of the FMJ rounds well Nolan had a hard time believing that it had actually happened. He slammed the new magazine up into the rifle, cycled the bolt and started to scan the devastation on the ground. The lead truck burned, the trailing truck blazed, the middle HVT truck littered with holes. The smoke and flames from the burning trucks were truly screwing with his shots though, but he caught sight of one more guard who had managed to live through that carnage. He murmered into his mic, "The carnage a pair of badasses can cause." The guard raised his little SMG trying to get a bead on Andrew. Then Nolan fired. The round slammed into the man's vest, bit right though, and tossed him a good 4 feet backwards. Nolan hrmed, "I don't see anymore from up here. I'm going to plant a thermite grenade up here on the tarp and the miscellaneous goods we don't need to take with us. Me, my ammo and my guns are displacing." He threw a rappelling rope over the railing. Clamped it down, shouldered his pack and rifle, then knotted up, placing a thermite grenade on the tarp, and distance card they had brought then leapt over the railing, buzzing down, using the climbing clamp to control his descent rather then rappelling down the correct way. Just as he touched down the thermite flared, the intense heat burning away any trace that he was there, leaving behind a tell tale burn scar, but would leaving nothing for anyone who came through to tell what he was there to do.

He pulled a silenced M9 off his harness, he had to have something he could use and quick draw, apart from his PP and his Striker. He checked his surroundings then tore off through the warehouse, making his way to the car. He checked his watch, having set a countdown until those bastards could send people to check on their assets. He called through his mic, "1 mike to the car on my end....6 mikes to skinny reinforcements. Give me 1 mike to get the car over there." He skidded around the corner, seeing to men ahead of him, checking out their car curiously, both of them dressed in the dress of those dealers. He raised his pistol, and double tapped them both, not having enough time to ask questions. They dropped, and he shouldered aside one of the bodies that had fallen against the car. He grabbed the back up key from inside the wheel well then got in, started the engine and headed for the warehouse.

He arrived just behind Andrew and their prey, Konstantin. He rolled in, and reached back to pop the back passenger an front passenger side doors. He waved at Andrew, "Four mikes before we have to deal with jihadist dirt bags turning up to ruin this picnic. Let's get moving brother." He sat back up to check the mirrors, and to look around just in case they had some early arrivals.

[FourtyTwo]

Andrew kept carrying him, Konstantin out cold but still a liability, as he checked his corners with the G17. Coming round the corner, he heard screeching, as Nolan skidded behind, Andrew quickly turned, and smirked, already aware of what had to be done.
"Nice." Andrew said, a simple reply as he opened the back door wider, throwing him in, before throwing himself in quickly by Konstantin
"Go!" He yelled simply again, not having the time for words, as he sat up, aware that this piece of shit would get them out of here. Coming round the corner, away from the burning wrecks of the two vehicles, he looked at Konstantin. He was knocked the fuck out, he wasn't going to be in the world of the living for a while. Pulling out his paracord, he wrapped it around his hands, before cutting a large section with his knife and tying his legs together. As they carried on, Andrew checked his Mk18, aware that they were getting out of here. He detached the silencer, and looked over at Konstantin, aware that they were practically done, or so he thought until he was halfway through his next sentence when he looked behind.
"Thanks man. This scumbag we'll have fun with- we need to get to the car park, our Land Cruiser's there to transfer to. Wait, fuck...floor it, don't worry about what's behind you." Andrew said, slower towards the end, as he peered out the rear window, looking at at least two more SUVs, unarmored but they weren't fucking around. Loading a tracer mag into the Mk18, he smashed the side window with the CTR Carbine stock on his Mk18, aware that this was a shit car anyway, and was probably easier than a jammed window. Peeking out, he saw the man in the passenger seat of the first SUV load an Uzi, and spray towards them, as Andrew prayed that Nolan had paid good attention on his Advanced Driving Course. They were going straight for the middle of Dushanbe, and the town was practically a maze in parts.
"Fuckers.." Andrew muttered, as Andrew peeked out, spraying a set of rounds towards the first SUV, as they jerked violently around a corner, Andrew held on with his hand on the side, firing on as Uzi rounds sprayed back and hit the rear window.
"They fucking know we have him, but they're still shooting. Either he knows a lot or he's just as expendable as we are.." Andrew yelled, firing on as he wasted the mag on shots to the front, keeping Konstantin down and himself as he threw a new mag in. They tore through the town, passing through the busy Old City and the corners were unforgiving, even for this Soviet-era place. Andrew popped out again, the window smashing as he got his head down, and aimed through that instead, a moment of concentration giving him the chance to cap the passenger of the SUV, before then spraying the driver as he tried to come too close, almost hitting the car but instead, stopping them dead in their tracks.
"Just don't look behind Nolan, seriously." Andrew added hastily, watching as the other SUV sweeped past, the man armed with an AKM of some sort. Andrew swore loudly with the word that sounded similar to runt, reloading himself as he heard 7.62mm shots now blaze past, as they wove through traffic. The SUV came in close, and almost was side by side for a moment, as it got the jump on the car, almost coming in to hit them. Andrew knew that Nolan would have his M9 by his side, but he had to do whatever he could himself right here, right now. Shooting thick and thin, before the SUV driver came in for a PIT maneuver, Andrew shot the driver clean in the head, the whole thing turning too early and almost completely tipping over, as it turned too much on the driver's dead body, flipping twice as it came to a shuddering halt. AK man was dead, but they were alive. Just.
"Nice driving Nolan, fucking A. Just keep going, we need to weave through traffic and get to the car park. We'll have fun with Konstantin at some point before we get him to the CIA drop, we'll go somewhere where the fucking sun don't even shine here, don't you worry." Andrew said, as Nolan drove on, now the only aim to get out of Dushanbe in a different vehicle with this Russian alive and ready for a roasting.

(The scenario's going to end soon- I've just started a small scene with Natalie and Victor, simply detailing them in the aftermath and setting up their operation- though that won't begin straight away.)

---

Somewhere near Perth, Australia
PMC Base

Natalie sat inside the armory, aware that this was Natalie's and Victor's alone. Their suits were on seperate sides of the room, and what was enough heavy weaponry to level a city was here. Natalie's M134, a GAU-19 .50 cal minigun that Natalie was working on getting light enough with a specialized mount and recoil reduction system, with a M2HB, Victor's XM307, along with a H&K GMG and a Mk19. Natalie had a giant pair of flamethrowers on a mount- with their tanks armored up and pretty hard to hit. It took a hit to the regulator to really spark that up, but they had enough flames to last almost sixty seconds worth of fire, with two nozzles accurate to almost 100m. A GM6 Lynx was on the table- Natalie's rifle for some more extreme range, and other kit was also scattered here- their Tactical Suits, for stealth work that required a bit of protection, while Natalie's wingsuit also hung on a hangar. She looked over, hearing the door open, aware that her Mohican Fiance was coming along. She wore little, like she usually did out here- she wanted to keep her tan on, and from behind, you could see her Spetsnaz tattoo on her right shoulder, as well as a cracking rear. She let him sneak up, just waiting to speak.
"Hey...Come over here, shut the door behind. It's the quietest place on the base, we really need to talk. I feel like a fucking parsnip, I tell you. Considering we got let out yesterday and flew out straight away without setting off too many metal detectors, I call that a job well done. But you know that we didn't stop it Victor. I'd have fucking died right there and then if I could save a couple more souls, they didn't deserve it Victor." Natalie said, sitting down, her boob-crushing bra at least keeping her a little restrictive, her skin going from it's pale to far more colored even in the short time she had been on base. She had just gone from her shirt and trousers to something a little looser in the last half hour, as the heat really came on.
"What the fuck can we do now...I hear there's an op soon, I haven't suited up for a while, and believe me, when that GAU-19 is ready, I'll have to bring it along to see what terrorist head looks like with .50 cal rounds. Plus the guys that made your suit said to the company that they might do another, for a specific female operator. A few modifications here and there, though I'm yet to pitch everything I want in on that specific model. Won't look the same as that, might be a more "me" twist to it, you know? Not as robotic, a bit more fluid." Natalie said, watching as Victor came along, to sit by her.
"Listen...you know that warpaint you have? That blue and red...well, since you're the authority here on that stuff, are you okay I use a little? Just to see what it's like?" Natalie said, cuddling up close, rubbing her leg against his as she knew she was just teasing him. Perhaps it was a tribal thing, a thing that only members could wear, but she just wanted to see what it would look like.

[BigPapaBelial]

Nolan slammed the doors closed then put the car into reverse, wanting to get out of there as fast but as safely as he could. He checked the rear view mirror to make sure Andrew and Konstantin were safely in, then peeled out onto the main road. He smiled, "Oh that little bastard is going to wish I had hit him with one of my shots when we're done with him." He started to take the prescribed route to their Land Cruiser. Then all hell broke loose.

Nolan disobeyed Andrew at first. He looked up into his rear view mirror, to get an idea of what was following them as the first shots flew. He ducked when a round wickered in and blew the mirror off it's mountings. The shards of glass and plastic peppered him and the front area of the car. He stomped the gas swearing under his breath. Those Advanced Driving courses he took would finally pay off. Along with those Combat Driving Courses too. He ducked the car around, almost drifting around corners as he headed for the center of the city. He weaved through traffic, trying to lose the bigger, stronger SUVs in the traffic, making good use of the nimble car. But the SUVs always seemed to catch breaks.

He unholstered his M9, intending to try and take a shot when he could. He got a few moments where an SUV was in a position he could turn abit durin a lull in traffic to spit a round back through the driver side window which had been shattered by a hail of rounds a little while ago. He weaved past some semi-trucks, trying to get them between the car and the SUVs. He called back to Andrew, "I can't seem to lose the fucks!"

He pulled through traffic again, dodging more cars and innocent traffic. And had to duck partially as that AKM started to roar. He took a shot at the shooter, he would never know if he scored any hits at all. There was too much going on. He spat off a few more rounds. He hadn't seen the other SUV in awhile so he assumed Andrew had got them. But this other SUV with the AK in it still stuck to them. He grit his teeth, slowing hoping Andrew could get a good shot on the driver and shooter before they ventilated them or PITed them. He raised his pistol, to try and get an over his chest shot on the SUV when Andrew got the driver. And the SUV started to roll. Nolan slammed the gas getting them out of it's way. Dodging as it started to flame and threw debris everywhere. He panted, looking into one of the side mirrors, watching the traffic behind them stop behind the rolled and burning SUV. He shook his head, "Konstanin must know alot that they wanted him dead as much as they wanted us dead. I'm going to enjoy prying the info out of him before we give him to the CIA."

Nolan pulled the car off the highway and onto the grid of maze like side streets. If there were any more pursuers, the maze of streets would be a great barrier to them following. Nolan reached up to adjust the rear view mirror then remembered the state of it when his hand closed around nothing. He shook his head, "One of these days when I quit the army for good, I reserve the right to slug my former commanding officer..." Just him grousing abit.

---

Victor walked towards the armory, the warmth of Australia was such that he had honestly forgotten how warm it could get, nothing like his native northern US or the north of the Scandinavian lands. He'd take almost anywhere over the warmth of Australia usually. But it is good to get back into the saddle like this. Out here he didn't think it was a bad thing to walk around in nothing but a pair of tight jeans. And almost nothing else. He didn't even wear his war paint sometimes for fear of it sweating off his face.

He still felt the twinge of the rifle round that had hit him high on the shoulder just a short time ago. He still had a large gauze patch taped over it, by order of the Belgian doctor who had released them under duress in his case anyway. The Doc had been worried that he might through the only barely repaired muscles out if he went back to work. Of course the doctor assumed he'd be going back to some cushy job. He had no idea.

Victor pulled open the door to the armory and turned, spotting his fiance. He smiled, and was going to sneak up on her when she told him she wanted to talk. He shut the door and locked it just in case, then came over to her. Sitting down with her and wrapping his arms round her. He could hear her anxiousness and her anger. He held her, "No it's no over, what happened to us, was just the start. Some of my old friends back in the Service say that the Marines, SEALs, DEVGRU, hell the Rangers. They're all mobilizing forces. I hear Vympel is getting into the mix, as well as JTF2 from Canada. Alot of major powers are gearing up, and major donations are headed towards Brussels to help with recovery." He hugged her tight.

He listened to her then placed a finger on her mouth, "What can we do? We do what we can, find who we can, blast, maim, kill, and take back some of what they took from us that day. I haven't suited up in months because of my training. I turned down good work to prepare." He kissed her as she cuddled close to him then smiled as she asked about the warpaint, "My blue and red? Sure you can use some of that. I used Blue and Red as shock value though. Traditionally it's supposed to be White, black and yellow." He cuddled right back against her smiling, "It's no taboo or anything for a warriors betrothed to use his paints. So us going into our next op painted up would be really interesting." He held her, and winked at her. Pulling her in for another kiss.

[FourtyTwo]

Andrew looked on, just thinking in his head of what next.
"Damn right. You hear that Konstantin? If you don't, we'll bring you up to speed later, if you do, don't mind me if I say I'm having the first punch." Andrew said, as they drove through the tight streets, headed to their next car. The roads winded and skewed, but they had lost their lead, as they approached a car park, a small and shitty multi-storey of sorts.
"Pull in here. We'll move the body over." Andrew added, as they looked for their car- the black Toyota Land Cruiser, with a diesel V8 and being a reasonably new model, not exactly being in place here. But it was a tank, and would get them out, with Konstantin, quickly, as well as having some bulk for rougher applications. Coming in, Andrew knew what to get to, as he got out, carrying Konstantin to the new escape car, aware that Nolan had the keys.
"Come on then brother, let's get this fucker some of our own treatment. Scumbag."

(Music for the begging of this scene. It'll feature some pretty horrible shit to say the least.)

About a few hours later, and they were headed south, for the Afghan-Tajik border, closer towards the triangulation point where China, Afghanistan and Tajikistan's borders met in the deep mountains of the Tian Shan subsided to a plateau that was the Hindu Kush. Areas which Ross and Carl, Team Knight, had operated in to destroy IEDs and weapons caches over the border from Maz-i-Sharif. The highway soon turned to gravel, but they were almost there, as they came into the small abandoned mill. It was open but that worked well in return to see if anyone was coming- the place was abandoned, but served a very distinct purpose. They'd lay low, till the CIA came along, and took Konstantin into their responsibility. Andrew expected nothing, and the fact that it was the middle of the day, in a shithole like this, in a valley that had seen better times, meant that Andrew had already had enough- and wanted to take the responsibility here, perhaps since he himself knew what it was like to be tortured. He wanted to really relay the message back. They sat on the first floor by the water wheel, the old mill being a little weird, but having a large water wheel and a mostly derelict function for grain. This was Pre-Soviet, this was probably a Russian development on the plains here, but it was long dead and forgotten, the local farmers having different crops and different functions to deal with crops here. But it was perfect, for what the sniper team wanted. Konstantin had a bag over his head, and was tied to a chair, only waking up two hours ago and being covered by Andrew to keep him in suspense.
"Reckon it's time? Extract has another hour, but I haven't even seen a fucking goatherder come past. We are in the middle of fucking nowhere. Konstantin, you hear that? It means that we have our happy hour now." Andrew added, walking over as he took the rag off, but kept it in his hand. He pulled his water bottle out, as Konstantin looked on.
"Nobody's going to hear you. We want answers. Now, the CIA will take a long time, so you're getting hell..." Andrew said, cut off as Konstantin spat at Andrew, interrupting him.
"You won't get a word from me! You, and your scum! Even when I talk, what will you get, huh? Some information on why those people are dead? That it? The men and women that have the supplies are very, very dangerous. They are more powerful than you think, they will find the people that killed Ahmed and lynch you by your balls! You hear me!" Konstantin yelled, Andrew laughing, before then kicking him off his chair, straight in the kidney.
"CUNT!" Andrew yelled, walking over, as Konstantin shuddered, a smirk still on his face somehow.
"You think this is funny? I've seen some sick fucks, but you killed too many people, you and your fucking boss! You're going to either die quickly, if you tell us what you know, or I'll have to give you a taster of what having a fucking torch shoved up your behind without a fucking lubricant feels like. Don't fucking push me son, don't. Because as much as I want to keep this civilized, I'll show you why this works like it does." Andrew said, pulling him over from his tied position on the chair, before taking his head, and shoving the rag into his yelling mouth. The man bit hard, but he didn't care. Keeping it hard, Andrew poured the water bottle slowly, Konstantin yelling and coughing, as he tried to kick out.
"You like that? Fucking bitch." Andrew said, pouring the rest of the bottle, as he looked back at Nolan.
"Can you detach that silencer from my Mk18 Nolan? I mean, it's a nice fucking thing, but we may need to get messy here." Andrew said, looking down.
"You won't break that easy. I wouldn't. But you know something, I fucking know it. It's why you're expendable to the people that were after you, they would kill you. So you know so little that it blows our minds, or you know exactly who, and what is getting supplied."
"Fuck off!" He yelled, as Andrew slammed him in the face with his water bottle, the steel thing clanging hard as Konstantin yelled again.
"You'll cough it up or you'll be coughing up blood now and later." Andrew said, walking around.

