Bird Of Fire

[Bergy]

Chapter One:

The arms shipment was already late, now I had to deal with a T-72 Tank; Russian armour really is a pain in the arse. My M-16 had only 15 rounds left and my team is about half of what it was when the operation began.

“I see some lights sir, I think it’s the shipment” Private Karl Grauss called from the top of the hill

“Keep an eye on ‘em, get on the radio and tell ‘em to turn their bloody lights off, we got a bloody Tank here” I replied. I walked over to my 2IC who had been wounded in the most recent attack on a Russian troop convoy

“Hang in there Sarge, when those CIA boys get here, we’ll call a chopper and get you outta here” I reassured him

“Take that bloody tank out and any commy bastard who gets in your way…sir” He said as he drifted off to sleep. I trudged back to the HQ position. I took hold of my steel coffee mug and swallowed the cold conglomeration of two packets of coffee, half a tube of condensed milk and tepid water, time to strut our stuff

“Hicks, take your men and go to the top of that far ridgeline” I pointed to the ridgeline to the west, where the glow of twilight was diminishing.

“Cover the road with the M-60 and be ready to call an air strike on the Tank if it starts up, Rayner, set an ambush on the main road to the south and mow down anyone who wanders along. Falk you’re with me, we’re taking out that Tank!” I finished my short briefing. I looked around in the remaining light at the men while they were getting ready, I knew each one of these men, I trusted them with my life and they trusted me with theirs. I found an AK-47 on a dead enemy soldier who had been unfortunate enough to be with the Russian troop convoy.

[Rown]

Rown

Edited July 12, 2015 by Rown

[Bergy]

I found some ammo on the dead soldier and some more on the other bodies that littered the area. I checked my newly acquired gear and found some explosives and a remote detonator.

“Alright everyone listen up, I want everyone to give your ammo to corporal Parnell, M-16, M-60, Berretta, every last round, after that I’ll brief you on your tasks” Corporal Parnell was our newly appointed QM, I wanted everyone to hand all of their ammo in for a re-sup, everyone in Rayner’s section was going to have a fresh load of ammo, Hicks’ men only needed ammo if they got themselves in the sh*t. My men were scrounging around the enemy convoy for ammo, rations, more water and memoirs of this hellhole, hellhole was an understatement, and this place had been a hellhole for quite some time before we got here. It all started back in the Middle Ages during the crusades, the Christians couldn’t find a way past it, when the cannon was invented the place started to look like a ruined house, then a town then a city. The First World War was when the whole country started turning to dust; the Second World War stripped it of 98% of its vegetation. That and numerous civil wars were what ruined the beautiful country it once was. Now the Russians want it as part of the USSR, BULLsh*t, is all we can say to that. My team and I had been sent to Afghanistan on the 12th of January 1987 to protect a CIA arms shipment over the Pakistani border to the Afghan rebels. We were inserted by three choppers right on to a Russian patrol at the cost of 20 wounded, we eliminated the patrol and medivaced the casualties on the three choppers. We are now at 20, half our original strength. I walked over to Falk

“Get your men to find as many RPG-7’s as they can draw and get a launcher for each man as well”

“Yes sir” He walked off

“Rayner, Hicks, ready?” I asked

“Yes sir” They both replied

“Move ‘em out” I said. They complied

“Falk, you ready?”

“Aye sir” He answered

“Ok I’ll take point the rest of you follow me” We moved off, Swiftly, Silently, Deadly. We got to the foot of the hill and turned to follow the road. We had moved forty metres in five minutes. The sun had well and truly gone down by now so I signalled the men to put on their Night Vision Gear. We could now see as clear as day. We moved on to the junction in the road where Rayner and his men were waiting. We discussed the situation, Hicks and his men were at the creek bed, moving west, the tank had no one sober enough to drive, we both determined that after destroying the tank we would harbour up on the far west ridgeline where we could see the whole valley. We moved along the east road until the creek intercepted it halfway to the tank. We kept to the south bank until we heard gunshots from behind us. My instinct was to turn back and help Rayner out but he had 2 M-60’s and we had to get rid of that T-72

“Get the launchers ready” I ordered my men. We ran to the tank. The whole Tank crew was pissed on Vodka

“GO, GO, GO” I shouted as I got up and opened fire on the Crew. They all stood up and the last thing they saw was 7 men with RPG’s and one crazy bastard with an AK-47 running towards them. I cut down the four crew members and the others all let rip their RPGs, the T-72 erupted into a huge fireball that lit up the night sky. I heard a round whistle over head

“Take cover” I yelled, we all ran back to the creek. I slid down the bank and rolled over

“What the hell was that?” Private Burnsworth asked, his answer was a dull explosion 500 metres north where the round landed

“The ammo bay has caught a light” I assured him. More rounds went off. I thought, someone could get hurt if we’re not more careful. I signalled a move back up the creek to where the ambush was taking place. Semi-crouched, we all ran back to the bridge. I had an astonishing idea, I could have kicked my self for not thinking of it earlier, I halted the Troops

“Falk, they’ll probably send a reaction force along this road”

“Great idea sir got any thunder stick on you”

“Always carry it” I got the C-4 out of the satchel bag and placed it around the base and on the joints of the metal, I stuck the detonator in it and we headed back along the road to the east. I could still hear gunshots behind us the distinctive sound of the M-60 and the clatters of AK-47s. If they’re not here in 3 minutes we’ll blow it and get the hell away, I thought. We waited for a minute or two, I could now hear a different sound, the sound of an engine in the distance, not a tank, not a truck, but a Bloody Helicopter. The searchlight blazed through the scrub. sh*t, I thought, they’re getting close to my ambush party. I slammed down the press switch on the Clacker and the bridge went up in a roar of flames, and so did the Helicopter, I was amazed, how the hell did that happen. I looked around at Falk, half expecting the same look of bewilderment but instead, he had a giant smirk on his face and was holding an empty smoking Rocket launcher, I could always count on Falk. I just shook my head, smiled back and said

“Let’s go” We all hastened to help Rayner. When we got there the fighting had ceased and Rayner’s men were searching the dead bodies

“Good job Rayner” I praised him on his body count “Now we gotta bug out, we’ll head towards Hicks and harbour up, up there on the ridge until the shipment comes”

“Ok sir” We moved off. It took us 15 minutes to get to Hicks’ location. When we got there, we made a harbour for the night, radioed Cpl. Parnell and Sgt. Tiegl and told them we would be staying here for the night and to tell the arms shipment we would provide fire support to them as they move along the road tomorrow morning. I told the men to rest, as tomorrow was going to be a long, long day.