#9 - Blackhawk Down

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CHAPTER 9

COP ROMEO
7th July, 2018

The Blackhawk frantically discharged its flare countermeasures as it attempted to intercept an oncoming threat, with the pilot calling through to Miller's radio with an immense sense of urgency in his voice,

"COP Romeo, this is Night Quail! We're seeing heavy Taliban-" The pilot was cut off by an SA-18 Igla's anti-air missile striking the Blackhawk's tail. The explosion of the missile briefly illuminated the men's surrounding area for a split-second, before the darkness consumed them once more.

"Shit, I can't control it! We're going down! Mayday! Mayday!"

The men watched from the ground horrified, as the Blackhawk spun out of control, crash-landing about two-hundred meters West of the base on the slope of the valley embedded by trees and bushes.

"Jesus Christ!" Miller gasped, immediately clenching onto his radio,

"All men prepare for battle! We are under attack, I say again, we are under attack!" He boomed. Shortly after, the base's alarms began to ring, as COP Romeo now entered full combat alert. The soldiers scrambled to their assigned positions in the machinegun nests and watch towers. Miller glanced to Chevy, Zidar and Rocky,

"Jekai, Chevy! Man the mortar! Zidar! Join the men in the machinegun nests! MOVE!!" He ordered, hastily. But neither of them responded, they stared at him like rabbits frozen by fear. Miller grew greatly impatient

"I SAID MOVE!!!" He bellowed, snapping them back into reality.

"YES SIR!" The trio shouted in unison, before sprinting off to their allocated positions. Rocky and Chevy raced to the 120mm mortar, about thirty meters away. Upon reaching it, Rocky immediately swivelled it to fire 150 meters to the East, the direction the enemy was approaching from. Chevy grabbed an illuminating round, holding it at the barrel's end.

"Fire!" Shouted Rocky,

"Firing!" He dropped it down the barrel and both men instictively ducked their heads to save their hearing from the loud sound that ensued.

BOOM!

The illuminating round was launched, whistling as it volleyed up into the air, before bursting into radiance, turning the vicinity under it from night to day. Zidar scanned the horizon with his binoculars, seeing no movement at first, before he gasped in terror. An entire wave of countless Taliban combatants armed to the teeth were moving in fast on their position. And somehow the taliban had got their hands on...

"ENEMY TANKS!" His voice screeched over the radio

"Tanks?!" Rocky and Chevy glanced at each other, gritting their teeth.

What the fuck is going on here?!

Gunfire erupted from the East, as the Taliban force opened fire, with Zidar and the defending soldiers returning fire. Zidar now assumed the role of a spotter naming targets he saw through his binoculars.

"Two hundred meters East!"

Rocky adjusted accordingly, before Chevy dropped a live round down the barrel, firing into the air, where it descended on a small group of advancing Taliban foot soldiers.

"Direct hit!" Zidar confirmed,

"Fire again!" He ordered, before another mortar round struck near the same place, neutralizing more of the Taliban. Griffin was next to Zidar, firing the Browning M1919 heavy machinegun on the approaching enemy, who were seeking shelter behind some rocks. He fired relentlessly, before a bullet from a Dragunov sniper caught him directly through his forehead, killing him instantly

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