"You realize how much shit is on you. People, worldwide, want answers. Every intelligence agency in the world wants a piece of whatever could have been connected to this, so you'll be going from Guantanamo Bay to secret holding cells up the French President's ass, to the shittiest rathole prison in Afghanistan for the rest of your life, till you say why. I know how you feel ,weakened but somehow hopeful. Perhaps, if I show you where the fuck you are, you'll realize." Andrew said, looking at Nolan.
"Get his chair back up. Let me look." Andrew said, turning around, as he got his GPS from a mount on his arm, pulling it out as he turned it on, looking at Konstantin.
"We're close to where you had stashes...and to be honest, while there are Guerrillas here, they have no fucking trace of us, not one since the roads end here and fucking wilderness starts. We might as well be on the outer rings of Uranus now. We know your boss, he's not exactly the most sociable guy, and he doesn't matter much. In fact, it's you that really is the man in question. He just sits there with an Excel document and a few warehouses, you go and do his dirty work for him, isn't that right? You sell shit, make it go to people, like that unknown group that exists out of fucking nothing. One of your friends died in China recently, on that dam on the Mekong, isn't that right? Liked him?" Andrew asked, aware he was fluctuating a little bit, but psychologically draining him more.
"Hated that asshole. Like you really."
"Charming. Not going to be like that when you literally have a silencer five inches up your asshole. Shit, when our friends arrive, they'll probably throw a medal my way for making your ass a few inches wider. Just tell me now, Konstantin, and we'll be done with it. Number one, who the fuck are the people you sold it to, two, why does Ahmed Masood affiliate in brokering it as an intermediate, three, what's their latest orders? The last thing I want to know is, is if you know of a heavily armored mercenary that they hire. That's all I want mate, nothing more if you don't want. But you fail to do that, you fail to really understand the gravity of what comes next. Because trust me. I've seen a man go through it, and he fucking screams like a little bitch. Do you understand?" Andrew said, looking in his face, as Konstantin smirked, and spat.
"Fuck you." He said, as Andrew turned to Nolan.
"Well...I'd use gloves, but pull it out after. Even if it's full of diarrhea from what just happened, just so he knows- it's the filthier bit of our job, but I think he'll tell after. He's all yours." Andrew said, looking over, wiping the spit from his face as he punched him in the kidney and then the face again, walking away as he then heard yelling, as he quickly checked the car, before coming back up the ladder and back towards Konstantin, laughing as he screamed like a little girl in agony and pain.
"Ohh fuck...man, that is disgusting. How the fuck the CIA do this daily, I don't know. But that's just a good reminder of what sort of sick shits you'll be living with soon Konstantin. I think you'll be a little more telling now." Andrew said, Konstantin puking as Nolan finished off, and Andrew waited till it was all gone.
"Fine. You fucking want answers, I'll give them. Those three only to you, if that's what you say. One, I have no fucking clue, but you want to figure it out, follow the paper trail. Ahmed knew them well, he knew them very well- that bastard is dead now, so I guess that's a dead lead. But they were Mercenaries, the group paid anyone and anyone with skills and experience. Not like a company, just freelancers and any Al-Qaeda militants that were rising stars that vanished. Like I said, this is bigger than you think, these fuckers will find me, and they want more blood. They don't want what any other terror organization wants, they want something different, they will tear this world apart and they now have enough firepower to level your western civilization now, let alone just Brussels."
"Yeah, it is. But scum have to die sometimes, and his life wasn't worth much intelligence to us. So that confirms something- and you know that won't happen my friend, you have no idea how the world replies. Carry on, before you start thinking in a really dumb way.
"Okay...second, Ahmed knows them well, he was giving them safe haven and a platform. That is all, I swear- I sold to this man named Faruq Rahman, Pakistani, from the group. Their representative in our deal, Ahmed facilitated the storage in Chechnya and the south of the country. He stood for jackshit, he could have been any Taliban man, nothing at all. We sold modern Russian weaponry, Israeli weaponry, Chinese weaponry, at least 5,000 rifles, 1,000 hundred light machine guns, and 1,000 hundred marksman rifles, with at least double the number to follow to both his specific group and to be distributed from that to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda- at a loss no less. Too many pistols to count, and other things."
"What other things, mate. You'll say."
"Okay, okay. We sold several anti-aircraft SAM systems, fully-functioning Russian systems they brought in a few years ago, as well as . Faruq is sourcing far more, we had meetings planned for the next few weeks too to discuss other matters. Concerning that mercenary, he was the security detail sent for our representative from the group. They have a few modified versions as well that we've sold or obtained via our sources that would be impossible this year, from the Russian and Chinese programs, all different but sold for sums of money that would give wealth beyond compare- and he was just a borrowed man." Konstantin said, as Andrew looked at Nolan with an "oh-shit" face.
"You saying that there's...more?"
"You seem surprised...shit, I shouldn't have said that. You fucking know now. I wasn't lying, you think that there's a chance that was just the only one? You are both fucking cunts, but trust me, I was not lying when I said that they are powerful. More than you imagine, from more people than you imagine, and they make out like this is the start." Konstantin said, with differing faces, realizing that he was letting on too much.
"Well then, I guess that's a problem we'll deal with eventually. I guess I'm done with you. I'd really like to kill you Konstantin, but I know there are better things in store for you. I'll tell them to start easy, but what they do from there is their call. You still killed hundreds and hundreds of people, so don't even think for a second you are going to walk tomorrow mate." Andrew said, looking on, as he looked to Nolan, aware that they had done their job, as he looked over.
"You can cut the recording now Nolan." Andrew said, looking over to his Canadian sniper buddy, with a certain smug look of his own, as he hoped Nolan clicked it off and in the moment he did, Andrew turned back, and knocked Konstantin out with a brutal, nose-breaking punch, kicking his chair over even as he kept it broken and twisted, putting the bag back over as he spat on Konstantin's limp body, and took a seat on the window.

---

"Merlin, how copy? This is Falcon, over."
"Merlin receiving, I hear you Falcon."
"We have our man knocked the fuck out. We're sending the tape."
"Roger that. Nice work- we can hammer more out."
"The guy wasn't lying. We made sure of that, I can tell from his face. He wasn't pulling shit out of his ass since we already got whatever was out. Don't get us into the torture business Merlin, it isn't worth it."
"Don't worry, we can take it from here. Helo's coming to extract you- we've almost got it."
"Something feels bad about this. Merlin, what was the status from Chinese intelligence about the armored unit?"
"Not over this net, Falcon. All you need to know, is that from what we heard on our end, if we confirm this...well, we're talking Armageddon. The end of security and peace, the end of it all if what he says is valid and we get on even terms with what they're going to do next. Good work, Falcon- we hope the EXACTO stuff did as performed for Nolan. Cut the line now Falcon, just keep your heads down for a few minutes longer. Your way out is almost there- we'll get a fast VTC debrief for you at Bagram, but you'll have to be sent out again- our intelligence contacts clocked what seems to be a surge in insurgent activity in the North-East again. The Wakhan Corridor, linking Afghanistan to China- and we're in the stages of implementing a combined-arms, all out offensive against it, in the Hindu Kush with the redeployed 101st Airborne, along with significant deployments of the British 16th Air Assault Brigade- the Corridor is so full of fighters, we're seeing at least quadruple the concentration than in Helmand Province, it really is that bad. We've got Delta, MARSOC and DEVGRU forces already on the ground in the mountains from what intel we picked up from Fletcher, and from what I've heard, this is an escalation."

"The PLA are even deploying to the area, since on their side of the border, there's being so many car bombings in Kashgar by an unknown group unaffiliated with the local Uigurs, that they want to get to the bottom of it. Plus in the aftermath of Brussels, this is our best bet to finding a lead and wiping out a significant proportion of their forces. No doubt it's Taliban, but they'll be reinforced by these mercenaries perhaps, and even on the other side of the Afghan border in China, there's going to be anarchy. Seems these fuckers just unified people we don't work with in one clean sweep- PLA command actively wants fucking co-operation for once. Looks like we live in crazy times, Falcon- so stay awake. We'll brief you fully soon." Merlin said over the comms, as Falcon, or Andrew, looked out the window, at the hills and wilderness beyond.

(Shifting away- it was long as fuck, but the interrogation scene did drag out. Welcome to an escalation- and though there's a lot of variables here and there, it'll wrap everything previously neatly.)

---

Natalie rose her eyebrows, when she heard Vympel.
"I heard that Victor, about Vympel anyway. I was Spetsnaz Alfa, the Counter-Terrorist and Anti-Insergent group but they thought it was so important, I got a call from the motherland's Foreign Minister today. They say there's been an increase in Chechnya, huge, huge increase of terrorist activity. There's been widespread reactionary operations across Central Asia and in Russia itself by the MVD and Vympel, and it seems they want my magic to go ahead and help them on their wolf hunt. They wanted me back in Russia on some black ops bullshit, but I told them not until they matched and then added 10 percent to my current pay. They paid badly Victor- compared to this. I love my country, I'd kill for my country every day if I could, but I can do more good here. And stay with you, Brute." Natalie said, as Victor hugged her, looking over.
"Hmmm..you know, it's blue, red and white that are the colors of both my motherlands. Perhaps it is not shock, it is statement, yes?" Natalie said, as she felt her Mohican fiance's warm skin touch hers, keeping close.
"Of course, Victor. Call it a union through that, more than just that ring. Our warpaint, bonding us in the fire and blood of war as Gods!" Natalie said, smiling with a certain glee as she tightened his grip on his hand, as Victor winked, and she knew what was happening. She embraced his kiss, being pulled in as she moved her legs over, letting her bra down and letting her two orbs out, as they foomped forwards. She pulled out her tongue, shaking her head at Victor.
"We're not just about to have sex, are we?" Natalie said, bringing one hand down Victor's pants, before bringing it back out.
"Not right now, Victor. But I think you want to have another thrill of some sort. A different one from this." Natalie said, kneeling on him, as she stepped off, dropping her panties, as she then implied to Victor to lie down on the bench. Taking a step, Natalie backed up, aware that the 7"11 giant was about to have his mind blown, as her rear hovered a few centimeters above Victor's eyes, as she moved, aware that she had no gas. That would be fatal- she made a mental note that she would explain why it was the case with her to Victor one day. But right there, and right then, Natalie bent over and her two orbs showing between her crack, closer than comfort to Victor's face, calling Victor "lucky" was an understatement. Surviving a 7.62 round, compared to this, was debatable in terms of luck for a certain Mohican that day,
"Well...how's the close up?" Natalie said, laughing as she spoke it, Natalie's face lit up. As much as she didn't like showing her body off sometimes, she knew that they both loved it, and that a sex life like this, as well as a specific fact that when you were shot at everyday, Natalie's passion to the only man that compared in any real way to her was beyond real.

(Yep.)

A few minutes later after doing her thing, Natalie jumped off the bench, looking over.
"Hmm...tell you what, I'm in the mood for suiting up, stocking up. and getting back into this. They're sending us into Afghanistan again...and me personally, I think we need to start collecting their brain matter as decoration for or suits. We have a kill count to get to. They fucking brought it back last night, after that thing in Cyprus." Natalie said, still butt-naked, much probably to Victor's pleasure, as she stood half facing him, by her armor. They had about half an hour to get to the briefing, and suiting up took a few, as well as Natalie's personal need to check all her kit. All of it.
"Wet work is always fun, pays well and usually, you don't leave traces. It's fun, I guess I enjoy being more involved in the quieter side of the killing buisness when it comes to extra-work hobbies. But when you do, you have North Korea situations, and that was why I'm not going to North Korea for that amount of money again. Interrupted my fucking holiday on New Caledonia, rude." Natalie said, as she got to work on becoming Bear, grunting as she slowly went from nothing, to being very, very well protected.
"Could be worse. Could be them I suppose, they can't really be buried when their guts are across the other side of the atolls. Just like what I think we should bring to them, Brute. Looks like this is really what we do best." Natalie said, as she finished a strap on her shoulder, securing herself, as she lumbered forwards, letting a long orange stream from her rear go, as she angled herself upwards a little, a smirk on her unhelmed face as she tucked her hair in with her thick gauntlets quickly. Walking over to an area of the room not frequented often, she took the flamethrower, the giant tanks sitting on her back, as she strapped it up and secured it, the lack of a rucksack strange but the tanks being immense in size. She kept two MP7s on her chest rig, and two MP412 REX pistols at her widened hip, with a large, oversized Spetsnaz Shovel with a machete-like sharpness at her hip, with a smaller one just on her upper left gauntlet, if it needed to be thrown or generally taken in a short notice. The two nozzles for the flamethrower sat neatly just below the oversized blast belt attached to a holster, this flamethrower being custom-built for Victor's or Natalie's purposes. The nozzles were heavy, but gave significant range and spread with the option to spray the place. Her armor was as thick as ever, and she knew that taking her down would take a lot more than just bullets and grenades. And that some motherfuckers were going to get burnt- this being a more industrial, hardcore and ultimatum of a flamethrower than any normal one, being fully built to roast huge areas with a huge fuel capability and a significant fear factor to induce. She breathed hard, checking her CS and Tear Gas grenades, taking the several bundles of cluster 3xV40 Mini grenades on her rig, along with smoke and flares. She felt invincible, and while not wielding a weapon that could fire up to 4000RPM, it really was able to dish out fire on a mass scale. They'd be going soon- and while not 100 percent on how they were inserting, Natalie hoped that if it was extended, they'd get a supply drop and she'd later shift over to her M134 for some different firepower. She gave a come here gesture to Victor, looking over at him as she put her visor down, activating her HUD just to get herself back into it. She moved a little inside, the blue suede comfy as it got for Natalie, as she eased herself in, the giants going from majestic to simply awe-inpsiringly scary, now seeming like they really were able to take on a small army with only a few scratches to bear.

