Page 10 of Reclaiming Izabel

0200 local time

The tarmac blazedwith lights as our tactical SUVs arrived at the hangar. Outside the structure, two Black Hawks sat with their rotors churning slowly and their engines keyed up in that familiar whine.

We had two assault teams—each with four operators. The mission code was Lightning. I was Lightning One. Brick was Lightning Two and led the second team. Each team had a sniper who would provide elevated cover fire.

My team piled into the waiting choppers. I nodded to a man in a flight suit. “You my gunner?”

“Yes, sir.” He needed to verify this shit because when we get dropped into a hot zone, we needed cover fire before our sniper got situated.

On my team was Edmunds; Spike, a former army ranger and sniper; and Rex, an ex-recon Marine who was also our demolitions expert. Our target was forty minutes away in a compound in Al Bab, Syria, that was on the outskirts of Aleppo. I consulted the pilot regarding the drop point. From the latest intel, fast roping wasn’t possible, with tangos guarding the compound. The INFIL (infiltration) plan would clear therooftops of the outbuildings with our fifty-caliber machine gun and drop snipers into place.

As the bird lifted off and accelerated to regular cruising speed, we sat back to get our mind on the mission. We were flying into Syrian airspace without permission. Everyone on both helos knew if we got caught, we would be on our own. Washington would deny our existence.

Our helos flew by deserted wastelands and long stretches of highway, cruising low and completely blacked out as we stealthily approached the destination.

“Three minutes,” the pilot announced.

That was a signal for us to check our equipment, weapons, and ammo. Our gunner prepared the fifty cals and rotated the rounds. Our bird dropped almost to the ground before jumping over the barrier surrounding the compound.

In the span of several heartbeats, the night lit up with muzzle flashes. The team was jostled around as the pilot outmaneuvered the tracer assault. Then the bird banked left so our gunner could pave the way for insertion.

The hostiles retreated as the machine gun tore through the courtyard, cutting some of them in half before rising to the tallest structure and neutralizing the guards there as well. Spike dropped to the rooftop to assume sniper duties.

“Eagle in position,” Spike reported.

“Copy that,” Brick replied. “Dropping our package as well.” Lightning Two and his team were breaching the same building but from the rear entrance. This was to mitigate any enemy escape, especially our primary target.

Our helo returned to the courtyard, now empty of tangos, but the muzzle flashes continued from inside our target—a two-story concrete structure. Our gunner and Spike provided cover fire as we jumped to the ground.

I went first, took a knee, and sighted through my rifle as my team moved ahead. As the bird lifted off, I joined my men, and we shuffled toward our target in combat stance.

Spike made sure our path was clear and kept the hostiles from firing.

Mostly.

We reached the door and Rex immediately set the breaching charge.

As the entrance exploded, I tossed in a flash-bang grenade.

I tapped Edmunds. He forged ahead.

“Clear left,” he yelled.

Rex followed. “Clear right!”

I followed down the center and became the first man in our three-man stack. Eyes behind my rifle’s sight, I swept from room to room. The second room on our right yielded a huddle of women and children.

“Got this. Go!” Edmunds stayed behind to guard them while Rex and I continued on.

We reached a corner-fed room that was between two hallways. Spying Brick coming from the opposite hallway, the other team lead nodded. “Go ahead, One.”

I keyed my mic twice and then took a big step to balance my pivot into the room just as Rex swept in behind me. “Clear.”

Before us were stairs leading to the second floor. I was sure the hostiles were lying in wait, ready to spray us with bullets but, from my experience, they were too eager and jumpy. The house was in total darkness and everything was lit up only by our night vision goggles. Leading by the dot from my scope, I sighted movement and squeezed off two shots just as gunfire erupted down the steps. A man in a white robe fell on the landing. Sporadic fire met me at the top of the steps, but the hostiles were shooting blindly. Rex and I quickly got rid of two more.

The first room at the top of the steps was clear but was laden with file cabinets and computers. One of Brick’s men stayed behind to collect hard drives and disks.

With a third room cleared, that left the last one at the end of the hallway. This was going to be?—

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