The hunter's bow

Recovery

Just a heads up there might not be a chapter tomorrow, got some family matters that take precedence, stay safe crimson out

Aksel's pov
I looked at the clock and saw 18:07 I sighed and walked to the roof, one of the few areas of the base I knew how to get to alone. I sat at the edge and looked into the valley watching the sun go down as I wrote a text to my mother, I started and deleted several messages before I settled on "hej mor, jeg er ked af, at jeg ikke har skrevet så længe. Hvordan har du det?(hello mama, I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. How are you?)" she replied rather quickly "Aksel?" I answered "ja mor, det er mig(yes mama, it's me)" she immediately started berating me "hvorfor sendte du ikke besked til mig før? Jeg var syg. du ville aldrig have gjort dette som barn, hvorfor nu? forsøger du at give mig et hjerteanfald?(why didn't you message me sooner? I was worried sick. You never would have done this as a kid, why now? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?)" I explained "nej, jeg ville bare komme hjem efter at have gjort noget, du ville være stolt af mig for ...(no, I just wanted to come back home after doing something you could be proud of me for...)"
       I could almost sense the recoil as she replied "tror du, jeg er ikke stolt af dig?(you think I'm not proud of you?)" I replied suddenly unsure of my feelings "jeg mener ja, jeg er ikke freyja(I mean yea, I'm not Freyja)" I wanted to crawl into a hole and die as I watched the icon for a minute. "stop med at sammenligne dig selv med din søster, jeg har fortalt dig det siden du var barn. du er anderledes, accepter det. men du er stadig min søn, og du er stadig en del af vores premiereenhed, din far var også stolt af dig(stop comparing yourself to your sister, I've been telling you that since you were a kid. You are different, accept it. But you're still my son and you are still part of our premiere unit, your father was proud of you too)" I asked "hvorfor behandlede du mig altid anderledes end freyja?(why did you always treat me differently than Freyja?)" she typed and stopped time and again making my confidence disappear as my mind came up with several different possible outcomes.
Her message popped up as my eyes traversed it with trepidation "fordi du og freyja ikke er de samme, er I begge forskellige med forskellige færdigheder. du har forskellige interesser, og jeg kunne aldrig finde noget at binde dig over, med freyja var det let, men din så meget anderledes end freyja(because you and Freyja aren't the same,you're both different with different skills. You have different interests and I could never find something to bond over with you, with Freyja it was easy but you're so much different than Freyja)" I signed and was about to type when Sebastien burst onto the roof "you have to come now, the FOB 7 is under attack!" I messsaged my mother "Jeg er nødt til at gå, jeg får en dårlig besked, når vi kommer tilbage(I've gotta go, I'll message you when we get back)" she asked "har du en mission?(do you have a mission?)" I typed back quickly "ja, jeg er nødt til at gå nu. farvel elsker dig(yes, I've gotta go now. Bye love you)" before I stopped replying as I grabbed my 416's heat guard and ran after Sebastien to the briefing.
As we ran I saw intel techs running around the fortress like chickens with their heads cut off, I asked "when do we leave?" Sebastien replied "Harry is giving a brief before we mobilize every team, the FOB is getting hit hard. Seems the masks had inside men and they've been planning this" I sighed as we tore into the briefing room. I saw Freyja, Sanaa, Meghan and Erik waiting, Harry spoke "since you're the first ones here, here's the situation as we know it. FOB 7 has been assaulted by an unknown number of masks. They've taken heavy casualties and have barricaded themselves into the TOC and other small pockets of resistance. We're mobilizing the entire organization, you're our point. Get out to the helipad, a Blackhawk is waiting. Go!" We nodded and tore off towards the landing pad. I silently hoped my teammates were okay, as Sanaa and I ran out to the helicopter and climbed on. Jäger spoke in our comms "welcome to the flight about 3/4 of the way were picking up 2 Apache gunships for escort, it's gonna be a hot insert" I sighed as the rest of the team climbed on and Jäger spoke once more "it's gonna be a bit before we get there, there's no sign the battles slowing down"
I leaned back as Nøkk looked over "you ready to run with the big dogs?" I looked over and spoke "just wanna make sure my team is okay" I closed my eyes and tried to sleep through the flight so I could be ready when we got there. Seconds turned to hours as I got shaken awake by Nomad as she spoke "we're here" I suddenly started hearing the gunfire as my mind focused on the mission now, kill the masks and retake FOB 7. Maverick grabbed the rappel rope and we waited until the crew chief gave the signal and the rope went flying out of the helicopter. Tracers streamed through the chopper and I felt the jolts as rounds hit the bottom of the helicopter. Before I knew it it was my turn to slide into the worst hours of my life I gripped the rope and slid down as rounds streaked through the sky towards me, I felt my feet hit the ground and immediately ripped up my 416 firing at a pair of masks running across the road.