[BigPapaBelial]

Nolan pulled the shot up car into the parkade. Parking right beside their land cruiser. He shut the thing off and winced when he heard pinging and crashing of something falling off. He hrmed as he got up and looked under the car, "Small wonders it made it this far." He got up and grabbed his rifle out of the trunk, then helped to drag Konstantin over to the Cruiser. In the meantime he tapped the automatic unlock, and pulled open the back seat door, timing it with Andrew to get the lump into the back, "Fucking bastage is heavy, dead fucking weight. It'll be good to get rid of him." He popped the trunk as he walked around to the back, storing his rifle in there, and shedding his ghille, leaving the combat harness under it on though, just in case. He holstered his M9, shut the trunk then walked to the front, hitting the auto starter. He hopped into the driver seat, motioning to Andrew, "Day isn't getting younger. And after the carnage we caused I want to be out of here before the police try and close things down." He shut the drivers side door, waited until Andrew jumped in then threw the car into drive and got them out of there.

---

Hours later he was driving them down a shitty dirt based road on the border. He rubbed at his eyes, the action was catching up to him, the stress and adrenaline taking their toll. He nodded towards the mill and turned them into it. Cruising carefully down the small service road, parking the Land Cruiser in the shade of the big mill.

It took them awhile, letting things cool. He had found himself a battered chair and was reclining against a wall. He looked over at Andrew when he asked if it was time. He checked his own watch then nodded, "Yeah, looks it. Silent as a tomb out here, no one to catch us in the act." He picked up the recorder from where he had placed it close at hand. Motioning to Andrew to let him know he is ready. He then got up and went to stand in a position behind and to Andrews left, in sight, but out of the way. He knew that Andrew owed these guys. And Konstantin was just the tip of the sword he was going to drive into their chests. He nodded and covertly hit the record button on the digital recorder. Standing back and being as intimidating as he can be. He had a grim smile on his face as Andrew went to work.

He picked up the Mk18 from where it laid close at hand, with a twist and a pull he removed it, tossing it into the air and catching it dramatically, adding that little touch to the whole deal. He knew that Konstantin was feeling the hurt now. This is business and the pair of snipers in front of him had alot of built up bad news to go around.

Nolan stepped forward as Andrew knocked him over, playing his part. Not the good cop. Not at all. Which he proved as he righted the chair. Konstantin begged to him quietly, "You...you can get me out of this." He coughed, "Please stop him. He'll kill me." Konstantin soon found himself flat on the floor again, Nolan having driven his fist into his ear. The gun runners ear rung from the force of the hit. And he gasped in shock. Nolan grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up again, "You don't get to ask me that you mother fucker. My brother, he mentioned China. You know who. That was us. I almost lost my brother that day. And spent a week setting it up so I could go in, kill the shit stains who did it, and get him out. I'd go through hell and back for my partner, and then drag myself through all the rotten sewers of the world so I could keep him and my friends alive. You don't get to ask me to save your worthless, pathetic life. As far as I'm concerned you're a non-person at this point." He righted the man's chair then stepped back and away as Andrew stepped back in.

The interrogation continued. Nolan glared at the scumbag through the whole thing.

When it came time, he lifted the recorder out of his pocket so Konstantin could see it. He turned it off, then let out a breath as Andrew sent the man back to darkness with a brutal punch.

---

He dragged the unconscious heap of the dealer off into a corner as Andrew got to calling their CIA contact. He smiled over at Andrew, "If Merlin asks, that EXACTO ammo was used. I hope to keep a hold on it until our next op." He made sure their HVT was secured then headed over to the seat he had found. Again plopping down in it. He groaned, "Think they;ll send us out immediately?" He wanted to sleep, get the stress and adrenaline out of his system, recharge. He honestly wanted to go back out, but he didn't want to go out too soon.

---

Wakhan Corridor, 1000, Talulqan Airfield, Afghanistan Music

"Talulqan ATC to Spear Flight, you are go for start up. Force Recon, Marines and various elements of other groups are converging on the operations area. Command wants you all on site." The ATC looked out over the airfield as several attack helis began to spin up. A confident voice replied, "Reaper 07 here, Spear Lead for this op, we are go for spin up." The ATC replies, "Happy hunting gentleman. Skies are clear for your take off."

Reaper 07 and his gunner shut the canopy, he called through the radio, "Reaper 07 to all Spear Flight. Check in." He looked to his nine where the other two helis in his reaper group spun up. Their Apache attack choppers top of the line. They called in, "Reaper 02 here, on your left. Spinning up." Another heli replied, "Reaper 15 here, ready to go." Reaper 07 turned to his three to look at the guests of their flight this round. Nine other helis. From three other nations come to join in on this coalition of annihilation. The first piped through, his russian accent clear, "Vampire 01, Spear 02 here, we are ready." Two other voices checked in Vampires 11 and 02 respectively. Their Hinds already buzzed and were ready to go. Three EuroTigers checked in, Acid 99, 22 and 08, their leader Spear 03. And finally several SuperCobra British choppers. Zues 05, 06 and 07, their leader Spear 04. As one almost the twelve helis lifted off the ground.

A two hour flight found them in a forward Ops base, refueling for the next leg.

As they passed into the Wakhan Corridor, Reaper 07 called out, "Check weapon system, guns and rockets. Make sure we're ready to go." Confirmations came back as they passed over some of the forward elements of the ground units. One of the russian pilots commenting, "Look at that, looks like everyone is taking this seriously." Reaper responded, "Brussels was like 9/11, only bigger, and was right in the face of the world. All those here know what we need to do." Several of the pilots wholeheartedly agreed.

They flew for about 20 minutes before Reaper called out, "Alright peeps. Command is sending us twelve in as the opening hit. Force and Deep Recon has electronically marked several positions they want us to hit. We get in, take out as many of them as we can. Punch a hole for the ground forces. This is the wild west for us right now. Grab your tighties and pull them up. Guns free. Check mail regularly for TADS data from other ships, keep an eye out for those markers." Confirmations flew, and the gunners flipped off safeties and swung guns free.

It began. The twelve gunships flew in, and began to make havoc. Ground forces were gifted the view of the twelve attack choppers darting about, unloading rockets and 20mm cannon fire on positions, opening a door for them. Hellfire rockets slammed into positions, Zuni and Hydra rockets making quick work of armor and hard positions alike.

It was a good 45 minutes before the twelve gun ships all reconvened. Hover over the wreckage of an ammo dump they had absolutely decimated. One of the Hinds and a Tiger were floating out near the border of the town, taking cannon shots at fleeing insurgents. Spear 03 spoke out first, "Well, that was an interesting activity. We're likely to be kept on in the area for awhile aren't we?" Spear Lead chuckled, "Most likely. Can't see Command wanting to send us back so soon. Let's RTB gentlemen. I'm almost a Bingo fuel. Rearm, refuel, get ready. Likely get sent back to Talulqan until they are ready for us. Good job Spear Flight."

As one the twelve gunships turned and headed back to safe territory, passing over the first elements of the ground force, passing through the first indications of Spear Flights attack.

---

Victor smiled at her, looking down at her as he wrapped his arms about her tighter, then blinked as she directed him to lie down. He hrmed then meeped. Then all he he felt and saw was darkness. And in his mind all he could do was laugh. Gods damn he loved this woman.

After a time Victor sat there, feeling stunned, and aroused. He had the biggest goofiest grin on his face none the less. He sighed, and watched her move about and suit up, thinking he had the best deal in the world. He caught his breath, what not right? He got up after a time, and went around to his end of the armory. He also began to suit up, nodding, "We both should be dead who knows how many times over with what has happened. It's time for full on payback now." Piece by piece he went from Victor to Brutal. That heavy robotic suit clicking into place bit by bit. He had to be careful on his right side though, his wound still a little tender, not wanting to knock the gauze off and start bleeding again.

Soon the Brutal suit was all attached. He sheathed his tomahawks, holstered his USAS shottys, the rifle butt club slotted at the small of his back,. And finally with a heave he grabbed the XM307 up, and set it over his left shoulder, hanging onto one of the handholds easily, "Ahhh hit's good to be a badass." He slotted his face plate up, blinked on the HUD and turned to look at his Bear of a woman, "This is how it's supposed to be." He motioned to her, clasping her in a hug while they are armored. "You ready babe?"

[FourtyTwo]

(Have to say it now- the Brits use Apaches as the AH1 (our designation) too, not SuperCobras. That's a US Marine bird.)
(Long as fuck posts-sorry for this. It's going to stay with Natalie/Victor from now on.)

Andrew looked over at Nolan, as he cut the line.
"Probably. We need to tool up. They're deploying us into the mountains. Just beyond...those..ones." Andrew said, pointing out the window, into the distance. Snow was just about on their peaks, but it didn't coat it. It looked cold, and unforgiving. The fact was, they were going beyond 5,000m high. In fact, Mount Noshaq was at 7,500m, and at this time of year, would be freezing cold. Though some snowmelt would exist, it wouldn't be much, and Andrew could only expect having to deal with serious altitude sickness. The middle of the corridor was a relative river-valley, with some plains that were dry, but the mountains was where he knew the SF were going. The ground-pounders had already gone in already, if Andrew knew how briefings had worked vaguely. They had torn that part apart, and now, the Marines, the British Paras and US Rangers were going to flood the place, going from settlement to settlement, village to village, and entirely sweeping until they got to the Chinese border and turned around and repeated. FOBs would be created, it was a huge operation that had every political sanctioning. This was huge- and while it wasn't the invasion of a country, the fact that the Chinese were even having their heads high meant something was up. But it made Andrew think. If the spooks higher up had realized something threatened Chinese intrests...didn't that mean that this group wasn't just targeting the West specifically? Something more sinister sat in his head- but he knew it wasn't his to think.
"Hurray for us." Andrew simply said, chuckling as he checked his Mk18, looking out still. They'd be gone soon.

---

2200 Hours
H-Hour+12

Bagram Airfield

"Good to see you boys made it. And your friend here." Merlin said, a figure of about 6"0 and was dark-skinned, though his voice was a relatively neutral one from what you would expect from his skin tone. Clambering out of the RAF Merlin helicopter, Andrew looked back at Nolan, aware of what next for Konstanin. He was taken away by two inconspicuous soldiers, as he was carried off on a stretcher, tied to it of course.
"Come with me, you two. We need to get consulted. As you know, Operation Cinder Block is underway in the concentrated area of the Wakhan Corridor and basically all of surrounding Badakhshan Province. Marines, Rangers, you name it is on the ground. Qila-e Panjeh, and Sarhad-e Broghil are two villages that in the last six hours, were bombed the literal shit out of, and then Delta and SEAL teams cleared in advance of Rangers and Marine forces to sweep and completely destroy any insergent activity. Langley is working overtime for us- and every intelligent agency has got so much dirt, it's unreal. But we ain't got that much in reality on what the fuck the group is, and who has the money, who has the contacts, and who makes it so slick. We have a lot of dead Taliban, and a lot of Russian-supplied and Chinese, even Israeli and a few South American arms. This, is fucking perculiar to say the least." Merlin said, as they walked on, off the helipad.
"What about other forces Sir?" Andrew asked, as Merlin responded.
"Good question. Russian Ground Forces are being deployed on an emergency mandate from the Tajik Government in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, on the other side of the Corridor. We're talking several VDV brigades, and they've done a hell of a lot of damage. What it seems Team Knight found in the Southern region of Tajikistan was only the start. No less, the PLA has deployed it's own Airborne Infantry and Special Forces in Xingjang province, and it's all in an effort to stifle them in that one little rathole through a chesegrater of a trap. Intel was completely blind- this has caught us with our pants down, so we are retaliating. In here." Merlin said, looking back, the suited spook leading them into a tent, in which three figures could be seen. All three seemed all too familiar.
"Alright?" Ross said, his helmet off and his Mk48 in his hands, with Jenny the same and with an MG4.
"Fuck me, you came out of nowhere. Good to see you guys, shit. How'd you get into this sucker's influence?" Andrew asked, as Merlin laughed.
"The moment that I had all the available and well-combat experienced assets that apparently is using Juggernaut-standard when it comes to armor. Keep a lid on it, Andrew- we need to get your asses debriefed, and remind you what's next. For now, you can't come under regular command- it means too much paperwork and no real work. So you're with me." Merlin said, as he implied to them to take a seat with the other Juggernauts.
"Good to see you lads then. Been waiting on our sorry asses for too long for you." Andrew simply said, as he checked his Mk48, the three Juggernauts well armored and well toothed for what next.

(Play this for extra effect, just to remind of how scary it is.)

"I've brought Andrew and Nolan up to speed. You three already know. But the fact is, we've made good progress. And intelligence wise, we've done nothing. This could pop up in Helmand tomorrow if it wanted to, or they could hit another city. Shanghai, New York, London, Paris, you fucking name it, it's being watched. And there is nothing we can do. This is an appearance to the public of a response. You think spooks know everything? We know the coffee you drink, but Goddamn, we don't know a fucking clue of what they want. But we know they have lots of guns, new ones, and a comprehensive list of shit that makes our Second Amendment look like a pussy's list. We're talking military-grade, modern equipment and gear. And scarily still, from what Nolan and Andrew picked out in China, it makes shit even worse."
"They've got armor. The programs won't be revealed by Beijing or Moscow, and we know that it's beyond any doubt, beyond any security needs to share what it is. But they say that they're working on it themselves. Which means nothing to us. Now, we did get a few post-shots of Goliath, what you encountered in China, Nolan and Andrew." Merlin said, changing the slide.

"I won't go into details. But we're looking at programs beyond your recognition. This is "Goliath"- what we revealed to be a ventilated Brazilian operator, who worked as the guard to Konstantin's friend. It's a mechanized suit of armor, with a couple of inches of composites, and a graphene/nanotech encoated kevlar layer. I'm no fucking physicist, but that needs a lot of power. They had a fucking portable hydrogen cell capable of huge volumes of energy. What I'm trying to say is...is that the enemy we face isn't exactly some under-powered, terrorist organization. These people change the status quo. They'll do their best to only keep it as their Joker in the pack, they would never reveal it. But our priority, fuck, our need is to figure out what the fuck we are facing, before the next attack has something like this walk into Times Square and make Brussels look like a joke. Because there won't be a next time for this world. Collapse, the total disembowelment of society will occur when they get what they want when they tell the people over whatever medium they want that it ends when we give a certain thing to them. Nuclear codes, the capability to unify entire continents in arms against the Free World, or even the submission of us to terrorists. I sound like I make a big deal with this. Gents, you may fight just an insurgent force when you go out into Wakhan. But the Taliban are an inconsistent cog in a huge machine, that could completely blow out at any second." Merlin said, skipping onto the next slide, a close up map.
"This is Mount Haras, close to the triangulation point of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, at the end of the Corridor. The peak is 5,900 m high with several high mountains and the occasional river valleys close by, with several well guarded camps, which UAVs have identified to be of particular interest. You'll be working in a huge area around that. We've got two PMC contacts that will also assist you- and due to the secrecy, I can only say on a need to know basis, that they are better armored than you three, Team Knight."
"Fuck me, it can't be..." Jenny said, realizing in her head who it had to be.

