Blind Eyes, Black Hearts - A GWOT Story (On Hold)

Chapter I, Part III - Untitled

Rodent

1928 Hours

Jalalabad Outskirts, Afghanistan

It took not more than two minutes for the Rangers to split into fireteams of four. In total there were thirty-four rangers, taken from 1st Battalion, 75th Rangers, that were stationed in a staging area not far west of the City of Jalalabad. The thirty-four men, which was merely a third of what Captain Sanderson actually commanded, were specifically chosen for the Quick Reaction Force to assist in special operations. The two black hawks hovered over the hotel complex like vultures waiting for their pray, and the little bird, fitfully callsigned ‘Pigeon’ provided active support to the ground troops along with the black hawks. The blackhawks, embedded with the little bird, were callsigned Hotel Six-Four and Hotel Six-Two.

Rodent, Captain Sanderson, and Chief Petty Officer Jarvis stood next to each other in a makeshift observation post behind a wrecked militant truck. Gray pixel-wearing Rangers scrambled and ran in groups of four by the sidewalks and went into the alleyways as they scanned the rooftops with their weapons.

“Alright, Captain Wolfe” Sanderson said to Rodent. “The plan is to lay siege to that building with support from the air.” As they talked a lieutenant passed by and shouted orders. “Move up! Fireteams! Fireteams!”

He continued. “The usual shit- while we fight our way up the goddamn street you and Jarvis blow a hole in the building’s flank, get the HVTs, and call for extract. If that’s not available just get back to us. I’ll send a squad to help you out.”

“Roger that.” Rodent replied. Sanderson gave a smile to Rodent and offered his hand to the Englishman. “Goodluck, Captain.” The American said.

“You too.” And Rodent shook his hand and used his other hand to pat his back. As Sanderson turned away to command his troops, Rodent had a feeling that he wouldn’t see the man again. But Gah, It’s just a feeling that he had and feelings have a very small chance to be true.

“Let’s go, Jarvis.” He said to the helmet-wearing SEAL. The two turned and headed into an alleyway on the right, their men following them from behind. Jarvis, like Rodent, brought four men. All of them were dressed in ACUs, which, was for the sake of uniformity. The SEALs preferred to wear the traditional Tricolor Desert Camouflage rather than the pixilated gray ACUs which hid them more than their current camouflage.

They walked into a corner and took cover on the wall on the left. Seven men stacked up behind Rodent, and when he gestured for them to move forward, the 5 SEALs steadily, with their weapons ahead of them, dashed forward and turned left only to see nothing. They continued walking for around a hundred meters within that maze of alleys with the same outcome for every turn and corner, until the first gunshots were heard. “Shots fired, shots fired!” A ranger shouted over the radio, and Rodent could hear gunfire in the background. Unpanicked shouts of orders were common during war, and he could hear lots of them in that transmission. “Battle’s started.” Rodent stated, and the other seven special operatives heard. And smiled.

As they continued their way through that maze, they met a three-way intersection. Gunfire was heavy in the background, and the sun was out of the sky. Rodent turned and saw the seven men – three were his and four Jarvis’, including Jarvis himself – were ready with their weapons, and had followed him in a close-knitted single file formation that was used to scan alleyways. “Alright, Jarvis, time to split up. You go right, I go left.” He looked at the bearded man. “NVGs are on. Fire when fired upon and try using silencers; I don’t want them to get near us when we blow the side. Velcro, Chuc, on me.” The last two words were meant for his two deltas.

“See ya there, Jarvis.” Rodent said.

“Yes, sir. Alright! On me, we’re taking right!” the four men under Jarvis soon went into a file of their own and went into the alleyway in their right, sticking towards the wall as they moved. Moments later, the SEALs were gone, and Rodent decided for his men to move out.