“Sentry gun, Sir,” said Silva.
“Christ, that wasn’t part of the training exercise,” Suarez said.
Taylor grinned as he let his rifle hang freely on its sling.
“If they made it easy for us then this would be no kind of training exercise at all would it, Lieutenant?”
“This is supposed to be a training exercise for hostage rescue against terrorist and dissident forces!”
“And what would you do when you face terrorists who have got their hands on this sort of equipment? No good whining like a bitch because the enemy aren’t playing your game. Get your shit together and act like a marine!”
Suarez looked down, partly in shame and partly in embarrassment. He had just been humiliated in front of half their company. Taylor looked around at his men, several were covering doorways and a stairway, the others were looking on having witnessed the grilling he’d given Suarez. Had he done it to one of them the room would be filled with laughter, but no one dared angering the Lieutenant. Despite this, they were all well entertained, and they’d have a good joke about it later that evening.
“Alpha, report,” said Taylor.
“We’re in, one casualty from a sensor mine, further devices secure and floor is clear, over.”
“Delta, report.”
“We’re in, no casualties, sweeping floor now, over.”
“Four casualties to their one and we’re only just through the door. These are unacceptable losses!” shouted Mitch.
He paced up and down the entrance hall of the casino building.
“It’s time to move forward, I want section sweeps of every floor. Keep an eye out for any mines, trip wires, sensor devices, traps, anything! These bastards are here to embarrass us and they’re doing a damn fine job, it’s time to hit back. Bravo and Charlie, up to the third floor, we advance section by section as we secure floors.”
The two officers followed on after their marine squads. Mitch knew it was a harsh thing to grill an officer in front of the men, but he also knew how vital it was that they were honed into the best fighting force they could be. Despite not having faced a major war, after hundreds of years of marine combat warfare, he knew it would not be long until their services were needed. Twenty minutes later they were on the eighth floor with no more incidents but neither any sign of their targets.
“Any sign of movement?”
“Motion scanners aren’t picking up anything at all, Sir,” Baker answered.
“Switch to thermal.”
Taylor paced up and down the large room. Many of the gambling tables were still strewn about the place with chips scattered across the floor. It was a sad state to see what was once a highly successful and profitable place.
“Sir, I am getting four readings.”
“Four? They’ve split up?” asked Suarez.
“Or they’re using diversions. Either way, we have wasted enough time, we need this extraction stat. Where are the readings coming from, Baker?”
“Looks like, opposite ends of the twelfth floor, north west corner of the fourteenth and south east of the fifteenth.”
“A bit scattered aren’t they?” asked Suarez.
“That’s the idea, they know we need to close this down in a solid time frame. Each of our platoons is only equal to their force, they are trying to even up the odds.”
He strolled quickly over to Baker and took the Mappad device from him, studying the readings carefully.
“Alright, Alpha and Bravo take the twelfth floor, Delta the fourteenth, Charlie you’re with me on the fifteenth. Remember these guys are slimy bastards, they’ll do anything to catch you out. Okay, that’ll be all, let’s do this!”
Taylor lifted his rifle as he rushed to the steps. He was at the front of the company alongside several of Charlie squad. The heat was still intoxicating, but the shade of the building at least alleviated some of the strain.
They reached the doorway to the fifteenth floor. The entrance was a double door swing system with small windows peering into the hallway. The higher floors were mostly used as a hotel, the fifteenth not being unique in that regard. Taylor carefully moved across the wall until he was beside the doors and peered through one of the windows. It looked onto a long corridor with dozens of doors leading to hotel rooms. Many of the doors were missing or open. He turned back to look at his unit.
“Right, we’ve got a hotel corridor, perfect spot for an ambush.”
Before he could continue the radio cut in.
“This is Alpha, no contact, heat signal was a hoax, over.”
They heard an explosion erupt in the floors below.
“This is Bravo, location was booby trapped with a paint bomb, Sir.”
“Any casualties?”
“No, Sir, but I guess half of us are out of this mission.”
“Send what’s left of your platoon to the fifteenth to re-enforce Charlie, over.”
Taylor peered back through the window. It was a peaceful if desolate scene, but he knew better. The British paras were giving them hell that day, and he knew the next step wouldn’t be any easier. He turned back to his men.
“Alright, this is likely it, we’ve taken heavy losses already, I want this finished! Ready on my mark,” he lifted his rifle into both hands and took a deep breath. “Go!”
Smashing his foot through the door he rushed in, taking a quick turn into the first doorway. He quickly scanned the room, it was empty. He turned back to see his men running along the corridor. Mitch rushed back out to see Charlie squad swarming through the rooms of the corridor. The radio cut back in.
“Sir, I’m getting different readings, I think they are interfering with our equipment,” said Baker.
Taylor watched as his men and the re-enforcements from Bravo squad cleared the floor. They’d been duped, there was nothing there.
“God damn it! I should have known. Fuck the equipment! Let’s use some common sense. If you were to hold up in a world class casino and hotel, where would you be?”
“In the penthouse, Sir,” said Silva.
“Exactly! Form up, Sergeant, we’re heading upstairs, let’s end this. Bravo, head to the roof and set up a breach for the penthouse suite, over.”
Taylor leapt into a swift stride towards the stairs. Another ten flights in full gear in the heat was gruelling, but the very idea of fatigue had gone from their minds, they were eager to even the odds and set the record straight.
Less that ten minutes later they were waiting outside the entrance to the penthouse. They knew it was the location they had been looking for, they only kicked themselves for not thinking of it earlier. Taylor made a mental note to rely as much on instinct as technology on the future. For all their hardware, they had been deceived.
“This is Bravo, we’re good to go.”
“All teams, prepare to breach in ten,” Taylor ordered.
He looked around to the dozens of marines waiting in the corridor. Several stood next to charges on the walls, others beside the main entrance next to him. All in they had four breach points.
“Three, two, one, breach!”
The explosive charges fired simultaneously and were loud enough that they could not even hear the shattering of glass on the outer of the building as Bravo team swung in from abseil lines. They rushed through the breaches. The residue from the explosions had created a dust and screen throughout the room. Even before Mitch’s foot was through the door the guns were blazing.
The ruined old furniture of the luxurious room had been stacked up in make shift defences, the paras really had made maximum use of their numbers and time. So many of the training exercises involved units who put little effort into their resistance, but that was not the case here. Six marines were dropped on the breach, though Mitch could see at least a few Brits fall as the intensity of their fire increased.
The penthouse was vast, as large as their entire company’s quarters on base. They had breached the open plan living and dining area, but there were several doorways leading to other rooms. As the fire continued, the marines were slowly advancing on the positions from both sides. Taylor held point for several of Charlie squad to head for the doorways to his left as he and Sergeant Silva went for the master bedroom.