Warriors
"Target approaching, 300 meters. Remember the plan," a brisk voice said over the headset. The voice came from a man hiding in foliage next to a shoddy dirt road. The man, wearing full camouflage combat gear, blended in, essentially invisible, with the thick foliage he hid in. The barrel of his rifle, a camouflaged M4 SOPMOD, stuck out from the bushes, tensely waiting for a target.
The man's finger was extended loosely next to the trigger, his right eye closed, his left, a dark brown, looking through the dot site on his rifle, down the road. He was almost distracted by the beautiful setting African sun, which covered the distant sky in an array of hues of orange and yellow. But he quickly remembered he had a mission.
His slightly tanned skin was only exposed at his face, but was covered up with a camouflage face paint. The rest of his well-built body was covered in tactical gear. On his feet, brown combat boots, followed by a flecktarn variant camouflaged pants. On his chest he wore a white t-shirt covered by a camouflaged shirt that went down to the gloves on his hands, covered by a Kevlar vest in matching camo. His hands, covered in a matching glove with padded grips, tightly held the rifle. His face was clean shaven, covered in the camouflage paint, leading the the boonie hat that covered his short, thick, light brown hair. He had assorted gear on his belt, such as a holster for a pistol and a canteen, as well as on his vest, such as a sharp combat knife.
Eric Haywood was the man's name. He was 30 years old. He was here with Tactical Assistance Inc, a private military contractor that operated globally. Eric was sent here with several others to carry out operations on behalf of the government forces who were fighting a brutal civil war at the time.
Eric had joined the United States Army after graduating High School. He served two tours in Afghanistan before leaving the army, after working various jobs. In 2008, when the financial crisis hit, he was out of work and roamed for a while. But then he found a new place, digging up his old army skills and joining Tactical Assistance as a contractor. He operated in the Philippines and Sudan since then.
Now he was here. He had been assigned, with two others, to ambush a convoy, carrying a certain valuable businessmen working with the rebels. They had strict orders to take him alive, so that he could be interrogated. About what he did not know, nor was his concern.
Their plan was to lie in wait beside the road, stop the convoy with road spikes, eliminate any resistance, and then secure the target and extract him. Intel had the convoy small, and lightly guarded. Eric had performed ambushes like this several times before, and he was no more worried about this op than any other.
Eric did not know his two teammates, situated at other points along the road, that well, having just met them a few days ago. But he wasn't worried, Tactical Assistance picked their soldiers good.
After sitting in this silence for a while, Eric almost felt like now would be a good time to talk to them, and get to know them better. But just as he was thinking this, what he had been waiting for came into sight. Two vehicles driving along the road at a moderate pace, casting a cloud of dust behind them. The first was a muddy, dusty brown UAZ Jeep. It was followed by a camouflaged pickup truck. In the back of the truck was a soldier wearing a cobbled camouflage uniform, holding down an RPK machine gun atop the truck. On each side two soldiers were sitting on the edge, all with equally shabby uniforms.
Eric followed the first truck with his rifle, then switched the the second as they passed. There was then a sudden loud pop, and the UAZ skidded sideways before stopping in the middle of the road, its front tires blown out.
This was it. Before the soldiers could even react, Eric squeezed the trigger, firing two suppressed shots from his rifle into the machine gunners back on the pickup. The gunner slumpt forwards onto the top of the truck. Before he picked his next target, his mind rapidly went through the plan.
Disable the leading vehicle. Kill any guards. Secure and extract the HVT.
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