Operation: Bright Tablet

Recon

Denver's pov
I walked through the base until my phone went off, I pulled it from my pocket as I heard Harry "Denver, Dokkaebi, Ash, Zofia and Hunter to briefing room 1, I repeat Denver, Dokkaebi, Ash, Zofia and Hunter to briefing room 1" I sighed and started walking back the way I came to the brief. I remembered my phone and looked at it seeing a notification from Gates, I clicked on it and saw the warning to be careful and get everyone home safe. I commented "seems she was planning this mission" as I walked in and leaned against the wall. I zoned out until Zofia arrived and Harry started talking, I listened as he went over the plan and what assets we'd use. Eventually I heard "Dokkaebi has the reigns for this mission, be in the air in 15" I heard Hunter next to me "Think she's got it under control?" I nodded and said "she's a good operator, she needs the experience and leading a combat operation with 4 experienced operators that can handle the missions will give her that experience. Besides, she's been training with us for the last 3 weeks"
She nodded as Dokkaebi walked over and asked "Are either of you two nervous about me leading the mission? I can defer to you two if you are" I replied calmly "Miss Nam, don't worry about it. We're comfortable with it, you're a capable operator" she brightened at the praise as I noticed Hunter's eyes flick between the two of us as I said "Come on, let's go get our gear in order." Hunter hung behind us as we walked and I talked with Dokkaebi as we got to the prep room. Everyone goes to this room before a mission and double checks their gear to make sure it functions perfectly in the field. I did a quick field strip and wipe down of my Car-15 and Mk22 before I double check my flare launcher and Grenades. I looked through my plate carrier and made sure everything was in order before I pulled it back on and did the velcro on my flanks before pulling my rifle over my head and bolstering my pistol. I looked at Hunter and asked "how's your rifle?" She replied "perfect, less than 1 moa at 400 yards" I nodded as Dokkaebi looked around nervously, I said "Miss Nam, calm down. It's just like any other mission you've been on, the only difference is we're scouting and you're leading."
She looked at me and asked "if I fuck it up?" I heard Zofia "Don't think like that, stay positive. Besides there's a QRF gonna be on stand by" Dokkaebi took a breath before I checked my watch "2 minutes to when were supposed to lift off" we grabbed our gear and headed out to the helicopter. I was rather surprised to see an Osprey, I heard Hunter "an osprey? That's interesting" I heard Dokkaebi ask "why is that interesting?" I commented "Typically we use Blackhawks or Chinooks" as Zofia said "atleast we'll get there quickly" I shrugged as we climbed on and Dokkaebi looked around and I nudged her elbow "Go tell the crew chief we're good to go, they don't know how big our force is" she stood and walked over talking to the Crew Chief.
I heard Hunter on the 6-4's private channel "so what's going on between you and Grace?" I replied in interest "what do you mean?" She asked "you spend a lot of time together, we've been here for what? 3 months now? And you spend pretty much every day with them" I waved her off "They've just become good friends, calm down" she replied "I'm not worried about you leaving the 6-4, I'm asking if you're interested in her" I asked "Interested how?" She said "you have a crush on her, don't you?" I sighed and asked "Hunter, the fuck is this? Fucking highschool?" She laughed before ordering "Answer the question" I replied "Check your tone Hunter, this isn't your business" she sighed before answering "you've already given me your answer, I'm telling Raider and Basco" I switched off of our back route comms and leaned back. I closed my eyes and put in my ear plugs before getting some sleep, I woke up 4 hours later and saw Dokkaebi waving her hand infront of my face as I asked "almost there?" She nodded and replied "We're prebreathing, about an hour out" I nodded and took the mask getting used to the oxygen mixture as I slowly breathed it in. When we were about to hit the landing zone we lined up and the pilots depressurized the cargo compartment and I saw Zofia our jump master getting her eyes on the target area before joining us at the head of the line.
The Crew Chief gave a thumbs up and the line waddled forward before falling off of the ramp as I got to the edge and did a back flip before plummeting towards the ground. I found Zofia and the others by their flashing red lights on their chute packs as we formed a stack and I checked my altimeter, and continued to fall. Eventually we hit our altitude mark and pulled our chutes, I followed the line into the opening before tucking and rolling as I felt my feet hit the ground. I shrugged off my chute and gathered it up before burying it. I looked around and saw the others doing the same as I jogged over to Zofia and flipped up my night vision goggles as I pulled out my map and turned on my red light, she pointed to the map "we all hit the mark, it's up to you now" I nodded and saw the x I had marked as our overwatch position. I pulled out my compass and looked around before seeing where my compass pointed north, I shifted my whole body so it pointed north before looking at the map and then pointing into the forest.
