Brothers Of War

Chapter 3: Reunion

3

Reunion

The osprey landed back on the base at six o'clock, just before the sun began to set. The loading ramp descended once again and out of it walked teams one and two of Jackal's forces. The captain walked in front, helping one of the marines up on his feet and guiding him down the ramp with his arm around him. It didn't take long for everyone to peel off their body armor and get back to their quarters. The marines were taken to medical care and were given the medical attention they needed. Jackal didn't go to the small barracks he slept in last night, instead he decided to hit his officer's quarters. It was a nice apartment area that was pretty big in size. He enjoyed the area a lot since everything was accustomed to his personal needs. His bed had no pillows on it because his preference was to sleep on something flat. Even he found this to be odd. The apartment also included a full weight room, hot tub, and bar. The bar was sounding awfully tempting but he was tired so he changed and laid on his couch. The television was on and barely audible and he fell into a slight cat nap.

Jackal slept even though he was worried about the third team of his platoon. What woke him was the sound of a PaveHawk. His apartment was close to the runway so he could hear the aircraft all the time but he didn't mind, actually he enjoyed it. But the helicopter might be team three so he got up and hurried outside to see what was happening. Sure enough, the helicopter was hovering above one of the helipads and slowly descending. It was night time down and the sky was illuminated with the billions of stars visible. The lights from the helicopter shone bright on the landing area. In it were soldiers sitting on the edges, feet dangling, weapons lowered. But what was strange were the expressions on the soldier's faces. Jackal expected them to be angry because of the late exfiltration, or tired from being in the sandstorm for too long. But every one of them either had a smile on their face or were laughing.

When the helicopter landed Jackal approached the team leader. The same man who had told him to go find the marines rather than help with the fight. His name was Jack Nichols. Jack was a very robust man with a thick Texan accent. He had the typical five o'clock shadow on his face to take the look of an operator. And he smiled when he saw his platoon captain walking towards him.

"Jackal! That went down smoothly am I right my friend?" He shook the captain's hand with a firm grip.

"Yeah, I would say that went pretty well. Nobody was hurt and we got our guys. They will be fine by the way." Jackal turned to walk with him. "Was the ride rough?"

At this Jack let out a big heaving laugh. "Quite the opposite! You see, at first we didn't know how we were going to get back since our communication didn't work in the storm. But just as we were about to drive our asses back to base we run into a guy, American operator he says. Anyways, he called us in a chopper and now here we are. He's funny as hell, kept the guys in a good mood the entire way back. In fact, there he is now!" Jackal turned to look at the helicopter once more. The last guy to hop off the edge of the aircraft was a tall man. He was well above six foot with a very built stature. "You would like him." Said jack and he walked on, leaving Jackal to stare at the operator. Raptor saw the captain and made no note of his presence as he walked past him. But the captain had other plans.

"Do you mind telling me who the hell you are?" Jackal said as he attempted to keep pace with the fast walking operator. But Raptor didn't acknowledge him. "Hello?" He tried again but to no avail. "Listen buddy," Jackal grabbed Raptor by the shoulder and Raptor reacted immediately, grabbing the captain's arm. But the captain pulled away and gained some distance between the two of them. All eyes were on them because the scuffle was clearly noticeable.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Raptor looked the captain right in the eyes. "But you do. So who are you and why the hell did you almost compromise my mission?"