Operation: Healing Shadows

The Shadow's move

Mason's POV
      I looked to my right as I heard a soft whistle, I whistled the return tune and slowly sidestepped the bush keeping my rifle trained on the front door. I thumbed my radio and spoke to command "Moving to breach, Apex on me" I heard the commander "Roger, we've got you on the feed" I nodded to Apex as he stepped forward and crouched and began picking the lock. I kept my rifle trained on the door as he worked hoping someone made the mistake of opening the door, I was growing increasingly uncomfortable the longer he took until I heard the lock click and Apex spoke into his mic "We're in, Captain" a couple seconds later I heard Captain Johnson come back "Moving to regroup hold position" I muttered to myself "like we were gonna do anything else" Apex chuckled quietly as he took a step back and lifted his M249 holding it on the door as I watch the Captain and new guy, Shepherd, jog across the field to rejoin us.
When they reached us the Captain whispered to me "Ozone, lead us in" I chuckled with excitement as I gripped the doorknob and slowly pushed it in as I kept my rifle up and slowly sweeped the room carefully moving at a slug's pace to make almost no noise. We heard a faint voice "I'm going to get more coffee" I motioned the team to the left and into the darkest part of the room as we listened to the footsteps getting louder. I crouched as Apex stood right behind me until we saw the Mask walk into the kitchen and freeze "what? Shi-" he was cut off before he could finish the word when the captain whispered "drop him" causing Apex and I to fire 3 rounds each into his chest and head. I rushed forward and grabbed his corpse to stop the inevitable thud only to here the cup shatter against the floor, I sighed quietly "Shit" as I started down the hallway and saw another mask step out from the living room I fired three rounds into his head hearing a mask in the living go "What the fuck? It's Rainbow!" I paused next to the doorway as Apex held a flashbang in my sight. I nodded to which I saw the flashbang disappear from my view only to fly past me and disappear into the room as Apex squeezed my shoulder, when the flash was seen I sidestepped around the corner twice while Apex peeked around the corner and we saw 3 masks running around holding their eyes. I fired a couple bursts into the Mask holding the wall watching as he started falling, I shifted my aim as Apex fired a couple bursts with his LMG being careful not to overheat his suppressor.
I shot the last mask watching as half my mag streamed into his chest, I shifted my fire mode to semi and fired another round into each of the masks before we turned and rejoined the Captain and the New guy in the hallway "Room's clear" we heard footsteps upstairs and yelling. I pulled my magazine out of my gun and checked the magazine seeing only 3 rounds left in it, I sighed "Reloading" and dumped the magazine into my empty pouch before pulling out another magazine and sliding it into the mag well before slapping the lock and pulling the priming handle. I heard the Captain "We good?" I nodded "A-ffirm" as we came to the staircase, I switched my hand position so my left hand held the pistol grip and waited until the New Guy got to the front of the stack and lifted his shotgun "Moving" we all called "on you" I sidestepped up the stairs until we reached the first of two possible locations for the target I stood to the right of the door while the new guy was on the left, I nodded to him as the small c2 detonation kicked the door wide open and we flooded in. My job was to secure the right side of the room, I stepped in with my left foot first before bringing my right in and walked towards the closest corner shifting my aim to the left as I secured the corner seeing a Mask lifting his rifle towards the new guy. A second later the guy was ripped through the window as rounds from the Captain hit him, I called out to the Captain "Archer! Left!" He spun to the left as the new guy laid the mask out with one concussive blast of his 12 gauge mossberg.
I shook my head in pain as I spoke "Jesus, that thing is loud" the Captain spoke "Lets move, we've got 3 more rooms to secure" I was the first out into the hallway as I gripped Apex's shoulder and we slowly started forward until we reached the next door, he stepped across the doorway as I ran my hand around the door until I felt something under the doorknob I spoke to everyone "We've got something, Shepherd grab my snake cam" he reached into one of the pouches on my back before handing it to me I fed it under the door and rotated it around as I saw nothing "Room's empty" Apex spun as I handed the snake cam back to Shepherd and he placed it back into the pouch. I gripped Apex's shoulder as we moved down the hallway to the final room, I shifted my rifle so my right hand was the trigger as I pressed myself against the wall.
