Authors: Craig Reed Jr
Red Ice (23 page)
The UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter flew two thousand feet above the dark California landscape. The military aircraft was not displaying lights and ran much quieter than most helicopters. Liam recognized it as one of the same model SEAL Team Six had used in Operation Neptune Spear, the op that had killed Osama bin Laden.
Besides five members of the OUTCAST team, the Blackhawk carried a pilot, co-pilot, and two door gunners, each gunner manning a GAU-19/B .50 Gatling gun. Conversation had been sparse since the Blackhawk lifted off from the farm ten minutes ago.
In addition to their normal weapons — MP5s, SOCOM H&K pistols and a selection of fighting knives – each member carried a mix of flash-bang and smoke grenades, buckshot, CS and HE rounds for the grenade launcher, extra magazines, night-vision goggles, and riot cuffs. Adding to the firepower, Liam carried a Knights SR-25 Mk.11 sniper rifle, and Dante brought the Franchi SPAS-15 with a mix of breaching rounds and double-ought magazines.
The army was moving into blocking position in the nearest woods to the ranch. The wide open ground, which made it impossible to approach the ranch house and the building on the hill unseen, also made it impossible for anyone to escape across the fields without being seen. While they moved into position, Tanner’s team, minus Danielle, would land a mile behind the building on the hill, locate the mine shaft and infiltrate the base to rescue Dr. Mori.
“Ramrod to OUTCAST.” Mulkerin’s tone was gruff. “Blocking forces nearly in place. Striker is standing by. No action from ICEHOUSE or HEDGEHOG.”
“Copy, Ramrod. We’re touching down now.”
The main objectives had been given codenames — the ranch house was HEDGEHOG, while the building on the hill was ICEHOUSE. The barn was named HAYBALE, and the mine was designated PYRITE. Task Force Sun was the combined force of federal and state agents. Supported by two Bradleys and the Cougar MRAPs, Sun would come down the road, turn into the driveway, and head straight for the houses. Overhead, the second Blackhawk, armed identically to the one the team was traveling in, would supply air support. The other four Bradleys were in position to supply extra firepower if Task Force Sun needed it.
“Prime to Six.”
“Six here.” Danielle remained with the Command staff, where she would control the team’s drones. She would be deploying both the team’s Black Cobras over ICEHOUSE and HEDGEHOG, leaving one of the two Black Wasps in reserve. The second Wasp drone rode with Tanner and the team. “Cobras are deploying now.”
Tanner smiled, though there was no warmth in the expression. “Copy, Six. ETA to drone insertion?”
“Five minutes.”
The Blackhawk descended in a clearing surrounded by trees. Tanner turned to look at his team. Four faces looked back at him and nodded their readiness.
#
The Nighthawk landed in an open area hidden from the suspected mine entrance location by a wooded ridge. In less than ten seconds, the team was on the ground and the helicopter was back in the air. The group sprinted up the ridge slope, not stopping until they were inside the tree line.
Tanner whispered into his radio. “OUTCAST Prime to Six, we’re on the ground.”
“Copy. Cobra Alpha is over HEDGEHOG. Beta is over ICEHOUSE. Sun is rolling now, ETA is ten minutes.”
“Understood, Six. Keep us informed on Sun’s progress. Prime out.”
While Tanner was speaking to Danielle, Liam and Dante were readying the team’s second Night Wasp for deployment. While Liam did system checks with the drone’s control tablet, Dante took the hexagonal micro-aircraft out into the clearing and positioned it on the ground. In ten seconds, the drone was in the air, invisible in the blackness of the night sky.
“All flight systems are green,” Liam said softly. “Wasp is two hundred feet up, one hundred feet south of us. Cameras are green.”
Tanner glanced in the direction Liam indicated and through his NVGs he saw the drone hovering. “Copy, Two. Start it forward.”
“Beginning recon.” The drone flew slowly in the direction of the house. Tanner glanced at his team and motioned for them to move. Liam handed the tablet off to Stephen and took point, followed by Tanner, Naomi, and Stephen, with Dante covering the rear.
They traveled for several minutes before Stephen radioed. “Prime, I’ve got something.”
The team dropped to a knee and scanned their surroundings. “What do you have?” Tanner demanded.
“I have an opening in the hill at the end of a gully, Eight hundred yards ahead left, about eleven-thirty. Dropping Wasp to get a better look at— Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“Looks like n camouflaged emplacement about 350 yards in front of us, near the hilltop, two hundred yards northwest of ICEHOUSE, fifty yards from the opening.”
“Is it manned?”
“Hold on.” Five seconds passed. “Affirmative. Two tangos, and what looks like a heavy machine gun on a tripod. It has a clear field of fire all the way up the gully.”
“Check for other emplacements.”
“Checking now.”
“Prime to all OUTCASTs. Let’s move out.”
They traveled another minute before Stephen said, “Got an identical gun emplacement on the other side of the gully.”
