United Under Fire

Dog Eat Dog

Kara and Sharon observed the interrogation, Abarca maintained her poker face until she was threatened with extradition to the United States for ties with Narco-Terrorism. They added the possibility of her being ratted out as a cooperating witness. Afterwards, they cut Abarca loose.

Every time he came to town, Cortés ordered the same girl, Ximena Aguirre, an aspiring actress stuck under Abarca's thumb. They would meet at the Guarida de los Pecados. It was a popular nightclub frequented by tourists and locals. Once they confirmed Cortés' arrival they would lie in wait inside the club with teams outside.

The problem was that the club had armed security and metal detectors, so they couldn't bring weapons. Jace, Kara, Reese, and Sharon were going to go inside to keep watch for Cortés. Men and women posing as couples would arouse less suspicion. Torres and Cole were going as well.

Lucky for Julian, he always kept a ceramic knife concealed in the buckle of a rigging belt and two more in his boots. Sometimes he scared his teammates, more than the cartels or Jihadists.

Once inside, Jace and Kara set up at the bar while Dave and Sharon took their seats at a booth near the entrance. Nick and Erin were seated near the staff entrance. The rest of Echo and the Fuerza Especial Conjunta were outside maintaining a perimeter.

Jace and Kara had eyes on Aguirre, but none of the teams saw Cortés.

Fifteen minutes after the appointment, Cortés walked up to Aguirre, sitting next to her.

"Damn," said Jace. "Must've used a hidden entrance."

The Sicario and the escort spoke for about thirty minutes before leaving, the former heading for the front exit and the latter going to the women's restroom. Cole followed her inside while Torres followed the target. Jace and Reese met with the other operators while Kara and Sharon stayed behind to watch after Cole.

Once inside, Julian and Reese geared up. Torres joined them and Colonel Barrera was in the van's front passenger seat. They tailed Cortés to the city's outer limits.

"TOC to all stations, be advised you are thirty mikes outside the QRF window. What is your call?"

As the field leader, Jace was the one who had to make the call.

"We've never been this close to Vargas before," said Barerra. "We may never get another chance."

"Echo One to TOC, we are proceeding with the assault. Over."

They rammed the van into the rear of Cortés' sedan, forcing it into a lamppost. Ward fired a Nine-Banger into the HVT's car and Torres threw in a tear gas canister. The Sicario fell out of his car onto his hands and knees.

Ward flex-cuffed him and passed the man to Torres.

As they prepared to leave, the Tahoe with the Mexican Tier One team was taken out with an RPG. Leaving no survivors.

The SEALs engaged a fire team, taking out the Sicario with the rocket launcher first. Out of nowhere, more cartel soldiers came out of the woodwork.

Unfortunately, the gunfire took out the wheels on their van, the operators fell back. They were eventually forced into a church. They barricaded the windows and doors, and Torres took Ward and Clarke to clear the rest of the building. When they came back they had found a priest sleeping in the basement.

Cortés had been wounded in the firefight, the Sicarios must've had orders to kill him if they couldn't retrieve him. He had two gunshots to the chest and gut, both through and through.

They cleared the altar and began treating his wounds. Everyone else set security, and Torres began questioning the detainee.

"If you tell us where to find Vargas you can have a chance at leniency," said the agent, Jace was uncertain if this was a deception. "No extradition to the U.S. or death penalty."

Cortés laughed, coughing and choking out blood.

"You're wasting your time," replied the injured man. "They will keep coming for me and you will all be dead."

"You think they're here to save you?" said Jace. "We tracked you down and bagged you. Vargas has killed for less."

Cortés spat at them, turning away.

Everyone took cover when an explosion rocked the ground. They took defensive positions, Jace took a quick look outside and saw squads of Sicarios shooting at each other. Based on the tattoos the new guys had, Jace guessed that they were Sinaloas.

Real Sinaloas.

The firefight intensified with the arrival of another crew with a Narco Tank, Los Zetas.

"We got sicarios crawling out of the woodwork," Jace said into the radio. "Not just Vargas' guys, Sinaloas and Los Zetas."

"What the hell are they doing here?!" asked Torres.

"Must've heard that Cortés was in town," answered Jace. "Had the same idea as us."

Everyone stuck to their position, Jace and Barrera went to the top floor. Jace only had his HKD14.5RS and five magazines left.

"The only way they could've tracked us here was if they were tipped off," said the Colonel.

"We cut Abarca loose before the raid," said Jace. "She must've called Vargas, everyone else must've smelled the smoke."

Reese reported seeing eight fighting-age males in the east, Ward reported a dozen in the south, and ISR showed more incoming. Every one of them was posted on every block, fighting each other to get to them.

"JOC, we need an armored EXFIL," radioed Jace. "We've got tangos all over the place, how copy?"

"Lima Charlie, Echo One, QRF inbound 40 mikes. JOC going dark, over."

Kara was the one who answered.

The moment the cartel's men stopped fighting each other, the operators were next.

"I thought that you should know," said the Colonel. "I asked for you, specifically."

"You knew my history," responded Jace. "You knew about Pedro Hernandez, his son and daughter, and the Reynosa Cartel."

"Everything in your file, your method of operating told me that you were the man for this job."

"My background isn't special—"

"The way you carry yourself is, you aren't a cowboy or just another soldier. You're a rare breed, a wrath-bringer—"

They started taking fire from his position and he fired back, choosing his targets sparingly. Barrera had been hit, two rounds went through his armor and side. If the TOC was going silent that meant there was a leak on their end. This made sense, the sicarios had to have been following them since the club. Someone had to have let them know that they were outside their QRF window.

Julian scorned at his tunnel-visioned decisions. He let his inner demons take over his better judgment. As a result, his team was going to pay the price.

He brought Barrera to the others and checked on Torres' interrogation, Cortés was still holding out.

"No one's here to save you, hell, it's just as likely that Vargas ratted you out," Torres was leaning on him hard.

Cortés fought to keep his game face.

Jace checked with the Colonel, he was losing blood quickly. He and Trevors tried to control the bleeding but the Barrera fought against them.

"Save him—" the Marine coughed. "F-Find Vargas. Kill him!"

Jace could see that the Colonel was dying, he signaled for the priest to give him his last rights.

"I'll get him," Julian said, looking his fellow warrior in the eyes. "He won't escape us."

Jace watched as his comrade passed.

Now the fight was on.

Now it was personal.