Bound by Blood, Forged in Fire

Echo

Jalalabad, Afghanistan

A squad of eight men made their way through the hillsides of a secluded village near the Pakistan border. Their target was a former Taliban lieutenant who served as a liaison with Al-Qaeda, he was confirmed to be the head diplomat for the GTNE. The team leader, second in command, and a third looked through their scopes from their vantage point.

"Echo-One to Echo-Actual, I have eyes on the target, over."

"Understood Echo-One, you are clear to engage."

Jace focused his sniper scope on the militant leader, he was surrounded by several bodyguards. He and his longtime teammate, David Reese, had overwatch. The other six assaulters approached the target from the rear, they tossed a crash grenade through the window and breached. Jace took down three armed combatants responding to the commotion, attempting to respond and save their leader. They watched as the assaulters carried the HVT to the technical vehicle. Jace went for his radio.

"Echo-Three to Echo-One, what is your status? Over."

"Echo-One to Three, we're clear, you and Echo-Four clear out now, over."

Jace confirmed their exit, he and Reese began packing their gear making their way to their dirt bikes. Once they linked up with the others they made their way to the EXFIL point.

. . .

Once they returned to the FOB they handed the detainee to the Master-at-Arms, Chief Petty Officer Malia Rider the Cryptologic Technician attached to the team had questions. She had been working on the manhunt for the GTNE since day one, she had been working with the team since Jace came in. Jace and Reese had primarily been the ones to do any scouting and reconnaissance work for whatever leads she turned up. CIA Specialized Skills Officer Dylan Grey had just flown in, her helo had barely landed when she got out.

Everyone gathered in the SCIF they set up in the center. The team had been split into two squads, the first was tasked with apprehending the HVT while the second destroyed an opium field run by former Al-Qaeda loyalists. The operation was meant to cut down leadership within the group and eliminate a major source of income. In the past four months, they had pulled off similar missions with success.

"Alright everyone, after tonight we have entered the final phase of this operation," said the troop's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Rorke. "After all the body snatches and sneak-and-peaks, in two weeks, we will conduct the final takedown to eradicate the GTNE's presence in Afghanistan."

Officer Grey took over. "We will be moving to the Afghanistan-Iranian border where our target, Abbas Azza. He is the GTNE's head of Afghanistan operations and a founding member of the group."

Jace toned out everything that wasn't related to the debrief, he needed to be completely focused. This moment has been on his mind since his first day at Green Team; every training score, and every field exercise was dedicated to keeping the country he loved safe from another attack like the one that took his wife.

Azza was hiding out in a compound building in the rangeland near the border. It was lightly fortified, with only twenty-five guards on point, his family wasn't staying there, judging by the security layout and the proximity to the border Azza's base of operations was designed for an efficient exit in case of emergencies in the event of an attack rather than to repel enemy forces. They went over the assault plan.

"If we split into two squads and assault the compounds from the north and south sides of the facility we can catch them off guard and cut off their exit," said Senior Chief Hall, the team leader. "We HALO in at both sides, breach, and make our way to the middle."

"What about tunnels?" said Jace. "This place was designed for a quick exit, if he's smart there'll be tunnels."

"Satellite imagery shows that there are no tunnels within or near the facility," added Grey.

"We'll need overwatch, we could set up snipers at the wall," pitched in Chief Special Warfare Operator Glenn Bennet, the team's second-in-command.

"If we're going in from helos we could set up snipers from there, it'll give us a better vantage," said Jace, in the time he's been on the team he managed to become the team's 3IC. He had reservations since he'd only been on the team for almost a year, but he adjusted well.

Hall and Bennet agreed with Jace's idea. Once the teams made it inside they'd split into four elements.

"Anybody wants to add anything?" said Hall, looking at the other operators.

"We do," said Rider. "Grey and I will be going with you."

This struck the team as odd, there were no women at the facility so there was no cultural reason to bring them along.

"We have a source on the inside, a fifteen-year-old guard named Muhammed, we approached him before he was assigned to the compound and flipped him," said Grey. "We need to be there he's only dealt with us and will only trust us."

Everyone looked around, they were used to different operators joining them: EODs, CIA PMOs, and the likes of Rider and Grey may have had the right field experience but this was sudden, usually, they had better heads up. However, no one disagreed that it would be easier to extract the informant if they were there.

After everyone disbursed Hall and Bennet called Jace up.

"What do you think?" said Hall.

"I think that with a sniper in one helo and a support gunner in the other it'll be good to have another set of shooters with us," answered Jace. His mind immediately went to Ziva, after what happened between Tony and Rivkin she went back to the Mossad. Communication was scarce but he always liked to hear from her.

Both men accepted this and went back to their quarters, and Jace did the same. On his way, he was met with Chief Rider and Officer Grey.

"Something I can help you two with?"

"While we were looking into potential GTNE affiliates something came up," said Rider. "They've been in contact with a group based in Africa, one that the Mossad has been after for the past year."

Jace froze, his father mentioned that Ziva had taken Rivkin's place in the Kidon to hunt down a terrorist group in Africa.

"Ziva?"

"Intel confirms that there has been an increased Mossad presence in the AO, CSAR mostly," said Grey.

Jace stopped them there.

"We'll talk about this more when the op's over," said Jace, though there was a voice screaming at him to let them continue. "Tomorrow we're running reconnaissance on the site."

They went their separate ways, leaving to prepare for the next day. Jace, however, had one thought on his mind.

Ziva, what happened to you?