Operation: Healing Shadows

Tension breaks

Mason's POV(11 months later)
       I paced around the briefing room as Harry explained the situation, Doc asked "So what are we doing?" Harry leaned on the map "I want you to get a fire team and set up a casualty reception point, a fire team will land 16 hours after you and assault the mask's hold. They'll retrieve the down pilots and rendezvous at your hardened position" I sighed as I looked at the tactical map "do you not see the enemies force in the area? We'll be stuck in place until relief hits, we will literally have a 360 degree battle" he nodded as he looked at me "Mason, I fully understand the situation and believe in your ability to come out alive" I sighed before Aaron asked "Do we have a building in place?" Harry nodded before pointing to a section of the city "here is an old CIA complex" I asked dreadfully "Please tell me there isn't a local security force there" Harry replied "No, it's been unused for several years." I nodded as Doc asked "How are we getting inserted?" Harry pointed to the topographical map "You're going to be dropped on this mountain top, you'll make your way down and through the city until you hit the CIA compound. Mason you'll be given the access code to memorize before insertion" I nodded as I inspected the density maps "So you want a team of 5 to move through a mask controlled city... unseen.... to set up a casualty reception point.... right?" Harry sighed before resting his hands on his hips and speaking "Listen, I know what I'm asking. I know how crazy this sounds but I need the best medical personnel on this planet to be there to make sure those pilots come home alive. You can always back out and I'll sub in one of our other medics, make your choice now" I heard Aaron "Mason, I've got your back whatever decision you make" I stepped forward and felt the fear disappear "I joined the PJs to save others, I'm going" Aaron stepped forward and clasped my shoulder "So am I" Doc sighed "merde(shit), count me in" Harry smiled as he spoke "Go get your vests and gear. Civilian clothes, no markings" I nodded as Harry motioned to the door.
       Aaron and I saluted before spinning and heading to the door, I looked at Doc "Pick someone you want to bring, he spoke immediately "Ela, her grzmot's will help secure the building." I nodded as Aaron asked "Are we bringing Luna?" I shook my head no, he looked shocked "I thought for sure you'd bring her" I glanced over "We're holding the compound, she's a lot better at infiltration than defense. I'm gonna send Jäger a message and bring him" Aaron smiled before replying "Well I'm glad you and Luna took a break from flirting and you can think straight" I rolled my eyes as I called Marius. He replied groggily "Hallo?" I replied urgently "Marius, get your gear, take off any nation markings and dress in civilian clothes. Be ready and at the helicopter in 10, I'll explain the mission en route" he sounded awake when he replied "Ja, I'll be there" I ran through the halls with Aaron only to slide as Luna came around the corner and I almost ran into her. She asked surprised "What's got you running around?" I replied as I got up "A mission, I've got to go" she started running with us "What do you mean a mission? What are we doing?" I replied "you aren't doing anything, My team is securing and locking down a compound. You might be on the secondary team" she followed us into our room as Aaron and I started pulling off our fatigues. "What do you mean secondary team?" I pulled on my blue short sleeve shirt "There's gonna be a second team coming in 16 hours after us, you might be on it" she asked again "what are you doing?" I pulled off my dirty pants and started pulling on my khaki cargo shorts as Aaron explained "A plane got downed, the pilots got captured. We're setting up a casualty collection point and waiting for the secondary team to move to our RV, we'll fight our way out after we get the pilots in the McGuire rigs and out of harm's way" she looked at me "What's your AO?" I replied with a small laugh "Ramadi, Al Qaeda's stronghold" I heard Aaron "I thought we fucked them up?" I looked over with a small laugh "It's amazing what politicians can fuck up, anyway Al Qaeda and the Masks have teamed up, enemy of my enemy is my friend type bullshit. They've been saying the pilots are gonna be the first sacrifice in their holy war"
