United Under Fire

Critical Point

Jace went over the intel the spooks went over, and he thought about his time in the Sword and Shield Task Force. Hostile takeovers weren't just violent, they were massacres; cartels and organized crime organizations went after everyone, gang members, their loved ones, and even the children. According to Jovanović and Ivanov, local mobsters were trying to claw into their business dealings. However, it was unlikely that they knew of the WMDs. The first device arrived in an unmarked cargo plane in three days and the second came by a Feeder class cargo vessel in the cover of night that same day.

The Deltas were going after the plane once it landed and the SEALs were going for the freighter. The latter was going to take the ship once it docked, splitting into teams of four, they had eight operators, an EOD, Grey and Rider, and one of the case officers. ISR was going to be on both targets, Cole was going to be manning the JOC. The boarding teams were going to climb in from the stern, the first team was going to secure the cargo bay, the second was going to take the engine room, and the third was going after the bridge. Intel said twenty-five crew members would be on board, meaning the teams needed to be quick, precise, and overwhelmingly fierce.

The main issue with all this would be interference from local law enforcement, if either team were caught they could be criminally prosecuted.

No one would be left behind, Jace was willing to die to keep this from happening.

. . .

Jace and Rhodes watched from the RHIBs, as the Feeder docked, he signaled for the others to press forward. The teams sailed toward the stern, he and Rhodes raised the caving ladder and the team began boarding. They split into fire teams and made their way to their respective objectives. Rhodes took his team to the engine room and Petty Officer First Class Lawton took the others to the cargo bay.

Jace led his team to the bridge and engaged five enemy combatants on their way. Once they reached the door, Dodd set an explosive charge. Once the door went down the team engaged four armed combatants, eliminating three and detaining one.

"Bridge secure, over."

"Copy, Engine Room secure."

"Cargo Bay secure. EOD is disabling the device now, ET is seven minutes."

Local Port Authority and LEOs were due to patrol the docks in twenty minutes. Once they secured the device they were out of there.

. . .

West watched as the plane landed, according to the intel and flight records there were two pilots, five armed guards, and a technician. The aircraft was a PZL M28 Skytruck, and they were meeting a crew of eight more crew members. The CAG troop pressed onto the target on foot under sniper overwatch, covertly eliminating three guards. They detained technicians and engineers, making their way to the plane. The guards attempted to close the cargo doors but were eliminated. The two Delta snipers took out the pilots when they tried to take off. The team boarded the plane, detaining the technician and securing the device.

. . .

The SEALs returned to the JOC, departing eight minutes before the LEOs got to the docks. The EOD and CIA Officers arranged to permanently dispose of the inactive device.

"How are the Deltas holding up?" asked Jace, sitting across from Cole.

"They're on schedule," replied Cole.

Erin awkwardly sipped her coffee, glancing at Jace every once in a while. The sailor recalled how Rhodes and West implied something going between the two. He hoped they hadn't said anything to her.

"Have Zach and Brett said anything to you recently?"

The intelligence officer sputtered into her cup. She set it down, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Like what?"

"Anything personal or stuff like that," replied Jace. If it were as bad as he thought he'd be court-martialed.

"Do they really force you to be their wingman?"

"The bright side to having three daughters is that I don't need to try so hard to get away."

Erin laughed at this.

"Don't you miss going out though,"

"That's what Zach, Rhodes, Dave, and Tony are for," replied Jace. "They— amuse me."

"Tony DiNozzo? The NCIS Agent?" inquired the CIA officer.

"You know him?"

"I know of him, we have a mutual annoyance—"

"Trent Kort," finished Julian. "I worked with him back at SEAL Team 3, he provided my platoon with intel on WMD caches. Never did find out what he got out of it."

"You're probably better off."

Julian knew where she was coming from, but disagreed, he preferred to know the outcome to deal with the fallout. What he doesn't know might wind up killing him or others.

"Sierra-One to JOC, we are proceeding with EXFIL. ETA twenty-five mikes, over."

Jace stared at the monitor, ISR showed that the teams were proceeding with the planned EXFIL route. By tomorrow night they'd be home. Jace was looking forward to seeing his daughters. He wanted to have a beer with his dad and plot his next prank on Tony. He recalled how he sent DiNozzo fake letters from his previous girlfriends and how he volunteered to be an OPFOR role player for the team's tactical training certification, Julian had tackled Tony and taken his weapon and badge, replacing the latter with credentials that read "Federally Licensed Bikini Inspector". DiNozzo hadn't noticed until he went to a crime scene and show his badge to a D.C. Homicide Detective. McGee handed back the real identification card before the detective could ask questions.

"JOC, we are taking fire from multiple sides. Unknown assailants are approaching from all sides, over."

Jace saw that the CAG troop was engaged in a full-blown firefight with armored vehicles mounted with heavy automatic weapons. 

"November-One to Sierra-One, we are inbound. ETA fifteen mikes."

The SEALs scrambled their gear together and went for the helicopters. According to the chatter Erin was going through the local gang from before was trying to make off with the cargo, as far as they knew it was a cache of military hardware.

Once they were in range Jace focused his sight on the gunner, shooting the assailant in the neck. The other provided suppressive fire as one of the Deltas threw an M67 at the caravan. The blast took out two of the three vehicles, killing the assailants near them. With one vehicle remaining they concentrated all fire on the men inside, killing the driver and a passenger with an MP5.

"Sierra-One to November-One, all targets down. Proceeding to EXFIL route, over."

"Good copy, Sierra-One. We'll provide cover, over."

Both teams returned to the JOC, ready to go home.