Priest had the team assembled around him, “Ok, let’s go over the plan one more time. Lia, you’re in the building across the street to provide sniper support and overview. I will cover the back door; Shaw and Doc will breech the front door.”
Priest’s team was in place and sighted in on the target building. It was a dilapidated warehouse which covered half a city block, lengthwise. It was about 100 feet wide and wedged in by other buildings of the same condition. The area was one of older industrial areas in the city with rust covered metal surfaces and windows were near impossible to see through due to the dirt covering them.
The wind was blowing slightly which rattled loose roof tin, chains, wall panels and debris across the pavement. This made it hard to make out sounds they could associate with the targets. Again, here they were; shitty intel that they couldn’t completely trust, not enough time to survey the area to come up with an action plan and an incomplete team to execute. This situation pissed Priest off the most, but being what it was, he just needed to overcome and adapt.
Lia was in position on the roof of an adjacent warehouse. She had a 180-degree view on two sides of the building. They chose Shaw and Doc to breech, while Priest was covering the alternate entrance. Shaw, Doc and Priest were off the street and hiding in the shadows, waiting for targets to show. The team had been set for close to an hour.
“Father, this is Overwatch”. The Team voted to approve that callsign for Lia. They tossed a few others around, but Overwatch got the most votes.
“Copy Overwatch.”
“We have vehicles approaching and I’m not sure if they are coming to the target building, but will call out anyway. Four vehicles in single file, all Suburban’s windows are tinted black, so I can’t make out several occupants.”
“Copy. We will stay out of site in case things go sideways.”
“Ok, Father. They are coming to our target building.”
“Copy that.” “Cotton, give me a sit rep as soon as you make your assessments.”
“Copy, roll-up door is opening with three targets inside. All are packing MP5’s. Can’t see any farther into the building and still can’t see into any of the vehicles.”
“Ok, let’s assume they are full, meaning there is a lot of beef to wade through. We will have Overwatch take out targets before they enter the building. If not, we lose her support. Overwatch, you are cleared to engage as soon as you assess individual targets.”
“Shaw, Doc, as soon as she pops the targets, run in and eliminate as many as you can. I will see if I can breech this back door.”
The vehicles pulled up near the warehouse and stopped. Pop! The vehicle’s driver window shattered, and the driver slumped over the steering wheel with the left side of his face and head missing. The occupants screamed, and there was apparent movement from inside the vehicles.
Shaw answered their shouts with the indistinct repeating sound of his M48 sending .50 cal lead wrapped death into the vehicle. Priest could hear the sounds of destruction as he made his way to enter the backside of the warehouse. The pedestrian door was locked, so lowered his M4 and blew the doorknob off.
Lia witnessed Priest enter the warehouse as she fired on the front vehicle. Her shot went through the driver’s window, snapping his head to the side toward the passenger. Blood, brains and skull fragments peppered the passenger. He was in shock and was trying to wipe the gore off his face when a round entered his neck and took the right side of his jaw off. Blood spurted from his neck like an open fire hydrant on a sweltering day in New York City.
The occupants exited the vehicles to return fire. Half were dressed in suits and half were dressed in khaki fatigues with black shirts. They possessed higher end automatic weapons. Most were not the picture of ISIS seen on the news, but were dressed to better mingle around the US. They were exiting the opposite side from where Shaw was laying down fire, which put them in Doc’s line of fire.
“Frag out,” Doc yelled. The grenade exited his M203 and landed at the feet of the men scrambling out of the second truck in line. BOOM! The explosion drowned out the screams of the ISIS members as Priest entered the door into the darkened back of the warehouse. He could see the opened roll-up door with the light flooding in. Shaw saw the three men position themselves on either side of the door, taking cover. Four other men were coming out of an office from the right side, running to join the other three.
Priest thought this would be an excellent time to make his presence known. He loaded his M203 with a grape shot grenade. “Everyone down. Grape shot down range,” Priest yelled into his squad comms. Shaw and Doc took cover. Foomp! Priest launched the grenade then took cover behind an office wall built out of cinder block.
The grenade exploded, sending large metal ball bearings screaming into the combatants standing by the door. They met the several members who were running for cover inside the building with an explosion that took them off their feet. At virtually the same time, multiple projectiles slammed into their chests, face and legs. What splattered to the ground was mangled viscera, unrecognizable limbs and jutting bones. Priest searched the rest of the warehouse for additional ISIS members.
“Holee Shit,” Doc yelled. “That really fucked them up.” There were a few others who were caught by the blast, rolling on the ground, moaning. The third truck’s windows exploded out as the occupants began firing blindly, just trying to lie down enough suppressive fire to allow them to escape into the building.
Priest came over the comms, “Team, we need to snag some prisoners so we can interrogate these fucks!”
Shaw yelled, “Cease fire, cease fire. Ok you fucks, exit the vehicles with your hands up. Now!” Shaw repeated the commands in Farsi and Arabic. Priest made his way to the front of the warehouse as the
team had the trucks covered in all directions. There were yells from inside the vehicles in Farsi, “to not shoot”.
Shaw continued, “Throw out your weapons and then exit the vehicle (in Farsi.)”. A few MP5’s and pistols came flying out the window. “Exit the vehicle slowly, with your hands up and lay face down on the ground (Farsi.)” The doors on the last two trucks opened and four middle eastern men slowly got out of the vehicle. Two on the left side, two on the right. “I don’t see anyone left in those two vehicles, but I am seeing slight movement in the front one.”
“Lia, report.” Priest directed.
“I have the front vehicle covered and I see movement.”
Priest reloaded a grenade in his M203. “You in the front vehicle, get out now!” Priest yelled in Farsi. There was no movement to exit the vehicle. Priest thought he saw the occupants readying their weapons for an assault. “Times up!” he said.
Priest fired 5.56mm rounds into the windshield and it broke like a spider web with an enormous hole in the middle. He then launched a 40mm grenade into the vehicle through the front windshield. Men were screaming and the sounds of scrambling until…. BOOM! The remaining windows blew out followed by a shower of blood and viscera, ravaged body parts, intestines and the shredded torsos of the men hung out the shattered windows.
This immediately influenced those in the last two vehicles to exit with a renewed vigor. They all exited, threw out weapons and immediately dropped to the ground on their face with their hands behind their heads. Doc, Priest and Shaw closed in while maintaining cover on the men lying on the ground. One man made a quick move to the back of his waistband. He got his hand behind his back before a round entered through his right eye and removed the back of skull.