Operation: Explosive mirrors

Rendezvous

Shawn's pov
I crouched next to Archer "Where's rainbow? They're supposed to be here by now?" She looked at me and replied "running late?" I scoffed and commented "You know maverick, he hates being off schedule" she chuckled as I heard Kicker behind me "heads up, movement at 12" I looked forward and saw the squad walk out. Maverick was in the lead followed by Mira, Sledge, Ash and Vigil. I looked at them before giving the signal to leave cover, I saw the operators get nervous at the appearance of the four of us as Maverick walked forward and I shook his hand "You're briefed?" He nodded and said "we know our part" I looked to the right and saw the glowing compound. I heard Mira "how're we gonna do this?" I looked over as Ash said "hopefully smoothly" I heard Kicker "I hope you guys like hiking, cause we've got no support" I saw the Rainbow squad get nervous as I said "let's go, I wanna get out of this fuckin country" they nodded as Maverick said "on your lead" I started towards the target and heard the rest of the team fall in behind me.
     We walked quietly until I heard Mira "So why did you guys accept this mission?" I listened as Kami said "the masks have a hold on this country, we all have to do our part to weaken their hold just enough for the conventional forces to come in." Kicker replied "I'm just here to kill terrorists" I chuckled softly as archer answered her "the civilians, they're living every moment in fear. If we allow them to continue suffering, we're no better than the masks" kami commented "also so righteous" I heard a punch and then a couple chuckles as Mira focused on me "you never answered" I answered truthfully "I'm just here doing my job, I signed up for this." Ash commented "you're all pretty different in your views" Kami replied "well yea, we all grew up in different places. Archer was born in Detroit, meanwhile Tombstone was born in a small town." I rolled my eyes and said "tighten it up, we're 10 mikes from the target." My operators wordlessly shifted to silence while the rainbow operators seemed shocked at the very sudden change of attitude. We walked for about 8 minutes before coming to the ridge that we would use to do a final recon on the target.
I pulled out my thermal binos and laid down on the warm sand as I looked over the expanses of the compound. Archer laid next to me and put down her weapon mat before setting up her sniper rifle, I mumbled "11 guards walking around, activity in the northern building. Lights on in the eastern and southern building. The garage looks deserted." She said as she lifted her Nods "think this goes well?" I nodded as she muttered "if we're lucky" I replied simply "we don't need luck" as I crawled back from the edge of the ridge. I walked down and told them what I had observed before giving Kami the job of being Archer's spotter and security. I looked at Kicker and team rainbow and asked "everyone ready to kick this off?" I got nods and thumbs ups causing me to stand and say "let's go" as we started up the draw. The plan was to attack from the far side of the compound so they'd look in that direction as we made our escape, a simple trick but surprisingly effective.
      When we reached the northern side of the compound I looked at the group and pulled my LAW off my back, I asked once more "everyone know their job?" They nodded as I stood and pulled the law arming it as I said "backblast clear?" I got "backblast clear" as I pressed the paddle and felt the rocket tear out of the launcher before it struck the wall and I dropped the spent tube. I gripped my 416 as the team pushed through the dust cloud and tossed rock from the wall, I pushed through with the group and shook my head at my vision cleared. A couple of masks were stumbling around holding their head, the concussion of the blast must've really done a number on them. I didn't dwell on it as we opened fire, I fired 4 round dropping two masks as the rest dropped by the others along with archer's accurate shots. I gave the order "go secure your buildings, we grab our intel and get out. They'll be waking up soon" they nodded as we headed off in separate directions. Kicker and I pressed against the wall on either side of the door as he grabbed his 590 breaching shotgun and fired into the door hinges.
      I smirked as he kicked the door down and I pushed in, I fired into the mask as he tried making a run for the hallway. I heard Kicker's M4 firing behind me as I scanned the room before hearing "clear" as I replied "clear" and we started towards the hallway. A mask stepped out into the hallway firing wildly with an l85 only to receive 2 rounds to the head, I sighed as we checked the rest of the rooms on the main floor. The stairs to the second floor loomed ominously, I heard kicker "well I guess we should finish this up" I nodded as I started up the metal steps, each step creaking under my weight. I sighed and decided to just try to get up the stairs as quickly as I could, I leaned to the right to try to see if I could spot anyone only to see the leg of an unknown. I pulled a flashbang off of my vest and tossed it into the hallway hearing the thunderous bang in the enclosed area as I quickly pushed up the staircase and saw a mask holding her head. My response was 3 staccato suppressed shots.
     We finished securing the rooms before searching for the target, we came here for a laptop. It had a large white insignia on the back of the screen cover. We tore apart the building only to find nothing, I keyed my radio and asked "anyone have a P.I.D. On the laptop?" I heard Mira "we found it" I said back "let's get out of here. We weren't exactly phantoms" we walked down and out into the court yard. The rest of the team formed a circle and Mira held up the laptop, it fit the description. I started "good job, let's get-" I was cut off as one of the distress flares the masks had become known for tore into the sky with a deafening shriek. My eyes widened as I yelled "we are leaving!" As we turned and started running towards the garage. I radioed "Odin, this is Tombstone, we've achieved task Alpha. We've been compromised, moving to primary extraction point. ETA 45 minutes" I heard the CIA Handler on the comms "I copy your last tombstone, nightstalkers are mobilizing now. Be at the LZ on time, Soar can't afford to be there for long." I keyed my radio "confirmed"