Apex placed a c2 charge on the doorknob as the Captain stacked on Apex and Shepherd was on me, I nodded as I gripped the flashbang Apex handed to me. I gripped the pin and spoke "Ready" apex counted down "3, 2, 1, breaching" the door blew open as I threw in the flashbang, I quickly gripped my rifle and lifted it as the flash was seen and the pop was heard as well as a scream. I was the first one to enter the room and threw my rifle to the left seeing no one before I shifted to the right and saw a mask rushing forward trying to stab me causing me to fire a long burst into his chest. The Captain was in the room to my right and fired at another mask that was in the back right corner, he slumped as Apex arrived and fired a 5 second burst into the last 2 masks. They dropped as the room dropped to silence besides the whimpering of the informant until I walked around and fired another round into each of the Mask's heads while the Captain pulled the burlap bag off the target's head.
I looked over and asked "We good?" He nodded "We're good" he thumbed his mic "Vision 1-1, we have the target, moving to primary LZ, eta 10 mikes" I heard the 160th pilot "We hear you, moving to LZ holding orbit until strobe light is spotted" I turned to Shepherd "Make ready to exfil" he nodded as we cut the restraints of the woman, I nodded to the Captain as I tapped her face "I'm going to get you out of here but I need to know what you told them? Are we compromised?" She spoke groggily "I told.... I told them.... nothing...." I smiled under my balaclava before replying "it was worth it, I'll fix you up at the chopper. We need to move can you walk?" She shook her head no "They put spikes through my feet" I turned on my red light and shined it on her feet seeing the railroad spikes. I recoiled "Shit.... okay, I'm gonna carry you" I picked her up and thought shit, she's light I spoke Archer "Boss we gotta go now, We got a Cat Alpha" he nodded before calling "Let's move!" I fell in behind him as we walked through the building and out the back door.
We walked through the quiet forest, occasionally a leaf would crunch underfoot or the woman's foot will move weird and she'll groan in pain. I saw Shepherd crouched and lift his fist pumping it up and down 2 times before motioned forward, Archer spoke into the comms "3 enemies, 40 meters, let them pass" I wanted to gun them right then and there but decided Archer was right and that it was better to move undetected. We sat patiently as I listened to leaves crunch while the Mask's walked away, Apex shifted restlessly until the crunching was faint and almost inaudible. I stood and the Captain spoke "Double time, we have to be at the LZ in 2 minutes." I whispered "how far?" He replied after checking his map "200 meters" we stood and started jogging through the forest the woman moaned more as we moved but we reached the edge of the clearing quickly.
Shepherd pulled the strobe and lit it before waving it in the air until Vision's pilot came over the comms "We got you, coming in to land eta 15 seconds" the forest went from silent to being dominated by the chopping of the helicopter blades. The Blackhawk's gunners ripped the rear doors open as we moved to board, Apex and Archer turned and pulled security while I slid the woman into the helicopter before turning and calling on comms "Board, I've got you" I saw them turn before they moved past me and climbed in sitting on the seats before I sat on the blood pan and Shepherd spoke into the mic "All PJs on-board, we're good to leave" I swiveled and got on my knees while Apex and Archer slammed the doors shut I spoke "I need a light and morphine, Shepherd get her a saline solution." He nodded as Apex clipped our overhead lamp into it's holder as Archer handed me the morphine needle, I carefully inserted it into her and injected it watching her gasp lightly at the relief of pain. I spoke to shepherd "Let me know when you get that solution in, she's not gonna be this stable when we pull those spikes" he nodded as I turned to Archer "Cap, I need compression bandages and gauze wraps ready. It's gonna be messy" he nodded and started prepping them as I turned to Apex "Keep her legs still, the quicker we do this the quicker we can stop the bleeding" he nodded as Shepherd spoke "I got it, you're good" I gave a thumbs up as I switched spots with Apex "Ready?" He nodded before sitting on her upper thighs and pressing on her calf's "Ready" I pulled my pliers and got a good grip on the spike closest to Archer "You ready?" He nodded before taking a deep breath as I counted down "3, 2, 1, pulling" as I yanked it out.
