Chapter 3. The Great Escape

SS Nimitz - Location Unknown

4.30am. The Morning of Insertion

"Sir we have had some chatter over the comms but we have lost all contact with Alpha and Bravo team... stats are all active no hearts have stopped Sir".....looking up the Commanding Officer acknowledged this information and the crew mate left the room closing the door behind him... he took a moment fearing the worst...... Random stood in a nicely furnished room with a large oak desk to his rear and many ranking medals framed around the walls, there was no movement in the room meaning the vessel must have stood still on the ocean unmarked to any radar..... Random walked to the port hole looking out to the dark eastern sky and pondered on his moves not knowing the outcome. The CO moved back to his desk and scanned at several crested documents....moments later he pushed a button on his phone and the light went green he spoke in a deep clear voice "Please wake Valroe i need his council".

4.42am.

A man walked to the door, knocked and entered the room... as he closed the door behind him no salute was given or needed and he walked to the desk and sat down in front of Random... looking straight at him he spoke "do we have news" he muttered... "No, and i am fed up waiting for news....you remember our discussion Yes!" Random said bringing Valroe to his full attention.. " I, do" he replied, "then aquire your men and move out we have a black hawk fuelled and ready for you outside" said Random, "So be it" replied Valroe he stood up and walked to the door but as he went to leave the room Random spoke again" Dont forget what i said Valroe....they have moved Chester he is not being held in Del Rawad and they are walking into a trap".... Valroe took one last look at Random and walked through the door.

5.01am.

The Black Hawk Helicoptor blades where slowly rotating and the sound of air being cut very gently shimmered in the darkness on board the Nimitz, the two pilots already prepared and awaiting take off to deliver Charlie Team to their objective, Valroe stood next to the chopper speaking to a man who was carrying a M16 Carbine with high stock and several sights attached to the top and side along with a tactical pack and night vision goggles... another man was walkin towards him (also carrying a tactical pack, lighter armour and holding a M15A2 Semi-Automatic Rifle slightly lighter than the M16 with less recoil but slower and less lethal).. the man walked passed them and climbed inside the Chopper nodding as he passed..."Valroe"...."Lazko".... they nodded back and as he entered Lazko shouted " Glad you could make it Ghost" In a sarcastic tone and with that Ghost stuck his head round the opening to the chopper "Back from retirement are we Laz dont break your hip as you climb into the chopper" with a grin.. The fourth and last man in the element who was already sitting in the Black Hawk smiled to himself as he heard the banter between ranks it was this kind of calm conversation that showed no fear between the SAS Soldiers.

The time was 5.30am as the SS Nimitz faded from distance... the Black Hawk roared through the sky nose down flying low across the dark ocean to avoid radar... they where heading dead north 5 clicks until they reached the Afghan border they would then fly 4 clicks further north, under the orders from the CO they where given full access to the no fly zone to aid in the rescue of Alpha and Bravo teams who they lost contact with over an hour ago. They where not met with any resistance midway through the flight still 3 clicks from the LZ and only one SAM (Surface to Air Missile) site picked up the Chopper on radar during the cross over but was far out of range to cause any worry.... suddenly through the silence on board static soon turned into a voice shouting through their comm tac with interference easily recognised as gunfire in the background "Alpha to base!!" I repeat "Alpha to Base, the package is hot we have come under fire from the west and further reinforcements have arrived we are proceeding to the secondary LZ for extraction I Repeat!! The package is hot please respond!!" Valroe immediately got on the external comms and radioed for extraction for Alpha and Bravo teams to the secondary LZ the pilot returned the mayday with "This is Charlie Delta 26 we are currently 2 clicks east of your secondary LZ we are checking cover for land down and extraction should be with you in shortly hold tight"... Valroe could be heard speaking to the Aircraft Carrier and once finished took a headset shouting "Big can you hear me......"...."Yes Sir i can hear you" Valroe calmly confirmed " you have 2 choppers heading for the Secondary LZ ETA 30 minutes you and Bravo team need to move out NOW".... "Copy that Sir.. the package is being held a click east of our position, Bravo Team have proceeded onto the primary objective Sir we have not had contact with them since they left" shouted Big throughout the background noise..."I hear ya Trooper keep your head down and stay alive..Charlie Team OUT".

