11pm Taiga 1992
The jungle was dense, the soil was moist and the air was frosty.Visibility from the sky was low and reception was dreadful. Armoured convoys moved through checkpoints with ease and Russian helicopters were flying overhead for security. The British government didn't know the exact nature of the weapons payload was but if Saddam Hussein was involved it was bad with a capital B. Of course sending troops in to a Russian territory even if it was in the border is a terrible idea so they sent in two walking bushes instead.
Corporal Thatcher was barley in his twenties was under the command of Warrant Officer Mayne a grizzled veteran of the SAS. The two made up a sniper/spotter pair,the spotter will feed the sniper information such as wind direction and the distance of the target and the sniper takes the shoot. Mayne the best sniper the SAS has choosing to be the spotter, meant that Thatcher would be taking the shot.
It's almost like painting with Da Vinci looking over your shoulder.
He's known Mayne for a number of years now but he can't help but feel the pressure, aside from the fact of might happen to them if they're captured out here. But Mayne remained as calm as a monk
The pair were wearing Ghille suits to blend in with the environment and to break up their silhouette. If they play their cards right they can be spitting distance away from the enemy and they'd be none the wiser.
" Let 'em pass lad ." Mayne whispered when the two spotted two Russian guards while crawling through dense foliage. Thatcher was still tracking the two through his scope as they passed.
" I could've taken em." Thatcher whispered in frustration
" Don't have time to hide their fat arses, I swear you kids think it's all about racking up a bloody kill count from the bushes." Mayne whispered back.
" Alright lad we need to swim across." Mayne whispered and the two men entered the river becoming submerged in water than the grass they were crawling in. Coming up for air wasn't an option due to the soldiers patrolling to either side of them not to mention the gunship making constant sweeps. They just had to suffer in silence until they could come up again. They two men were told they had to stop the sale at all cots, that meant taking a shot at one of the main players. Intelligence suggested Igor Karkov would be there making the sale along with a mysterious money man, Though it's possible that Saddam will attend personally it's doubtful. Alister told them there's a mountain over a mile from the exchange so that's where the shot will be taken.
The two men crawled out of the river slowly entering foliage, Iraqi Republican Guard were about ten centimetres away from them, they could also hear dogs about twelve meters to the south east. It seemed they picked up a trace of their scent, they had to get a move on but they couldn't forget about the guards to their left that would put bullets in their head if they moved to quickly. The men controlled their breathing ensuring they weren't heard and only moved along in half inches and moving a bit mor whenever the wind would pass through. The dogs were still on their tail they had to get some distance but how.
"Sakhif ghabi alkalb."A Republican guard said before tugging the dogs leash in the opposite direction, the two men moved through the foliage at a constant speed towards Russian tanks. As soon as Thatcher takes his shoot from the vantage mountain the tanks will unleash hell on their position. There were four tanks in total, four tanks that needed C4 planted underneath them, Mayne would rig the tanks closer to the base and Thatcher would take the tanks closer to the outskirts. Once the job was don they'd meet each other at the mountain a mile out.
Mayne used the darkness provided by the night sky to slip past gapes in patrols, he slid under the first tank and planted the C4. Staying crouched he darted past patrol gaps whilst avoiding spotlights from watchtowers and the helicopter above his head until he entered a small warehouse. Mayne was tempted to shoot the Russians guarding the tank with his silenced Browning High Power but he had a schedule to keep. He took cover behind a missile stockpile until the guards turned around and began to exit. Mayne slid under the tank and planted another piece of C4.
Thatcher's tanks were relatively close together and they were well guarded, killing the guards wasn't an option so Thatcher had to improvise. He crawled a couple meters East and opened some of his rations, the smell immediately got the attention of the dogs. Thatcher moved towards the tank with a mixture of haste and care towards the tanks. The dogs lead the soldiers towards the rations with haste so Thatcher had a tiny window to plant the C4 and get out.
Planting the charges was the easy part but he had under twenty seconds to be long gong he dogs would probably be able to smell traces of the rations on his fingers so hiding in the foliage wasn't an option. He had to move quickly without stepping on lose twigs or snapping branches. He could hear the dogs behind him, Thatcher was almost home free he just had to maintain his movement discipline and control his breathing.
