FSE

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Chapter one of an action seris. Figured I should try my hand at something other than smut :p. Anway, sorry in advance for any structure or grammar errors and be sure to check out the prologue first. enjoy. ^^

I took a long drag off of my cigarette; the wet heat of the jungle was getting to everyone in the back of the army style convoy truck. The six wheels tore through the mud as it trudged down the road. I looked to my right, there sat a very nervous fox. He was just a kid, fresh meat. In all likelihood, he'd be dead by day's end, at least that's how it usually worked. There was a lot of outside help on this one, which made me nervous. After all, you don't trust anyone especially if they haven't been around with the shit goes down. You had at least four spec ops members in the convoy, from various countries. In the end, they all got screwed after the war and signed on with a merc group, after all, killing is all most of them were good at. Across from me, were the only guns that I would trust, Fischer, Weber and Alveraz; they where all that was left of the original Ravens. We started with fifty highly trained ex-black ops personnel. After the war, they army all but threw them out on Central's streets without the pay, benefits, and the post-war employment they where promised when they enlisted at the beginning of the war. Not even I had met more than ten of the original fifty. With the level of danger that our assignments ran, you had an 80% of never coming back; almost guaranteed if you hadn't run an op with us before. That brought my attention back to the vibrating todd, "Poor bastard, had no idea what he was getting into." I took another drag and then put out what was left of my smoke. I pounded on the back of the truck cab and a small metal door slid open. "Hey Josh, how long till we reach jump point?"

"About fifteen," the panther shouted from behind the wheel. He shifted his cigar from one side of his maw to the other, "Get 'em prepped and briefed."

About a year ago the briefing policy changed after some fresh meat tipped off the job that we were coming for his head. We lost three vets on that op, it was a pretty big blow to our group. Ever since then, we never brief till where in the field. It isn't as anywhere near as good as a thorough rundown, but it prevented leaks. "Alright listen up!" I shouted, "In about fifteen we're gonna reach the hot zone. You will have about five minutes to get your shit together before we move out. The target is about a click north of our jump point. When you reach the target, I want Bravo team to take point, Charlie will take the west, and Alpha will take the east. I want it quiet until you see us give the green for unsuppressed fire. The target is a man named Gutierrez, an ex-cartel head with some unsettled business with our clients. This is an extraction, so check your targets. Anyone fucks up, and it will be the last time you do. Everyone clear?" I scanned the room, the fresh meat gang seemed to have a fragile grasp on things, not good. What's worse is that the hired guns seem to be sizing me up, whether or not I should be taken seriously. Can't say that I blame them, I was a hair over 5' 3" and not more than 110 lb, breakable as far as they were concerned. But I was still alive, and that said something. I looked at the three Raven's to my left, all their eyes where cold, like mine, they understood how things worked around here which is why they too were still alive. The easiest way to tell us apart from the other hired guns around here where the crude ravens that where painted on our body armor. Fresh meat had a black raven, vets had a white one, like mine, and original crew had a blood red bird on their chests. There weren't many red ravens around anymore. I came back to reality when the truck halted, "Roll out!" Josh bellowed from the front seat. Alveraz, a coyote with a scruffy goatee tossed me my gun, an M-16 with a grenade launcher attached to the bottom. Everyone in the three trucks jumped out and hit the ground running. The three groups disappeared into the jungle. The moment we were clear the trucks rumbled off into oblivion. We waited till it was quiet, then using hand signals, motioned to begin movement.

No one spoke, we moved through the brush as quietly as we could. The cats of course were the most silent, but even I, a scrawny desert fox in a pair of army boot a size too big, could be quieter than the fresh meat felines. We where about to crest the top of a hill, less than half a click away from the target when Fischer raised his wolf hand. We all halted, some of us midstep. Fischer motioned for Alveraz to come up beside him. Both of them got down on their stomachs and crawled to the edge of the hill. Alveraz was the best sniper in the group, possibly in the world, but he'd been out of the force so long, we couldn't make that claim for sure. Alveraz took his L115A3 rifle, an older model, but it was silent, effective, and it didn't have an electronics system that could be tracked. Fischer came back to me and crouched down, I followed suite and Weber walked over without making a sound, light on his cougar feet, "Change of plans." Fisher whispered under his breath.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"There's a platoon about 200 meters down the hill."