Valroe requested for the pilots to fly to a different LZ "we need to aid Bravo team first Alpha will have to take care of themselves, we are looking a small encampment 1 click east of the Primary we need to find Bravo Team" shouted Valroe "Copy that, changing waypoints" replied the pilot 5 minutes later nerves where on edge wondering what they are about to find a call came from the pilot "approaching LZ where going dark prepare for insertion...." Valroe and Lazko pulled open the side doors of the Black Hawk as the Chopper lowered and the flight became rocky all 4 pulled down their night vision as the light inside the chopper turned infrared, below they could see darkness from the doors of the chopper and the through the cold night air Valroe could see lights flashing below in the distance through the trees "we have company below in the forest drop us on the far side of those tree's" he shouted as Valroe and Lazko strapped into the winch to lower themselves either side of the Black Hawk, Ghost and the fourth man known as Ambu both attached theirs rigs to the winch awaiting second deployment they flew slowly over the tree line as the end of the forest approached when a Red ball of light flew into the air and exploded in front of them and the remaining flashes of the flare plummeted to the earth.

Valroe watched as the edge of the tree line approached and the Black Hawk whipped round nearly stopping itself in mid air he looked below... he searched the area where the flare had been launched from with his goggles and saw a black object showing up as heat sensitive, the chopper lowered approaching the landing as lights where now flickering through the treeline straight ahead of them as Valroe watched them ahead metres from the floor. Valroe and Lazko shouted and jumped simultaniously hitting the floor at the same time, immediately they moved into position and covered the area as the next 2 in the party winched down to the deck. Ropes released and retracked up into the Black Hawk as the pilot pulled up on the pedal and turned back the way they came, Lazko took point with Valroe covering him as Ambu with Ghost where in position and covering the 9-3 oclock rear side... they moved silently over the small mound in complete darkness with the moonlight behind them high powered vision aiding their way they moved forwards and looked down as Lazko raised his hand and halted the element...." what is it " whispered Lead " i dont know " replied Lazko " careful " they moved forward slowly as they dark figure came into view Lazko moved upto the figure and grabbed his arm turning him over and with shock and relief he saw the young face of Chester out cold looking very much worse for wear lying on the muddy floor.

Chester stirred and tried to open his eyes but could not see anything as he tried harder...he jumped scared that he was blind and could not pull himself to his senses his vision blurred and a searing pain through his head as he pulled himself into a sitting up position... " easy mate, easy you took quite a fall by the looks of things " Chester started to regain his focus and was looking up into the camoflaged face of Ghost and fell back to the floor with relief, Ghost helped him back up again as to his left Valroe crawled back from the covering position by the trees that Lazko and Ambu where covering " what happened" whispered Lead..." i dunno i have been blindfolded the whole time since capture i wasn't allowed to see their faces, until an hour ago i have been moved around and made to sit tied down... there was an explosion and shouting gunfire deafened me as i heard people come running into the room where i was... i could hardly stay awake i was so exhausted " chester took a deep breath " Go on " whispered Lead... " all i know is that my blindfold was pulled off and it was Duke in front of me he cut me free gave me a tac kit and MP5 and told me to run through the rear and keep running south till im within range to radio for help, i saw Rouge Scout and JB taking fire from the front as i ran to escape the back of the building..... i took out 2 men who breached the rear and then ran... i ran through the treeline and just kept on running for at least 10 minutes and thats all i can remember.......I dunno what"....

CONTACT!! a scream came from behind Valroe as shots issued from both the covermen lights suddenly breached through the tree's as tangos approached....Chester pulled his gun to his side and aimed the scope towards the treeline and to his right stood up Ghost and he ran eastwards to cover the flank..... 3 bullets whizzed past Chester's head he returned fire to the centre of the treeline with Lazko and Ambu retreating to the element he shot two more bursts before turning to his left......... but he was too late a tango running along the left flank unleashed a hail of bullets towards the retreating Lazko as he turned to run he fell forward and hit the floor completely Limp..... everything slowed and the sound in his ears was numb ................... " MAN DOWN" cried Ambu as he ran up and grabbed Chester pulling him to his feet " RUN Soldier RUN" Valroe kneeled just in front of him laying down fire Chester jumped to his feet ignore the pain and he never looked back, he ran away from the battle with Ambu close on his heels his legs numb, his whole body was numb but he did not care Lazko was gone...............