She screamed and tried kicking as Archer put the compression bandage on before wrapping it with gauze, I spoke to Shepherd "Keep her calm, let her know it's going to be okay" he nodded and leaned down talking to her as Archer spoke "I'm ready for the next one" I gripped the spike as I heard the woman "No, no, please no, please, please god no. It hurts" I shook my head before counting "3, 2, 1, pulling" I yanked it out to which she screamed and bucked wailing on Apex's back while I helped Archer finish wrapping the gauze around the wound I spoke to the HQ "She's secure, we've treated wounds. When we land have the paramedics meet us on the tarmac and get her into surgery, over" I heard Company Commander Hawkins "Outstanding job, Archer well done stabilizing" the Captain looked at me before replying "Well sir, I'd accept it but I wasn't the lead medic. Ozone has that honor" the team sat in their seats starting to relax as I sat next to the woman on the blood pan she asked "What's your name?" I replied looking down at her "Mason ma'am, my name's mason. The big guy with the machine gun is Aaron, the scrawny guy to the left of him is Jake, the kid with the shotgun is Sean" she started crying "Thank you, thank you so much" I replied looking out the window "We'd do it everytime ma'am" we watched the mountains pass until Sean asked "Vision, when are we landing?" The pilot replied "2 mikes, why?" Sean replied chuckling "Rumor has it some tier 1 unit is on base, I wanna see if they've got any hotties" Aaron shot at him "Bro you couldn't land a hottie if she was on fire" Jake spoke tiredly "Enough, both of you. Sean leave the unit alone, you'll just as soon die as get any of them interested in you. Aaron, you've been single since 14, shut up" I laughed to which Aaron asked "what's so funny?" I replied still chuckling "10 bucks says the unit's all men" he extended his hand "You're on" I shook it as we all settled in to relaxing after a stressful mission.
I heard the Pilot "Landing in 30, prepare to transfer Cat Alpha" I unfolded a stretcher as Aaron and Jake got ready to lift the woman and Sean got on the other side. I spoke to Jake "On your mark Cap" he nodded and looked at each of us "Mark" they lifted the woman as I pushed the stretcher towards Sean who gripped on side and pulled it open, he spoke "We're good, lower her" she slowly lowered until she rested on the stretcher as the Pilot spoke into our headsets again "Touchdown, EMTs are heading to us" I ripped the door open and held the heatguard of my rifle as I backed out of the helicopter before gripping one set of the handles and walking out a couple of steps until I heard Aaron "I got the other set, I'll ride with her too" I nodded as I felt the other end lift and the Ambulance came to a sudden stop infront of us the rear doors opened as the on base EMTs took the handles from me and Aaron. I spoke to the Head EMT "Aaron is gonna ride with you, he'll tell you everything we've given to her. She's stable but she needs treatment now" he nodded as I spoke before replying "We'll take care of her" I stepped back as they loaded her into the ambulance and Aaron climbed into the back.
