The JSOC got to work.
Mercer reached for his MP5 as he heard the direction in which Walker was shouting, shifting his aim at different areas and corners to see where the ZLF were coming from.
While Mercer grabbed his MP5, Akers looked around wildly, "Where the hell are they?! I don't see shit!"
Cassio was sitting at the fire when he heard Amos shouting about the ZLF. He got up and drew his Glock 19, shining it's flashlights in the gaps between the dense forestry that surrounded the torn-down village.
"No… not again.. no.. no.." Zhao found herself back in the same position, shutting down again.
Pierce noticed her first.
"Not again!"
Pierce hurried over to her, bringing her down to the ground, out of the way of another ambush.
Well, what they thought was another ambush, hauling Zhao behind some fallen rubble of burnt houses.
"I'm not sure what happened… one last sniper came back and killed Dolgen." Amos Walker seemed shook, hurrying over to the corpse of Dolgen, dragging him back to the main campfire, pretending as though he didn't murder him moments ago.
Rourke soon came running with one of the standard issue M4 carbines in his hands, Mercer following behind, "It was just one man, Walker?"
As Rourke and Mercer returned, they were joined by three JSOC's who had surveyed the forest for the "sniper": Corporal Orantes, Private Miller, and Private Popov.
"Cant find anything, Captain. From what we can tell, the sniper took the shot and buggered off. Maybe he didnt realize how much people were here. Amateur."
Walker replied to Rourke, "Not a singular soul in sight. I saw him drop and nothing else... no glint, no running off, not even a speck of dust was off." Amos made a cross with his hands over Dolgens body, kneeling above him and analyzing his own crime scene.
"A single man out for blood... sounds like hes on a vendetta." Mercer observed the body once more.
The bullet was precisely aimed towards the top of his head, a single round hole with blood bursting out of it.
Rourke was deep in thought.
"He must've broken off from the ambush squad and followed us here... Amos, seems like you were on it already, take some of the militia and search the arsa for anymore stragglers. The rest of you stay on guard and watch the perimeter for any trespassers until they get back. Watch each other's backs."
Rourke took another look at Dolgen. Another one of his men were killed in action. He closely observed his wounds. A sniper shot the back of the head. A large amount of blood drooled from there, but the trail of blood only got larger and more dispersed from his upper back.
"Aye aye." Amos motioned to the militia men, taking them up to the ridgeline.
Perhaps, it was getting too deep for the man now. Perhaps, the lies and deceit weren't gonna play out like he'd hope.
He remained calm though, investigating the upper area, which obviously had not a trace of human being around, besides the previous insurgents. However, he did point out from where they were looking that a sniper was peeking out of some bushes, a lone rifle barrel protruding through the top of the shrubs.
"Can one of you go pick that up? Might be the killer's gun."
Ahmed nodded, walking over.
"Looks like it. Lets get back to the team."
---
Rourke motioned for his men to gather around first before they guarded the base for a short briefing. One by one, the JSOC arrived, greeting Rourke. Rourke turned to Akers now.
"Is everyone here, Lieutenant?" Rourke looked to his right, where Lieutenant Akers stood.
"Yes sir. We're awaiting your orders."
Rourke nodded.
"Before I say anything else, I'd like to pay tribute to our fallen brothers who took the bullets that had all our names on it." Rourke held their dogtags which dangled in his fist:
"May they find peace."
Hale also joined in the tribute, "They'll never be forgotten. Peace to the fallen!" He stood before the soldiers. "We fight, never forget them, and accomplish the mission in their name!"
"Rest in peace, brothers.." Pierce stood side by side with Zhao. She didn't say anything, but she nodded in silence, acknowledging the fallen in her own way.
Pierce looked to the ground.
"May their souls be ordained by God…" Amos stood by the other members of the task force, his head bowed, mumbling to himself… as though he wasn't the one causing half of this death.
As if he wasn't the one sending them to God.
Rourke gave a moment of brief silence to all of his men. Even if some did not mutually know one another, they were all still one unit and they knew they were in it for the long haul.