Dokkaebi said "Alright Denver, Lead us in" I smirked and turned off my red light putting away my compass and map before gripping my car and walking into the darkness. The rest of the team filed behind me as I walked slowly through the thick forest, moving fast asked for an ambush. We walked for a while before I thought about it, we're monitoring and documenting a trade between Nighthaven and The White Mask. I'd be willing to bet there's sentries around monitoring the perimeter, I lifted a closed fist and whispered on comms "if you see a shadow out of place let me know, I'm betting there's sentries watching the perimeter" Hunter commented "aren't we going to be monitoring from like 400 meters?" I nodded before saying "still it's Nighthaven, I don't doubt they'd bump out perimeter several hundred meters" she sighed as Dokkaebi said "We'll remember that but the mission has to be done" I smirked she's getting it, she'll be a good leader. We continued on through the forest, my senses on high alert with each step.
We walked for a good while before we hit our break point, Dokkaebi, Ash and Zofia sat down and ate while Hunter and I pulled security. I sat on my haunches and kept scanning the forest, any movement, any shadow that's disappeared, anything out of the normal. I sat quietly as they ate before Dokkaebi said "Alright, switch guards. Hunter and Denver take your break" I stood and walked backwards before pulling out my Mre and digging in, I had hand picked the good ones, climbing this mountain really has a way of making you tired. I ate and kept looking around before commenting "you settled into leading this mission pretty well" Dokkaebi replied "yeah, I think it was just pre mission nerves, I feel confident right now" I nodded as Ash said "that's how it typically goes, I'm always pretty nervous before doing a mission. Denver you lead a lot of people, do you ever feel nervous before missions?" I replied simply "no" Zofia asked "never?" I answered "I used to, when I first took over the division I was really nervous but now it's comfortable. I trust my men and women and their abilities, they're capable operators and I feel it'd be a disservice if I was worried they'd make a mistake."
      The rest mulled over my words before I finished my MRE and looked at Hunter, she nodded to me as I stood and heard Dokkaebi "Ready to go?" I nodded as I walked through the group and took up position at the front of the line, I continued walking up the path. I looked around and crouched pulling out my suppressor and sliding it on before twisting and getting it tight before I stood and continued walking, I heard Zofia on comms asking "Sound we put our suppressors on?" I heard Dokkaebi "Denver?" I replied "no, I just have mine on since I'm at the front of the stack, if you guys are shooting it's gone badly and we're already spotted" I continued walking before hearing Ash ask "So why put your suppressor on now?" I answered "because we're 400 meters out from our observation post" as we continued silently. 100 meters later I saw a patrol of Nighthaven contractors in the path ahead of me, I lifted my Car-15 as I fell to a crouch and fired off a burst. I watched as 15 rounds struck the two and they fell, I switched to Semi and fired into their bodies before flipping my magazine and sliding the full one in the magazine well.
We pushed forward and eventually reached our observation point and began setting up our binoculars and cameras while Hunter and I set up our camo netting to break up any silhouettes we might make. I heard Dokkaebi "Zofia and Hunter, you've got guard" I sat down and flipped my rifle to safe as I moved the stand with the binoculars a bit closer to me as I leaned my arms on my thighs and looked through the binoculars. I heard Dokkaebi ask "think it's gonna be a boring mission?" I replied "god do I hope so, that last one kicked my ass" Ash asked "Thats the one where you guys had that gunfight that lasted 8 hours?" I sighed and nodded "that's the one, almost lost Mozzie" hunter said "good thing Gates was there to dig your ass out of trouble" I replied defiantly "that's bullshit, you know that. I could've pulled out of it" she laughed as Dokkaebi said "I think you're leaning into your ego just a bit too much" I waved her off "My ego has nothing to do with my ability, i speak the truth even if Gates didn't come with her division I would've worked my way out"
Zofia said "sounds like you're mad Gates had to save you" I looked over and said "Gates didn't have to do shit, she came because she wanted to redeem her group from the exercise. Having an entire division get widdled down and then massacred by one half your size is a blow to your pride." Dokkaebi said "just don't let your pride get your men killed" I rolled my eyes and continued looking through the binos. It was rather boring as we rotated guards and monitoring shifts, I leaned against Dokkaebi and asked "care if I get some sleep?" She replied simply "no, go ahead. I'll wake you up when it's your turn for guard" I laid back against her and tilted my hat down so it covered my eyes as I quickly drifted off to sleep. It was a dreamless sleep until just before I got woken up, I watched Dokkaebi and Hunter getting killed before I got shaken away. I bolted up causing Dokkaebi to bolt backwards as I blinked the sleep away and grabbed my camel back straw and taking a drink. Hunter asked "bad dream?" I nodded and replied "4th one this week" Zofia suggested "why don't you talk to Harry about it? He is a licensed therapist so" I replied "I'll be fine" as I traded spots with Ash and went about keeping guard.