The Saracen

          Captain Nathan Davis stood at attention in the general's office, He still didn't know why he had been called in here. It was incredibly rare for anyone below the rank of colonel to be summoned by General Martin Haddock. Why would a four star general need to speak with anyone lower than colonel?

          " At ease, Marine, " said Haddock. He gave Nathan an appraising look before he continued. " What I am about to tell you is top secret. Do you understand what that means? "

          " Yes, sir, " replied Nathan. Top secret? He had never been given something like this before. As a Scout Sniper he had performed covert assassination missions before but they were all routine. Intelligence got wind of a meeting between some Taliban agent and some supplier of you name it. They send Nathan and his partner out to see if it was real and if so, deal with it quietly. This should be good, Nathan thought.

          " Have you heard of this new Taliban commander? ", asked Haddock. " The one we only know as Amerulla? " 

          " Yes, I have. Personally, I find his choice of an alias pretentious. "

          Haddock laughed. " As do I. Who calls himself Prince? But we're not here to joke about his name. Intelligence got a strong tip that puts him within our reach. You and your partner are flying out in six hours to take this son of a bitch to hell. "

          " With pleasure, sir " , was Nathan's reply. 

          " I suggest you get a little rest before you gear up. Dismissed. "

          Nathan left the general's office in low spirits. His term was almost up. In a week he would be back home with his family. He had been hoping to ride out the last few days without being sent on anymore missions. But, such was life. He would just do this last thing and go home.

          This man needed to die anyway. Amerulla was an up-and-comer in the Taliban. Although he was young and new to the war, he was brilliant. He was allegedly responsible for a series of high impact bombings across Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Moscow, all hollering at the United Nations because of one man. If the United States didn't get a handle on this soon, it could have serious impact in the political future. We could even be seen as weak. That would be bad. 

          Nathan made his way across the base to his barracks where he knew his partner would be cleaning his gun. First Lieutenant Anthony Watson was a clean freak. Especially when it came to guns. As Nathan stepped through the door, Watson looked up and saw his glowering expression.

          " What's wrong, Sherlock? ", Watson asked. This was a never ending joke that started back in boot camp. Because Nathan and Watson were so inseparable, the other Marines took to calling Nathan Sherlock Holmes. Normally this was fine, but today, he was in no mood.

          " We're being shipped out in six hours ", Nathan said. 

          " What?! ", Watson asked. He put down his gun and cleaning kit. The joking smile left his face. Nathan and Watson had enlisted together and their terms ended at the same time.

          " We are being sent after Amerulla ", Nathan told him. " The Intel department got a location on him and we need to splatter his brains all over the place. "

          Nathan sat down on his bunk. He listened to Watson mutter about luck for a few minutes. He dozed off for a couple of hours but woke up with enough time to gear up. He and Watson went to the armory to get what they would need. A pair of M4OA3's, night vision scopes, and a pair of survival kits. 

          Soon, they were in the Black Hawk helicopter heading east. They flew for about an hour before landing. they disembarked and followed the GPS unit to their final destination. They were on a massive sand dune overlooking a compound at the base of a cliff. Nathan examined the compound through his scope. There were about fifty armed men walking around inside the walls and he could see trucks approaching from the north.The trucks were about five miles out and would be there soon. 

          Something was wrong. Amerulla wasn't supposed to be here for another two hours! Nathan called it in to control. " HQ, this is Striker One, over. " 

          Control answered after a second. " Go ahead, Striker. What's the situation? "

          " We are in position, observing the compound. We have several trucks approaching from the north. I thought that the target wasn't coming for a little wile longer. Abort? "

          " Negative, Striker. Stay on target. Evac is on standby. As soon as you take the shot, get moving. " 

          " Copy that, Striker out. " 

          Nathan adjusted his position so he could maneuver his gun easier. This wasn't right. What other intel had been bad. Was Amerulla even coming?

          The trucks arrived at the front gate. The men climbed out and stretched their limbs. Nathan and Watson scanned the faces looking for their target. Periodically they checked the picture they had been given.

          " Is it just me, or do a lot of these guys look the same ", Watson asked.

          Nathan checked the picture again. At least five of the men at the compound looked exactly like the man in the picture. Something was not right. Did they know?

          " HQ, this is Striker. There are multiple doubles down there. What do we do now? "

          " Take them all, Striker. Failure here is not an option. "

          " Copy. "

          The two men adjust their scopes and aimed. Nathan's first shot took one of the five men in his back. He chambered another round as Watson took the legs out from under a second man. By the time Nathan killed the third possible target, the compound was in pandemonium. It was getting difficult to tell which ones they were looking for, so they fired at anything that moved. 

          " There! ", Watson shouted.

          Nathan swiveled his scope and saw one of the possible targets being escorted inside the compound. He took aim and fired. The bullet hit the escort in his ribcage, knocking him to the ground amidst a pool of his own blood. Nathan cursed. By then, the soldiers had spotted them end were laying out heavy fire. An explosion just in front of them made them scramble back and start running.

          " Where the hell did they get mortars?! ", Watson screamed.

          " I don't know, just keep moving! ", Nathan screamed back.

          They could here the roar of engines behind them. Nathan looked back and saw the trucks gaining on them. He drew his Colt .45 and fired three rounds at the nearest of the four trucks. The front right tire blew out and caused the truck to roll over right in front of another one. The second truck hit the first and flipped over. If anyone was still alive in there, they wouldn't be coming after them.

          The chopping of an approaching helicopter sounded in the distance. Nathan had never been so happy to see one in his life. As the chopper approached, the men in the trucks started shouting. Suddenly, a rocket streaked through the air and struck the chopper on its underbelly. The tail flew off and the body exploded.

         " Nooooooooooo! ", screamed the two Marines in unison. That was their only hope! Without thinking, they turned and fired every bullet they had left from their snipers into the rapidly approaching trucks. They killed seven more men before the trucks got to them. They both laid down their weapons and went to their knees. The men got out of the trucks and put zip ties around their wrists.

          A man stepped out of the back of one truck. He approached Nathan smiling. This was him. 

          " Looking for me? ", he asked in perfect English.