Carl didn’t lower his weapon immediately. He started to sweep the room instead carefully checking for any other surprises the now dead woman lying to one side of the room may have left behind. He didn’t find any surprises. So he came back around to check on Natalie standing over the body. He stood back and off to the side, ready to duck if the dead woman really did have any tricks left.

Zara had known that she was going to die here. She wasn’t going to get out alive. Maimed perhaps at the least, but death had been the highest option. But she seemed to have some amount of honor. As there was nothing in her hands, save for a small locket, with the face of a tattooed and ritually scarred woman in it. Her thumb pressed lovingly to the picture, which now stained with blood. Carl hummed, “Elite operators…and here we are a huge group of brute force grunts pretty much. Go brute force.” Victor and he spun almost as one as a section of the wall caved in on the other side of the room. The section of fiberglass reinforcing falling inwards and slamming to the ground with a crash. Dust and smoke wafting out from the hole. And a second later a hand coming out of the dust, “Okay easy! Easy!” One of the BlueSword mercs stepping out, his dark armor powdered with dust, “Sorry it took so long sirs and madams. We had to run back to the surface and get a demo team down here. Along with a medical team just in case.”

Victor lowered his shotguns letting out a slow almost tired breath, “Well…we have learned a fair deal here haven’t we?” Carl groaned and looked over at the corpse of the woman. Then around the room, “There is still a lot more to this place. We gonna leave it to the task force?” He slumped down, the adrenaline of the moment finally starting to ease, he looked up at Victor, Natalie and Ross, “What’s the plan bosses? We could probably finish a sweep, or get out of here and leave it to the Task Force outside. Make like a tree and leave before the rest of the group gets here.” He liked that idea personally. Victor looked to his fiancée and Ross, “Shall we get out of here then? We’ve done our share. The General is likely on his way, we return to base, and wait for Debrief. I think our part of this is over yes?” He nodded to his compatriots. He signalled to the Mercs, “Start clean up. And clear the way for the task force. We’ll leave it to them. And the rest of us will head out. I imagine the group that is at the bottom of the mountain is likely to start making their way in when word comes we’ve cleaned out the worst of the group. The rest that have escaped and the last fighters will be taken care of.” The mercs declared they understood and began to move deeper into the mountain, another tunnel into the room having been concealed up until now. Victor groaned, “Let’s go. But watch your step anyway. May still be some problems left behind.” He headed for the hole that the mercs and Task force EOD and Medic team had made, and began to try and squeeze through it. Carl motioned he’d cover the rear, and waited for the rest to proceed.

As the others squeezed out of the hole Carl looked over at the body of Zara, and did the thing no one else wanted to. He took out an incendiary grenade, wrapped Zara’s hands around it then pulled the pin, the grenade began to burn. Carl didn’t wait around to watch the body burn. He followed the others out of the tunnel.

[i]Later back at FOB Grimsby[/i]

Victor, Natalie, Ross, Jenny and Carl all sat in the arsenal building set aside for them. Carl laid out across a bench, breathing slow and easy, coming down from the combat high. He’d half stripped out of his armor, laying with his chest plate and boots still on, his leg and arm armor on the rack already, his helmet resting just within reach of his left hand. Victor sat with his back against a wall, within arms reach of Natalie but giving her room as well. All he had off is his helmet which laid in his lap. It’d been a long long day. And the sun was finally falling just outside the hanger.

No one looked up as another body joined them in the hanger. General Lawrence looking over the five Juggernauts. Watching them quietly. Carl barely moved when he caught sight of the General, just letting out a grunt to catch Ross’s attention. Felix raised a hand, “Just as you were…it’s been a long day ladies and gentlemen, a really long day. You earned your rest. We dealt a huge blow to these guys. We even caught a small group of their central command. Trying to bolt from a cave at the base of the mountain. Most of their fighters are holed up inside the mountain and the task force will root them out. For now Wakhan and this group are silenced. You guys chill out for abit. Job well done..” He nodded slowly, “I’ll leave you guys to it.” He gave the five in the room a salute, then turned and walked out.

Carl let out a groan and let his head fall back, “Fantastic…” Was all he got out, far too tired to say much more.