“Reno, any chance you can move that leg or do I need to carry you?” Arielle asked.
“You’re going to have to help me. You can’t carry me over there.”
“Try me,” came the quick reply as, in practically one motion, Arielle lifted Reno’s left knee off the ground, grabbed his left hand pulling him up on his left leg and then hoisting him over her shoulder.
“Ah!!!”
“Just hold tight. Dusty got the shooter so we’re in the clear for the moment, though that won’t last for long,” Arielle ordered as she ran towards the tower entrance.
At the tower, Zivah had pulled up with the van when she heard of the two casualties. Arielle lay Reno down on the pavement while Stonewall and another SEAL tended to their injured comrade.
“How’d you do that?” Reno grimaced, still in shock, both from his wound and from Arielle managing to carry him for about seventy-five yards.
“That’s what training’s all about,” Arielle replied, though thoroughly gassed. “You ought to know that. Hold still while I check you out,” she replied grabbing his blowout kit. “Okay, there’s still not a lot of blood here so I don’t think any major blood vessel’s been hit. It really looks like the bullet hit the femur and then ricocheted out. You’re going to be out of the game for a while. You got room for this guy in there,” Arielle asked Chaos.
“Right here. Let’s get him loaded and then get in the tower,” Chaos replied as two fellow SEALs grabbed Reno and helped him into the van, while Arielle, Moose, and Dusty joined Chaos’s team and ran to the tower.
“Okay, folks, what do we have? It looks like we’ve got fires at all four sites,” Chaos initially indicated.
“Roger that,” one SEAL replied. “Both sites at the south end look totally destroyed. We’ve got multiple vehicle fires and — there goes another explosion — okay, I’d confirm that both sites are completely out of commission.”
“Arielle, what about the north end?” Jackson asked.
“Yoni’s reporting heavy contact. He thinks they’ve destroyed the missile emplacement but they’ve taken five casualties, including two KIA.”
“Does he need any help up there?”
“He thinks they can handle it,” Arielle replied.
“Thinks?!?” Jackson stated, more of a statement than a question. “This was supposed to be pretty much a hit and run raid and he’s got seven casualties? Okay, what happened to that truck we saw driving up?”
“Nothing, other than a couple bullet holes in the windshield — and a pretty messy interior at this point. It’s only been a couple minutes. It’s probably still running in front of the hangar,” Arielle replied.
“Yoni, Chaos. Everything’s good on the south end and the teams are heading to the rally point. We’re going to grab a Russian Humvee and head over your way to take some pressure off you guys. I’ve got Arielle, Levi, and three SEALs with me. We’ll be out on the tarmac coming from the tower. The Russians have about a dozen planes all lined up on the flight line for us and pretty close to your position. We’re going to drive right through them and do what we can to shoot them up and toss out a few grenades. That should get their attention and relieve a little of the pressure on your team — just don’t shoot us! We’ll be out on the flight line in just a couple minutes.”
“Understood. Thanks for the help.”
“Okay, let’s grab that truck and get moving. This could get dicey real quick,” Jackson ordered as the small team evacuated the tower.
“Dusty, you’ve got shotgun. Everyone else in back,” Jackson ordered as they approached the Russian UAZ Patriot pickup. “How we fixed for ammo?”
“I grabbed everything these guys had,” Levi replied. “We’ve got a few extra rifles, plenty of ammo, though they didn’t have any grenades. We’re good. Let’s go.”
“How many grenades do we have?” Jackson asked.
“We each came with four and no one’s used any. That makes twenty-four.”
“Okay, you guys in back will have the grenades. I’m going to drive up along the flight line quite deliberately with the lights off. The last satellite photo showed two lines of planes parked along the flight line. The lineup on the left will begin after we’ve passed the first three or four on the right. When we get to the middle of the first grouping on the right, start throwing out your grenades. We’ll have planes on both sides of us. Once all the grenades are gone, open up with everything we have left — but don’t shoot until all of the grenades are gone. When we get to the end of the line, we’ll make a U-turn and head down the runway. I plan on driving all the way down the runway to get out of here. One last thing — we’re throwing these things on a concrete runway, so your grenade is going to roll — don’t over throw your target! Let’s go!”
And with that, Jackson headed out turning onto the tarmac between the tower and the operations building.
“Yoni, we’re on the flight line, lights out — don’t shoot at anything on the flight line. Get ready for some fireworks! Fifteen seconds!”
“Let it rip!”
“Okay, on my mark, start throwing the grenades: three… two… one… MARK — let’em go!” Jackson hollered as he passed the third of nine SU-24’s all lined up on the right side of the flight line.
“No one’s shooting at us,” Moose yelled out from the back.
“They don’t know what’s really going on yet. We’re in a Russian truck heading towards their position with our lights off — we could be reinforcements for them. The explosions are coming from behind us so they don’t know if these are mortar rounds or if we’re letting them off. It won’t take them long to figure things out — once they do, it’ll be a little more exciting,” Arielle replied.
“Okay, that makes sense,” Moose replied.
“Yeah, Chaos knows what he’s doing. He’s always pulling something out of his bag of tricks.”
The shooting started shortly before they reached the end of the lineup of the SU-35 fighters.
“Yoni, time to get out of there. It’s getting a little warm here. We’re making the turn and heading out the runway,” Jackson called.
“Chaos, we’ve broken contact and are evacuating to the rally point. Thanks for the assist.”
“Don’t mention it. If we don’t see you there, we’ll catch up with you later.”
“Winchester, Chaos.” Jackson radioed the USS Abraham Lincoln, “Fenway Park is avenged. All targets have been neutralized,” Jackson radioed Admiral Jeff Ramsey, commanding officer of the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.
“Thanks, Chaos, appreciate you clearing the way for us,” Winchester replied.
“Not a problem, sir. Always willing to do what I can to make things easier for you Navy boys.”
XIV
“My fellow Americans, I come to you tonight to disclose to you, and to the world, some startling news we have discovered concerning who was behind the recent attacks on Boston and New York City just a few days ago. As many of you may have suspected, Hezbollah, with the help of the former Iranian Quds Force organized this attack. We have already dealt with the threat posed by Iran but this operation of theirs actually started prior to our deposing the oppressive Iranian regime and the establishment of a more democratic and free Iran. However, the most startling thing of this past weekend is the role played by the Russian government. You see, none of this would have been possible but for the active assistance of the Russian government and its naval personnel in Syria.”