NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: R-32, 1
Four years ago
Northeastern Afghanistan
The CIA guys who tagged it as a possible arms cache called it cave R-32.
9 Rangers approached from the south in Humvees and hoofed it the last half mile. They wanted to make as little noise as possible. Intel said that the cave was guarded, but no vehicles ever approached. That meant that whoever was in there was in residency long term.
The only sound they made was their boots crunching against the rock and sand of the mountainous desert. As they got within 100 yards of the cave entrance they came to a stop. Specialist Mattock, Pete and Sergeant Giovanni, Pete slowly, silently approached the entrance. Mattock climbed over the top of the cave and came down the north side so they could sweep in from both sides.
Giovanni held up his hand and gave a countdown with his fingers. Five, four, three, at that point Mattock knew the timing so Giovanni put his hand back on his MK 16 SCAR-L with shortened CQC barrel. On zero Pete and Pete rolled into the cave entrance and fired into the three men standing guard there. Mattock stepped further in and shone the flashlight attachment on his SCAR down the tunnel and confirmed no more hostiles in the immediate vicinity. Giovanni quickly checked the three downed hostiles but their blasted apart bodies left little doubt as to their alive/dead status.
This squad, nicknamed the Coyotes, had been on cave clearing duty for the last year. This was expected to be a run of the mill redneck retreat. That's what they called these little hideouts in the middle of nowhere. Mattock came out of the cave just enough to signal everyone else was good to enter.
Staff Sergeant Davis, Jetta was their squad leader. She motioned for Specialist Han, Jun Kyung to come forward and do his tech nerd shit. In Han's left hip holster was a Glock 19 handgun. In his right hip holster was a directional microphone. Han drew the mic, spun out the dish and slipped in the wired earpiece.
“Quiet for a while,” Han said. “Nobody coming but there's noise far off.”
Davis told Han to use the drone and Han took a knee and slipped his backpack around in front of him. He pulled out a remote control car and put it down. He flipped open a laptop, turned both machines on, and booted the drone control program.
Han and the drone were a big part of why this squad had so much success. Han had fitted the drone with truly silent parts, a better night vision camera and an extra antenna so it could go further before losing signal. Han pushed W on the keyboard and off the little drone went down the dark tunnel.
“No side tunnels yet,” reported Han after a few minutes. “Goes down gradually.” A few minutes later he said “What's on the other side of this mountain?”
Staff Sergeant Davis raised an eyebrow at that. She pulled her PDA and checked her map. “A salt mining town, why?”
Han had the drone coming back now. “They're not mining salt.”
“Show me,” said Davis.
Han pulled up a second window to show the just recorded video. The drone had made it to a larger cavern where there were lights set up, fork lifts, a large drill and miners. The miners were wearing hazmat suits. The kind you wear when working with radioactive materials.
“Okay, we're getting out of here,” Davis called to the group. That was when they heard the sound of vehicles outside.
Corporal Amarillo, Jose was one of two snipers. He was at the entrance to the cave, hidden in its shadow, keeping watch. His MK11 Mod 0 sniper rifle was loosely held in both hands, but at the vehicle sounds he pulled the scoped rifle up to see what kind of trouble they were in. “Bogeys, 4 open top jeeps. 12 men total,” he stated calmly.
“Any chance they're here to welcome us?” asked Private First Class Ekko, the other sniper, who was peering through his own scope.
“Nope,” said Amarillo. “At least 6 AKs and... That's an RPG.”
“Open with warning shots, then the engines,” commanded Davis.
Their rifles blazed. Four rounds hit the dirt in front of the jeeps but they didn't stop. At this point the whole team could see them now. The men in the jeeps were arming themselves with their weapons.
Ekko and Amarillo opened fire on the vehicles themselves. Only one came to a stop.
“Take them,” said Davis, and more shots shuddered through the cave. The men were too far away to hear verbally. Most screamed or yelled as they died to the impossibly precise shots of the Rangers. Two vehicles rolled to stops as their drivers perished.
The last jeep kept going. “Stop that thing!” shouted Davis. The last jeep was headed right for the tunnel entrance. She ushered six of her squad out immediately. Han was still packing. Amarillo held his ground and fired rounds into the engine block of the car, then the wheels. The car started to drift to the left, but not quickly enough. Amarillo rolled backwards into the cave. Davis rushed in and pushed Han out of the Jeep's path.
With a calamitous crash the jeep impacted the left side of the cave entrance, tipping up on its front end. Two dead men crashed out of the car and collided with the cave wall, splattering it with blood. The jeep threw its shadow over the three Rangers still in the cave.
Han got up and saw to his horror that the bloodied driver wasn't dead. Han slipped his Glock into his hand and raised it but he was too late. The driver had one hand on the wheel and one hand on the RPG. In this cramped tunnel it didn't matter where the rocket propelled grenade launcher was aimed. It could kill them all. The driver took two bullets from Han's Glock in the shoulder but as he died he pulled the trigger.
The jeep wasn't just carrying three men, three AK-47s and an RPG. It was also carrying 30 pounds of mining dynamite.
The explosion collapsed the side of the mountain, sealing Davis, Han and Amarillo inside. Mattock, Giovanni and Abanaka all died immediately. Ekko, Walters and Grant were all wounded and called for immediate evac. Walters didn't make it, dying on the flight back to camp.
After 12 hours without contact, HQ labeled Davis, Han and Amarillo as missing in action.