United Under Fire

Vindicta

Jace felt like ice was running through his veins, an entire assault force of a Combined Joint Special Operations Taskforce had been taken out overnight. Fellow Gold Squadron Team Foxtrot and CAG Alpha Squadron Team Yankee had been taken out in an ambush in the Laghman Province of Afghanistan. Foxtrot Team had been subjected to RPG fire on their way to Yankee Team, the latter was in a firefight with over forty enemy forces. They had been forced into falling back into a building rigged to explode. Intelligence confirmed that the group behind the attack was what was left of the Guild of the New Era. The Taliban had backed the cell in exchange for money and weapons. Details such as names and leads that could point to the location of the cell and the Taliban members involved.

Echo Team and Sierra Team were supposed to take over for their fallen brothers in two months, and now they were loading into a C-130 to Afghanistan.

Jace knew the Foxtrot Team Leader, Ryan "Ernie" Ernest, who had served with him in SEAL Team 4 in another platoon. They went through Green Team together and have done two tours together ever since.

Ernie helped Jace through his grief after Kathleen died, the former lost his brother in the attack on Norfolk. Ryan had a wife, Naomi, and two sons, Lewis and Daniel; before the flight, Jace stopped by their house, and he got there along with the chaplain, Lieutenant Commander Melanie Burke. She had worked with his father on a case in search of an MIA Marine.

Once they made it to the FOB the SEALs and CAG team went to the SCIF for the briefing. Lieutenant Commander Grady and Major Wilkes, the Foxtrot and Yankee Team commanding officers, couldn't tell them more than they already knew.

That left them with the option of hitting the targets that the task force hadn't struck.

Echo Team was going after an associate of Rangeen Loharani, a money launderer for the GTNE. Sherin Khalil a banker who frequently exchanged calls with Loharani. Backgrounds showed that the two attended college together at Kabul University. The SEALs were going to raid his apartment on the outskirts of the province.

Sierra Team was going after Khalil at his home near the mountain areas.

Both teams were going to helicopter into their respective targets under the cover of night.

Echo Team was on target, and Ward and Blix took the lead, checking for explosives. Along for the ride were Staff Sergeant Layla Dane, the Cultural Support Team attachment, and Petty Officers Garrett Anderson and Mason Bridges, the EODs.

Sierra Team had their own CST and EODs, Staff Sergeant Bree Fletcher and Staff Sergeants Luke Mace and Frederick Greenberg.

Once they reached the target, Ward and Blix checked the door. No explosives.

Reese lined up the C4 charge and on Jace's command, he blew the door apart.

Jace saw a fighting-age male trying to climb through the window, he and Miller dragged him back inside. Jace flexcuffed him and Miller patted him down. It was Loharani.

They radioed the TOC but were interrupted by the arrival of a convoy of armed fighting-age males. They were carrying RPGs, PKMs, and AKs. Jace radioed for air support but none were available. The side of the building took the brunt of an RPG blast, the team fired back. Jace threw an M67, taking out two vehicles.

"TOC to Echo Team, a Chinook is on the route, sending the LZ coordinates to you now."

Reese and Miller threw a few M18s as a distraction. They made their way out of the building, commandeering a van and truck. Jace radioed for a gunship, the closest one was ten minutes out. The team was already at the LZ, Jace used an M320A1 to take out one of the technicals but that left two more. Everyone laid out the suppressive fire, and Jace fired another grenade.

Thankfully the gunship arrived before the Chinook, taking out the remaining vehicles. The Chinook arrived on time and Echo Team loaded up.

Jace checked with Team Sierra, their HVT was already dead. Deceased for about five hours, they were bringing the body back. JSOC would have NCIS and the FBI work on forensics.

. . .

Gibbs looked through the files JSOC sent over, satellite coverage of the area went on for hours but showed no sign of the GTNE cell. McGee found evidence that the feed was tampered with but it would take time to retrieve the originals. Kara and Fornelll were on their way with the body JSOC shipped from Afghanistan.

Jace relayed their findings to them, neither the deceased nor the HVT were previously affiliated with the GTNE or any other extremists. Team Sierra found a pack of cigarettes on the body and Loharani confessed that he and Khalil were having an affair. They were both blackmailed into laundering money for the GTNE. JSOC traced the burner phones to a location in Kabul.

It was the office of the Afghanistan National Police, specifically the commander of the Civil Order Force. Brigadier General Zaryab Ghuman, the biggest issue was that he was publically favored and the State Department leaned on him for cooperation. The latter would want to loop in the National Police for any move they make against him.

The CJSOT was working on tracking down Ghuman's missing wife, Shahay Meghwar. She came from a wealthy family, but the Ghuman gained control of her assets as soon as they married. She went missing in 2009.

In the meantime, Kara and Gibbs were looking into Javelin Contracting, a private military firm with a heavy presence in the region. The Pentagon contracted them to work security and burn down poppy fields after any combat forces buttoned up the area. It was founded and headed up by a retired Marine Officer Neal Bray, who served in Force Recon and retired after the War in Iraq. Like Academi or any other PMC firm, they had a background riddled with gray.

Jace told them that Bray had been offering Ernest and the other operators jobs and often had lunch with them. Jace discovered that Ernest had a friend in the Pentagon send him records of Javelin's work history with the DOD. Through a third party, they had invested money and resources to find rare metals in the region. They could never set up any dig sites due to the conflicts in the area.

If a large haul of American Forces ran through the areas Javelin needed then it would buy them time to set up dig sites.

Taking out two SMU teams would be a good way to make that happen, taking out another two would expedite the process.

Especially if they started asking questions.

Author Message:
Soon there will be a prequel focusing on Jace's origins and time in SEAL Team 3, his time in Afghanistan and Iraq at the kick-off of the War on Terror.