"Ideas?" Weber asked plainly.

"We could bypass them, we'd lose time but we'd avoid a fire fight."

"Girl," Weber look around at our sorry-ass platoon, "You really think these shit-heads are gonna be able to stay quiet enough to sneak out the back door?" I shrugged, didn't really have a rebuttal, he was right.

"Look, Alveraz will keep an eye on 'em. Tessa, take Alpha and double back, they have the most experience, regardless of how little they like you." Fischer ordered. I nodded. He must have seen the looks they gave me in the truck. "Meet up with Josh at the RP and get his input." Again I nodded. All three of us separated and I rounded up Alpha squad and we began our backtracking.

To their credit, the hired guns that made up most of Alpha were hell of a lot quieter than the fresh meat was. We made it back to the drop point, a 15 minute trek through the jungle. We found the tire tracks from the trucks and we began to follow them. About half a click up the road we came to a dead end, or so it seemed. The trucks had been hidden among the thick growth on the side of the road. I held up a fist to signal a stop, everyone obeyed. It wasn't but a moment later when we heard a voice from behind,

"What the fuck are you doing here?" we all turned around and leveled our guns reflexively. Josh's tone was irritated but not angry. I pushed my way through the group and walked up to Josh, he was a good foot and a half taller than me, and way better built. I look up at him, right in they eyes, and laid it out. After hearing the situation he thought a moment.

"We could scrap the original extraction," he started, "and take Alpha and my squad around behind and set up a kill box." He thought it over a moment longer and then looked at me for thoughts.

"Sounds good," I shrugged, "You take Alpha, I'll go back to Bravo and Charlie, we'll wait for your signal." Josh nodded and I took off.

Running through the jungle quietly was easy for me. There was no way I could take a whole team with me at the pace I was going. I was light, which made it easier for me to be quiet, but having training helped. About ten minutes later I made it back to the group. I crept up to the top of the hill, quiet as ever, right up between Weber and Alveraz; fisher was to Alveraz's right.

"So what's the deal?" Weber whispered.

"Well," I gasped still trying to catch my breath "Josh has Alpha and Delta, he's going up behind 'em, we need to move to flank, he wants to set up a kill box."

"How long do we have"

"Not long, probably only ten minutes."

"Better move then." Fischer groaned sliding his way back down from the crest. He quietly moved from Bravo to Charlie, informing them of their duties, and then he walked back our way. Weber and I began to crawl back down the hill. He tapped Alveraz's shoulder and he followed us too.

"Tess, you're with Alveraz, take point. Fisher, you go with Charlie, I'll go with Bravo. No matter what happens, when the signal goes, you shoot." We all nodded. Weber spun his finger in a small circle above his head, we dispersed.

Outside of me, Alveraz was the most quiet, being that he was light like I was. We moved quietly and close to the ground, scarcely ever making a sound. We got within a hundred meters of them and waited. We couldn't see Bravo or Charlie, which was good, "Maybe the fresh meat aren't all fuck-up's after all." I thought to myself. It was about then we heard the signal, a small pop followed by a loud, piercing screech. Alveraz leapt six feet to his right and set up on a boulder, he shouldered his rifle and began to line up a shot. I rose from the bushes and fired a smoke grenade into the trees. It landed somewhere in the middle of the enemy platoon, because off in the distance I began to hear yelling and coughing. "Go!" Alveraz ordered, and I did. I knew he had me covered.

As I ran I would occasionally hear bullets whiz by as Alveraz took out target after target. I began to hear gunfire from both my left and my right, Bravo and Charlie had just barely made it to their positions and began to move in on the enemy. I got close enough to finally see the platoon clearly, there where about eighty troopers, all of them armed with assault rifles, and they where trained. I watched as they shouldered their weapons and fired into the flanking troops. I heard screams as our troops fell. I leveled my gun at the closest enemy, I pulled and released the trigger, one bullet pierced his skull, spraying red into the air. The pop of my rifle drew the attention of the platoon. Five or six started to shoot at me, I stood still long enough to get a second shot off that ripped into one of their shoulders, leaving a shredded hole. He fell screaming and I dove for a tree, bullets nearly meeting me as I threw myself against it. I pulled one of six grenades from a small belt that wrapped around my waist, and loaded it into the tube on the underside of my gun. I popped out from around the tree and fired at the platoon. The grenade sailed through the air and exploded in the middle of a small group. The fur closest to the explosion had his right arm and leg torn off from its sheer force; another was riddled with shrapnel that turned his body into soggy Swiss cheese; another two where hit with shrapnel, survived, but were immobilized and still another two were hit but ready to fight.

