The Macrela: A New Opposition

"HOTSPOT"

"HOTSPOT"
Day 3 - 20:32:00
David "Lynx" Hendriksson
Somewhere in Nuevo Leon

"Good job with the water station. We've gotten perfect flow."

"No need to thank me, Lovec."

"Well... we're going into hell now. Plaids have got to be here somewhere. They took Eliska here, and if not, then..."

"She's dead?"

"No, I was going to say that we could squeeze some information out of them. You know the plaids gossip a lot, so we should take advantage of that."

"Rappel down, guys. Good luck and I'll wait for you at the exfil point." Aspen said through his headset.

"Cool. We're gonna make it quick." You took one of the ropes and made your entrance. The forest was deep and uncertain. You were worried about anything coming through the trees at any given moment.

"You're getting the hang of this, Lynx. Just want to say you'll get far."

"Really? I still feel like a complete novice."

"You still are. You fit right in with us, so progress will be easy."

"Cut the chatter. Patrol ahead."

Your MK14 EBR was silenced, so you dropped the three plaids ahead with three shots and advanced.

"Jeez, save some for us."

"This place is going to be loaded with plaids. You'll get your turn, Hornet."

Your team hid the bodies, then got deep into the trees. You had no idea where you were going, yet Lovec seemed to have some sort of navigation.

"Where are they going to be? How do we approach?"

"It's a small outpost somewhere on the outskirts. Enemies aren't expecting us. Just be quiet."

"How is everybody doing?"

"Fine."

"I'm doing okay."

"Dead on the inside as always."
Lovec shut the conversation down immediately. "What part about 'be quiet' do you not understand? We're Hawaii shirts, they'll shoot us on sight if they hear us."

"Okay. I got it."

"Then shut up."

We hurried our way through the bushes and the outpost up on the hill came into view.

"There are guards. Stay low, this pit is a death zone. And spread out!"

The moment you stepped onto the dirt, you started to sink. That wasn't just dirt, it was mud.
This made a pretty good moat for those damn plaids who were perfect at hiding from the law.

"Hostile walking out. Hit the deck!"

You were frozen in place for a moment, but someone threw you into the mud and then dropped to the ground beside you. It was Catori.

"Don't be an idiot. Stay down and don't do anything stupid."

"Then why is Aspen getting up?"

Aspen kneeled in the mud, looked through the ACOG scope of his Kriss Vector, and stayed perfectly still.

"...I think his mate saw me."

He looked back into the scope and we were suddenly met with gunfire.

"He did, yes he did!"

Lovec emerged from cover and started firing back at the bastards, you got up and joined him.

Catori patted you on the back and racked her M249. "Go, advance! I'll cover you!"

You nodded and started stomping your way up the hill. There was mud up to your knees and dirt smeared on your face. You almost tripped over the slippery stuff but got to the top and gave the plaids hell as your team could follow you.

Your MK14 EBR went empty after several rounds of service, so you took your M45A1, and moved to solid cover behind a brick wall.

"Lynx! I see one of them moving into the small house. Orders?" Hornet yelled.

"Why are you asking me for orders?"

"They're going to get away if we don't do anything! So, orders?!"

"We move up on there. Everyone here? They ran into that building."

"Let's do it then!" Lovec led the team and everyone stacked up at the door.

Salvador shook the handle and it didn't budge.

"Locked. Time to breach?"

Lovec nodded. "Do it."

Salvador secured a charge to the door and took the detonator. He held his fingers and counted, 3, 2, 1,

BANG.

Charging inside, you had Lovec right behind you, and everyone else to follow.

Hostiles were no match for you. They couldn't see your team coming, so walking in was like cornering a house fly with its wings missing.

It couldn't fly away from you now.

"They're all dead. Great job."

Salvador's eyes started to wander around the room.

"Ohhhh cabron. Look at all these weapons here. They got explosives, ammo, a bunch of cool stuff!"

"It's too much to carry. We aren't going to take everything back."

You left your MK14 on the ground and took an HK416 rifle on the table - a German engineering masterpiece.

Guns were like women. And this would be comparable to that one supermodel that had no haters.

"Explosives... we need to destroy this then. Take what you can, but we make sure none of this goes to those pricks."

"He's right," Catori kicked a mortar shell aside. "It's sad to see this stuff go, but... you know, it's worse if it gets into their hands."

"I've got C4 too. Want me to plant it?"

"Yeah, let's not wait."

Salvador tossed the plastic explosive on the pile of ammo and you left the building with everyone else. Salvador didn't blow it up though, he put the detonator away in his pocket and laughed.