      Luna noticed my shorts as Aaron asked "So we're entering a holy war? Great" as Luna asked me "So you're gonna fight the holy war in shorts? Strong move" I smirked as I spoke "PJ strong" she chuckled as I tore the patches off my Velcro and started loading my rucksack with my protective gear. She looked confused "why are you taking off your patches?" I shrugged "Harry's orders, alright we need to get to the armory are you coming with us?" She nodded as I put my kit in its assigned position before zipping the pouch and running to the armory. We burst through the door and saw Marius, Ela and Doc getting their ammo, I called "Ash we need 5.56, 7.62, 9mm, .40 and give me a crate of grenades!" The team looked shocked at the equipment I'd requested as we waited and explained the mission.  Ashleigh appeared 2 minutes later carrying everything we had requested "Jeez, you lot asked for a lot" I chuckled as Doc responded "we've got a long mission" she replied with "just don't damage your guns, it's a bitch to fix" I gave a promise "I won't damage my gun" as I checked the crate of grenades making sure it was full before shoving it and my several boxes of ammo into my bag "Let's go, we need to get moving ASAP the sooner we set up the sooner B team can roll in" the team started to the door until Luna called "Hey, can you stay for a minute?" I looked at the team "go, I'll catch up" Aaron made a kissy face and danced off singing as I paused by the door "What is it?" She looked at me worriedly "You come back in one piece alright? I don't want to lose my friend" I tapped her forehead with my pointer and middle finger "Of course I'll be back, How could I miss a chance to drink with you?" She chuckled despite her worry "Go, bring them home." I gave a salute "Will do Gemstone, see you when we come back" she nodded as I pushed through the door and started running towards the helicopter.
I jumped into the hold and pulled on the headset, Marius spoke to the pilot "Vulture, all packages on board." The pilot now dubbed Vulture replied "Understood, ATC vulture 1-0 requesting permission to take off" it was quiet for a minute before Vulture replied "Affirmative, thanks. Keep the coffee hot, out" Aaron and I slammed the doors shut and looked at the team "Get your gear prepped, we're infiltrating a Mask held city. We're going to go harden a CIA compound and get it ready for the main assault, I want no lose trigger fingers. We aren't there to engage, we're only there to receive the wounded. Clear?" The last part was directed at Ela and Marius, they picked up the undertone and nodded. I pulled out my ammo boxes and magazines and started loading them "Weapons tight until we reach the target, clear?" I got affirmations from everyone as I kept loading my magazines. Aaron asked "So why did you take so many grenades?" I looked over as I replied "I'm a grenade feigned my friend, besides we're gonna take a page from the book of GRS and make pre-placed, ammo and food deposits. I will not have another Benghazi on my hands" he chuckled before speaking "You know, I miss Tanto. He was fun" I looked at my magazine "Yeah, I hear he's doing police training now" Ela asked somewhat nervously, she hid her fear well, "So why are we going in as Civilians?" I heard Doc "we get spotted as soldiers before we've had time to harden the defenses, we'll have to fight the whole city unprepared. Civilian clothes give us a small bit of cover for our movements" she nodded as Aaron reassured "16 hours, that's all we need to last then we'll have become a snakebite" Aaron looked at me "Goin' back to Nam huh?" I looked over as I grew a cocky smirk "Well it's not my fault the military got rid of the cool code names" I heard Marius "So what's a snakebite?" I replied "The Nam era support teams for SOG, we're the support for the Hatchet team when they land"
Marius nodded as I checked my watch "Well be inserting in around 8 hours so get some rest, we've got a long day ahead of us" I looked out the window as most of the team got ready to sleep, I watched the ground pass silently as we flew to a mission I had my doubts we'd come out of alive. I got a text on my phone and pulled it out, it was an image of the briefing room we had just been in prior to our mad 10 minute dash to grab everything followed by the message "Harry's briefing us on the mission now, don't die before I can come save your sorry ass." I shook my head at the messages before typing back "If you have to save me, I've fucked up severely" Luna typed back "Seriously tho, we make it out of this I'll buy you a drink" I replied with a small snort "We make it out of this, ill buy the whole damn bar" she stopped replying as I started watching YouTube, because nothing makes an 8 hour flight pass quickly like stupid videos on the internet.