I released a sigh as I pulled off my helmet and balaclava before I gripped my hair and spun, Sean spoke to me "We're not quite done yet, we gotta go debrief" I looked at the younger guy "I know, let's go. Jake, come on!" He jogged over time us as we slowly made our way to the center dreading debrief. I looked down and saw one of my pant legs was covered in blood, I sighed "Oh, for fucks sake!" Jake looked at me in confusion at the outburst before he looked down and saw the blood before speaking "Dude it's not even on your leg" I looked at him "still a bitch to get out" just then Sean asked "what do you mean it's not on his leg? His entire pant leg below the knee is covered in blood" I had a look of realization "Oh, you don't know. I forgot it's only your second time with us" he looked confused "What do you mean I don't know? What don't I know?" I rolled up the pant leg and showed my prosthetic leg "I'm an amputee" he looked dumbstruck "then why are you here? Shouldn't you be back home?" I nodded before speaking "I got bored, switched from the Marines to Air Force and decided to dedicate the rest of my life to the unit that saved it" I rolled my pant leg back down as I heard a Scottish accent "Hey, you three are the team that got our informant right?" I stood upright and asked "You guys rainbow?" He nodded to which Jake replied "then we're your guys, what can we do for you?" The buff man motioned to a shorter blonde man and someone wearing a jaegercorps veil "We wanted to thank you for saving our informant. She has a kid that's been worried sick" I smiled slightly as Sean replied "We don't need the thanks, just doing our jobs. Sadly we have to get to debrief, so chow" I started walking again until I heard an Australian accent "Can we join ya? I think our boss was checking one of you out for an invitation" I looked at Jake "Your call Captain" he shrugged before speaking "Yeah, I don't see why you couldn't" I asked the mountain of a man "So what's your name bodybuilder?" He laughed "Seamus, this is Nøkk and Max" I heard Sean behind me "Any reason for the Callsign?" The quiet person responded "My name's classified" I chuckled before Jake spoke "This is Mason, He's Sean, I'm Jake" I gave a nod of acknowledgement as we started walking.
I slowed down as we felt into rows 2 wide, I was next to Seamus as we spoke "So you're Sas?" He nodded pleased "I joined when I was just a wee lad and now I hold a lot of the records for SAS, I was lucky enough to be invited to Rainbow when it reactivated. What about you?" I replied as I looked at the razor wire on top of the fence "I was a Marine Raider, I did 4 tours with them before I got medically discharged. I did a year of Physical Therapy before re-enlisting with the Air Force and now I'm a PJ, I've got the highest Marks on SERE and the National Registry for Paramedics in my training class. Now I'm here" he asked intrigued "What'd you need Physical Therapy for?" I replied by leaning down and pulling up my pant leg revealing my metal leg, he sounded shocked "Holy shite mate, I wasn't expecting that" I heard the quiet woman behind me "What happened?" I looked back and spoke "Took an RPG shielding my teammate from the blast, managed to trade my leg for my friend's life. Do it again in a heart beat" her head bobbed slightly as Max spoke surprised "And you're back out here? After that?" I nodded as I spoke "I was bored, I got tired of sitting around my father's mansion being fawned over as the "Senator's hero son." I missed my comrades and decided to join the unit that saved my life" I heard Jake infront of me "I never knew your father was a senator" I replied looking forward "Because then I get my own story, I respect my father and the family name but I don't want to be a politician I want to do what I do now. I want to save people and repay my life debt, plus I can help my father bring the soldier's perspectives to Congress" he nodded as we reached the door and Max gripped the door handle and pulled it open holding it as we passed I looked at him and spoke "Thanks" he nodded "no problem"
we walked in and I saw the shorter familiar Indian who I often saw around my father's mansion when Congress was out of session I smiled "Hello Harry, been a while" he smiled as he walked forward and gave me a short hug "Indeed it has, last time I saw you, you were on your father's couch" I chuckled before replying "Pt had kicked my ass that day, though I never knew you were connected to Rainbow" he nodded before replying "I'm the director now, I was just an apprentice then" I finished with a smile "Well have to catch up after debrief" he nodded and spoke "We will" I turned to the Company Commander as he spoke "Where's Aaron?" Jake replied "The on Base hospital, he should be arriving here any second" he nodded before asking "What was your route of entry?" I spoke "Aaron picked the lock sir" he asked "What happened next?" Sean spoke "Mason entered the room, Aaron was behind him, Jake was 3rd and I was last. A mask walked into the room and Aaron and Mason dropped him" Hawkins, the commander, looked at me with a nod before speaking "I assume every mask on the target was dealt with?" Jake nodded before speaking "Except for 3" Hawkins asked "why weren't they killed?" Jake spoke calmly "Mason said she was Cat Alpha, I trust his evaluation and we didn't want to waste time getting to extraction by getting into a gunfight" Hawkins looked at me "What made her Cat Alpha?" I spoke evenly "she had two railroad spikes going through her feet, she was beaten, starved and dehydrated. I needed as much time as I could get to begin to stabilize her and treat the wounds" he sighed before nodding "I trust your assessment" just then the door opened.
