Charging Into the Fray

Not the Glory

Jace and Grayson listened in as Mavrey grilled Rome about the stronghold and why they hadn't attacked. They looked in through the window with a telescopic mirror. The Lieutenant defended his actions by wanting his men to focus on 'winning hearts and minds' and 'fostering diplomatic relations'.

"If you wanted to do that you should've joined the Green Berets!" said Mavrey, insulted by Rome's approach. "Better yet go to the State Department or Foreign Relations."

"Sir—"

"You've been allowed to lead the finest America has and you're sitting behind a desk!" continued the senior officer. "If I were twenty years younger I'd have leaped at the opportunity to lead men on the front lines again!"

"I under—"

"And to add insult to injury I had to hear about this from the Army and Marine Corps!"

"Sir, I—"

"Adeeb al-Akel is responsible for the deaths of American troops," said Mavrey. "Including two Navy SEALs! Does that mean anything to you!"

As the Captain caught his breath, Rome finally got a few words in. "We're still coming up with assault plans, sir."

"Do you have anything so far?"

Rome shuffled into his desk, handing over the plans the platoon came up with and proposed.

Jace and Ben left, fuming over this. They spent months on those plans and Rome sat on them, not bothering to speak to command.

Julian lost any doubts he had about going over the chain of command.

Unfortunately, Rome still managed to screw them over.

They were going to helicopter in and ruck the rest of the way, of course, the OIC had managed to weasel his way into TOC duty. To make matters worse he cut their assault forces in half and swapped out the rest of the team with Iraqi SWAT. They had only been training for a few months, they were ready for a raid like this.

Hal, Ben, Jace, and Reese were going while the others were the QRF. Thankfully Mavrey had Rome include a Navy EOD and pulled a Master-at-Arms Dod Handler. Petty Officers Lydia Brooke and Alexandra Harrison. They would've preferred a SEAL K-9 handler, but none were available on short notice. Harrison seemed to know Ramadi well enough and Rome tasked her to record the raid with a camera.

Four SEALs, Four Iraqi Cops, and two support specialists, a total of ten people. Jace was Going over his choice of weapons, an MK12 Special Purpose Rifle with a 16-inch barrel provided both accuracy and maneuverability, but the M4A1 was more versatile, and the MK18 was more compact and maneuverable. Jace picked up the M4 and checked the ACOG TA01 and Rugged Miniature Reflex Sight, both were in good order. The other sailors were ready and the SWAT Team was checking themselves and their gear, like Jace, the others were carrying M4s while their local counterparts had MP5s and AK-47s.

They loaded into the Blackhawk and flew off. Jace swore against Rome, when this was over the two were going to talk. Once they reached the LZ they dismounted and continued on foot. They reached the compound in thirty minutes, ISR showed no snipers and the sentries were within the building. They rushed the target in teams of two, Jace and Harrison went first, then Grayson and Brooke, and finally Reese and Victors followed by the SWAT Team.

The dog, Jax, found no trace of explosives. The team did a silent breach, sneaking their way to the insurgent quarters. Inside Jace saw Adeeb al-Akel cleaning an SVD Dragunov sniper rifle, everyone else was either asleep or eating. All of them were strapped. A total of fourteen enemy combatants.

Jace and Ben threw in nine-bangers, and the SEALs eliminated their designated targets. Brooke and Harrison set security, while the Iraqi operators flanked to the left. Adeeb tried to run for it, firing off a Tokarev TT-33. Jace and Reese chased after him, and the former caught up to the HVT, tackling him to the ground. Once the insurgent was disarmed Jace locked him in a chokehold until he passed out. Reese secured the pistol as Julian zip-cuffed the extremist, they carried him back to the others.