"Well, if it is who you think it is, then you'll know camp ghost stories aren't all bullshit. It's a several-pronged operation. Nolan, Andrew, you'll be first in. You both need FLIR-optic based sniper rifles with your regular shit, and use Quadbikes to get around, eliminating mortar and rocket-attack encampments and undermining their operations along with anything that is bringing up stuff via trucks into the mountains to use an elevated position to hide, or bomb us from. There are tracks, but the few that exist are going to be locked down by Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Uigur and the unknown force we know of. You could be there for an extended period of time, but any orders for you to stay longer we'll post you up with. You'll be based around what you'll construct as Camp "Vulture", close to the peak of Mount Haras as a staging area. Ross, Carl, Jenny, you'll be taken via V22 into this area, with the Osprey dropping you and a M1161 Growler ITV in once Team Cordite does what it needs to in order to eliminate AAA sites and rocket-attack positions. The snipers snipe and engage targets at a range, wheras Team Knight is direct action and will hit larger encampments using brute force and eliminating groups."
"Affirmative. What about..well, Brute and Bear? Those two freaks?" Ross asked, aware that he was maybe using weird language.
"Again, need to know basis. All I can say is this- expect them at Vulture, and to be involved in your later operation. Once we know that the mountains around Mount Haras are cleaned and shiny with their blood, and any intel you have found, you're to mount the assault on Fort Sarawak, or in British terms, Fort Tempest. That was the former colonial name of a British and Afghan-fortification built in the 1860s by the British here, against potential local enemies or Russian Empirical conquests. It's a significant mud-brick fort- it's large as they get, and is further down the mountains. It's a major encampment, with ammunition caches, and is in sorts, a staging area for forces to wage war against the locals and us- with it being almost impossible to hit by our teams without too much collateral damage to the local town or killing too many of our guys in an assault. We expect a garrison of at least 200, maybe 400. Could be even more, if shit goes badly. But it's significant enough- and the reason it needs to be taken after the mountaintop encampments and garrisons are eliminated are since we know that they'd be the first place that they'd run. Or towards the Chinese, which is fucking ridiculous. We cut the head off the forces, find intel, HVTs, anything we want to pick from here if we are fast and know that we have them pinned. Bear and Brute will lead the assault, and you'll be aiming to fully displace the enemy and rout them into the valleys. You'll carry on, with Team Knight involved in assaults in local towns, mainly co-ordinated by British forces in this sector- with the USAF's A10s, AH-64s and various other aerial supports. Though the valleys are still steep and hard to move through, we'll have Mechanized units on hand, with Strykers and FV510 Warrior vehicles being on standby. This is a purge- and you kill every fucker you see. Make no mistake, the high ground here is a goldmine for intel- and is our next step to unraveling what we do in response. It is mainly an Anti-Insurgency operation, to completely destroy any force that occupies this region, and stop this escalating throughout Afghanistan- undoing years and years of security work. We prove we got the metal here boys, and we make sure that we buy time. Time we simply don't have. One pretty key detail to know is that the two contractors are boots-on-the-ground right now, and clearing this." Merlin said, pointing to a weird part of the map.
"Need to know basis again. All you need to know, is that right there, the command nerve centre of the Taliban forces and the unknown militants in Eastern Wakhan region, deep in the mountains. Another reason why this area is of such importance to you guys, and before you ask, why you're specifically there, is to disrupt command and the structure of any significant opposition that stems from this particular area."

"Andrew, Nolan, you'll have time to sleep on the next C130 out to FARP Talulqan, and then be redeployed into the mountains by 0300 Hours, tomorrow morning. Should be enough to freeze your balls to their core, so kit up accordingly, though be prepared to be in more warmer climates once you come down the mountains in the day. You'll have three hours in this area," Merlin said, waving his hand around the map on the screen that was around Mount Haras, before continuing.
"The Osprey with Team Knight paradrops into here at 0500 hours sharp. Make damn sure the LZ is secure, or they'll get torn apart. In terms of mobility, you go with what Andrew and Nolan have performed reconnaissance on, and hit hard, brutally, and without no question, decapitate their forces in the mountains. You return to Camp Vulture, and await Brute and Bear's arrival. There are several DEVGRU and Delta and SAS teams working in the area, and will be setting up similar camps both higher and lower than you. The mountains need to be cleared before fighters fall back into Pakistan or anywhere else- and trust me, every single asset that is Special Forces, or is trained in mountain warfare, is going to be sharing the Hindu Kush with you. It's just that you'll be in the epicentre of shit, where we know that you're going to be critical to our continued assault into Eastern Wakhan. The West has been mostly recaptured and is now in the process of having the second sweep roll in- though the East of the province is still untouched, due to the fact we're bogged down. It's why you need to be on hand, ahead of the main force. Yourselves, you'll have gun runs, and continuous air support of any kind. Call it, you get it." Merlin said, aware he had gone on.
"It's a lot to take in. But this is it, gents. You've got an hour of R&R/loading up, and you're on the first C130 out of here. Then you'll be dropped two by two by Callsign "Omega"- our Osprey serving you guys. You know what you need to do. Go ahead and do it. Dismissed." Merlin said, looking at all five of them, as Ross stood up, and simply yelled.
"Hoorah!" He knew he wasn't a Marine, but he knew that the rest knew what was going on, as he led the way out, helmet in one hand and his Mk48 just about held in the other, as they all headed out of the tent, and they knew what they sort of were doing.

---

Natalie watched Victor completely tool up, as she took out both nozzles, and ejected a tiny amount of flame from both, scorching the high concrete ceiling with a bright blue flame, as she let out a scortcher form her rear too, as she walked up to Victor, putting her own visor up quickly as Victor came close. She hugged back, raised and tight as she pulled as hard as she could, feeling her ribs bend and her pair be squished as she felt his arms come round like a vice, and hers do the same. She hissed, smooching him on the cheek before slapping what was the rear of his suit.
"For another day in the office? I was born ready." Natalie said, smirking as she put her visor down, turning around and heading for the exit, kicking the stiff door open with a low kick, as she walked out into the baking sun, seeing the briefing room close-by, and knowing what it vaguely was. Time for as direct as revenge got.

---

2200 Local Time (Afghanistan)

The C17 flew high above the area of operations, Natalie and Victor inside a smallish container of some sort within. A small red light sat inside, knowing full well that they were here for good reason. Outside the C17, about forty 101st Airborne men along with a Stryker with a Mk19 stood ready to Static Line into the valleys in North-Eastern Wakhan, who were told not to look at the container and prep for a jump. They had been going for hours, Natalie keeping her rear end shut, the pressure building up on her natural valve however.
"Ohhhh..when I jump, there's going to be a flame like you've never seen! Fuck me, it feels big." Natalie said to Victor, laughing quietly in order to not spook the Paratroopers outside the container.
"I suppose one day I'll tell you why it happens, but till then, it is my one secret, Brute. And there's forty paratroopers out there. If I was in the VDV, I'd be in command, but I guess this is very different. They have no idea we're inside. No reason to check what's inside, they say it's coming with them on the drop. How wrong they are- we're not even coming on this one." Natalie said, looking at Victor, as she clicked her neck.
"We'll get the radio from the jump crew for when we get out of this sticky container and into the cargo bay- we're static lining, drifting like a pair of dandelions to our LZ, which is right on top of the command centre. We can't risk a HAHO since it's too long a journey, or a HALO since we'll be far too direct and have no time to make a combined assault, being cut off if things go wrong, and a helicopter would be too risky on a place like this for now. Chutes wise, they're two circular parachutes- hard to steer, but they stop you dead, and you can fire from above. Yeah, I like the sound of that too- they won't even know where the bullets will come from." Natalie said, as she looked at the GPS on her forearm. protected by an incredibly thick layer of bulletproof glass. She could control it via her HUD, if needed, and she already had it activated.
"They're sending a bunch of other Juggernauts and a sniper team, Teams Knight and Cordite, that will meet us at some place called "Camp Vulture", where they'll use as a Forward Staging Area. And in terms of the command center, seems like it's half above ground, in a recently constructed encampment, and the rest being inside a cave network. That's where my flamethrowers will really heat the place up- I know it's caves again, but the fuckers really do like them. We just need to destroy the place completely- and it'll ruin any command structure in this localized region, hopefully. We'll kill every man alive- this is all about scorching earth, and securing intel- and we can see about the bodies later, yes? There's a nice little list of HVTs, both Taliban and suspected from the group to be here, so let's see what we get so that we assault Fort Tempest easily later on to get the hammer blow- giving the Taliban forces on the ground no idea of what to attack and what to do as well as finding what we want, hopefully at least. We'll leave the place before anything else hots up, since we've got five km to move to a point where a Chinook will pick us up from. We might need to keep our parachutes handy, in case shit hits the fan and we have to reinsert into an area the pilot has no hope of landing in due to AAA fire from what I hear." Natalie said, adjusting herself in the suit, as she looked at her gauntleted arms, feeling heavy yet well protected.
"Got your warpaint Victor? I just need to apply mine quickly- you'll see what I have in mind." Natalie asked, bending over as she knew a vague design she'd put on her face with the red and blue paint. Something a little more representative of herself, as she tucked her hair back into it's neat and straightened format, her helmet in her hands. She could just about hear the light change, as the door opened at the rear, the C17 at 2,000ft AGL and now dropping it's load. What sounded like every man pouring out happened, as a sudden jerk of the floor also sent the Stryker, armed with it's Mk19 and M240B mounted atop it along with an Trophy System, also join the men that were being paradropped. The plane suddenly jerked, as the door shut again slowly, Natalie hearing the voice in her right ear. Parachutes and old-style ZSUs were pouring fire into the sky, but many were far too innacurate to hit the plane let alone the 101st men that were dropping down and assaulting the border region, with their Stryker following suit.
"It's clear. We're clambering up into the mountains, you've got ten minutes to your drop. Fucking spooks." The jumpmaster said, as Natalie looked over at Victor, tutting.
"Hmm, wonder how long he'd last if I threw him out the plane. I'd rather not find out- I say we get ready for our jump, Big Boy." Natalie said, done with the paint, as she revealed a "Lightening" sort of pattern with the blue and red paint respectively, having branches of electricity as blue and the rest as red and mixed shades, something she felt adamant about, as she got her heavy self up. Walking up to the edge of the container, she opened it up, faceplate on and HUD activated, as she walked into the empty and huge cargo bay of the C17, gaining altitude to maintain 2,000 AGL rate as it headed higher and higher above the mountains. She spoke through her speaker, rather than comms.
"I think last time I throw the jumpmaster out of a plane was Chechnya, after he said I had nice features. Don't fall into the same trap- we'll get set, you open the door and we go if you think little of us, Mister." Natalie said in her coldest Russian accent, the Jumpmaster putting his hands in the air as he shrugged it off, Natalie giggling like a girl over the comms to Victor.

[BigPapaBelial]

Bagram

Nolan came out behind Andrew. One fist wrapped in Konstantin's shirt front. Nolan had not let the gun runner have one moment where he felt safe. Always nearby, a weapon out and pointed at him, an angry glare on his face, Konstantin had learned the dangers of trying to beg during the trip in wen Nolan had kicked or backhanded more then a few times. Nolan handed the man over to the two soldiers, "Make sure he remembers where he's at now gentlemen." He then turned to jog over to catch up with Merlin and Andrew, "That man could use a bullet to the dome." He finally turned and looked at Merlin. And couldn't stop himself, "I thought you'd be taller."

He grinned a little as they walked listening to the run down. He nodded slowly hearing and assimilating the list of units and groups in on this, "Afghanistan is in the record books for largest American retaliation. Wakhan is going to be in the record books for heaviest retaliation since the War on Terror started. He almost slammed into Andrew's back when they stopped. And he peeked out from behind Merlin and Andrew, spotting Ross, Carl and Jenny. He blinked then blurted out, "Holy shit you guys are still alive?"

Carl looked over from where he had huddled on the ground looking his kit over, "No faith! Absolutely none."

Nolan smiled, stepping around Andrew and Merlin, shaking hands with Carl and Ross, and bowing to Jenny, shaking her hand too right after.

He returned to a place beside Andrew, and listened to the briefing. Carl got up, shoulder his M249. He placed a hand on one of the ammo containers on his belt while he listened. He could almost not believe the sheer scale of this. It was almost maddening how these guys could just walk out and cause this kind of damage. But his jaw dropped when the news of Goliath came out. Nolan nodded, "I remember him, he took a HEIAP round to the helmet, and then two more to the back before he dropped." He looked to the three heavily armor juggernauts, "No offense, but that guy was bettered armor then you three are. In a one on one I'd have put my money on him." Carl grinned a little, "I can see why." Nolan smiles abit.

Carl hrmed, his eyes narrowing, "PMC contractors who are better armored then us." He turned to look at Jenny, "You don't think...?" He bumped Ross, "Do you think that...you know...them?" He piped down as the plans were laid out.

Nolan gave a small hoot of pleasure, "Wooo haven't been out quadding since I left Wainwright. This will be business and pleasure." He chuckled and nodded in triumph, he might be feeling the stress of the last few days finally. He deflated abit, "Well atleast we get to sleep. Even if we have to fly again." Carl laughed, "Oh you poor thing." Nolan flipped Carl off playfully, then slapped Andrew on the shoulder, "I'm going to go requisition our gear from the QM. I'll meet you at the Bird." He walked off and waved to the others as he went.

Carl smiled waving back to him. Then grinned at Andrew, "Nicely done mang. So what shall we do while we're waiting."

---

Victor crouched against one wall of the container, he'd been half awake for most of the tip, except for the times when he was chatting with Natalie. He had been doing something he doesn't usually do, reflecting, meditating and praying for the coming action. Calling out to beings alot of people thought him foolish for believing in. He still believed in the old ways kind of, the warpaint was part of it, having made his own tomahawks and club were part of it to.

He opened his eyes and smiled at Natalie, "I am honestly curious about why that happens, not worried, but curious." He smiled and stood up, "And of course I have the paints, I need to apply mine. Our own little ritual. Like the one I performed at the base."

Before leaving Perth

A troop of Aborigines and a small group of Mohawk had somehow infiltrated into the base. A 10 foot tall, carved wooden post had been erected on a plot of ground on the base. And despite the protests of some of the Brass, Victor, the Mohawk tribesmen and Aborigines had held an impromptu pow-wow around the post. There had been dancing, drumming singing, several digiridoo sessions. Each group ha traded the ground around the post for hours, until finally, Victor had strode onto the ground, taking a pair of ornate tomahawks in hand, one given to him by the eldest Australian Aborigine there, the other by a wizened old Mohawk woman. He had then slammed the two axe blades deep into the red painted post.

Then like they had appeared, the Mohawk delegation and Aborigines had all seemed to vanish, leaving only Victor standing before the Warpost. And he had vanished soon after, to board the plane.

Back in the present

Victor took off his helmet, opened the paint containers and began to color his face, a vibrant yellow, with red, white and black as well, a skeletal look, very unsettling to look at.

He offered the paints up to Natalie.

Soon though the container opened, and he greeted the jump master, paint and all, "I remember Chechnya, the man screamed all the way down. I don't think they bothered to scrap him up off the ground after that."

Two human mountains walked by the little man. Victor fitting his helmet on. Sliding the face plate into place, and keying on the HUD. He blinked a few times then gave a thumbs up to Natalie, nodding to show he's ready.