I watched them fall as I moved to my right rallying with Maverick and Nøkk, I lifted my IAR and fired another burst into masks as they stood with grenades. Valkyrie, Nomad and Buck rallied on us, I looked at Nøkk and spoke "we've gotta move, this is too exposed. I only have 500 rounds" she nodded and spoke "let's get to the TOC well secure that and expand out from there" we nodded as Maverick and Buck fired into a Mask heavy as he ran past. I heard Nomad "this place is infested" suddenly one of the barracks exploded as I recognized the distinctive blast yelling "Mortar!" As I realized the death toll was about to get much bigger. Nøkk ordered "let's move, Buck lead us out" he looked uncomfortable with the order but carried it out as I formed up on him and we started moving. We couldn't make it more than 5 meters before having to engage Masks, we moved across a gap in between two of the barracks only to have rounds snap past us, I instinctively fell to a crouch and fired before I saw a young kid in US Marine fatigues peak over the sandbags I called "Blue! blue!" The pair stood slowly keeping their rifles trained on us as I pointed to the Danish flag on my shoulder "friendly"
       They walked forward and asked "what do we do?" I looked at the team before replying "you're with us now, we're taking this base back" they nodded reinvigorated by the hunger for a fight as we continued making our way towards the TOC. I looked up as the distinctive chopping of helicopter blades was heard following by the hissing of rockets as they struck different parts of the FOB. We heard one of the young soldiers "our squad was holding up in that barrack, we got pinned down before we could get back" I heard Buck "let's get you back to your squad, we need as many people in this fight as we can" we started towards the barrack only to see 3 masks running away from the side of the building, we all opened fire trying to kill the masks before they could escape just to be thrown to our backs as the overpressure hit us, the shards of the Barracks walls flew past us at speed. We looked on as the fire ball rose to height only for pieces of what once were humans landed around us.
I looked at the ground infront of me and saw a disembodied arm causing me to stand quickly and look at the team as they stood "let's go, we gotta get to the TOC before they do the same to it" we shook off the blast and continued moving, we'd mourn the dead later. I continued to worry about my team. After several gunfights and half an hour the second squad of Rainbow Operators flew overhead as the Apaches did more rocket and gun runs on enemies only they could see. It was nice to know that we were getting more boots on the ground, we turned the corner and saw a group of 10-15 masks firing at the doors and windows to the TOC. I moved to the center of the road and set up my bipod quickly nodding to Nøkk as she called "engaging!" And I opened up with 5.56 tearing through their body as the rest of the team fired into them. We tore them apart as the survivors fell back to regroup, we pushed up quickly trying to finish the enemy squad off before crossing the street and walking up the steps to the TOC Nomad banged on the door and yelled "Team Rainbow, were here to help!" I heard the door open and the rest of the team disappear from my peripherals as they walked inside.
    I turned and started up the staircase before rounds snapped past me causing me to rush through the door as Nøkk's unsurpassed FMG barked into my ear. Once the door had closed I leaned against the wall as Maverick and Valkyrie tried figure out what the plan was. Nomad offered her canteen to me which I gratefully took and felt the cold water drip down the side of my mouth before I looked at her and said "tak skal du have(thank you)" she nodded as we took a break before I heard the second team on the comms. "We're under heavy fire at the south western corner of the base, we need assistance." I stood and looked at Nøkk "stay here and coordinate between rainbow and the scattered defense, I'll take Nomad Buck and the rest and go rally with Zofia's team." She looked conflicted but nodded saying "bliv i sikkerhed alle sammen(stay safe all of you)" I nodded and counted down from three before Maverick ripped the door open and we rushed out.
Rounds skipped around us as we moved and fired never stopping long enough for the Masks to pin us, we tried to save anyone we could but almost everyone we came across was a Mask dapper running around with baskets of Grenades to throw into different building and locations. This assault was planned very well, I had to admit. I heard heavy gunfire in the south western corner just like Zofia said there's be but I also noticed an Unmarked Blackhawk orbiting their position firing into positions with a minigun. I shook off my stupor and continued pushing. I saw one of the doors open and ripped my rifle towards the area seeing a soldier peaking out with an M9, he was shirtless but online. I whistled catching his attention, we covered as he ran across the road and to us when I saw the shrapnel and gunshot wound. Valkyrie asked "what happened?" He replied shakily "we were sleeping when pair of grenades rolled down the hall, they shot through the walls and got me. Johnson's dead, I feel light headed" I was about to have Buck bring him to the TOC since that was the hard point of our defense just for a jeep that looked fresh out of ww2 came down the road.
I saw one of the green beret medics I became friends with driving, I waved him down and asked "Rich, can you get this kid to the TOC? That's our hard point, he's wounded" rich nodded and replied in his southern drawl "load 'er up, I was trying to find a place to bring these boys" I smiled and looked at the kid "hop in, Rich'll take care of you" he nodded and climbed it as I watched Rich leisurely drive down the road occasionally shooting his 1911 at any masks he drove by. I voiced my thoughts "same old rich" as we turned and continued towards Zofia. Buck asked "how do you know him?" I replied "he's the base medic, good to know the guys taking care of you" he nodded as Valkyrie spoke "he seems fun" I nodded as we turned the corner and saw the crisscross of tracers. It looked like Star Wars.