One Man's Goal

Part III-So Close

Operation Quick kill
Task Force 246
Somewhere South of Islamabad, Pakistan

OP Quick Kill was designated by the entire high command of the US Army in order to capture Vladimir Zukhaevli who is believed to be a terrorist. Task Force 246, under the command of MAJGEN Francis Titar will have their most complicated mission yet as Zukhaevli was a man who is known for wiping out anyone who stands in his way. The main plan is for the Task Force along with the 101st Airborne division to crawl up their way to Zukhaevli's headquarters and while headed there heavy resistance is expected. They will deliberately land about half a kilometer away from the headquarters so as not all of Zukhaevli's security will find them easily. Enemy firepower will increase each time they get closer to the HQ and in order to take out all the enemy defenses Francis decided to land his forces around the perimeter in order to surround them. Spies have reported a network of underground tunnels that extends about a kilometer away from the HQ and half a kilometer away from the supposed landing zone. The operation will be held at night to ensure maximum stealth and to catch the defenders off-guard. The tunnels are believed to have communications systems that has contact with ISIS that must be held under their hands as quickly as possible before enemy reinforcements arrive.

Within 2 hours, the entire strike team consisting both the Task Force itself and the 101st Airborne must be headed for the battle zone. They prepared in a military facility that the Pakistan Army allowed for allied use directly in Islamabad as fears of terrorist threats ravage the country. The 246 that came from one of the American airbases in Afghanistan where to group up with the 101st and are now en route to the said enemy HQ. The Pakistan government was desperate to capture Zukhaevli by any means possible in order to clean up the denied allegations of terrorist activity. The Pakistan Army however made a deal with the Americans to deal with Zukhaevli while they deal with ISIS. The entire thing was made top secret that was only between military commanders and not even world leaders should know about as it may add up unwanted engagements in the rising issues about the start of the third world war.

After the preparations, the entire team then set off for their task. Before leaving, Ayed made a salute to Francis and prior to that, entrusting a few personal items to his commanding officer as he is not certain on whether if he's coming back alive. The AC-130 gunship that was reconning the area had to refuel and won't be available for support for the next 6 hours as it also needed to undergo its annual maintenance. They decided to push through with the planned assault without additional support as the last batch of pictures taken from air show that Zukhaevli is preparing for a siege of Islamabad. Upon hearing this, the capital was placed under lockdown with Police and Army units going around the streets which are currently packed with people and vendors.

While on the choppers, the Task Force was further briefed about the said operation and were advised about the endless number of traps that they have to encounter like hidden barbed wire, land mines, spike pits and the like as Zukhaevli was known to place traps on his safehouses. About an hour later, they have finally landed on the designated landing sites. All members of Task Force 246 and a few selected men from the 101st Airborne went down to the tunnels upon landing. LTCOl James Stanley was in charge of the entire operation and is left outside to make sure that the troops not participating in the tunnel infiltration are organized and spread evenly. One of his men has direct communications with Francis just in case if the men in the command center in Islamabad see something that James' men cannot. It was hot due to the hot dry spring that would hopefully end in June as conducting operations in an open field is much worse than urban warfare. Things seem to go as planned but out of the blue, a man near James was shot in the left leg. He was injured and had to be pulled behind a rock by a medic and another man shouted "Sniper 7 o'clock!" A sniper had exposed the men coming in from the south. Those in the north and east of the safehouse had already encountered a few patrols and only the men in the west are the only ones who weren't spotted by enemy forces. James ordered a few men to observe a few structures surrounding the main safehouse to see if the sniper had switched locations. He then contacted Ayed who was already having a series of close-quarter combat in the tunnels. The first set of plans had to be scrapped after an enemy sniper located them and decided that instead of doing a stealth mission, they were to switch to a conventional assault meaning they have to open fire on the enemy buildings. By 2030 hours, he ordered one of his men who has a grenade launcher on his M4A1 rifle to launch 2 grenades on the building that is nearest to them. He did, and upon hearing the 2 blasts Zukhaevli's men decided to open fire on all directions. A few destroyed cars and big rocks were used as cover as James' men returned fire. A man carrying an M249 SAW decided to spray his bullets onto the enemy forces despite knowing the risks of friendly fire. He did and luckily he didn't shoot any of his comrades. Things seem to be going well for both sides not until a man inside a building decided to grab and RPG. A few more also got RPGs in their hands and started to fire it at rocks and destroyed cars. Things got a bit harder for James' men until someone contacted him saying "Foxtrot 5! Foxtrot 5! This is Romeo 6, we were ordered to provide support, expect a chopper within 15 mikes." James got a sigh of relief, knowing that he has received reinforcements even if he didn't ask for it. That didn't end there as another pilot contacted him "Foxtrot 5 this is Juliet 3, we have spotted Zukhaevli inside the main safehouse and we believe he's headed for Islamabad. Expect a gunship within 30 mikes." The chopper then left the combat zone in order to avoid friendly fire by the AC-130 and it also has to go under maintenance checks.