“Yeah, looks like we have, what… three, maybe four, guys there? Jonah, you take the one on the left and the driver of the Humvee? I’ll take the two on the right.”
“Got it; let me know when you’re ready.”
Zivah had now parked their Humvee and both Jonah and Luna were set up. “Okay, Jonah, on my mark… three, two, one, fire.” And with that, two .338 slugs dropped the two IRGC soldiers immediately around the pilot. A few seconds later, the third soldier and the driver met the same fate as their two compatriots.
“Okay, Zivah, we need to hurry; they obviously know where the pilot landed. Let’s get over there, grab the pilot, and get out of here.” Jonah ordered Zivah.
“Roger that,” she replied.
Twenty seconds later, they pulled up to where the pilot lay in the field.
Luna was the first one out of the Humvee. “Are you okay?” He asked, noticing that the pilot had an obvious broken leg.
“Bailing out at five hundred feet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” replied Captain Andrea Parker, wincing in obvious pain.
“No doubt” replied Luna. “Let’s get you loaded up and get out of here before the party really gets started.” With that, both Luna and Jonah placed Captain Parker in the back of the Humvee as Zivah took off rather hurriedly.
“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Eight; we have the pilot and are heading back to the rest of the convoy. She’s a little banged up and definitely won’t be dancing anytime soon but we got her.”
“Roger that, Zero-Eight. You’ve got an Apache flying top cover for you on the way back to the convoy. They’re waiting for you at the junction of the Azadegan Expressway and Highway 71.”
“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Eight; we have the pilot and are headed your way; ETA, two minutes.”
“Roger that. Nice work, Zero-Eight. How’s the pilot doing?”
“She’s got a badly broken leg. We need to transfer her to Ferro’s rig and let him take a look at her when we get back.”
“Roger that; we’ll be waiting for you.”
“Ferro, Chaos; how’s Rossi doing?”
“I’ve got him stabilized. He’s taken a gut shot so he needs to see a doc as soon as possible.”
“We won’t be able to get him one until we fly out of here so it’s going to be a few hours. Jericho 08 has another patient for you as well. You have room for the pilot they just picked up? Sounds like she has a badly broken leg.”
“Yeah, I’ve got room here. Thanks for the heads up; I’ll be waiting for them. By the way, how’s your patient doing?”
“She’s doing fine; thanks for the training, boss,” Jackson responded.
“Any word on Ben?”
“He’s in another car but word is he’s stable. I haven’t had a chance to look at him.”
“Okay, Ferro, keep me posted.”
Sitting back in the lead car, Dani had the chance to finally see Stonewall at his best: the situation couldn’t have been more chaotic. In the midst of an unbelievably chaotic situation, Stonewall continued to organize the chaos: He was constantly on the radio talking to his team, talking with Archangel, dividing his team even under extremely dangerous conditions to recover the downed pilot, handling the medical needs of both his team and now that of the pilot, all while continuing to monitor the desperately needed air support that Jericho Zero-Three continued to provide. She had seen Ben in similar situations and he was very good at this sort of thing but clearly, Stonewall really excelled at this — he truly understood the nature and capabilities of a Special Forces team.
As the now reunited convoy headed south on 71, the prospects of the IRGC successfully stopping them began to drop significantly. The Special Forces communication sergeants and the FAC(A) Warthog pilot found their stride again and functioned to perfection: Jericho Zero-Three and Zero-Eight identified their targets and Sun Devil Zero-Six apportioned the needed response. Archangel, following the convoy by aerial feed from an orbiting Reaper, was suitably impressed. By the time the convoy managed to cross the second bypass expressway, Jackson began to feel that they just might pull this off. When they crossed Highway 7, he knew they were home free.
“How you doin’?” Jackson asked Dani.
“Hurt like hell but I don’t think it’s going to be anything serious; breathing is much easier, as well. You’ve done that before, huh?”
“Yeah, a time or two. I left that needle in to fully evacuate any air in your chest so don’t make any sudden moves. It’s taped in so it’s not coming out but I don’t want it aggravating anything on the inside.”
“Yeah, I can kind of feel it. How are you doing, though? You took a couple rounds in the back too, didn’t you?”
“Think I’ve got a broken rib or two; my back’s pretty sore, but I’m fine.”
“How’s everyone else?”
“The medics have stabilized both Ben and Rossi. The pilot we rescued has a badly broken leg but she’ll be okay. Ferro’s a dynamite medic — I’ve actually seen him do some minor surgery before. We’ll be at the evac site in half an hour. They’ll have some medics on board but it’s going to be awhile before we can get both of them into surgery — Ferro thinks they’ll be okay but won’t know the full extent of their injuries until they can open them up. I’ll have him look at both the chest tube and that leg of yours once we get airborne.”
“I’ll be fine; you just make sure they take care of Ben and Rossi.”
Half an hour later, the little convoy approached an abandoned airfield. “Batman Zero-Six, Chaos Actual. We are approaching the Bat Cave and have you in sight. Be advised we have four wounded, two critical.” Jackson radioed the Ranger commanding officer guarding their hastily prepared airfield.
“Roger that, Chaos. The engines are revved up and ready to go. We can be airborne in thirty seconds after you get here. What’s the disposition of your guests?”
“They are a little surprised we managed to pull this off but they are all in good health. See you in a few.”
An hour and a half later, two C-130s touched down at Al Udeid Air Force Base, Qatar. Medical personnel had been notified and were standing by for the two critical patients. As soon as the plane reached its terminus, a team of paramedics raced on board and hauled both Ben and Rossi off into an ambulance to an awaiting OR staff who had been advised of their condition. Dani came next and, while her injuries were not as severe as her teammates, the medics hauled into the pre-op waiting room as both injuries needed a surgeon. Ferro had looked at her wounds and bandaged them up while en route to Al Udeid — as gun shots go, her thigh wound wasn’t anything too serious and he thought she’d recover from the collapsed lung relatively quickly.
“Did I hear you correctly back there?” Dani asked Stonewall. “We were in the middle of a major fire fight — I mean bullets and RPGs are flying everywhere — and you’re quoting Shakespeare?” Dani said looking at Stonewall in of state of utter disbelief.
“What? Who’s better than Shakespeare?”
“Oh, I don’t know, how about Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe: ‘Unleash Hell’—and it’s more to the point.”
“Maximus Decimus Meridius over Marc Antony in Julius Caesar? Are you kidding? Not a chance.”
“You really are something, you know that?” Dani said, with an admiring look at him.
“Jim,” Jackson spoke into his phone, “a C-17 with your three special passengers took off for Andrews a little while ago. They’ll be refueled inflight so they’ll be there sometime tomorrow. I’ll be heading back to Tel Aviv with Dani. I understand Dr. Bagheri is back in Tehran looking to form a new government after most of the Iranian government was killed in our airstrikes early this morning.”