I fired three shots into one man, tearing up his stomach, he fell clutching his intestines. I ran forward, firing shots into one soldier's head, and one into another's neck. I hit the ground and crawled up behind a large rock which I immediately put my back to. I still heard gunshots less that 10 meters behind me, I switched my gun to full auto and took a deep breath. I popped up and fired a short burst into a man 2 meters to my left, this drew the attention of another. He span to me just in time to see six bullets fly into his skull. His brain seemed to explode, and fall out of the massive hole in the back of his head. I found a laps in their defense and ran to Alpha. Weber was nowhere in sight but I found the nearest fresh meat, a collie, and crouched down to his right. He fired a short burst and killed a soldier, then he immediately sighted a seconded to his right, but he missed the trooper 3 meters to his left. I kicked the newbie's feet out from underneath him, and he fell to the ground, barely escaping the shots fired at him. I put a burst into the enemy's chest and hauled the fresh meat back to his feet,

"Head's up asshole!" I yelled over the gunfire, which at this point was deafening. He nodded nervously and stuck close to me. I loaded a second grenade into the tube and swapped magazines in my rifle. We had halfed the platoon, and by the looks of it, they'd killed a quarter of us, most of them rookies.

It was about then that Josh's squad broke through the tree line. His squad were all trained Ravens, most of them weighing in excess of 250lbs. Josh bellowed as he skewered the closest wolf with the bayonet on his Mk.2. He lifted the fur into the air and threw him down on another soldier. He then fired 12 rounds in a short burst, which penetrated though the first body and killed the soldier underneath. A grizzly came up to Josh's left shoulder and Josh pointed toward Charlie squad, they must have eaten it bad. The grizzly and about half of Josh's squad went to cover the right flank just as Alpha caught up. I snapped back to reality when the rookie tapped my left shoulder.

"What!" I screamed.

"Do you hear that?"

"I can't hear a goddamn thing over th-"I listened closely and I did, I heard a chopper in the distance. "Shit! Cover me."

I pulled a small derringer pistol from a holster on my leg and fired a shot into the air. The specially designed bullet screamed through the jungle. I immediately turned on a radio fixed to by shoulder and waited for Josh to come online.

"Who fired that shot!" Josh roared thorough the earpiece in my ear.

"Chopper in bound!" I answered. I heard a gunshot to my left and the rookie screamed. I raised the rifle to my waist and unloaded what was left of the magazine, shredding the enemy soldier's torso. "What's your call Josh!"

"Damnit Tess! Give me a second." I heard his gun firing, he had his hands full.

"Alveraz, this platoon had to get out here somehow, are there any jeeps around." A moment went by before he answered me.

"Twenty meters south by southwest from your position." I turned around and looked in the direction he indicated. I heard the rookie moan and stand up, I had forgotten all about him. In this business, if you fall, you're done. "You alright?" I hollered. He nodded and coughed.

"Body armor took the hit." He wheezed.

"Can you move?"

He nodded

"Then follow me" We bolted for the trees and sure enough about the exact spot Alveraz had said there was a nice neat row of six jeeps and a truck like the one we showed up in. One of the jeeps had a fifty caliber gun mounted to the back, "Josh!"

"WHAT!" he yelled

"We found our big gun."