[FourtyTwo]

Natalie looked over to Victor, as she checked her kit was secured to her suit, the plane underfoot moving significantly, as it clambered upwards, the huge cargo bay now empty apart from two giants encased to the hilt in armor. She checked the parachute on her front, making sure the straps and all were secured as she secured herself into the line, looking back at Victor.
"I put a florescent skull and crossbones on my black parachutes for this run, just so you know what to look for. I was thinking of going all out and having a picture of my breasts between the two parachutes, because the parachutes are circular and perhaps give an idea of what lies beneath as we came down, but I don't want you to get confused and cut your cord to aim for them and take me out. Perhaps on a training jump, you'll see a big pair of circular round things below you, and you'll just be tempted." Natalie said, giggling further through their private comms, as she looked over at Victor, looking as he set up.
"Damn...good conditions I suppose, I could have just used the helium suit but it's far too hot in terms of fire, and the wind would probably slam me into the side of a mountain. Cordite, that sniper team, should deal with the AAA when they come in, but we're still far away from where they'll be." Natalie said, as she adjusted her visor, as she activated a track, just to hype her up through her voice activation, unheard by the others due to the fact her helmet and visor were down. Her distinctive red Spetsnaz beret was on the top of her faceplate, and the Trophy System also sat on the back by her neck atop the two tanks, a compact device that could take out RPG fire from the rear and sides. Her suit's motion sensors were working, in case she was being flanked, and her rear was simply ready to go and light up a fire.

Twenty minutes later, and the door opened. They were low level, and Natalie engaged her blue-tinted NV view, being useful for distinguishing things that a green infrared view didn't pick up. Viewing the world in blue gave very good depth, but less in terms of picking out heat signatures- where red, almost Red-Hot FLIR was awesome at that, or green NV was better for the night, and the regular spectrum for all else. Through the thick visor, she saw enough of the world to tell that they were really jumping into hell. A pair of F35s roared past, of the USAF kind, and AAA fire lit up the sky, past the C17.
"Two minutes!" The jumpman said to the two normally, as Natalie checked her link on the line.
"God...I really want to let go Victor...the chutes activate about ten seconds after freefall, I'll fucking go half a mile off the LZ if I do..." Natalie said over their comms, holding it in on her strained face. In contrast to most scared skydivers, who thought they'd crap themselves, Natalie was genuinely concerned that if she let her wind go, it wouldn't be anything good for them.
"Got it. That fire is fucking so innacurate..." Natalie said back to the jumpman on the regular comms, as she looked over at Victor again, and then out the window, as suddenly the plane rumbled, almost knocking the jumpmaster off his feet.
"I take that back...shit, want to reconsider two minutes?" Natalie said, checking the GPS encased in a thick bulletproof screen on her forearm of her gauntlet, as she saw the fire still erupt all over the place. They were too low- this was fucking ridiculous, Natalie thought to herself. If they had the right intel, they'd know that AA was heavy in this AO, and while it wouldn't exactly take them out, Natalie just hoped that "wouldn't exactly" meant that they wouldn't get a direct hit of flak. They were far off, but she knew that they were the only things keeping the C17 from pulling out.
"Just hold out, you two, we're almost to the LZ...90 seconds!" The jumpmaster said again, as Natalie looked at Victor.
"Fuck, this one is going to be hot then...shit, you'll have to bombard them when the chutes go, should use the optics and see if you can send some direct 25mm fire on top of them. My flames won't do much, it'll just make us a great target for anything AA based, so I'll keep it to a minimum till we come close." Natalie said, as she looked over, waiting. The seconds felt like hours, as the Flak fire continued, and thirty seconds was yelled by the Jumpmaster. The door was fully open, and below, the tops of the snowy mountains could be seen. They were far from Mount Haras, in terms of kilometers, Natalie couldn't remember. But this had to be done first, and it was going to be a surgical assault. 20 seconds. Her mind reminded itself what was the order of the day. Kill every, single, motherfucker. Torch them, gut them, blow them apart, fill them with steel, whatever was needed. Maybe find some intel, but it wasn't priority, not here. They wouldn't keep much, but if they did have something, Natalie made a mental note it could be useful. Eliminate the local AA threat, probably in the compound, and then get as far from there. To get safely extracted by the Chinook, Natalie knew they had 5km to go, downhill but a hard 5km it would be, in deep snow and armor that weighed more than her, along with a parachute that significantly would burden her down to be repacked for a just-in-case. Then they had to get to Haras, and by the time they arrived, it would be the early daylight. And daylight for aerial assets was a dangerous thing, unless they had dedicated weapons systems and could tear anything a new asshole.
"10 seconds to green!" The jumpmaster said, as Natalie looked back at Victor.
"Well...this isn't something we haven't done before, but I've not seen that much flak before....we'll make it or die trying Victor." Natalie said, as she looked forward, seconds taking too long to pass. Suddenly, the light went green, and Natalie surged forward, moving towards the ramp with such a pace that it was indistinguishable.
"Shit, we got a SAM lock, dumping flares!" Natalie heard from the pilot over the radio, as she was too late to think about stopping, coming loose from the line and now entering freefall, as she looked back at the C17 dumping an industrial load of flares, the orange spewing from the rear and lighting up the sky. And her. Natalie cursed, as she suddenly realized, that in the movement, only around a second had passed, and she had lost all her thoughts on one thing.

Her ass literally went up like a gas rig, and a huge blue-orange flame emerged, Natalie unable to stop the torrent as she felt physically pushed forwards, the ripping noise echoing through the open radio as she looked over her neck. She cursed loudly, as her parachutes automatically activated at the interval, the huge pack on her chest violently exploding with two round parachutes, black in color and with a skull and crossbones atop them slowly unfurling and stopping her in her tracks, as Natalie swore again, watching the C17 fly higher and keep dumping flares, all the way as it passed from sight. It had lit them up with the flare dump, and had done nothing for them. Natalie knew Victor had practically jumped a second before, and would be above, and somehow, she was pleased to see the Mohican's chutes open up right above hers, albeit just as violently. He must have tracked Natalie in that time somehow, perhaps compensating for the fact that she had let her rear open up.
"Shit...I see them below, they look pissed...just open up with that GMG, I see the AA guns on the edge of that compound, you can zero in- looks like they haven't picked us up yet." Natalie said over the comms, checking her parachutes, the two skull and crossbones ominous atop them as the chutes were almost uncontrolable, but stable. She opened her visor, letting some fresh air in, and observing the violence of the AA fire. It had mostly stopped, but some of it filled the air, the flak rounds flying past. They were diving into hell it seemed, and though Natalie had no offensive capability for now, though when she came closer, she'd flame up some poor fuckers. Checking her two nozzles, she pulled them out, activating the nozzles as she looked up at her two circular parachutes, as she knew they were coming in hot.
"That view is so good...that AA is lighting the fucking night sky, but we'll be crippling it over the night with whatever SF might be in the mountains too. Remember to bring your chute down and keep it with you vaguely- we'll repack them later, so just stuff them into the bag and move up when we hit the floor." Natalie said, putting her visor back down, as she shifted her weight backwards, the two parachutes diving down a little, and letting her at least clear Victor's line of sight, as she knew that it was going to be a hot landing. AK fire were now pouring upwards towards the two, as Natalie knew that hell's dispensary was coming from Victor, the two Mountains coming down under giant black old-school parachutes, Natalie reminded much of her own bosoms when looked up at the two hemispherical, load-bearing parachutes that brought her titanic weight to a standstill almost in the air, the wind carrying the two a little over towards the base now as they were coming in hot.

[BigPapaBelial]

Victor stood confidently, and waited for their moment to drop, he smiled at the jumpmaster, knowing the man was scared of them now, and he deserved that scare. He carefully set his jump kit up, making sure everything was in place. He looked over at Natalie, "I traced in a medicine wheel on mine. In grey and white. Would have colored it too, but didn't have the time." HE made sure to have everything placed where they needed to be, and also made sure he could reach his GMG and other kit before cinching everything up.

As they reached their jump zone he stepped to the door as it opened, then almost got thrown back away from the door when the flak and AA fire began to go off. He growled out the door, watching it all, "Hmmm something tell me we are not welcome." The time ticked by, he looked out the back, hanging onto an internal bracing so he could see out. His HUD highlighted tunneled, AA positions, enemies running to cover, all manner of things. He blinked, and his HUD began to paint some of them for his rocket pods. He had three locks by the time the 30 second call came out. He looked up one last time to make sure he was tied in. He turned again and got a fourth lock, right before the missile lock was called out. He gripped the internal bracing tighter.

Time seemed to slow down as Natalie sailed by him. His hand lashed out to try and grab her. He missed by mere hairsbreadths. He waited to see her chute open, but then noticed the flapping line behind her. He made his decision then. He reached up and by mean strength alone ripped the cord off his own, and hurled himself skyward.

He drifted, knowing he only had a few seconds in the air, but he needed to make sure he was close to her. He almost ripped his chute cord off as he pulled it, grunting in surprise as they burst open, safely above Natalie, "I damn sure am not letting you leave his world before or after me woman! Don't you dare do that to me again!" He reached back for his GMG. Pulling it down, slotting the feeder line in, and flipping off the control stub, and let loose with a line of rounds. Shortly after they let fly he let out a cry of surprise and honest fear. The force from the shots had spun him around a full 360 degrees. A wave of vertigo passing through him, he hadn't figured on that. He coughed and hacked into his mask, "Okay GMG is a no go. I'm not throwing up in my suit for that." He held onto the big weapon, but he did start to highlight targets again. Red outlines appearing over positions. He grinned and blinked.

The weapons fire from below continued, the man on the AA cannon spiting fire up at what looked like two foolish jumpers. He didn't pay might to the man with the GMG thinking he was safe. And didn't even care about the eight puffs of smoke that appeared at the man with the GMGs shoulders. He just kept firing, right up until two mini, high explosive rockets slammed down into his position. Him, his AA cannon and the sic other men in the AA nest were vaporized by the explosives. Nearby six other positions were hit by rockets fired from Victor's shoulder mounted rocket pods. Even as the firing slackened under the surprise onslaught he was reloading the rocket pods. Victor had brought reload containers with mini-rockets, ten containers in all, meaning he could reload his rocket pods, five times each. As the fire from below began again he was already once again highlight positions and a second volley of rockets lit up again, taking out all the more immediate threats in their path. He laughed, then swung up the GMG. He decided to try something differant, instead of a rapid blast of shots, he resorted to single rounds, not as effective as an eight round burst, but still deadly. Not quite the same as he's used too, but still destructive.

He let himself drift, "I love my job. I can't say that enough." He peppered some soldiers as they ran towards the base. "I'm my own gunship!" He laughed, and let out a war whoop as he sent one man tumbling down into the ravine, "And I will clear out every warren you run into, do you hear my rats! Everyone! You cannot escape me! You shot me once! I will shoot you a dozen times in pay back! You can replace yourselves with two, three, even ten at a time and I will not rest until you are all dead at my feet!" He didn't even react to the rifle fire from below. He was on too much of a roll.

[FourtyTwo]

Natalie watched on, as she heard Victor. She said nothing, adjusting her parachutes as she watched single-shot fire rain from above her from Victor, as she knew that they had less than a minute to hit the ground. She checked her own gear, looking through her HUD as she picked out the needed targets. Her suit marked them up already, AK fire blaring up and hitting the wrong direction. She kept quiet, as she knew that they were coming in, closer and closer, and bringing the fear of God.
"Shit, we are coming in. You might want to switch to UV or regular optical, since the fire from this thing is going to really fuck up your eyesight, if it's sensitive." Natalie said, looking at her two chutes, the Skull and Crossbones a "cool" feature to have, with Victor's two medicine wheels on his chutes reminding Natalie perhaps of his Mohican heritage. She guessed she was 300m above now, as the wind gusted hard, blowing the two into the compound and right on top.

"I got this- bundle your chute back into the container vaguely, put it in your canister, and rally up when you hit the ground. I'll start the fire now, the real fire, Victor, so check your visual mode." Natalie said, flaming a little from the two nozzles, as she kept one hand on her steering, and the right on her right nozzle. She flamed, the flames spewing below as she drifted in, fire spreading over the frozen floor as it quickly spread, the flames just about reaching at first and then torching more. Her blue UV visual spectrum didn't pick out flames of extreme type, and it at least worked for this sort of thing, allowing her to see where the fire was going without being blinded. It looked like liquid, pouring over a huge area without torching her eyes. She took out at least four men, as she felt literally no kick, coming down hard as she went running. Her parachutes came back down on the snow, gusting a little as her weight anchored herself down mainly. She sent flames spewing into an AA gun emplacement, quickly sending up a huge fireball as the rounds caught light, Natalie smiled, already gathering her own chutes in with her left hand and keeping up a volley of flames with her right. It literally poured, the inside of the compound roasted as tents and anything else in range caught light. She packed it in as best as she could, detaching it as she looked over at Victor.
"Return the favour will you? I'll stash this away." Natalie said, watching as Victor now took over with the predominant fire, the compound's snow melted in large areas and flames kicking up among the tents and wooden huts, Natalie bungling her large container in between the gap of her fuel tanks and her suit's back. Taking both flamethrowers in hand, she looked over at Victor, disengaging the UV view. It was far too bright now- and the place was lit up to hell. An RPG flew off and vaguely slammed into the ground quite a way away, as Natalie chirped with joy, already widening her legs as she saw AK fire now pour on her.
"Well...now they respond. Come on, on me. Clean the camp out- take it out if it moves. Any intel should be in the underlying part of this base- anything above ground is arms, men, insergents and various other scumbags. Flames deal with all of them- I hope grenades do too, Brute." Natalie said, moving in the heavy armor as she felt the relative lightness in her two hands pay off. While the tanks anchored her down with a weight a little heavier than her rucksack full of M134 ammunition, the nozzles themselves, the pair in her hands were flexible, and she could really move with a pacing. Already, she had a very firm grin on her face, as she sprayed flames, walking forwards as fire ricocheted off her audibly, Natalie using an arc to hit targets over a rock formation of sorts. She carried on flaming with her right as she tossed a CS Gas grenade over as far as she could with her left towards a reinforced metal bunker, lobbing it through a window of sorts- which found it's target well. The targets ran out and were flamed very quickly, Natalie dealing far more widespread damage and anarchy at close range. She looked over to Victor, who was busy detonating shit.
"Hmm...I think I just warmed this fight up, look at this shit!" Natalie added, as she directed her nozzle at a squad of infantry, trying to use a PKM and automatic fire on Natalie, as she laughed inside, incinerating them almost instantly as she sprayed them quickly with almost a red-blue hot flame that seemed to spread. She kept moving, richocheting all over, as she smoked out a few enemies behind a container, quickly looking back to Victor.
"If it has weapons, or ammunition, or explosives, you can set C4 or whatever's explosive on it. I'll carry on sweeping this place out- I can smell the bacon even through my suit!" Natalie said in an anarchic way, as she pushed up, moving up a ledge as she saw an RPG fire from behind, Natalie picking up three on her sensor behind. The Trophy System took out the warhead with ease, as Natalie ominously twisted back, looking at the three men. They looked well armed- an AK12 in each of their hands, but they hadn't compensated for that.
"Bad...move. RUN!" Natalie said, smiling as she directed simply a nozzle at them, and let loose. The flames went up to 150m, and in this case, they coated them quickly, turning them into headless chickens, as Natalie turned back, carrying on.
"You really need to try a flamethrower Victor, it might not be conventional, but fuck me...if you want to clear an area quickly, this is your instrument!" Natalie said, as she crunched on the melted snow, the ground black in areas where she had burned huge swathes of enemies and the rock below it burnt. She directed her fire onto a ZSU on a small rock platform, the gunner in vain to turn it. The flames inundated the camouflage netting, as Natalie checked herself, moving up as she moved onto the vehicles.