The trees thinned out and the team halted. Ahead, the land sloped up and became a mix of bushes, clumps of trees, rocks and grass. Tanner scrutinized the top of the hill until he found the machine gun nest in the middle of a tree grove. The emplacement consisted of sandbags stacked waist-high, a wooden frame with tin sheets to make a roof, covered by plants and camouflage netting. It overlooked the gully to the mine entrance. He saw two faces manning the turret.
“Leave them to me,” Liam said. “I’ll move southwest and hit them from behind.”
“Right. Three, go with him.”
“Copy Prime.”
Liam moved off, followed by Naomi. Tanner continued scanning for other emplacements.
#
Liam and Naomi headed west, staying inside the tree line. They moved a hundred and fifty yards, then turned southwest, stopping periodically to check their relative location to the emplacements.
Just short of the hill crest, Liam signaled to halt. They dropped to one knee, Liam observing the enemy posts while Naomi monitored the surroundings. After twenty seconds, Liam placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear, “Another thirty yards.” Naomi patted his hand twice to acknowledge his statement and they began moving again, this time southeast.
After a minute of travel, Liam signaled again to stop. He unslung the SR-25, opened the rifle’s bipod and took up a prone position on the ground. Naomi knelt next to him, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Liam lifted his night vision goggles onto his forehead, relying on the Zeiss Orion night vision scope mounted to the sniper rifle to make the shot.
He settled in and blanked out all other sights and sounds as he stared through the scope. Both emplacements – sand bags stacked waist-high in a semi-circle – were below Liam’s location. Liam could clearly see the two North Koreans in the closer machine gun emplacement. Both men wore long-sleeved shirts, jeans, and work boots, and sat on either side of a tripod-mounted DShK heavy machine gun. One stared through what had to be a pair of night vision binoculars, while the other sipped from a cup and held an AK-47 between his feet. Neither man looked especially alert, but the gunman would glance in the direction of the gunfire every so often.
Liam checked the other emplacement. It was a twin of the first one — two men in work clothes, sitting on each side of a second DShK. The only difference was Liam could only see them from the chest up, above the sand bag wall.
He spoke softly into his radio. “Two to Prime: I have eyes on all four Tangos. Designating the nearer two as Tango One and Two, the far ones are Tangos Three and Four.”
“Copy, Two. Take them out at your discretion.”
“Understood.”
Liam hadn’t been on the SEAL Teams as a sniper, but he had hung around snipers long enough to learn the basics. He had also taken lessons from a retired SEAL sniper when OUTCAST was formed. He was a competent sniper who usually handled any task requiring accurate long-distance shooting. He was also good at estimating distances, a necessary skill for a sniper.
After a few seconds’ thought, he started with the farther emplacement. He settled the scope’s crosshairs on Tango Three, who observed the darkness through night vision binoculars. The shot was about three hundred yards, which for a sniper was almost routine. He settled his sights on the target, inhaled, held it, then exhaled slowly as he smoothly stroked the trigger.
The suppressor muffled the rifle’s shot, but the sound was still audible in the still night air. The 7.62mm bullet slammed into the base of the target’s throat, dropping him. Liam shifted slightly, lining up Tango Four in his sights as the fighter jumped up in surprise. Liam repeated the aiming process and fired. The second Tango jerked as the bullet hit him in the chest and he disappeared from sight.
Again, Liam shifted targets. The two North Koreans in the nearer emplacement were now alert after hearing the shots, but they couldn’t pinpoint a location. Tango One reached for a radio while Two moved behind the DShK and grabbed the weapon’s handles. Liam aimed at One, adjusted his aim, and fired.
The bullet punched into the base of Tango One’s neck, and the North Korean went down in a spray of blood. Liam adjusted and fired at the machine gunner, the round slamming into him between the shoulder blades. The gunner collapsed against the machine gun and slid to the ground.
Liam scanned both emplacements for signs of life but saw none. “Two to Prime. Tangos neutralized.”
“Copy Two, we’re moving.”
“Sir!”
Rhee went from asleep to alert in between heartbeats. He rolled out of bed and was on his feet, a type 56 assault rifle that had been next to the bed in his hands almost as quickly. “What is it?” he snapped.
Myoung stood in the doorway, his face serious. “The Americans are here!”
“What?”
“Coming up the road! Soldiers and armored vehicles! A large force. They will be here in a minute.”
Rhee hadn’t bothered to undress when he’d decided to rest, so he headed for the door. “Full alert! Tell the base we’re under attack and prepare to destroy the lab on my command.”
Myoung stepped back, allowing the major to stride past him. “Yes, sir!”
“Turn off all the lights!”
“Yes, sir!” Myoung spoke rapidly into a handheld radio.
By the time Rhee reached the front door, the lights were out and his men were ready and armed. Through the small windows on either side of the door, Rhee could see that the driveway was filled with military vehicles. Spotlights were aimed at the ranch house.
“Attention in the house!” a voice thundered over a loudspeaker. “This is the United States Drug Enforcement Agency! We have arrest and search warrants! Come out with your hands up!”
Rhee snorted. “Myoung!”
“Sir!”
“Show them we have no intention of surrendering. Order all machine guns to destroy those spotlights and put the fear of their so-called God into them.”