     I jolted awake when Ela shook me "Hey, we're almost at the LZ" I blink away the tiredness and got my back ready "thanks" before I yawned and stretched, I looked out the door and into the city. It was chaos, parts of the city were destroyed, others had been converted to makeshift forts housing AA and SAM turrets. The city was in ruins, there looked to be some activity on the streets but for the most part it looked deserted, I sighed but slung on my rucksack and looked at the team as Vulture spoke "Well be at the LZ in 30, prep the rappel" the crew chief moved through the various operators grabbing our gear before he gripped the bag that held the 4 inch thick rope and moving to the left door and leaning out clipping it to the anchor bar before looking at me "You're going into hell, you know that right?" I figured but nodded "We get paid time and a half for this" he chuckled as he stepped back while holding the rest of the rope and waited. The helicopter pitched back before leveling as the pilot was heard "Dump" the crew chief threw out the rope and looked down seeing it impact the ground before nodding to me I gripped the rope and slid down quickly, a second later Apex landed behind me, then Ela, then Jäger and finally Doc. I looked up and gave the crew chief a thumbs up, he towed in the the extra line and slammed the door shut before the helicopter disappeared behind the canopy. We sat quietly for a little while, waiting to see if the enemies had decided to come and fight us. I felt naked without my armor and rifle, we waited patiently until Apex spoke "Ozone, we're clear. We gotta get a move on" I nodded as I whispered "Stay on my ass, Doc keep an eye on our six. Let's move" as I stood and checked my compass before walking towards the city.
The woods were quiet, every now and again there'd be the crack of a tree branch and we'd freeze only to watch a small mouse bounce across the path, it was slow progress for half an hour until we reached the edge of the forest. Marius spoke "So this is Ramadi" I nodded before muttering "What's left of it" Ela asked inquisitively "did you ever do any work here?" I shook my head no as Doc suggested "Why don't we get a move on, it's almost 5" I shifted my rucksack and started moving through alleys and crossing streets doing everything I could to avoid being on the main street. I pressed myself against the wall when I noticed a mask patrol heading towards us, the team pressed themselves as close to the wall as they could while the 3 masks walked past lazily resting their hands on the stocks of their L85s. I saw Ela was going to sneeze causing me to spin and dash forward covering her mouth and nose with one hand while I covered my lips with my left pointer finger "Breathe through your mouth" she nodded scared as I retracted my hand and saw her breathing slowly before I checked to see if the patrol was far enough for us to make our sprint to the other side of the road. I motioned Aaron to make the crossing, he took a deep breath before running across the street and sliding into the alley, I motioned the rest of the team across one by one before it was my turn.
I double checked the road was clear and started making my crossing only to see a pair of headlights come around the corner, I made it into the alley and tackled the other 4 behind a large trash can as we saw lights get shined down the alley. We were all getting more uncomfortable the longer the lights continued to be shined down the alley, finally after 30 seconds the lights disappeared and the sound of an engine revving up was heard. I got off the pile of operators and looked at them "Everyone okay?" Ela nodded as Marius groaned softly "Scheisse(shit).... you guys are heavy" I pulled him to his feet as I motioned down the alley "The compound is a block and a half that way" Ela started leading the column through the interlocking labyrinth of alleys before we came to the last street crossing. Marius suggested "Why don't we all go at once, we'll be able to make it" I nodded as Aaron spoke "I've got lead" I patted his shoulder "I'm ready" we sprinted across the street as a man stepped out of a house and got body checked by me. I stopped and turned before asking "Are you okay?" He stood and replied in a heavy accent "Yes, I'm okay. Any reason you were running?" I replied with a chuckle "My friends and I were having a race" he asked while looking at my bag "why do you have such a big bag?" I replied with a small smile "I'm a lot faster than my friends so they made me carry a bunch of heavy stuff so they have a chance to win" he nodded slowly before replying "Alright, have a good day" I smiled kindly "you too" I jogged to catch up to the team and saw them looking between me and the man.