A technical pulled out, but even it couldn't outrun the torrent of fire. She faced her left hand to the left and her right straight ahead, torching the moving technical that was firing .50 cal rounds at Natalie, the ricochet significant as it even did throw Natalie a little off balance on the fragile footing she had on the melting snow. Her boots were wide and reinforced, having even some spikes at the rear to dig in for the ice, but it wasn't a revelation. She was holding herself up, and keeping what was basically her body weight plus half, if not even more, was proving very tricky indeed. Moving up on the vehicle stash, she pretty much engulfed the rest of the trucks and technicals, the fuel tank of one of the fuel lorries going up with an almighty boom as the metal physically melted on the tanker's own fuel tank, which then in turn detonated the major refueling tank it carried. That set of a chain reaction, which almost threw Natalie off, a fireball kicking up as Natalie could only chuckle.
"Haha...they are not going anywhere!" Natalie added, as she knew that they were tearing this place apart, bit by bit.

[BigPapaBelial]

Victor drifted down, keeping the fire up, firing the GMG one handed, with the other he reloaded his rocket tubes once again. Only a true beast of a man like him could hold a GMG one handed, fire it, and have remarkably good accuracy as it is like that. And Victor pulled it off quite well. Once his rocket tubes were reloaded he fired the GMG all the way to the ground with both hands this time. As they drifted in he let up on the fire, not wanting to cause any collateral damage at this point. He set down lightly, and per Natalie's orders began to put stuff his parachute away, he hardly felt the pressure of the gun fire going on around them. AK rounds peppered him, PKP bullets pattered against him, slightly more modern guns also spat at him, he heard the telltale, double tap of an AN-94, and the tatter of an AK-12 somewhere out there. But he wasn't worried. He got his chute squared away, just as Natalie pulled up.

He smiled, "Return the favor? Well don't mind if I do!" He stepped passed Natalie, raised the GMG and gave the surrounding horde a new taste of his weapon. The customized XM307 roared. HE rounds from the muzzle of the GMG kicked up clouds of dirt and debris, fire and smoke as he hammered the insurgents and troops facing them. He sent more then a few of them tumbling, broken and dead. Some of them were saved by virtue of pure luck as the rounds blinded them, and then fled in fear. Others were nearly incinerated, from the force of the fire. A one moment he gave them false hope, letting the fire from his GMG slacken, but he already had the eight rockets in his shoulder mounts locked. a group of twenty moved forward thinking they had the big man. But were instead killed or mutilated rather painfully by the smart fire rockets that had sailed up, and then come down on those positions. Towers of flame and debris bursting into the air where they struck.

He didn't manually reload the rocket tubes this time, instead calling into his suits systems, "Reload Rocket tubes one trough eight." A big blue notification flared on his HUD, "ACKNOWLEDGED." The auto loading system kicked in as Victor fell in behind Natalie, "Come on, you? I thought I had. Or was it in you? I'm confused..." He grinned knowing she'd get the joke. He kept up the rear, Natalie's flamethrowers spooking targets from hidey-holes. If there were any left inside, Victor hammered the hiding place with HE rounds, making sure that if there was anyone else in there they wouldn't come out. As they passed the bunker he tossed two sticks of C4 inside, two of about eighteen he had brought for this express purpose.

As they moved on he pulled out a detonator and pressed down on the trigger, the bunker went up. He stopped to look back at the explosion smiling, "Remember that song awhile back, "Cool guys don't look at explosions"? I don't know why that's such a thing. The explosion is the best part." He watched as a few rockets cooked off and flared out from the former bunker, and he listened to the pop and snap of bullets cooking off too. He turned and fell back into position with Natalie.

He grinned broadly, "They didn't expect to deal with us. Makes me wonder how they'll deal with our little cousins in the army." He sent off another rocket, blocking out the bottom floor of a building where he could see several HMGs being set up. They intended to hit them from behind as they passed most likely. He was not going to let that happen. The building shuddered and groaned as the rocket slammed into the ground floor supports. Then the building came down around the troops inside. He heard the cries of pain and the slow moan of people on death's door.

He didn't stop, he moved on, helping to take care of those technicals and light armor, "None of these fools are going to get away, they owe too much to the world at large now." He turned as a second technical tried to escape, it's gun not even turned towards them and what had to be about fifteen troops piled onto and into it. He took aim, and unleashed a rain of heavy rounds on the technical, they didn't get much further then the one that Natalie had taken out. The ten grenade rounds slammed into the truck, kicked it into the air, and sending it's riders flying, the truck itself went into a roll, twice flipping before one of the grenades he fired caught the gas tank and caused the technical to blossom into a ball of flames. He could only grin, as he moved on.

[FourtyTwo]

(Escalation on top of Escalation. Also, you might see something flesh out in the future involving this and our regular Juggernauts in quite a canny way.)

Natalie watched on, as she carried on, pinging bullets of all calibers, virtually unstoppable as she jogged with the flamethrowers to hand. She torched a cavern of sorts, where a few militants were hiding, before hearing a moment of silence.
"That was at least thirty of them. Now we go into the caverns- we've got minutes here. I'll keep on point- switch to your shotguns, we'll need to decimate anything that moves. They shouldn't have a chance. Like I said, I've just warmed this mountain up a little, the amount of sweat down my titties is unreal." Natalie said, her voice as evil as sin as she looked back at Victor, aware that maybe, just maybe, it was too much information. Or enough for Victor, perhaps. Natalie thought to herself, as she pushed forward, every footstep buerying into the snow as she flamed ahead at a cluster in a wooden shed. The place went up quickly, and flaming Taliban emerged, a hell of a sight but in some ways, remiding why flamethrowers weren't used conventionally any more. Something like this ferocity could fit on a vehicle in the Vietnam era, but Natalie had it in her hands with the tanks on her back providing more than enough flame to torch the rest of the place.

Natalie pushed on up, moving up the peak and what seemed towards a compound that sat the front of the small cavern that housed most of the command buildings. She already guessed that this was whatever they had on the surface- and almost everything was either leveled or ablaze. Even the wooden huts and tents had been taken out, as well as pretty much all the AA sites.
"Through here then. I'll torch the place to what I can- they're backed into a corner, so we can decapitate their command here." Natalie said, as she moved up, a pair of 12.7mm KORD machineguns holding the entrance. Natalie sprayed flames forward, suppressing and bringing the heat, as she got closer and into a better range, as she then pretty much roasted them as they didn't expect the fire to come- one trying to run before getting overwhelmed by the scorching flames. She clambered over a rockface, barely making her way over to be greeted by bullets, as she tsked, getting up and then flaming straight ahead.

The woman, her face of an Arabic origin, was a former member of Gaddafi's Amazon Guards. Her name was Nadia- and though perhaps the least known for what she did, what she was in the organization was big. A mercenary, yes, but one that knew the world of protection well. And this was what she had helped out today. Her features had been specifically picked by Gadaffi, from her juicy breasts to her well built arms and legs. She was no giant, but she was 6"5, and a good example of a woman that could hold her own. But today, she had work to do. The Group had told her to defend this post, and they had sent some people to level this place, apparently. She looked at her armor, a smirk on her face. This was stolen from the Chinese- a Heavy Assault Suit, codenamed "Monster" , that had an exoskeleton frame and was enough to lift her and the heavy titanium and nanoskinned composite. It was practically indestructible, to some regard. They had stolen another few of these, though she had no idea where it had gone in the Group. Inteligence had never found out about this, and in the small armory, as she inspected the 20mm Autocannon and Trophy System attached just on the shoulder, as well as the fuel hoses and the bulky hydrogen cells on the rear. Opening the top, she then stripped down, the cold biting as she heard the gunfire outside, and went full Amazon. Just like Gaddafi liked her sometimes- though she no longer served him. She had left him for dead, and in that town, and taken this offer. To join this team. She lept on the barrel of the gun and then fell inside the hatch on the "head" of the suit, shutting the lid off, as the suit activated, moving. There was nobody here- they had all gone ahead to defend the HQ. Well, the Group wanted her to hold the ground and make sure nothing fell into enemy hands. She was an insurance policy, her breasts on metal as the suit whirred and whined, moving quickly as she smirked, the HUD okay as 8"1 worth of prototype exoskeleton was about to put a rainy day on her enemy. Nobody dared tell her that on her back, the three bottled liquid hydrogen cells, pumping out enough energy to power a small town were connected by a few less protected pipes, and as much as she knew that projectiles wouldn't do the job.
"Group, this is Phoenix. We just received a heavy force, seems like I'll have to clean them out and await your arrival to retrieve the materials." She said, the woman inside moving forward, as every step she made was heavy, inside feeling the cooling system whir against her naked frame inside.

Natalie flamed up ahead, as she took out four people, the giants now ravaging the side of the hill as they pushed inside and were entering the cavern, taking out anything that moved. The command tent was burning, as Natalie scanned the area, looking around, the guardpost cleared of enemies as they swept through, the the Taliban commanders all dead and out for the count. Natalie thought this battle was about to come to an end, when suddenly, it happened. A large iron door was kicked open, and thumping could be heard. The wide feet of the exoskeleton came down loud and clear, as Nadia looked at them, smirking as she span up the barrel. She knew that they were armored well too- perhaps this would be an interesting game. Natalie pointed her flamethrowers at her, aware that it was pointless, as she only had one thing to say on the comms:
"What the fuck is that! Shit, try the 40mm grenades direct! Rockets, whatever you have left!" Natalie yelled over the comms, as she watched the 12.7mm from the heavy GAU-19 tear through the cavern, incredibly inaccurate- possibly due to poor guidance systems in it's prototype stage. It had explosive rounds, and when one hit Natalie, she was thrown back, Nadia laughing as the other giant, comparable in size to her, fired grenades. They popped about three meters from her, the system's recharge doing nothing to upset the status quo as her suit just soaked the explosions up without a problem, a loud knocking inside as Natalie was just about back up. The cavern was tall, but even if Victor launched off a volley of rockets, Phoenix had it under control, the Trophy System obliterating them, as she kept on firing, the place lit up as she just didn't stop, occasionally moving to focus between targets.
"Fuck...ideas?" Natalie said, looking at Victor.
"Shit, I have an idea...it's risky though. We need to disable her Trophy System then hit her as hard as possible, get her back exposed!. How the fuck we do that...wait, she is blinded when I flame! Victor, aim for her shoulder with the USAS12s, I will keep her at bay!" Natalie yelled loudly over the comms, as she was hammered around her by the GAU-19, her suit taking some serious hits yet coping. The outer kevlar was shredded in places, but the composites and the thick materials below were keeping the 12.7mm from breaching her. She pointed her two heavy flamethrowers forward, aware that it wasn't really doing much to the suited soldier, but was blinding their IR vision, something which forced them back a little. Haha, this beast wasn't all powerful after all, Natalie thought to herself, as Victor unloaded hell- something that Natalie then realized wasn't entirely the case, as her suit took a heavy hit, the .50 cal exploding round clearly built to deal with IFVs, and potentially make a mincing of the two Super-Heavies. The rounds were fast-moving from Victor, and the Trophy System couldn't stop it all- the Rufaross rounds decimating the exposed mechanism, which was hidden but due to it's 360 degree nature, able to be decimated. Natalie took another significant hit again, as the exoskeletoned soldier looked to Victor, already looking on as Nadia inside saw the message- "Active Protection Offline." She swore loudly, as she fired at Natalie, before looking at Victor, in a fit of her rage. Phoenix knew she couldn't move fast freely, but she charged forwards, still firing wildly as the suited soldier was now closing on Victor...and while the two had some similar height, even Natalie hoped to God that the Mohican wasn't going to be taken out.
"Victor, just get out of there, outflank her! I'll draw her fire, just avoid her and keep moving!" Natalie said, getting up again as she even felt the force echo through her body, her HUD now pinning up Pheonix's rear fuel tanks. Natalie threw a cluster grenade, to which did nothing to the uparmored fuel tanks, followed by a blast of flames that did nothing.. Phoenix was directly angry at the other super-heavy, and knew the other was no threat, with her flames. It had boxed Victor into a hole, and the 40mm was only slowing the suited soldier up, as it seemed the inevitable was going to happen. Victor's inhumane strength against that...and Natalie knew that whatever she had to do, she had to do now.
"Shit...Victor, just wait!" Natalie said, already moving quickly as she realized that Phoenix had swung hard as it charged, and thrown Victor right into the end of the little cavern, with pretty much no way out. So Natalie did the only thing she hoped to God would work, and pulled out the C4 charge. The light went green, as she knew that it was completely and totally focussed, as she lobbed it forward, the heavy 5kg slab never going to miss, as Natalie panted, short of breath and feeling like she was going to pass out. The charge had adhesives on it that had been triggered by the charge's activation- and now stuck to the red bottles, exposed as ever. Nadia looked at Victor on the floor, and turned around- unaware that he was still moving, and going.
"Victor...push her away, just do it!" Natalie screamed over the comms, hoping that Victor had enough mass to perhaps counter attack her heavy weight, while she then turned and swore, looking straight at Natalie with her red-tinited multicamera lenses on her visor. She span up the weapon, and Natalie, trigger in hand, knew that if Victor didn't do it, the blast would kill him. She had to wait, almost wanting to pass out as her legs were like jelly, her arms gone. She waited, and only pulled the clacker when she knew that Victor would either do the honors himself and risk his life by firing on the tanks, or would wait for Natalie- a risk to her as Phoenix now fired on Natalie, Natalie already falling back past a destroyed technical for limited cover from the rounds, which were tearing the area apart, but perhaps the fact that Phoenix had forgotten that Victor was made of far sterner stuff after being pushed by what was essentially a metal ram to that corner, and that he had a shot to make.

[BigPapaBelial]

Victor was bringing up the rear, gunning down any insurgents that managed to survive the fiery onslaught of the woman ahead of him. There weren't many, so he also spent some time mining out side rooms with grenade fire and C4 blocks. He was reloading his USAS12s when the monster suit appeared. He stopped, and even before Natalie told him to try rockets and grenades he had already raised his XM307 and rapid fired several rounds, and emptied his left side rocket pods on it. From his angle it looked like they were good hits, then the smoke and flames cleared, "Fucking trophy system!" He dodged away from Natalie, getting into cover, popping out to snap off shots at the behemoth, trying to see if he could overwhelm the defense system. He growled, "I can't do shit against that trophy system, what the balls is this seriously." He got hammered by a few of the explosive rounds, his HUD warning him of several outer layer breaches. He ducked back again.

He looked back at Natalie then listened to her plan, "I like it. It's worth a shot!" He put up his XM307 for now, and reloaded his USAS12s. Then stepped around the corner. He took aim, flipped the fire selector on the weapon to full auto, then with extreme prejudice, pulled the triggers. The trophy stopped maybe every 1 in 5 shots. But he had those huge twenty round drum mags. So there were still sixteen rounds to go outside of those four that were stopped. And they were enough to shred the trophy system. He let out a war whoop as he saw the structure tumble. But then swore, dropped the USAS12s, and swung up the XM307 again, hammering the big bertha of a suit. He kept backing away, taking more and more rounds, the heavy thick frontal armor of his suit shreding under the continuous fire the big auto-cannon. He grunted, and called out, "You try and squeeze through rock hun. I'm not going any where!" He had to let the XM swing soon. As where he was boxed in there was very little room for the grenades to arm, and would just be causing blunt damage. He growled, and grabbed out his tomahawks. Putting on of them right into the visor of the helmet, the other slamming into the shoulder chest and stomach of the suit, biting into armor. "Do something quick hun! I may not last...fuck!" He hollered that last out painfully as a round finally made it past some of his armor, but missed actually punching into flesh and ripped across his hip.

