Operation: Pointed Spear

The beginning

Alik's pov
We walked in and saw Harry waiting for us, he spoke seriously "I hope you're all ready for this" I looked at the table and saw a small model of a hospital. I asked "do we have any idea where he could be?" Harry shook his head and spoke "this hospital went dark last night, this morning we picked up a signal from feral's phone messaging one of his superiors that the masks can start bringing their wounded to the building." I heard Corey "so we have to clear this entire building?" Harry nodded and motioned "the ISR pred has been monitoring the building since we picked up the signal. The FLIR has picked up large quantities of masks here, here and here" as he pointed to specific areas of the building, I looked at him as Mike asked "do we have any support or?" Harry shook his head no and replied "no nations wanted to risk their operators on this" I closed my eyes in resignation, if this was too dangerous for the Yanks to send their soldiers I don't fancy our chances of making it out of this. Monika asked "do we have any intel that could be useful?"
Harry pointed "we've got a second signal from the hospital manager's office, we haven't been able to confirm if it's him or not" I sighed as Harry handed out orders "get to that hospital, clear it of the masks and rescue any hostages" Mike gripped the file as we all ran to our dorms and changed into our gear. Corey spoke as Monika and I pulled on our vests "I'll meet you at the field" I saw Tina follow him out as I pulled Monika into a tight hug and whispered "stay safe for me" she gave me a kiss and mumbled "for good luck" I smiled as I pulled on my balaclava and touched foreheads before I pulled on my helmet and primed my rifle before she got her G8 good to go. She looked at me and nodded as I pulled the door open and we started running down the hallway, we burst onto the airfield as Thatcher pulled the door of the Blackhawk before climbing in. Rodion and Bird were close behind him as I sat on the floor and Thatcher spoke "we're going to be inserted on the roof. We'll work our way through the 3rd floor searching the manager's office first, after that we hit the hotspots and do the final sweep"
I nodded as thatcher handed out NVGs "put these on, I looked at the schematics. We can access the power from the roof and cause a black out" I clipped it onto my helmet before I asked "any plans for after this?" Thatcher spoke dreamily "I'm gonna go and get my boat finished" I heard Bird "I think I'm gonna ask Zara out" I smiled to myself as IQ spoke "I'm gonna sleep for an entire month" I chuckled as Rodion spoke "I'm taking Frost on a vacation down to Hawaii" I heard Thatcher ask "what about you Achilles?" I looked out the door and replied "I don't know" Rodion asked "how don't you know?" J answered truthfully "I've been so focused on making sure I make it to the next day, so hungry to get Feral I haven't much thought about what I'm doing with my break" IQ leaned into me and replied "don't worry, I've had more than enough time" I chuckled before my pre mission anxiety set in and I became focused on calming my nerves.
The flight was fast as I saw the Hospital in downtown Rome, our helicopter pitched up before the ropes were thrown. I saw flashing lights on the streets surrounding the hospital as Bird and I slid down the ropes. I leveled my rifle at the access hatch while bird walked forward aiming his shotgun at it, thatcher jogged over to the breaker before flipping all the levers and cracking it with his rifle. I aimed at the hatch before speaking "Bird, open it" he looked at me before turning the handle and straining to lift the heavy door before he got it up. I scanned what I could see as IQ did the same before thatcher tossed in a drone, as I kept my rifle in a high ready. I heard thatcher "immediate is secure, drop in" I dropped into the hole before lifting my rifle. I scanned the hallway before I heard the thuds of feet hitting the ground behind me. We started towards the manager's officer checking every room making sure we weren't bypassing any masks. I heard IQ "this is supposed to be crawling with masks, they know we breached from the roof and we haven't seen a fucking one?"
I was about to reply when Thatcher turned the corner and an MG nest barked to life, I watched helplessly as rounds tore through the man I had learned so much from. I heard Rodion yell into comms "Achilles, you and I have to suppress that gun! Bird grab him as we fire!" I shook my head as I remembered something Thatcher told me.