I clasped Ela's shoulder and spoke "We need to move, he's suspicious" she nodded very carefully as I spoke just loudly enough for the group to hear me "We need to start running, I told him we were having a race" they nodded as I called "I'm still faster!" As I took off running down the alley, I heard Aaron "Like hell you are!" As I heard them start running and laughing. We ran all the way to the rear gate of the compound as I walked up to the keypad and typed in the code, the light turned from a dim red to a vibrant green, as I gripped the steel bars above the lock and shoved the door open. I watched the team move through the gate while I kept scanning the alley for any sign of the man if he was trailing us, I disappeared into the gate before I closed it and heard the metallic click as the steel lock engaged. I turned and followed the group deeper into the dark compound, I saw Marius pull out a large security guard's flashlight causing us all to give him odd looks, he noticed the appalled expressions and explained "What? I'm prepared, don't judge" I shook my head amused "You lead us to the breaker and I'll stop judging" he spun and stormed off like the Führer had told him to take Paris. We had to jog to keep up with him, he was like a blood hound he turned corners and moved through the building like he knew every inch of it. I had spent most of the flight studying schematics and CIA security contractor's weakpoint report and committed them to memory and I was struggling to keep up with his movements, he hauled ass around a corner before falling back around the corner infront of me.
He held his face "Scheisse(shit), found it" I chuckled as I extended my hand and pulled him to his feet, I spoke as he started walking away "Hey, don't go anywhere, I'm gonna need your flashlight" he shined it into my eyes "Sir, have you been drinking tonight?" I rolled my eyes as I pulled the breaker open and started switching everything and bringing the electricity back on. Rather quickly after, the overhead lights turned back on and Jäger and I started heading back to the main lobby. When we rejoined them I spoke to everyone "alright, Doc, Apex, go select an area for our reception. Ela, Jäger, go with them and set up your gadgets" they nodded as Ela asked "What are you doing?" I lifted my bag "I'm setting up our hardened defenses" she nodded with wide eyes at the wild look I'm sure I held. I headed to the armory and found a lot of ammo cans and picked up 8 empty ones before placing 2 empty ones in my rucksack, I jogged back and up the stairs and out the door to the roof, I crouched and started placing the Ammo cans around the roof at spots the Security Contractors had designated as strong points. I pulled out a can of red spray paint from my bag and started spray painting red X's at the points designated as weak points, I crouched next to the first box and placed in 3 fully loaded magazines for each of the weapons we have and 3 grenades as well as bottles of water before I moved to the rest of the boxes and put the same thing in. I headed back into the building and headed towards the sound of voices, I arrived and saw Aaron setting up his gadget "hey Ozone, how're we looking?" I replied as I leaned against the door frame "So far so good, hardpoints are set up. Just waiting for this to get finished before I radio Harry and tell him we're good" he nodded.
I heard the siren outside and checked my watch "Right on time" Doc asked confused "What is?" I asked with interest "Never worked in the Middle East?" He shook his head no as I explained "That siren and the subsequent Arabic after it was the first call to prayer, always happens at 0500" Ela spoke with a half haunted tone "It was always after this that they attacked when I was in my PMC" I nodded as I replied "Same with my time as a Raider" I saw Aaron stand "My gears set up" I turned and picked up my radio "Boss, this is Ozone. We're set up and ready to receive patients, how goes the mission planning?" He replied tiredly "We're trying to come up with a good plan while leaving the 8 hour flight window. It's going slow but we're making progress, how's things on your end?" I looked at the team as they finished setting up their equipment "Well it's going pretty good. We've got the reception area set up, we're getting our equipment set up and soon we'll just be holding position and waiting for B Team to come and pull out those pilots" he sighed before replying "Nøkk is pushing hard to come up with the perfect plan, she wants to get out there" I sighed before replying "Let me talk to her" he called her name and she came over rather angrily "What Harry?" He replied "Ozone wanted to talk to you quickly" I heard the radio fumble slightly as she asked "Ozone? What is it?" I replied calmly "Breathe, it's okay. You don't have to rush the plan we have the ammo and position to hold it." She replied urgently "If we don't get the plan right people could die" I replied back with the same tone "Nøkk, the perfect plan only exists in the planning room. The moment you leave that room Murphy shows up, just breathe, take it slow. Slow is smooth" she finished the saying calmly "Smooth is fast" I smiled to myself "See? It's okay, we'll be here when you arrive" she threatened good heartedly "You better fuckin' be there when we arrive or I will drag you out of the pits of hell to kick your ass" I chuckled as I replied "I know, come on and get over here so we can go home. This place fuckin' sucks" she replied "I'll be there soon, just hold strong." I put the radio down and looked at at Aaron and saw the shit eating grin "That's going in my best man's speech too" I rolled my eyes and started setting up a comms station.