He groaned, and with tomahawks still drawn got right into the behemoths face. Right before being lifted bodily, something only Natalie could usually manage, and was sent flying and skidding back into the cave he had been pinned in. He coughed trying to catch his breath. He looked up at the thing, then blinked as the thing turned. And saw the C4 block he grinned, "Push her off you say?" He got up, and once again pulled off a feat of strength fitting of mythological beings like Heracles or Atlas. He grabbed the large suit by a hip plate and a brace on the back then with a push, sent it stumbling forward. Where it began to fire on Natalie. Victor darted back, grabbed on of the USAS12s, spun on his heel, slammed a new drum into place, then with a steady hand, fired.

The round punched into the C4 block, the small explosive charge in to raufoss based round going off, setting off the C4 charge, then sending a tungsten-carbide penetrator into the armor below the tanks. But that wasn't anything compared to the explosion that went off and ripped open the suits back, and sent shock waves into the inside of the armor. Victor raised the USAS again, and emptied the shots into the open back of the suit, just to make sure. He roared a warcry while doing so. His choler up now. The front of his armor ripped to shreds and only parts of the lowest layer still in place from getting hammered by the beasts cannon.

[FourtyTwo]

Natalie was thrown off her feet, flung backwards as the Hydrogen Cell went up- the secondary explosion of the tanks huge as it completely went up, the blue flame turning to a white-hot fusion that burned bright and sent whatever Hydrogen was concentrated up in flames. The entire cavern was filled with fire, as the cell literally tore through the place, Natalie closing her eyes as she hoped for the best, feeling a hurt in her body that felt too recognizable as she was thrown to a corner of the cave and felt her spine hit hard against her tanks.

Almost thirty seconds later, she came around again, pushing her visor up as she looked over at Victor. She leant back up, as she looked at her Flamethrower, and her legs. She wriggled a little, feeling no bones broken- maybe a rib, but she couldn't tell. She coughed hard, dusting herself off with her gauntlets, as she looked at the burning areas of the cavern.
"Shit...what the fuck?" Natalie said, as she knew that while her visor was just about intact, their armors had taken a beating. Bulletproof it may have been, explosive fifty cal round from a fucking minigun it wasn't. And then there was the 8"1 exoskeleton in the middle of the room, still burning. Natalie looked over to Victor, as she slowly clambered up, a nosebleed pouring down her face as she around,
"Shit...Victor, you okay?" Natalie asked, barely slumbering over as she looked down at the suit, stopping to breath and pant hard.
"What the fuck is this...it's nothing I've ever seen before, but we need to return it to base, before someone else disposes of it. Drag the remmenants out and call for that C17 to take it back to Perth, I'll scan for intel in that little corner she came out of. Fuck...I don't know how combat ready we now are..." Natalie said, looking around, as she then looked back at the suit. It was fried- whatever was inside was dead and charred beyond limit, but parts of the armor were still intact. The frame somehow was in places, intact, but in others, completely shreded. The back was completely demolished, but the front could be salvaged. The exoskeleton mechanism was gone, but the armored composite could be made out in some places.
"This cannot go back to the Coalition forces. They find this, the Chinese are going to be so angry, they won't know what hit them. And besides, we've got engineers who can tell us what we're up against next time we run into this fucking sort of thing. The CIA would just hide it from us and next time, when they walk around with 25mm guns, we'll be dead meat. Half a fucking regiment will be. Use that Fulton Balloon that we keep on our shit- it might work to lift that fucking brute, but since most of it is demolished, it should be a lot lighter." Natalie said, spitting blood, as she then looked over to Victor, aware of the scale that this got to.
"I would fucking kiss you right now...but look at us. Let's just get the job done. Get this bastard out, we'll call our C17 to pull this beast out and so on." Natalie said, as the two super-heavies, covered in dust, dirt and severe hits, seemed no longer like the impentrable giants they were. Natalie guessed that they were at half capabilities, and sustained regular 12.7mm fire wouldn't be tolerable. Small arms still would be, but Natalie made a mental note that a lot of the kevlar had been shredded, and that blast protection from the specialized kevlar weave combined with the prototype foam that protected from blasts wouldn't take much more. She looked over her shoulder, as she then put her visor back down, coughing hard as she stood up again, wanting to stand tall as she moved in towards the metal armory the exoskeletoned soldier had emerged from. Natalie's jaw dropped.

Walking around, she took her helmet off in it's entirity, looking in. This place was solely the armored soldier's, it seemed, and was mostly empty, apart from a rack, a large metal crate and a large desk with oversized drawers. She found a dogtag on a table. Nadia Hamid, and a picture. Natalie recognized the picture- a woman that she had herself met and spoken to, though they didn't get on that well. She was Qaddafi's loyal servant a few years ago, now she was a mercenary for hire. And what qualified her for this was the question, was probably to do with the fact that she had no real allegiances and served money. That was what Natalie knew well, as she looked over at the desk. She looked for other things. Documents. And in particular, one in Chinese. It was the armor, a drawing of some sorts, and a few other details. She couldn't read Mandarin, but she guessed it couldn't be the suit specifications or blueprints. But it had something to do with how this was obtained. She moved up the desk, already looking for anything else. On the floor, Nadia's clothing could be seen. Natalie tsked. She had a far smaller breast size, as she knew her mind was trying to make fun out of a shitty situation. It was the only way she kept her sanity, as she then looked over back around the room. Other munitions, as well as a few armored plates could be seen. Perhaps replacements? She carried on looking, knowing she wasn't no Batman or Sherlock Holmes, but scanning for intel was important. She came across another important document, in one of the drawers, her oversized hand just knocking the thing completely open. Amung some piles of shit, she found a text in Russian on a phone that was on the table, an Android of some sorts. From a reference called Konstantin, to Nadia.

"To Nadia- Ahmed has confirmed the go ahead. The American and Faruq are making their way out of the region, I will meet Ahmed tomorrow and probably confirm his part. It is a shame we lost Ricardo in China- but we must move on. Ahmed is pissed off, but remember- you and what you have are worth billions of dollars to the highest bidder, then you can walk away with your cut when we keep providing this security to the Group leader. Ahmed's undisclosed friend told us that the attack in Brussels was merely a start- and that for Alexandrovich's services, the man in charge of the Group will pay very large sums of money to keep himself and his friends provided with more than enough firepower and offensive support- something that I hope you will play a part in. You must enjoy that thing? I will stay in touch- Konstantin.

PS: This city is really rundown."

Natalie looked over at the name again, confirming that as the man that was captured by operators in Dushanbe a day ago, she recalled. That man had to play a big role, but he was out of the picture. And would spill all the beans soon, she thought to herself. Alexandrovich, or Alexis for short, was the dealer- a man that didn't do much of this. Probably being hunted by the Spetsnaz right now, Natalie thought to herself, so that left loose ends. The American and Faruq. She had no idea who either could be- with things like the exoskeleton Nadia had, it could be anything, just random names. She looked through, finding another text, barely able to press it with her finger. It was the message sent before that one- before Konstantin's last.

"To Nadia- Alexis says to sell, sell, sell. This man in charge of the group is very shady- he sounds Arabic, but you need not know these matters. If you are seeing this, you are being driven into Wakhan. You are familiar with what is inside that metal container, but you now are their defender, their Ace against what could happen. This Group leader says that Brussels was executed correctly, and he expects retaliation- though he is too short-sighted on how much it could cost him. Nevertheless, you must protect these leaders- they are important to the cause locally, and will give us time to support this leader's Group to pullout from Afghanistan altogether. I will let you know on Faruq and the other man- we are completely redeploying our operations, and offloading before leaving, they have protected our supply depots in the Tajikistani side of the border well. Apparently, this man says that Fort Sarawak, or the Colonial Fort "Tempest" is where we have the last major supplies for the forces in this region before we completely pull the plug, and houses a lot of Group forces and AAA that would slow down any offensive with more information there apparently- though I do not poke my beak so vehemently into such things. Good luck, Nadia. You shouldn't have a scratch by the time we send you a way out, but make no doubt, you will be outmatched. Konstantin." Natalie read, as she swore.

"Shit...Victor, I just hit golddust. Get Merlin on the comms, now. He needs to know- remember, we keep to silence on this suit's direction and where we're taking the wreckage. Tell them to drop a resupply crate while they're at picking that thing up- my M134 is in the crate, and it'll be better than this flamethrower, for what's next." Natalie said, as she knew that Victor would have to get a vague Fulton system set up on the destroyed armor, Natalie aware that the C17 crew were PMC-loyal, and a bit more directly involved in the company to serve their needs.
"This is Merlin to Brute and Bear, what is your sit rep? We heard you ran into heavy fire?" Natalie heard, as Natalie chuckled, looking around the little armory.
"Yes, we did. Area is clear- but we have intel in the armored suits. It looks like they are moving out of the region along with operators, they've left altogether. and Konstantin is hiring them out like Mercenaries to the highest bidder from a dealer called Alexandrovich, Seems like the Group is paying most, so they get service."
"That we figured out from Konstanin already, his dealer and the fact that they exist- did you just say that they're working as mercenaries?"
"Yes...and they're contracted through the Group, or whatever they call it."
"Shit...well, Alexis is currently surrounded at his villa in Southern Russia currently by a Spetsnaz Alfa Gruppa team, and Konstantin is currently in our custody. So who is commanding them now?"
"They just lost their handlers...but they don't need a middleman when they get paid directly by the Group and are going to play ball with them. It seems like they were all fucking pawns...except those fucking armored bastards and the Group. They're escalating. I'm sending the phone data from a cell phone I recovered, will get to work on scanning these documents shortly. I need whatever special forces team you have on the ground here in half an hour to clean this up."
"Affirmative, Bear- we are relocating a DEVGRU team to your position, they will be 20 mikes to reach your location and will pull you out to your next LZ. Any other intel?"
"Well...they want something bigger. From what I saw, we're dealing with the Ex-Leader of the Amazon Guards of Qaddafi's bodyguards, Nadia Hamid that was among the dead. And there's a few mixed mercenaries, though mainly Taliban. My guess, there are two ways about it- getting rid of caches will be pointless or keeping us in a limited scope would not cut it, so this is out of the question if you think that undermining the Group's activities in area will do anything. We need to assault Fort Tempest before the day fully breaks, and eliminate the last Group forces that we can, then spreading out to get rid of the Taliban in a fully-fledged operation that knows no bounds. Or, we can sit here and let this counter offensive do nothing after it's done, bypass all the important people and then let Brussels happen again. Merlin, just make sure our transport arrives on time, and we can regroup with this team that we're meant to move out with on Tempest- we need to clear it, ASAP. This fight is far from over- and you better have that fire support on hand." Natalie said over the comms, as she sent the file, Merlin coughing as he then sighed.
"Understood. But you better not put our forces at risk. Nice find on the intel- it confirms that Tempest is more important than we first thought, and that Konstantin's a cog in a machine he no longer needs to be a part in. If they really kicked it up a gear, I suggest you get yourselves combat ready, and prepare for redeployment. Out." Natalie heard, as she adjusted herself in the suit, looking over to the rack.
"Copy that." Natalie simply said, looking over to the rack. It was sizable, and the crate had a lot of Chinese markings on it. Something felt uneasy about this- and she knew that what was next was to simply raid Fort Tempest, and eliminate the biggest stronghold of enemy "Group" forces, to perhaps gain an insight on where next. There was no point chasing the dealers and people like Konstantin now. They served their needs. But now, chasing what was left of this relatively unknown and well armed force in Wakhan while they could would serve to their advantage- to find out whatever intel on where the Group was going next, and to stop it before it turned the world on fire. Natalie already finishing up, put her helmet back on, brushing the dust off, as she headed back out with a jog as best as she could, aware that they were well battle worn for the day. She saw Victor finishing up, as the crate fell from the C17, slamming into the floor close to one of the AA compounds. She looked over to him, patting him on the back, as she smiled under her visor.
"Over there. Come on." Natalie said, as she looked around for enemy contacts, searching for anything that still posed a threat.
"If that's one, I really don't want to know what another set could be like. Fuck...that thing was innacurate and put more holes into the air than us, but still...when that shit hit, I couldn't even imagine an IFV lasting a long time against that." Natalie simply said, as she led the way, trying to at least keep some level of confidence and positivism in the air. Against all odds, she had to keep in this- just keep sane and alive somehow. She moved over to the blue smoke of the crate, already getting to work as she opened it out and found her multi-barreled weapon and the huge rucksack of choice for herself.
"Perfect." She said, as she looked back at Victor, herself sitting on the crate as she knew that while she wasn't as powerful as she had been jumping out of the plane, she still had some serious ass to kick.
"More intel gathering...I mean, this is what it comes to. I remember the good days, where they said to us to raid a Somalian town and clean it of everything that holds an AK, or wingsuit onto a plane? Shit has to be this complicated now...I suppose it could be far worse." Natalie said, looking over at Victor, aware that this part of the mountain had been practically eradicated by the two super-heavies, who now sat partly overlooking the base, that was on fire, the flames from the exoskeleton's fuel cell making NVs a non-essential thing to have on at the moment.

(It gets dragged out at times, but basically, the snipers begin in my next post, almost 30km east of where that all happened.)

[BigPapaBelial]

Victor finished emptying the drum mag, then was thrown several feet back as the shock front finally hit him. He stumbled and fell behind a pile of crates. And for a time saw nothing but darkness. He got up slowly, groaning, he didn't feel anything broken, he did feel where that large bullet had grazed him though. He got slowly to his feet and looked about. Spotting Natalie as she came forward. He walked over to the exoskeleton. He kneeled beside it and nodded slowly, not bothering to look up at Natalie, "I'm fine hun...what the hell is this? And why don't we have any yet?" He nodded to Natalie, "I'll be back in a sec babe." He grabbed the suit and the corpse within and started to pull it out to the entrance of the cave they came from. Once out he detached the fulton rig from his own suit and attached it to the debris. He then hit his mic, "Globemaster Perth, Globemaster Perth, this is Brute. Do you read?" Moments later the pilot responded, "Roger Brute, what's up?" Brutal dragged the suit out a little further into an open area that allowed for a pick up, "Got a fulton hook here for you. Pick up the contents, keep it stowed. This is 1000% hush hush, no one outside of us, you and command learns of this. Hell don't even let command know until we're done." The pilot tsked, "That big huh Brute? Roger, launch the ballon, ETA on your GPS 3 minutes." Victor reached down and pulled the ballon cord, watching it raise skyward. He stepped back and away, covering it, "Oh and while your at it Globemaster, drop us one of those resupply crates would you?" The Pilot chuckled, "Sure, we'll have to make another pass after this one for that. But you'll have it. Globemaster Perth out." Victor looked up at the huge plane passed over head, snagged the fulton line and then grinned as the big remains of the suit rocketed off. He then headed back inside to rejoin Natalie.

He arrived just in time for Natalie to ask him to contact Merlin. He pressed a hand to the side of his helmet, removing his face plate with the other. "Double Bs to Merlin, Merlin, radio line is secure. Bear has something for you."

He started looking around the cave while Merlin and Natalie spoke chiming in with, "Oh sure, just part of the job taking fire. But who knew it was going to be .50 HE? We're okay otherwise." He knelt beside a pile of weapon and armor pieces, looking them over. He sighed, "This is going fast. Make sure the other team members are on site when we get there. This is already like Hell's basement, if we don't take all this down, we're going to be looking at Hell times ten, and I don't feel like getting a time share down there just yet."