"Then get your skinny ass out here baby!" he said, almost happy. It was about then the chopper roared overhead,

"Shit! Rookie," he looked at me, "Can you shoot worth a damn?" he smiled and climbed in the back of the jeep. I jumped behind the wheel and twisted the key in the ignition. The vehicle roared to life. I threw it into reverse, almost knocking the kid off of the gun mount. We crashed though the brush and onto the battle field. The chopper wasn't to be seen; probably circling back around, but the rookie started the party before it came back. He started unloading into every trooper in sight, the enemy fell in waves. A few cheers could be heard from our dwindling squads. I cranked the wheel and used the jeep like a battering-ram, still driving in reverse. The sound of skulls cracking against the bumper, the sound of bones being crushed under the car, the screams from the people those crushed limbs belonged to, surrounded me. The fifty cal tore bodies to pieces. One man was even ripped in half, horror plastered on his face as he watched his guts slip from his torso as he lay on the jungle floor. I spun the wheel to make a circle around the kill box when the chopper finished circling and opened fire on us.

The apache's large mounted gun tore long holes into the ground sending showers of dirt up all around the jeep. "FUCK!" I screamed pushing the gas peddle all the way to the floor. I quickly whipped the jeep around in a 180, threw it into drive, and again floored the gas peddle. The rookie was almost on his ass he was crouched so low, he was barely able to aim the gun very nearly vertical. Bullet after bullet exploded in the big gun's chamber, and shock waves pounded through my chest. The chopper banked and had to pull up over the trees away form the clearing in the kill box.

"You got about five seconds before that sonofabitch makes it back around." Josh boomed in my head set.

"Copy that, I don't think this fifty-cal is gonna cut it."

"You better make it work baby, 'cause it's all we got."

I growled and swung the jeep around and waited for the chopper. At this point, the small arms fire had all but stopped. The platoon was either dead, dying, or captured. Our boys were headed for the tree line. Now it was just the three of us, me, the rookie, and the guy with the gun bigger than ours. I listened as best as I could over the sound of the idling jeep. I felt the chopper blades beating through the air before I heard them. He had banked and was trying to flank our right side. I stomped on the gas the jeep lurched forward "Rookie, he's at my 5."

The rookie swung the gun turret around just in time to see the chopper blaze over the tree tops. The two opened fire on each other. A hailstorm of bullets, all of them inches in length, flew through the air. I could hear large rounds tear into the seat beside me, leaving huge holes behind. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I dared a peek at the chopper. The rookie had him protecting the cockpit as bullets tore up the paint on the bottom of the nose, but not a single one was able to penetrate the armored hull.

"Rookie!" he glanced back at me.

"What?"

"We don't have penetration, hit the prop." He nodded and changed targets. However, the chopper pilot caught on to our change in tactics and again moved to protect himself. He banked out over the trees again, and set up for another pass. I again stopped the jeep. There was a momentary silence.

"Rookie, when he banks he exposes the rear prop for a second, maybe second and a half. You have that window to hit it. You got it?" He nodded as his torso expanded and contracted with his heavy breathing.

I head the chopper nearing the clearing, "It's go time newbie." I slammed the peddle down again and we took of. I skirted the tree line, trying to draw him in close. The rookie fired shots here and there, to keep the chopper in check. I cranked the wheel and drove directly underneath the apache. The chopper fired, bullets rang out as they collided with the metal of the jeep, cutting through like a knife to butter. The rookie swung the mount around and sure enough the chopper banked left exposing its rear prop. The rookie let the fifty-cal blaze. I watched through the rearview mirror and saw a fire start in the prop's motor. Almost instantaneously the chopper went into a spin. I brought the jeep around and we watched as the aircraft twirled, the pilot desperately trying to regain control. Within 15 seconds the chopper cut left, over the trees and fell to the earth. A fuel leak must have occurred because there was a large explosion following the crash. The ordinance it was caring cause three or four smaller blasts after.

The rookie and I crawled out of the jeep and into the middle of the kill box where all the other squads were gathering. Josh walked up, big toothy grin on his face. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close, laughing all the while.

"Nice work baby. And you," he said pointing at the collie, who at the moment had a terrified look on his face "where the hell did you come from?"

"To be honest sir, I was a security guard." he replied nervously

Josh bellowed loudly in laughter, "Let's just say you earned your wings boy. What's your name?"

"Zak" he said, smiling this time.

"Ok Zak, think you can keep up with Tess." He looked over at me and nodded, I actually cracked a smile.

"Alright then, let's move." Josh took off in a quick jog for the tree line, the four four squads followed suit, stealth was no longer a luxury, everyone at that compound knew we where here. "It's gonna be a long-ass day." I thought to myself.