3 months prior
I was sitting with thatcher at a table as he asked "if one of our men are wounded what do we do?" I asked "try to treat them?" He replied "we kill the bastard that killed them, if we try to help the friendly and the enemy push we've got 2 unarmed men and an enemy with the advantage"
The present
I felt my veins burn red as I pushed to the corner and began firing, Rodion crouched around me firing. Bird grabbed thatcher's straps and pulled him into cover. I heard Rodion say "I'm throwing a frag!" I ordered "Bird, break into Thatcher's trauma kit!" As I fired another burst before ducking into cover as the fragments shot around the hallway. I continued to trade fire while Rodion and Bird tried treating the wounds.
I heard bird yell "we need to end this fast! I've tried stabilizing him but he's losing a lot of blood!" I listened as IQ spoke "That MG nest is protecting something important, we need to push through it!" Bird replied "I'll throw a smoke!" As Rodion asked me "think we're making it out of this?" I nodded and saw Bird's smoke go flying past me. I waited a couple seconds before pushing around the corner and running to the closest wall. I fired a couple rounds as the deep rumble of the MG was heard again. I heard Rodion "Watcher I need you to mobilize QRF, we're fucked here. Thatcher's hit and I don't know if our team will be able to clear this out and secure feral." Harry replied "affirm, I'm mobilizing the QRF they're going to start clearing from the first floor. " I sighed as I threw a flash bang before rushing forward and shielding my eyes before I vaulted over the half wall and lifted my MCX firing into the MG team watching them fall down dead as I fired another magazine into their corpses in a rage at the potential loss of my mentor.
I heard IQ "Achilles, remember we have to utilize our anger. We can't let it utilize us" I took deep breaths before Rodion spoke "Split to our pairs, bird and I will protect thatcher. I leave the rest to you my friends" as IQ replied "we'll make the bastard pay" and we started pushing. I shifted my aim right as we past multiple hospital beds with wounded masks, I remembered the rules of engagement that stated once we passed the masks unless they fired upon us we could not shoot them causing me to lift my rifle and fire bursts into every one of them IQ looked at me shocked and asked "Achilles the fuck are you doing?" I replied coldly "they're masks, they don't get pity" as I fired again before she pushed me into a wall and spoke in a pain filled voice "enough of this, I know you loved him but you need to focus. I can't have you executing mask when they don't even have weapons. Focus for me, please" I took another deep breath before sighing "alright, alright, I'm back. I'm back" she asked in a suspicion rich tone "you're sure?"
I nodded as a mask sat up holding an L85 causing me to push IQ down as I yanked up my pistol firing 6 rounds while the masks started firing. He fell back dead as I looked to my right and saw the bullet impacts on the wall next to my head. I breathed a sigh of relief as IQ stood and asked "are you okay?" I nodded and spoke "raggedy shooting" with a smile she chuckled as we started down the hallway. It didn't take long before the manager's office had come into view. I was about to push forward as IQ stopped me and spoke "listen" I froze and listened hearing heavy footsteps with loud breaths. I looked at IQ and we quickly took cover just for a 6p42 to bark to life, I peaked around the corner and saw the Mask heavy firing aimlessly while laughter boomed. I smiled as IQ pulled out her newly issued thermite grenades, I heard her "keep him busy" as I popped around the corner firing harmlessly into his ballistic mask as he shifted his aim towards me causing me to fall back into corner and huddle up as the corner of my small half wall crumbled.
I heard the rifle stop firing and was about to come back around the corner when it started firing again causing me to kick with my feet as it felt like god had ripped me off my feet. I sighed in relief and spoke "thanks" as I heard the cover of the 6p42 get lifted causing me to fire at the mask again as IQ burst from her cover holding her primed thermite grenade, the mask spun and cracked her with the bit of his machine gun sending her thermite grenade flying towards the window. I reacted quickly and released my rifle before took the mask in a tight hug rushing towards the window. I heard IQ "Achilles what are you doing?!" As I spoke "I love you" fully accepting the fact I'd be dead the moment I hit the ground. The mask struggled to stop my advance before a new burst of adrenaline started pumping before we burst through the window and began our descent. My memories with Monika flashed before my eyes, when we first met, the month protecting her family, the missions, the trainings all of it. I felt my pocket and felt the wedding ring I had planned to give her as I heard her on comms yelling "Alik! Alik talk to me!"