He got back to his feet and followed Natalie out. Smiling as the weapons resupply crate landed. He headed over, and grabbed somemore rocket reload packets, a few more drum mags for his USAS12s and slid a few more grenades into the cylinder no his back. He hrmed, "Should have up armored with some of those plates from the cave. Damn it. Ah well, what we have will work against anything up to 7.62. I don't think either of us are going to be able to take another 12.7 this operation." He snapped the feedline to his XM307 again, and wracked the slide. Grinning as a round slid into place, "Let's go make somemore friends shall we?" He reached up, reattaching his face plate, the HUD coming back online with a blur and short burst of static.

[FourtyTwo]

(A temporary end for the Super-Heavies after this- we switch to the snipers, then bring in the Jugs, then the Heavies again.)

Natalie put on a smile, looking over as she set her rucksack up on her back, and took the M134 in both hands. She rearmed with her explosives and other kit, feeling a little pressure build as she looked over to Victor.
"Hang on." Natalie said, as her gas suddenly erupted into flames, as she then cut out, and exhaled hard. She kept her visor down, lumbering the heavy weapon in her two arms, as she then looked back at Victor, a sort of smile on her face.
"That one was evil as hell, that felt good." Natalie said, as she then finished up with gearing up, and looked over towards other icy peaks.
"We could steal those plates, but they are too irregular, and don't exactly look like they would you know...suit us well. We wouldn't have enough time to improvise it, and it would be loose anyway. Though I tell you, next time we find one of those suits and it hasn't got an occupant, I am so stealing one. Don't even care Victor, I will fucking show them how Heavies do this." Natalie said, looking at Victor, as she scanned her perimeter, the blue UV setting on now as she looked for enemies.
"Chinook should be here in 20- we're going across the mountains to this Camp "Vulture" or whatever it is. Might need the chutes again, though I really fucking hope not- mine isn't exactly perfect." Natalie said, as she sat on the crate, the polycarbonate bending as she looked around, aware that they were waiting now.
"Victor...thanks. We almost died then, you know- imagine if that was accurate..we might be having our body bits cleaned up and that smug bitch would be dancing over my body."

15 minutes later, the Chinook flew in, barely passing over the mountain ridge, as it circled round, and a team of eight Navy Seals jumped from the rear. They were in shock, as the two super-heavies then suddenly stood up, Natalie and Victor walking like they had really burnt the ground to pieces. They looked over, as Natalie turned her head.
"We did the dirty work- you secure this shit, and clean up if anyone else comes. Oh, and you can stop looking at us- we understand you value us as your Gods, but don't be kiss-asses and stare. Thanks." Natalie scared, the leader of the DEVGRU squad even scared when she heard the female, Russian-accented voice through his comms, as Natalie walked onto the back of the Chinook, the man turning his head away, as he led the others, sweeping the area and setting up a perimeter for more forces to come in. Meanwhile, Natalie found a place in the back of the Chinook, already taking up two seats, as she widened her legs, feeling the fans and the cooling system really kick now, as she exhaled hard.
"Woo! Let's fucking rock, gents- you're to get fuel apparently from over in China, then take us to Vulture, so I would hop to it." Natalie said, as she looked to Victor, aware that they were moving out now- the Chinook rising as they were headed out- and though they'd be a little while, till their drop at 0400 hours at the camp, they had spent about 45 minutes on the site, and it had been cleaned out.

---

0300 Hours
Somewhere in the region close to Mount Haras

The noise of quadbikes was actually quite quiet, but the mountain paths of area were hard to negociate and steep, tricky and altitude-sickness inducing. The first one, winter-camoflaged, flew over the salient of a small emankment, Andrew's face smirking as he led the way up the snowy track, up the mountain. He revved the engine, already going over a salient on a rutted path, that had seen a landslide. He checked the GPS, and the XM500 Anti-Materiel sniper rifle mounted on the front bullbar of the Quad, with his Mk14 EBR on his back with a 4x ACOG and a canted optic along with a silencer and laser pointer, whilst a Mk23 pistol sat in his holster on his right, a sharp Gerber knife- the two white ghillies pacing through the mountains.
"Haha! We are closing on OP "Switchblade", we've got a AAA site to take out from there. We'll need to hide the quads- fuck, this is sweet though." Andrew said, keeping ahead on the narrow, less-well traveled trail as he churned up snow, already turning uphill onto an even smaller one, barely able to get past. They were very high up- and the morning was as cold as hell. Combined with wind chill, even the ghillie and the Arctic gear he wore was still cold. The quads paced upwards, as Andrew heard the distant noise of a lorry. He hit the brakes, the thin ridge of the mountain track overlooking a more well-traveled path. It was 500m out, but the truck on the other side of the mountain ridge, was easy to spot. The daylight was just about to break- with this altitude giving even some limited extent of the rising sun's visibility on their horizon.
"Lorry, target of interest. We're to engage anything up here, break out the rifle..." Andrew said, stopping his quad as he looked at it, bringing his XM500 to bear on it's bipod at the front of the Quad as he checked the TWS optic, magnifying as he checked the rangefinder.
"Target is 552m, closing in at a rate of about half a meter a a second as he goes down that road heading west...wind speed, 10m/s north, so the bullet will carry a little on the wind. Possible crosswind to the east, slight though. Zero to 520, fire when ready- remember, eliminate the truck. Looks like ammo." Andrew said, as he readied his own shot, watching the lorry drive down the road. He adjusted his own sights, and waited on Nolan to fire, aware that it was slow moving, yet an easy target to take on. They were about six km out from Camp Vulture- which was merely a hidehole for their equipment, as well as a sort of place to co-ordinate where to go. The truck was moving closer to Andrew's mark, as he readied his winter gloves on the trigger, waiting for the moment to strike and unleash hell. It would be loud, but it would do the trick- and then they could move to the OP to wipe out the SAM site.

[BigPapaBelial]

Victor shouldered his XM307, fully kitted out again, sans about 5 inches of armoring on the front of his suit. But that just went to show that he and Natalie are the pinnacle of all things infantry on the ground. He didn't step back when Natalie roared her own brand of noise. He waved a hand in front of his facemask though. He couldn't smell a thing, but he could appreciate how it worked. He chuckled, "You know, at this rate. I'm going to develop one hell of a fart fetish." He laughed softly then turned to look out over the devastation they had caused, admiring their handiwork. He smiled memorizing it, another thing he's proud of doing. What better way to pass the time?

Minutes later he turned and looked up as the Chinook came in. He crossed his arms as the Seals jumped down. His robotic suit, even torn up as it was made him intimidating. He hrmed, "You guys came at an opportune time. Bear and I did most of the heavy lifting, if there is anyone left alive in there, you guys get to sniff them out." He walked past them all as they spread out. He stepped up, stepping down heavy on purpose to make the heli bounce a little, and making the door man at the back door bark in surprise. He shouted to the front as he took a seat just opposite Natalie, "Get this whirlybird in the air! We got things to do." He sat down finally and relaxed he looked across at Natalie, and pulled his face plate down, giving her a wink and a smile.

---

Nolan took a small hillock at speed, catching a little air, and coming down once again behind Andrew. He grunted and looked down into the valley again, looking for targets like they were told too. He had his Tac50 mounted on the front of the quad's front carry rack, right beside his own XM500 LRAMSW. Both rifles true beasts. He skidded abit on the path. He also had his PP2000, Striker and his M9 at hand, just in case. He also had a huge amount of APERS mines on the back carry rack, just in case. He hrmed into the comms as Andrew spoke, "Should I be bringing the Tac or my own XM when we get to Switchblade do you think?" He got back onto the track finally, taking up position 5 meters behind Andrew again, rolling forward. And coming to a stop beside Andrew when his friend stops.

He hrmed, spotting the truck just as Andrew called it out. "Right I see him." He swung his own XM up and into a firing position. Sniffling a little and clear his nose briefly, then setting eye to scope, quickly doping it out, and zeroing in the sights. He sat there for a time, feeling the pleasant bite of the coldness around them, his Canadian up-bringing making him mostly immune to the cold way up there. He waited, cocking the sight to a position where he could ambush shoot the lorry. He hrmed, "Get ready..." He waited, smiling brightly as the truck pulled into his cross hairs.

Nolan makes a living on firing a really big rifle. The Tac 50 McMillan Firearms Manufacturing LRSW/AMR is a big rifle. .50 calibre, firing 12.7 rounds in a variety of formats. Nolan fires a Tac 50 A1 variant of the rifle, without the recoil suppression of the A1-R2 model. So he knew how to take and disperse big recoil. But yet as the XM500 rifle fires, he rocks back and has to give out a woot of joy.

The round sails down, a HEIAP round, designed esspecially to make short work of vehicle and man alike. His target was the engine. Put that out of action and it'd make it loads easier to take out the rest of the truck. The round sailed in. Cutting a little, but the shot is true. And slams right into the engine, punches right through the engine block and buries itself deep in the engine. The round exploding shredding the inner workings. Nolan grins broadly as he pulls his eye away from the scope. He nods, "Say one thing about Barrett, they make a good...oh geez!"

He ducked a little as a chance burst of fire had made it's way up a fuel line and into one of the trucks fuel tanks, taking nearly a quarter of the truck apart. He chuckled, "Yep definitely make a good rifle."

[FourtyTwo]

(I really couldn't think of what to post. So I made a pretty short post, setting up more sniping.)

Andrew watched on through his own XM500 scope, adjusting himself for the lorry's movement, as he knew he'd shoot if Nolan missed. And that was pretty impossible, Andrew reminded himself, as the fifty went off loudly- and detonated the truck, the fuel line catching and burning a huge section of the lorry, as it partly went up.
"Fuck man, awesome shot!" He said, putting his own rifle back on the front bullbar, as he knew that they had done the job. Firing the engine up, the stealthed out quads actually quite quiet, Andrew led the way again, the two aware that the truck wasn't going anywhere. Speeding around a set of rocks, he had to go full-out on the gas up a steep hill, the snow kicking up thick and thin as Andrew slightly adjusted his course, flinging the quad past a set of rocks as he looked at his GPS.
"We're coming close, another klick. Should be no more distractions- we've already dealt with a mortar site, so let's stay from afar and eliminate the SAMs- then go close in and rig the bastards up. They won't be good for any airdrops in our area if they find anything high-flying, to say the least. It's why we had to quad it in for so fucking far." Andrew added, kicking up snow as he avoided the top of the ridegeline, not wanting to skyline as he looked over at the view. The sun was barely visible over the peaks, and it was still dark as hell- though NVGs weren't needed. The timing reminded him almost of Dushanbe, though it was a little darker than that. It was the moment before sunrise, to say the least.

The route continued for a few hundred meters, a deep ridgeline forcing Andrew to stick left on an icy path that teetered over a very, very sharp drop. He didn't want to look down- he just kept going, the quad still gripping as he wondered why they didn't have snowmobiles. Maybe it was the fact that they wouldn't work as well on the dirt tracks that existed across cleared areas of the road, the snowfall mainly on the steep peaks and the Quads, with their winterized tyres and spikes, able to grip far better. They'd be using these for a little longer, and they felt easier to hide too, in some ways to Andrew than what he thought a snowmobile would be. He saw a set of rocks, and checked his GPS bearing. This was it- as he looked back at Nolan, giving a "Stop" signal with his hand, as he slowed up, skidding to a halt behind the rocks as he parked side-on, to avoid the whole thing tipping over. Taking the rifle from the front, the white ghillie suited spotter was off his quad, and already moving up into a gap in the rocks.
"This reminds me a ton of Chechnya, you know. Mountains, except this time, they've actually fucking deployed their munitions." Andrew added, as he moved into the gap, setting the XM500 and a spotting device. He let Nolan budge in, as he already got to work. It was a lorry of some sort, with a SAM launcher set on the back- with about a squad of men around the area. Not much else- a couple of tents, and a few other things that weren't exactly entirely out of the ordinary for a Taliban camp.
"Okay...target is 599m, the SAM launcher. Furthest tent, 630, closest man and the fire, 580. I say we immobilize the truck, I can go and lay a brick of C4 down after they're all dead, and we make a call to OP Viper before finishing up and returning to Vulture." Andrew said, looking to Nolan as he adjusted his own rifle. Nolan truly didn't miss a beat when it came to shooting- and Andrew knew full well that he was a good friend to have, in combat or back at base. He covered his ass, and the reverse in principle- the fact being, that Andrew knew that Nolan trusted him to the T when he said what he said, and in reverse. Andrew knew that Nolan had his traits, and he himself, had his own, as a New Zealander. But they were at least in some ways accustomed to these cold mountains, and it was the primetime to be sniping from.
"Could shoot out the wheel or the engine- either way, it won't move anywhere. Though I see a KSVK among the set there- that might be a problem, you know." Andrew added, checking the XM500, moving the crosshair over one of the men, aware that it was Nolan's call to start the party again.

[BigPapaBelial]

(thought I'd add some tension to the moment)

Nolan smiled, "That went well." He tucked his 500 down onto the front carry rack. Revved his quad and fell in behind Andrew again. He chuckled a little, "I honestly didn't mean to blow that truck up. I wanted to disable it so we could go plant some C4 on it. Or set up an ignition bomb on it so if some of their friends came looking and tried to start it they'd get taken out too." He revved the engine, keeping up with Andrew, "But the turn out that happened is alot better I guess." He guided the quad around, dodged a large stone on the path, nodding slowly, "The mortar site was easy brother, you know that, it's these larger targets that are going to be abit of a problem. I've never known an AA site not to have alot of security." He pulled the quad back in line with Andrew as they moved on.

He was scanning down into steep sided valley, looking for targets oppurtunity when he heard the tell tale sound of a quad slowing. He looked up and came a stop five meters behind Andrew, "Well well well, OP Switchblade I persume." He said this in his best faux-British accent he could. He pretended to doff a hat as he turned the quad off, and grabbed his own XM500 off the front bull-bars.

He slipped his ghille on over his head and upper body, the white fibers, with native plant bits and sticks from small brush stuck into it at random broke up his body shape. He carefully inched forward. "Yeah I remember Chechnya, I remember tumbling down a mountain after our hide was hit by an RPG too. I don't want that to happen this time." Nolan carefully inched in under some brush, dragging the big rifle behind him carefully. He called on some of the fieldcraft lessons he'd learned in the past to get himself into a position that would afford very good concealment. Might not do great for arms fire protection, but it would do in a pinch. He pulled the big rifle up and placed it in a good firing position, then grabbed his binoc-rangefinder, and checked out the camp. He sniffed quietly, mentally clicking off distances as Andrew called it. He got a mental picture of the AAA camp across the way from them as he surveyed the installation.

He nodded, "Good calls on the distances. I like it." He pulled the rifle closer, and began to dope his scope. He got the ranging settled then stopped.

Alot of snipers know that feeling when they are being watched. More then once a spotter and sniper team would get into a sniper battle with another sniper. It wasn't often it happened in open terrain where they could move and displace. It was often in fixed positions, where the opposing snipers were posted up, and it was more a task of who spotted who face on first. And who got the deciding shot off first. He went still, and whispered into his mic, "Andrew, go prone...and check that KSVK again...is there anyone on it? I just had that Feeling. You know the one where it feels like you're being looked at through a scope? Check for sniper positions within 50 meters of our objective. If we think this spot is a good sniping position, chances are, our friends across the way have come to that conclusion too. No firing on target until we're sure."

Nolan inched to his left a little, further into the brush, and into a snow bank, soon the only thing showing, is the lens of his rangefinder hybrid. He carefully passes the lens over the land around the position, keeping an eye out for that elusive almost invisible evidence of someone looking back at them.