Operation:Mythic Sky

Uncomfortable decisions

Mark's POV
03:30
Day 3
Pakistan
It's been 5 hours since we started the hike to the objective, we're 3 klicks out from the village. I looked back at the squad and saw that the terrain was just destroying them "Alright, take a break. I realize I'm pushing you too hard" they nodded as Marius joked "the Middle East the only place on earth where Tier 1 operators can win gunfights that are 5:1 but lose to the ground" I chuckled before I sucked on the tube that goes into my hydration pack. I looked over at Craig and Meghan before I asked the squad "think you guys can make it 2 more klicks?" Erik gave me a thumbs up "I can" Marius nodded "probably" I looked at Craig as he spoke "I might be able to, I'm exhausted tho" Meghan didn't look too tired as she spoke "definitely" I stood "Alright people, let's move. We get there before sunrise and we set up our cover and you can get some rest" Craig stood and yawned and I grabbed Meghan's shoulder as she passed having her stay behind with me "keep an eye on him, if he falls I want you there to grab him" she nodded and ran to catch up with him as Erik looked at me "he's struggling a lot more than he should be" I nodded as we walked towards the objective "that's why i don't like this, he shouldn't be struggling this much" Erik spoke again "I just want to get back to base so I can hang out with Ash" I warned "don't carry that attitude, that attitude makes you sloppy. You believe in the war against the Masks right?" He nodded as I continued "then put your mind on getting this bomb maker, I need everyone here for this to work." He shook his head "alright, I'm back. Thanks" I waved him off as we fell into a comfortable silence before we created a hill and saw Blackbeard, Valkyrie and Jäger laying behind a bush as Blackbeard came over the radio "enemies infront of us, too close." Maverick and I hit the deck and searched for what has them on the deck, I saw it "2 o'clock low, 1 enemy 100 meters see him?" Erik nodded "think you can hit him?" I sighted down my Acog as I slowed my breathing and pressed the button on my push to talk and spoke "I'm hitting the enemy 100 meters out" Valkyrie replied "Negative, 3 infront of us" I whispered back "got angles on them?" Jäger spoke "Ja, but what do you want us to do?" I replied "you all have suppressors and rifles, pick a target" I heard the three "got the target" I replied "on my mark" The comms fell silent until I spoke "Mark" the three replied "Sync" as we fired dropping the 4 targets almost simultaneously. We stayed in cover waiting to see if there was a reaction from any enemies nearby, 3 minutes later we stood and rallied "They're 2 klicks out from the target, think they're expecting us?" Erik spoke "well I doubt it's a random welcoming party" I sighed "we have to keep going, this guy needs to be captured" Craig nodded tiredly as I checked the map "only a klick and a half to go, on me" as I started walking down the slope. 2 minutes later we were climbing up the next ridge when I heard sliding and turned around Craig had fallen and slide 20 feet before Meghan managed to grab him. I turned "how bad is it?" She looked up and shook her head no I sighed "get him up, we have to get to our observation point" they tried to pull him up the hillside but couldn't he weighed too much. I sighed as I took off my bag and pulled out a length of rappelling rope before tying it into a harness I looked it under his arms before I put on the harness and put my back back on "Craig, grab the rope and hold on, alright" he nodded groggily as I started bear climbing up the mountainside dragging Craig behind me. Thank you Training, when we reached the top I took off the harness and got the rope off him before I started wrapping it back up and placed it into my bag. I tapped his face as I grabbed my flashlight and flashed it into his eyes "you still with me?" He nodded "just really hot and tired" I turned to Erik and Marius "let's get him up" as I grabbed my canteen and handed it to him "drink this, Valkyrie pull security" he took it while Marius kept him upright. After 10 minutes he looked much better "I'm back, sorry about that" I chuckled "the big bad Blackbeard beaten but a little heat" he shook his head as we continued along the ridge towards our blind. By the time we reached our observation point it was 0500 and the first call for prayer was being given, "deploy camo nets, 30 minutes max" everyone nodded and set out to do their assigned job. I grabbed a camo net and strung it between two trees before pulling some tree branches so they sat in front of the net, I stepped in front of the cover and nodded it was almost invisible to me but I haven't been in these hills for years like this bomb maker and his unit did. I saw the light peaking over the horizon as I nodded to the team "Craig, Marius and Meghan get some sleep. Erik and I will set up the binoculars and the camera" they nodded as Erik and I got the gear out and set up. Meghan was leaning against me as Craig and Marius laid across our feet, it was gonna be a long boring day but at night, the coming night was gonna be explosively fun.
Time skip 17 hours
I checked my watch 10:26, we've spent all day taking pictures and observing their movements, we only caught a glimpse of the target but now we know he's here. I glanced over at the team "we almost ready?" I saw multiple thumbs up "Maverick lead us out" he smiled as he pulled down his NVGs and started walking across the ridge so we could get to the side closest to the target building.