#
The machine gun fire from the ranch house, barn, and the house on the hill was ragged at first but became fierce as the enemy warmed to their task. In a few seconds, there were half a dozen heavy machine guns spewing lead at the oncoming convoy. A hailstorm of 12.7mm rounds slammed into the armored vehicles, sparks lighting up the night like a fireworks display.
Then the assault team set off their own fireworks.
The Bradleys, leading the assault column, turned their attention on the house on the hill and opened fire with their M242 Bushmaster 25mm autocannons. The ten-second bursts from each IFV sent more than sixty M791 Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot with Tracer (APDS-T) rounds into the house. The rounds, designed to destroy lightly armored vehicles, ripped through the block walls, windows, interior walls and human flesh with equal ease.
The MRAPs, each armed with a Browning M2 Heavy machine gun mounted in a Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) added their firepower, half aimed at the ranch house, the rest at the barn. The air became thick with 12.7mm and .50 caliber rounds. But while the DShK machine guns were trying to break through the vehicle’s armor, the “Ma Duce” rounds were having more success punching through the ranch house’s block walls; the barn’s wooden walls were no match as the heavy machine guns punched fist-sized holes in both structures.
The defender’s gunfire slackened as some of the machine guns were put out of action. One of the guns from ICEHOUSE fired down at the assault column, only to abruptly stop when the Bradley’s Bushmasters fired another ten-second burst of APDS-T rounds into its location. By now, ICEHOUSE was beginning to burn, flames leaking through the windows but growing larger as seconds passed.
The machine gun fire from the buildings finally stopped. Vessler, riding in the back of the second Bradley, picked up her radio. “All Sun elements, move in!”
#
Inside the ranch house, the place was a wreck. Holes were blown through walls, machine guns were on the ground, mixing with sand, glass and blood. Rhee, covered in dust, stood in the doorway of the kitchen and glared at the damage. Muhn stood next to him, carrying a Type 73 light machine gun.
“Myoung!” Rhee barked. “Get those machine guns back into operation!”
“Sir,” the captain replied, “six of my men are dead and two are critically wounded!”
“Get your men ready to defend. Muhn, assign five of your fighters to reinforce Myoung. Don’t let the invaders in!”
The field phone rang in the kitchen. Rhee turned away from the scene before him and picked up the receiver. “What?”
“I think the Americans are trying to slip a team through the mine into the base,” Captain P’il said. “My perimeter guards report hearing gunshots, and neither Machine Gun Post Seven or Eight are answering. I’ve sent a team to investigate.”
Rhee’s jaw tightened. His plans had included laying a minefield to prevent easy access to the mine shaft. But the short-sighted bureaucratic fools in P’yŏngyang had failed to supply the needed land mines. Assuming Rhee could escape, those bastards would have a lot to answer for. “I am coming to see for myself. How many troops do you have left?”
“Twenty-seven. I lost five in the hill house.”
Rhee looked out the window and saw the house above him burning fiercely in the night “Are the charges ready?”
“Of course.”
“Make sure the detonator is ready to be used!”
“Yes, sir!”
The enemy will not capture this base intact. Do you understand?”
“Perfectly,” P’il said. “My men will not let that happen.”
“They’d better not!” Rhee dropped the handset onto the table. “Myoung!”
“Sir?”
“You’re in command. Stop them. Do you have any
patbingsu
patches up here?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Issue two patches to each man. That will give us an edge against the Americans. I want this land soaked in the enemy’s blood!”
Myoung smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Rhee nodded and strode toward the basement and the tunnel entrance downstairs. “Muhn! You and the rest of your squad come with me.”
#
It took Tanner, Stephen and Dante a few minutes to reach the gully. Liam and Naomi were waiting for them. Tanner stopped and stared at the gully for a few seconds. “Send the Wasp to take a look see.”
Stephen maneuvered the small drone up the gully, which was wide enough for two men to walk abreast. At the end, it branched off in different directions. One fork led to a steep slope going up, while the other terminated after five yards in a dark tunnel.
“Not good,” Liam said. “That gully’s an ambush waiting to happen.”
Tanner nodded. “That’s why you four are going to stay on top of the slope on each side of the gully. Leave the Wasp overhead for now.”
“Where are you going?”
Tanner loaded a buckshot round into his grenade launcher. “Up the gully. I’ll draw their attention, giving you a chance to hit them first.”
“Isn’t it my turn to play bait?”
Tanner smiled. “Nah. You can be bait next time.”
“You get all the fun.”
They split up, Naomi and Liam going up the right slope of the ravine, Stephen and Dante taking the left. Tanner started up carefully. Above him and to each side, the rest of his team kept pace, MP5s up and ready.
“Prime to Six,” he transmitted. “What’s happening over there?”
“ICEHOUSE is totaled,” Danielle replied. “Striker and her people are trying to secure both HEDGEHOG and HAYBALE. Heavy resistance.”
“Copy. We’re approaching PYRITE. Four Tangos down.”
“Copy Prime, when—”
A group of armed men wearing NVGs emerged from the mine and spotted Tanner the same instant he saw them. Shouting in Korean, they raised their AK-47s and opened fire.