Aaron stepped through the door frame and froze when he saw 8 sets of eyes on him, "My apologies Sir, I made sure the doctors knew what we had done" Hawkins nodded "You're excused, we were just finishing up the debrief" Aaron looked at us "Just on time then" I chuckled as Hawkins asked "Mason, what was your assessment of the informant when you landed?" I looked at him "she was stable, cognitive and talking. The wounds had been given rough field treatment and she was given a saline drip, I believe after surgery she'll make a recovery" he nodded before speaking "Dismissed, go clean your gear and be ready for the next call. Mason, Aaron, stay behind for a minute" I stopped mid turn and turned back to Hawkins as Jake and Sean walked out the door and Aaron took position next to me. Harry replaced Hawkins and smiled "You two have been selected to receive invitations to rainbow, we have read your records and feel you would be a good fit for our team. Please remember you can turn down this opportunity, your answers please" I glanced at Aaron for a second before I looked at Harry "I'm in" he smiled before he shifted his attention to Aaron "Aaron?" He looked up before replying "I'm there" Harry smiled before speaking to Hawkins "They'll be leaving with me tonight, we have much to talk about" Hawkins nodded before turning us "Well boys, I'm proud of you. Keep your integrity and make the unit proud" I saluted before spinning and heading towards the door.
I heard Harry "Seamus, go inform the other two we'll be leaving soon" as the door closed, I looked at Aaron "so we work for Rainbow now, know what that means?" He looked over at me "What? We work for your dad or something?" I spoke after shaking my head no "We're part of the best in the world, the top 1%" Aaron laughed "We can go tell our buddies at the Unit to go suck it now" I chuckled as we passed the basketball courts. I saw some Rangers playing to pass the time until the familiar tan tent was seen, we walked in and headed to our bunks as Jake asked "So what'd they hold you two after for?" Aaron spoke while he packed "We got invited to Rainbow, we accepted" Sean asked "So you're gone? You're just leaving?" I nodded before looking over my shoulder "We've got a new post man, we might come visit on the weekends like your dad. Wait, your dad went to get milk didn't he?" Sean nodded "22 years ago, Damn that line must be long as shit" I laughed as Jake stood and walked over as I put a framed picture in my rucksack "Here, I want you to have this" I looked at it and saw it was his lucky watch I looked at him "No, I can't. That's your lucky watch man" he replied with a proud smile "You and Aaron are on more dangerous missions now, you need luck more than I do" I took it and removed my own watch and handed it to him "We'll trade these back when we retire, ya hear?" He nodded before clasping my shoulder "Sounds good" I finished packing my gear and clothes before I looked at Aaron "You ready to go?" He gave a thumbs up and a goofy smile as he put on the Mickey Mouse ears his daughter sent him.
I laughed as we started walking to the tent flap I turned and gave a salute to Jake and Sean "Teach our replacements well" Sean called after us "Write home to us, tell me about the hotties!" I shook my head at his antics as we walked back to the command building. Along the way I saw one of my friends with the Berets I called him over "Stonewall! Come 'ere!" He jogged over and replied in his deep southern accent "Hey buddy, how ya been?" I spoke "well I've been good, a bit hungry but that's the usual, anyway Aaron and I got transferred so I wanted to say bye before we left" he looked at Aaron before asking "Where you's goin'?" I heard Aaron "Rainbow, we got selected" he smiled before lifting his clenched fist as Aaron and I pushed ours against his "Good job boys, really, god bless ya. Now if you ever get in trouble call yer old buddy Stonewall Jackson and well come save ya, ye'ear?" We nodded before Aaron tried imitating the thick accent "We'ear ya" I smiled as I spoke "We should get moving so we don't keep rainbow waiting" Jackson leaned back over to his side of the sand box "go, shoo. I'll write mama and have her put ye in her prayers" I chuckled as we walked away "Thanks Jack" he waved as we turned the corner and arrived at the building.