"Let's see those reinforcements come, and we'll nuke that house in their faces."

"That's as twisted as it gets."

"But is it not effective, hermana?"

"I like the idea, okay? Let's fuckin' do it."





The team backed up and everyone hid in a different place, tense about the plaids that would come to check it out.

"I see them on my side. They've spotted the bodies inside. Stand by."

"When do I blow it?"

"They're inside, wait for them to all go in... Stand by... NOW!"

Salvador pulled it and blew the house up from the inside, glass shattering and people being thrown around inside. The shell of a house that remained was not much of a house after.

"Wow, that was fun."

"We need to get out of here. Eliska isn't here, we'll look some other place."

"Aspen here. I flew over the hill just now. You need to hurry up and exfil 'cause they're following both you and me!"

"You heard him. It's time to go!"

There were no objections, everyone was up and running at that moment and hostiles were surrounding from every direction.

"GO, GO! WE'RE GOING WEST!"

Lovec skipped the trouble of running down the hill and straight up slid down the mud on his butt. Then everybody followed in his footsteps, and you all looked like professional cross-country mud sliders for a moment until you had to keep running.

"KEEP MOVING, GO THROUGH THE BOG!"

The solid ground you were just on was gone. Now, you were up to your ankles in swamp water and you had to keep running no matter what.

"COME ON, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!"

A stray plaid who was hiding low in the water suddenly jumped Lovec and tried to pop him, and you raised your HK416. Luckily Catori was fast enough to stab her knife into the plaid's neck and shove him away.

"I ain't no fortunate son! Let's get the fuck outta here."

Hornet, who was already far ahead of us, stopped in his tracks.

"GUYS! GUYS, DON'T MOVE!"

"THERE ARE PLAIDS BEHIND US, WHAT FUCKING CHOICE DO WE HAVE?"

"MINES! THERE'S LANDMINES IN THE WATER! DON'T TRIGGER THEM!"

You looked down into the water. It was hard to see anything in that swamp gunk.

"...Oh shit. They're anti-personnel mines. I have one NEAR ME RIGHT NOW!" Lovec started to shake. Whatever the calm and collected leader was before, now, no longer.

"Don't move, Lovec. Don't step on it."

"STEP ON IT?! IT'S PRESSURE TRIGGERED! I ALREADY WALKED NEAR IT! IT'LL BLOW UP IF I EVEN FLINCH!"

The situation escalated even more, as if it wasn't already desperate before.

"Guys, cover me. I'll help Lovec."

"I hope you know what you're doing..." Hornet muttered.

I think we all knew that this could be our last operation ever.

"Lovec, stay calm. Do you see the mine?"

"Halfway underwater. If it feels any pressure, it'll detonate."

You took a deep breath and held your head underwater, and grabbed the mine from underneath it, lightly and carefully. Lifting it up like a hot cake, it came out of the water and you could finally be at ease.

"Holy shit. We're alive."

"LEFT FLANK! WATCH YOUR LEFT FLANK!"

Bullets flew by and you thought quickly, throwing the landmine at the three plaids firing at your team. It landed in the water and immediately blew up, taking the three of them out.

"...Wow. I didn't think that would work."

"H... Help... Puta madre, they shot my leg."

Hornet grabbed him and started dragging him behind the trees. It was hard to tell what was happening from all the yelling they were doing, but the blood was making some awfully red clouds in the swamp water and you knew you had to get him out quick.

"Grab him, grab him! Take him to the chopper while we hold them off!" Catori and Lovec stayed behind while you and Hornet picked him up and you both started to move him out.

"Stay with me, mi hombre. Just keep breathing, Salvador."

"Where did you ever pick up spanish... I bet you're real smug about that now, huh?"

"Where are you hurt? How bad is it?"

"I'll be fine as long as I'm with you all. Dios está conmigo, no puedo rendirme ahora..."

Aspen landed the littlebird helicopter on the ground and ran to us, helping him into a seat.

"GET ON! EVERYONE GET ON!"

Hornet strapped himself in, so did you. Catori and Lovec made their way over and started to get in.

"That's a mission complete. Glad you're okay, Salvador- AAAAUGH!"

Lovec was shot.

You turned and confronted the shooter, then someone else took him out.

"You can't kill me..." Salvador laughed, and put the Cartel 1911 back in his holster.

"I'm alright... It caught my vest..." Lovec grunted and pulled himself onto the helicopter.

"Get us outta here, Aspen."

"Got it, sir."











"Well..." Catori sighed. "That was a shitshow."

"Which part?" You asked.

"You know... all of it."