And Then They Were In Love And Lost

Chapter 15

The team walked into the base and headed straight to TOC before they dropped their gear. As they all piled in, Davis reached for their gear, knowing they would not go anywhere soon, at least not until they got some answers. And these answers they were seeking were something no one had in TOC. She silently braced for the anger about to come.

"Tell me something." Jason stormed in.

"Yeah, is Delta on their way back yet?" Sonny questioned. "You said it is the same length op, and we got a little sidetracked from Bam Bam here deciding to run off and play."

Blackburn looked at the team filing in and braced himself for what he was about to say. Thankfully, Davis took their gear and headed out by now, so she did not have to listen to this or get accusations thrown at her as she was already not handling the Delta mission very well and her best friend out without the team looking after her six.

"Delta is not back yet; they have hit a problem and are hulled up in an empty house right now waiting for their QRF to arrive; they are still five hrs out as they are coming from another base, not by helo. We have lost coms with them but do have spotty ISR footage. And before any of you say anything, Jason, we can not go in after them." Blackburn blurted out, thinking it would be easier for them to hear if it were quick and fast, like ripping off a bandage. "After taking out their target, they were ambushed by an unexpected troop of fighting-age males and sought cover in an abandoned house up the road."

"How many?" Jason asked with a tone Blackburn knew too well. Anger and defeat. "HOW MANY?" no one responded, and Jason knew that had to mean bad news.

"At least twenty men and one tactile." Was all Mandy could get out as she took on the glare of Jason and Ray.

"So, you are telling me Delta is pinned down against a troop of twenty men, and a tactile and probably RPGs as well and who knows how many more coming while waiting for their QRF that is hours out if they don't get caught up by another group of men?" Ray asked calmly. The team knew too well that this was the fuse leading up to the explosion for him. Long-winded rushed sentences trying to wrap his head around the information.

"Yes, and even if we could go out after them, we have no access to a helo with their location and SAMs were reported in that area. Dropping us off outside range, we would be just as far out as the QRF; they will probably beat us," Mandy spoke, knowing Blackburn had a hard time relaying this information as he was not in the suitable headspace knowing one of his men were not home safe. He was already itching to try and get himself and Bravo out.

Everyone in TOC braced themselves, listening to the string of curses the team let out while pacing or hitting the table with their fists.

"I know you guys don't want to hear this, but there is nothing we can do right now; go clean up, and I will get Davis to work on getting back the ISR feed and bring you some food. The best we can do is wait." Blackburn said as calmly as he could, balling his fists and holding back his explosion.

As the team filed out, Blackburn grabbed his phone and got Davis to bring back some food; although he knew it was a long shot they would settle enough to eat, he hoped Davis stepped in, suggesting it may have some pull. She seemed to be able to tame the chaos and childish tantrums in them all and help them think and act rationally.

Just as she settled in after gathering some sandwiches and coffee from the mess tent, Davis managed to get some old recoded ISR footage for the team to watch and was working on setting up another drone to be sent out for an update and to try and establish comms. The whole team came barging in along with Cerb and his bone and created a whirlwind around the screens noticing some ISR footage of Delta.

"Is this current?" Trent asked, looking back at Davis and Backburn as they started handing out coffee.

"No, this is from a few hours ago before coms went down; we got some recorded. I am working on sending out a new drone, but it won't be able to stay out for very long." Davis responded as she sat back down and got to work on her laptop.