"As much as we'd like to avoid more casualties, the ZLF have been raising their alert across the region. Nearly a dozen of armed convoys, with more insurgents and firepower, have entered the AO."
Mercer nodded, "Guess we're gonna have to cut our trip short then." Mercer lit a cigarette as the news dawned upon everyone. He himself had been on the battlefield for a decent bit of time, but there was no one to help them now.
Akers had collected himself and now walked over to the group, his rifle slinged across his vest. He walked over with blueprints and a map. "--Which is why we're going to cut their communications short." He laid out the map and pointed to the village/comm s site "This used to be a U.S. comms site but ZLF took it over during their reign of terror in the 80s. I believe Zaire Liberation Force uses it as communications to moniter activity in the region. Cutting this short could prove very beneficial for our attack on the capital."
Mercer looked at the blueprints, "Hmmm... how much hostile forces can we expect?"
"If my intels good then they'd have the place relatively protected. This can't be a guns-blazing operation, we need a surgical solution. We keep our heads and keep stealth, then we'll make it easier for ourselves. Everyone copy?"
The group, still in mourning, knew there was a job to do.
Everyone copied.
Rourke continued.
"We'll have to cut through a dense amount of forestry to get there, but the site is surrounded by open plains. We'll send a squad in to first infiltrate the site and carve a path to enter the village smoothly."
Akers agreed, adding onto the briefing, "Copy. After that... the rest of us will follow through and hit them from multiple sides, before converging on the main communication centre. After that, its clockwork. Alright, everyone. Get geared up, we move at 0300."
Akers walked off.
So did everyone else.
---
Cassio walked away to one of the destroyed concrete houses alongside Gaston. He set down his pack on a pile of rubble and opened it to take out a sleeping bag, afterwards lighting a lantern to set on the corner of the house.
"We'll be here for the night then."
He looked around at his surroundings.
It was desolate and barren.
He then turned to Gaston.
"Aren't you supposed to be watching the perimeter with the militia?"
Gaston rolled out a cloth from his pack and threw his sleeping bag on top of it, before replying to his comrade.
"I think all of us deserve a rest after what happened today, man."
---
Even though the rest of the men went to bed, Mercer found himself at one of the higher corners of the village, holding one of the AKMs the militia brought.
He store dead into the treeline and watched for movement.
The noise of crickets and wind rustling the forest filled his mind and soon began to grow louder the longer he waited.
A growing sense of restlessness formed throughout his body.
Even though her sort of guardian angel was asleep, Zhao sat upon the ridgeline, holding that same blanket to cover herself, from the cold, and what she believed was hidden enemy presence, of which there was still none.
David Mercer breathed deeply, a mix of ash, smoke and the hot dense air from the weather.
Even though it had been the same smell he had been breathing in since they reached the village, only now it somehow felt comforting, as if a sensation was running through his body and coursing through his veins.
But it was only for a few moments.
Mercer suddenly stumbled backwards and began sweating intensely.
His postured lowered and now seemed exhausted.
The feeling of restlessness was no longer there.
He now felt empty.
He did not know what was happening to himself but he decided to leave the guarding to the militia fighters, who had only joined the fight now.
He walked away and pass by Zhao, who was sitting at the ridgeline, seemingly shaking from the cold, or perhaps something else.
He took out a pack of cigerattes.
"Perhaps you need this."
He handed one to her.
"Maybe." Zhao Feng hesitantly mumbled out the word, shakily taking the cigarette and putting the orange end in her mouth, peering back at Mercer, presumably waiting for him to light it.
"It might help with the shakes." Mercer knelt down to light it with his lighter. Afterwards, he decided to walk away, choosing not to engage any further.
"Hm. Thank you, i appreciate the kind-"
By the time she had turned back around to thank the man, he was halfway away, so she decided to shut up and smoke instead.
The sensation wasn't nearly as intense as Mercers was, instead working as a filter for the Trauma, releasing a little bit of the energy it held, but not all of it.
It was a relief for now, she thought, taking slow breaths with it.
A first time smoker.
And tomorrow was a big day.