More guards from both armies were arriving at the base, Thatcher had no trouble keeping his cool with the ground forces,well except from when their close enough to give him a kiss. Every time he hears that damn chopper fly overhead the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and not only does his body freeze but his thoughts do as well. If pilots switched to infrared instead of night vision Thatcher would be screwed. But they're not expecting to take contact all this security is just a formality, they have one patrol helicopter in the air for crying out loud. Thatcher had a few metered to go until it was safe to even bring his head up.
" A little steep my arse, Ali you prick." Thatcher whispered finally approaching the mountain
" E's MI6 what you expect, won't lie to yah lad I'd somthin a hell a lot worse if I found out you were fucking my sister." Mayne whispered before starting the free climb and Thatcher followed. Using grappling hooks wasn't an option because once the enemy started looking for them their jobs would get a lot easier. As they got higher Thatcher wonders if that helicopter would shine a light on them, it wouldn't of course but it's only paranoia if nobody's out to get you. Finding footing on the mountain wasn't easy and to make matters worse it started raining, one wrong slip and they were paste.
They had to perform s buddy boost a few times to advance but that only slowed them down by a few seconds, but the cold especially at this altitude was really slowing them down. Thatcher could feel his muscles seizing up but he pushed on, after all going back down wasn't an option.
When they finally made it to the top they spotted another sniper/spotter pair performing overwatch over the entire base. Thatcher drew his side arm which was a Sig Sauer p226 and Mayne drew his trusty Browning HP. They'd both shoot on Mayne's signal, they sneaked up on the other pair and as soon as Mayne gave the order two silenced gunshots went off in unison. Thatcher hid the bodies while Mayne took their radio and listened in, learning to speak Russian came in handy.
"Fuck, the Iraq buyer won't be 'ere til two days from now." Mayne said in frustration looking at the base in the distance with his pair of binoculars.
"What's the plan sir." Thatcher observing distant troop movement through his scope.
"Simple we wait til they show up, in the meantime I'll make sure my Russian is perfect an I give 'em status reports whenever they ask. The two adopted a prone position as if they're taking the shot right now.
" I'm getting to old for this shite." Mayne said watching the rigged tanks move around the base.
"Age ain't slowed you down sir, hell the Ghillie suit covers your bald head so no one notices." Thatcher said with a smirk watching patrols.
" You're a cocky bastard ain't yah, mister I'm fucking a princess." Mayne chuckled.
"How'd yah know ?" Thatcher asked
" Lad you're fucking a princess word travels, anyway wish you luck, From up 'ere I can see hostiles a mile out but I didn't see 'em divorce papers comin." Monk said with a slight smile
" Who said I'm marrying her or getting married period." Thatcher said with a grin.
"Anchient wisdom lad, Anchient wisdom" Mayne chuckled
"Well they don't call you Monk for nothin and using that anchient pistol just adds to the whole dinosaur thing you've going on." Thatcher laughed.
" This gun is a part of a long tradition you little shite, it's as old as the regiment itself and his passed down through the generations.
*
Two days later
The pair have been stationary this entire time and they were officially out of rations but at least the target was coming any second now, Thatcher could see a dwarf in a suit come out a armoured vehicle but he wasn't the target. He was just chatting with Karkov. Finally the Iraqi armoured vehicle came to a stop and someone stepped out, Abdullah Latif one of Saddam Hussain's top generals.
"Alright lad we've got a thirty second window before he pisses off." Mayne said whilst making a note of the range to target and direction of wind.
"He's a mile and a half out, heavy east wind, I've trained yah for this lad just pace y'self " Mayne said stating right at Latif through the binoculars.
" I have a shot." Thatcher said steadying his breathing waiting for Mayne's go.
"Alright Lad on my mark three,two, one" Mayne orders and Thatcher fired the round raced through the trees and cold breeze which made it slightly heavier but Thatcher already took that into account when he made his calculations.
Right now this round had a date with destiny. As soon as Latif went down mass hysteria broke out within the camp, the helicopter was scanning for them immediately. Mayne set of the C4 before the tanks had a chance to get moving.
Thatcher and Mayne descended the mountain as fast as they could
"Rob we need to leave." An odd feminine voice came out of Mayne's mouth.
*
"Rob, come on we can't be late." Belle was calling him.
"Alright babe, I'm comin."Rob was loading his Trusty Browning HP and followed her to the car