When bad luck comes, even drinking cold water can crack your teeth.
Clay had just disobeyed orders and gone off on his own, exposing Jason and the others to danger. And now, on the other side, Alpha Team was making a mess of things as well.
The Black Hawk helicopter that had been hovering above the target building, preparing to lower a ladder in order to extract the hostage, suddenly began to shudder violently.
The pilot, struggling to steady the aircraft, was forced to climb higher and pull away from the rooftop.
That, in turn, forced the other helicopter that had previously been holding position nearby to provide cover against attacks from the ground, to break away and retreat as well.
In the blink of an eye, both helicopters that had been in position were now hundreds of meters away.
“What the hell?”
Long Zhan, already on the rooftop with Brock, had been about to escort Ms. Marshall up the stairs for extraction when the sudden maneuver left him stunned.
The two helicopters meant to pick them up were suddenly gone. Brock cursed under his breath.
“Goddammit! What the hell is Alpha Team doing? Showing off some new flight tricks? Or are they still drunk from last night?”
But this wasn’t an airshow.
The pilots had no choice, because one of the Black Hawks had suffered a serious mechanical failure.
“Command, this is Helo 2. I’m having trouble with my control stick. It’s shaking violently, seriously affecting the stability of the helicopter. I can’t hold it steady. I’m temporarily pulling back from the rooftop.”
The pilot’s urgent report crackled through the operations center, and Commander Eric’s face darkened instantly.
The news hit everyone in the room hard, including intelligence officer Mandy, who tensed at once.
Just a minute earlier, ISR drone surveillance had shown heavy movement in General Lionheart’s military camp. Heat signatures of dozens of men, clearly mobilizing after receiving a distress call from the target building.
Given the distance from the camp to the objective, plus the time needed to rally troops, Bravo Team had no more than five minutes left to finish their mission and extract.
Under normal circumstances, that window would have been enough. Jason’s updates had confirmed as much.
But now, with one helicopter out of action, everything changed.
These weren’t standard Black Hawks. They were MH-60M Special Operations models, armed with miniguns for fire support, which meant less room inside for passengers.
One helicopter couldn’t possibly carry everyone.
Even if Bravo completed both objectives, there wouldn’t be time to evacuate the entire team safely.
That meant some of them would have to escape on foot.
And in Lionheart’s territory, going to ground meant an inevitable clash with his troops. Whether they could get out alive was anyone’s guess.
Eric understood the gravity of the situation instantly. He picked up the radio, his voice firm.
“Helo 2, I need a clear assessment. Can you continue the mission in your current state?”
“Negative. She’s unstable and can’t carry passengers. If the fault worsens, we’ll crash. I need to RTB (return-to-base) for immediate maintenance.”
The blunt reply dashed the last of their hopes.
Eric’s expression sank, but as a seasoned operations commander, this wasn’t his first mission to go sideways. Despite the pressure, he kept his focus.
“Helo 1, confirm your status. Can your helicopter still operate normally?”
“Roger that. Five by five.”
The pilot of Helo 1 responded without hesitation, using the military phrase meaning full signal, all systems green.
Eric pressed on. “Helo 1, is the rescue target in position? Do you have visual confirmation?”
“Affirmative. I have eyes on them at the rooftop. I can move in for pickup at any time. But I’ll need that unstable Helo to clear my airspace first.”
Eric frowned, turning toward Mandy, “how much time do we have left?”
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, projecting the drone’s thermal feed onto the main screen. Red and yellow silhouettes, representing dozens of soldiers, were pouring out of the Lionheart camp.
“They’ve mobilized. Four minutes, at most, before they reach the target building.”
Her voice was heavy. As Bravo’s longtime intelligence support, she wasn’t just simply making detached analysis for them anymore. She had developed a strong bond with them.Seeing them in imminent danger made her extremely worried.
“Less than four minutes…”
Eric felt the full weight of being in command settle on him. All the pressure, all the eyes, all the responsibility, lay on his shoulders alone.
He had seconds, not minutes, to make the call.
The situation was brutally clear.
Only one helicopter left, which meant that the mission plan was no longer viable. Someone would be stranded if they proceeded according to the original plan.
The rescue target, Ms. Marshall, had to go by air. That much at least, was non-negotiable.
Which left him with only two choices.
Abort the secondary objective. Order Bravo to abandon Samir and get out before Lionheart’s troops arrived. The safe choice, ensuring the team survived.
Or continue on with the mission. Capture Samir as planned and find a way to bring him back from the ground.This option was far riskier, and a battle with General Lionheart’s army was nearly unavoidable.
Protect his men, or protect the mission?
Protect Bravo’s honor, or protect their lives?
That was the decision before Eric now, and it was also a test to his ability as a commander. If he made the wrong choice today, it might be something he regrets for the rest of his life.
0 Comments