I saw the woman wearing the Veil standing outside the door as I struggled to remember her callsign, Nøkk, it was Nøkk, I heard Aaron "Waiting for us?" She replied with a nod and a short "You took your time" I rolled my eyes under my sunglasses "Well let's not waste time then" she nodded and started briskly walking towards the airfield. I looked at her hip and noticed her massive pistol which I quickly realized was a Desert Eagle, I leaned over to Aaron and elbowed his flank before whispering "She's packing, Jesus Christ" he nodded before whispering "So you noticed her ass too?" I recoiled before whispering "No, the pistol you dumbass." He looked at her hip and saw the Eagle "Jesus Christ, but you gotta admit she's got an ass" I sighed to which she responded "You know I can hear you right?" I looked at Aaron "Well you're fucking dead, I won't tell the medics anything" he looked at me before glueing his eyes to the sky.
When we arrived at the Helicopter I saw the familiar shape of a UH-60 Blackhawk and heard the purr of her engines, I saw Nøkk climb in and take the last seat before I looked at Aaron "As your Staff Sergeant I order you to take the other side" he grumbled but walked around the tail of the helicopter as I sat on the blood pan and rested my rifle on my knees as we lifted off. I put on the headset someone I hadn't met yet handed me before speaking "Can everyone hear me?" I heard a brisk "Ja" I nodded as I heard "This is your resident pilot Jäger, if you look out the left of the helicopter you'll see a burning city" I sighed as Harry asked "What's happening there?" I replied tiredly "Ramadi in Pakistan" I flipped down my nods and looked around as we flew over the mountains until we dropped in altitude to 30 meters off the deck. I leaned out the helicopter and looked forward seeing a group of 3 men running with rpgs, I called them out "RPG team, 11 o'clock, 300 meters out" I heard Jäger "Harry permission to engage?" Aaron spoke into the Comms "Its a free fire zone" Harry spoke with a nod "Engage" I spoke to Jäger "Orbit at this height, I'll drop them. I'm on your left" he replied sharply, focused, "Got it, starting to orbit" I shouldered my rifle as I scooted closer to Nøkk and spoke "'Scuse me, pardon me" she shifted so her knees pointed in as I used the frame of the chopper to stabilize as Aaron spoke giddy "Ooh he's doing it, I can't wait to watch this" I heard an unknown voice that faded to indistinct noise as I took a couple deep breaths and my senses blocked everything except the task I was focusing on. I squeezed the trigger for a second as recoil kicked into my shoulder twice, I watched the target fall as i shifted my aim to the next one and squeezed the trigger again watching as dust behind him kicked up, I fired again and watched as he was ripped to the ground. I switched my firing mode to semi and squeezed the trigger five times never blinking or taking my eyes off the target watching as three rounds kicked dust from his shirt and 2 geysers of sand launched up behind him, I spoke into comms after I released a deep breath and the world came back into definition "Targets down, 3 ekia. We're clear" I heard Nøkk next to me as I slid back to my original position and checked my magazine "Impressive" I nodded before replying "thanks" as Aaron almost yelled "Didn't I tell you it was gonna be awesome?!" I chuckled before speaking "Aaron, easy." I heard the older man to my left "You're very skilled for someone you're age" I looked over "Thank you sir, it's all thanks to my team and a lot of luck" he chuckled before speaking "I am Jalal, nice to meet you" I extended my hand "Mason, you as well" he shook it as we crossed the mountains and headed towards friendlier places.

My children, I come bearing gifts. I should have another chapter out every day or every 2 days depending on how much schoolwork I get handed, take care